Under the Influence – 80+ Influencer Marketing Statistics (Infographic)

By Dragomir Simovic

June 17, 2023

While influencer marketing isn’t exactly a modern invention, it has certainly reached new heights over the past decade. Back in the day, movie stars, athletes, and musicians could earn a pretty penny by promoting products and services. At the time, this was the most effective way to reach and influence a broad audience. But not anymore. Nowadays, the focus has shifted to “normal people” who the audience can relate to. Influencer marketing statistics show us exactly how much this trend affects our society and what we can expect in the future.

It might not surprise you to hear that influencer recommendations today mean a lot more to young people than celebrity blogs and endorsements. While celebrities often appear fake, influencers come across as more relatable, honest, and authentic. Because of that, many younger internet users rely on these individuals to help them decide what’s cool, what’s reliable, and what’s worth buying.

Influencer Marketing Stats (Editor’s Choice)

• In 2018, companies who used influencer marketing got a 520% return on investment.
• 49% of users rely on influencer recommendations for their purchases.
• In June 2018, Instagram reached one billion active users.
• Micro-influencers with fewer than 100k followers are responsible for the majority of posts on the platform.
• 66% of influencers on the web focus on fashion, beauty, or lifestyle.
• The primary concern for 42% of marketers is dealing with fake followers (bots).

Marketer and Influencer Stats

Analysts predict the influencer marketing industry will be worth $9.7 billion in 2020.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

Marketers know that in order for their brand to reach its full potential on social media, they need to employ influencers. Year on year, the growth of this industry has been around 50%. In 2019, the industry was estimated to be worth $6.5 billion. And it will only continue to grow.

In 2019, nearly 90% of marketers ran multiple campaigns.

(Linqia)

The success of influencer marketing has driven up the number of campaigns marketers use today. One campaign is simply not enough to both drive brand awareness and generate sales, so the majority of companies will run multiple, sometimes simultaneous, campaigns. Among surveyed marketers, 24% of them ran more than five campaigns in 2019, with 16% of them maintaining an always-on campaign.

91% of marketers believe in the effectiveness of influencer marketing.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

Influencer marketing stats from late 2019 show that, unsurprisingly, marketers put a lot of trust in their influencer campaigns. This is comparable to the number of respondents that planned to invest in influencer marketing during 2020, especially with how good ROI has been in the past several years.

When they pick influencers, 29.2% of marketers look at engagement rate as the main factor.

(SocialPubli)

Other figures show that 23% of marketers look at content quality, 21.2% focus on reach, while only 14.2% consider audience size. If we’re to trust these influencer marketing statistics, only 12.4% worry about how much the influencer costs. This suggests that the ROI is so good that most marketers don’t even think about the price.

77% of marketers believe micro-influencers will play a large part in the future of digital marketing.

(Linqia)

Considering that the majority of posts on Instagram are created by micro-influencers, it makes sense that they will continue to play a role in the future of marketing. Based on some influencer marketing facts, marketers predict that AI and live video will also be significant trends in the future.

Nano influencers are being requested more often than celebrities.

(Linqia)

A nano influencer doesn’t have a huge following – usually under 5,000 followers. But in the eyes of many marketing companies, they offer a better ROI than using a big-name celebrity. 

Among the surveyed marketers, 25% want to work with nano influencers, compared to 22% who still prefer working with celebrities to promote their products. Celebrity influence is slowly dwindling because it’s too commercial. What people really want is a genuine connection, and nano influencers offer exactly the kind of authenticity that makes it possible. 

Companies using influencer marketing saw a 578% return on investment in 2019.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

This study used data from 2,000 companies. Compared to data from 2018, when the ROI was at 520%, this is quite a significant growth. This shows that marketers are getting a better understanding of employing these types of campaigns.

During the past year, 5% of brands spent more than $500,000 each on influencer campaigns.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

The majority of marketers will not spend more than $50,000 a year hiring influencers. In fact, 43% spend less than $10,000 annually. Of course, the bigger the influencer, the higher the price goes, so a small portion of big brands will gladly spend much more than others for hiring the mega stars of social media.

In 2019, 57% of marketers said that they would increase their influencer marketing budget in the following year.

(Linqia)

Most experienced marketers know these ad campaigns work, so they’re willing to invest more and more in them each year. Even though influencer marketing ROI is lower now than it was a few years ago, we can expect things to pick up again.

Only 5% of marketers plan on spending half or more of their budget on influencer marketing.

(Linqia)

Traditional marketing is still the dominant form of advertising, even in 2022. While the trend of employing influencers is on the rise, with 43% of marketers planning to spend between 11% and 25% of their budget for influencer campaigns. Still, one-third of surveyed marketers don’t want to dedicate more than 10% of their budgets on paying influencers.

Repurposing influencer ads is the strategy of 89% of marketers.

(Linqia)

Once the content is produced and posted online, it’s out there forever. So, a logical step for marketers is to repurpose what they’ve already paid for. Companies will re-post paid content as either promoted posts across other social media channels or use it for organic growth, depending on what kind of content was produced in the first place.

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, 39% of influencer marketers use conversions as a primary measure of success.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

Trends are also changing in the way the success of influencer marketing campaigns is measured. Previously, marketers used site engagement metrics, but in 2019 that trend was overtaken by calculating conversions. It makes sense, too. It’s one thing for a potential customer to just click the link, learning something about the brand, but it’s a whole other situation if they actually end up making a purchase.

71% of marketers keep up with the latest FTC regulations and know how to implement them.

(Linqia)

FTC guidelines are there to protect consumers and sanction influencers who don’t follow the rules. That’s why it’s important that marketers familiarize themselves with all the latest changes and modifications. All these regulations are clearly defined for each social platform, so there is zero room for error or misunderstanding.

On the other hand, only 14% of influencers are fully FTC compliant.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

Even with many efforts by social media platforms to ensure ads are marked as ads, the majority of influencers still don’t mark their posts by the FTC standards. Analysts fear that this may lead to more drastic measures by the authorities, potentially leading to another “adpocalypse.” On the other hand, the situation is improving ever so slightly, since in 2018 this number was sitting at just 11%.

The primary concern for 42% of marketers is dealing with bots that might follow the brand influencer.

(Marketing Charts)

There are two main problems with an influencer having too many fake followers or bots. First off, having too many of these automatic fans might result in problems with the FTC, which could lead to account suspension. In addition, from a marketer’s point of view, there’s no point in paying for a campaign that mainly reaches fake users.

Social Influencer Marketing

64% of influencers say they would never accept a huge amount of money if it would cost them their followers.

(Hashoff)

This data shows most digital influencers nowadays value their fanbase more than money. The respect they get from their followers seems to be invaluable. That, in turn, makes them more desirable on their chosen platforms. 

45% of influencers are contacted at least four times a month with campaign proposals.

(Influence.co)

It’s interesting to note that while almost half of influencers get at least four offers a month, there’s a good chance those offers won’t be accepted. In fact, 44% of influencers say they only accept one in four offers they receive. This suggests that demand for marketing influencers actually outweighs supply right now.

49% of influencers are paid a flat fee per picture, while 11% are paid based on performance.

(Influence.co)

Almost half of all influencers are paid per picture, which means that they don’t have to worry about audience engagement or any other metrics. Their only job is to post the picture and carry on with their normal work. It’s understandable why that business model is a lot more attractive to influencers than other alternatives, which could prove to be far less reliable.

66% of influencer networks focus on fashion, beauty, or lifestyle.

(Influence.co)

This information suggests that beauty and image trump all other concerns. Naturally, influencers are ready to help us ease our insecurities. The 66% share shows what kinds of products and services people are most likely to shop for online.

12% of influencers say that most of the time they have no control over the copy used in their promotions.

(Influence.co)

Among these influencer marketing statistics, one worrying snippet shows that 12% of influencers don’t even write their own posts. This flies in the face of the authenticity and honesty influencers are supposed to represent.

For 63% of campaigns, influencers don’t even use contracts.

(Influence.co)

Despite the fact that marketers spend billions of dollars on influencer campaigns, 63% of influencers still don’t use contracts to protect themselves or their work. This is a poor practice that is set to change as regulations get more and more rigid.

Instagram Influencers Marketing

Instagram has 1 billion active users.

(Hootsuite)

There’s no doubt that Instagram is one of today’s biggest social media platforms. In 2018, there were 1 billion registered users, a 1,000% increase since 2013. By the end of 2019, the monthly active user number has also reached 1 billion, solidifying Instagram as the platform your brand needs to utilize. 

500 million Instagram users watch Stories every day.

(Hootsuite)

Even though they’re not originally Instagram’s invention, Stories have become hugely popular on the platform. These are photo or video posts available in a separate feed that automatically disappear 24 hours after being posted. Ability to link Stories to a website has increased their popularity among both marketers and influencers.

90% of Instagram users follow at least one brand on the platform.

(Instagram)

Another unsurprising fact is that fans will stay fans wherever they go. Instagram is no different. In fact, a vast majority of users end up following brand accounts, so that already creates a loyal fan base to which a company can promote its products.

Female influencers produced 84% of sponsored Instagram posts in 2019.

(Statista)

For years, beauty and fashion have been on the forefront of advertising on Instagram. Since these industries mostly have female consumers, it comes as no surprise that influencers are predominantly female. 

The number of sponsored Instagram posts is projected to reach 6.1 million in 2020.

(Statista)

Looking at the Instagram influencer marketing statistics throughout the past several years, a trend can be seen regarding the number of sponsored posts. It is constantly on the rise, although not at the 100% rate we’ve seen from 2016 to 2017. In 2019, there were 4.95 million sponsored posts on Instagram, and in 2020 this number is expected to rise by more than a million.

A study from April 2018 found out that more than half of influencers use Instagram Stories as their preferred outreach method.

(eMarketer)

Instagram Stories were introduced in August 2016 and gave users a chance to create posts that only last for 24 hours. It is a great customer acquisition method because it allows influencers to reach people who don’t already follow them.

25% of all sponsored posts on Instagram are fashion-related, while food takes second place.

(Business Insider)

We’ve already mentioned how the influencer marketing industry revolves around beauty tips and lifestyle instructions, so it makes sense that fashion represents a quarter of all Instagram sponsored posts. 

Micro-influencers with fewer than 100,000 followers are responsible for the majority of posts on Instagram.

(Socialbakers)

Nearly a third of all profiles on Instagram belong to so-called micro-influencers, who can have anywhere from 2,000 to 100,000 followers. The interesting thing about influencer culture is the fact that there’s room for everyone. In fact, top Instagram influencers with over a million followers only make up 1% of all accounts on the platform.

97% of marketers plan on using Instagram for their influencer campaigns in 2020.

(Linqia)

Instagram has finally overtaken Facebook as the most popular influencer platform. Not only are Instagram posts sitting at the top spot, but Stories are also making their way up – 83% of marketers are planning to pour their budgets into promoting their products with Stories produced by influencers. The reason? Vertical video. For 55% of marketers, vertical video will play a key role in 2020 campaigns.

YouTube Influencer Stats

10 brands spent $1 million each on sponsoring YouTube videos.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

“This video is sponsored by…” You know the drill. Sponsored video segments, basically ads that are embedded into the video, are turning to be quite an investment for certain brands. These famous words were most commonly spoken for SkillShare, Squarespace, Nord VPN, Blue Chew, and DLive.

Brands spent more than $90 million on YouTube influencers during Q1 2020.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

During the first quarter of 2020, more than 1,300 brands were spending money on sponsored content on YouTube. In total, there were 5,680 videos produced, amassing 704 million views.

On average, advertisers spent $16,011 on each sponsored YouTube video.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

While sponsorships with top YouTube influencers don’t come cheap, the growth of micro and macro influencers lead to a wide variety of pricing tiers. Looking at the numbers during Q1 2020, we can see what amount of money on average is needed for each influencer campaign on the platform. In the future, analysts predict that YouTubers at or below 100,000 subscribers could be the biggest driving force for marketing campaigns.

Epic Games was the biggest spender in the first half of 2020 with a campaign worth $10.6 million.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

The gaming powerhouse Epic Games, the owners of Fortnite and Epic Games Store, had a way bigger marketing budget for YouTube than anyone else. Sitting in second place is Bang Energy with $7.7 million, while SkillShare comes in third with $3 million in sponsored content expenses. Gaming is huge on YouTube and, with the world’s most popular game under its belt, Epic knew the value of promoting on this platform.

Four in 10 millennial consumers feel that their favorite YouTube influencer understands them better than friends or family.

(ThinkWithGoogle)

While these statistics might appear worrying, they certainly fit with the whole concept of influencers. Marketing to teens nowadays boils down to promoting normal, down-to-earth, relatable figures who understand what young people are interested in. That’s why millennial influencers are so effective. Because of that, teens, millennials, and other younger demographics feel a strong connection to them.

Half of YouTube’s top 10 earning stars are gamers.

(Forbes)

Industry statistics reveal that some of the most influential YouTubers on the platform are gamers. This reflects the continuous growth of the gaming industry, which is expanding rapidly. In an effort to compete with websites like Twitch, YouTube has also introduced streaming, which has further helped gaming channels gain prominence.

18% of users are influenced by YouTube when it comes to their purchases.

(Shane Barker)

YouTube is one of the biggest and most popular online platforms for product reviews. There are thousands of channels specializing in unboxing videos and hands-on reviews, all of which give potential customers a better feel for the product than written reviews. Influencers who create reviews often make deals with YouTube influencer marketing, in which they get free products, or even cash, in exchange for their reviews.

YouTube has the best engagement rate, ranging from 4% to 6.7%.

(CreatorIQ)

YouTube is a platform designed to drive engagement. Either by involving viewers in the discussion or by them sharing and liking videos, the drive to engage with content is inherently higher than on any other platform. Data from 2016 to 2019 demonstrates that Twitter has the lowest engagement rate, with 0.17% or lower depending on the audience size.

User Statistics You Should Know

49% of users rely on influencer recommendations for purchases.

(ION)

Online bloggers are so influential that almost half of users on the web rely on their recommendations when deciding to make a purchase. This shows that influencers are at least as important as all those hard-working marketers out there.

Influencer marketing statistics show that young people (ages 18-34) are more likely to buy a product endorsed by an influencer than one endorsed by a celebrity.

(Marketing Charts)

About 10 years ago, the go-to stars for product promotion were actors, musicians, sportspeople, and other celebrities. Nowadays, it’s all about influencers who seem a lot more trustworthy and relatable. Indeed, 22% of young people trust influencers’ choices, compared to just 9% who trust celebrities.

94% of users think authenticity and transparency are essential.

(Marketing Charts)

Authenticity and transparency are two of the most important traits in celebrity influencers. If they want to keep their followers, these social gurus need to be original, cultivate their own voice, and make sure that their behavior is completely transparent. This is the best way to earn their audience’s trust and respect.

19% of consumers rely on Facebook influencers when they purchase products.

(Shane Barker)

Statistics show that 19% of users turn to Facebook influencers for advice regarding product purchases. Although the platform is now less popular than its sister network, Instagram, it is still the preferred platform for thousands of influencer marketing companies.

What About Twitter?

You’ve probably noticed that we’ve mentioned pretty much every major social media platform except for Twitter. So, who are Twitter’s biggest influencers? What are some of the most interesting Twitter followers statistics?

Unfortunately, a lot of Twitter statistics revolve around the company’s own reports and estimates. Twitter seems to be desperately looking for a way into the world of real influencer marketing, even though the platform is inherently restricted by its 280-character limit for tweets.