Influencer Marketing Statistics - How Big Is It in 2023?

The global influencer marketing value has doubled, reaching 16.4 billion from 2019 to 2022. 

Companies and marketers have increased their spending on social media marketing, and at the current growth rate, it will reach $87 billion by 2027.

Due to the heavy reliance of users on influencers when making purchasing decisions, influencer marketing is now part of social media marketing strategies. 

Influencer marketing is a new tool focusing on content-driven digital campaigns. These campaigns are often collaborations between brands and influencers. 

Know more about how effective influencer marketing is as a tool for strengthening brands’s visibility and boosting reach and engagement. 

What Is an Influencer?

Influencers, specifically social media influencers, can influence people’s purchase decisions because of their knowledge or authority. They have a following in a specific niche, such as fashion, food, fitness, photography, etc. 

Types of Influencers

Influencers are at the heart of the industry; without them, it simply wouldn’t exist. 

Whether you’ll need a micro-influencer or a macro-influencer depends on your business's nature and target audience.

There are several types based on the size of their audience. Let’s take Instagram influencers (also known as “Instagrammers”) as an example:

• Micro-influencers have roughly 5,000 and 25,000 followers.
• Small influencers have between 25,000 and 100,000 followers.
• Big influencers have between 100,000 and one million followers.
• Macro-influencers have between one and seven million followers.
• Celebrity influencers have more than seven million followers.

 

How Much Is the Influencer Market Worth?

The influencer market has been growing consistently since 2015.

1. The influencer marketing industry will be worth $24.1 billion by 2025.

(Markets and Markets)

The market will grow by a CAGR of 32% by 2025. According to influencer marketing growth stats, that will mark an increase of $18.1 billion between 2020 and 2025.

The market witnessed remarkable growth from $1.7 billion in 2016 to $9.7 billion in 2020. It further surged to $13.8 billion in 2021, demonstrating consistent growth. 

 

Influencer marketing market size worldwide (2016 - 2022)

Table source from Statista

Popular Platforms Used by Influencers

Influencer marketing takes place on a variety of digital platforms and channels. Influencers use their social media accounts to advertise products and services.

Check out these stats to know more.

2. Instagram is the most-used influencer marketing platform in the United States.

(Statista)

In 2021, Instagram emerged as the top influencer marketing platform among marketers in the United States. Nearly 68% of advertisers use it for influencer campaigns. In 2019, 83% of consumers claimed they discovered new products and services on Instagram. 

Following closely behind was Facebook, which was used by 52% of marketers as an influencer marketing platform, while TikTok secured the third position with 42%.

TikTok surpassed YouTube as an influencer marketing platform and was projected to experience a further rise in popularity over the years. Marketers projected an increase from 36% in 2020 to 54.9% in 2025.

Leading platforms used by marketers

3. 16% of social influencers worldwide use blogs as their primary social media platform.

(Statista)

A few years ago, blogs were all the rage. Plenty of influencers still use them. Blogs give greater freedom in how an influencer delivers sponsored content.

4. 28.7% of US customers follow at least one influencer on YouTube.

(Statista)

In a 2022 survey, researchers found that nearly a third of Americans follow at least one influencer on YouTube. Given its potency as a content creation platform, 75 million YouTube users actively create content on the app. 

The second most popular platform was the Gram, with 28.4%. TikTok took third place with 20.5%, according to social media influencer statistics.

5. Only 2% of social influencers worldwide used Facebook as their primary social media platform for brand collaborations.

(Statista)

Facebook’s reputation has suffered as a result of some so-called “fake news” scandals in 2016-2018. For its younger, flashier sibling, Instagram, young people are leaving it in droves.

In the US, 67% of adult users say they’ve encountered false information on social media. 

I believe that the future of SEO will be highly tied in with influencer marketing. Hear me out:

More and more SERP features are highlighting individual experience. Short videos. Perspectives. Knowledge graphs. Author carousels. Testing author names in Top Stories. 🧵

— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) August 21, 2023

The Rise and Rise of Instagram

Instagram is the most strategically important media channel for influencer marketing by a huge margin. Millennial consumer statistics suggest that the platform is a major trendsetter.

These stats will show the rise of Instagram as the major trendsetter. 

6. Influencer marketing campaign spending will reach $5 billion by 2023. 

(Insider Intelligence, Business of Apps)

Spending on influencer marketing has reached $16.4 billion in 2022. According to projections, it’ll grow by 11.5%, approaching $6.16 billion in 2023. 

In a 2019 research, 89% of brand marketers claimed they get higher ROI from influencer marketing than other digital marketing channels. 

The increased usage of the top platforms for influencer marketing, such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, also contributed to the enormous spending. 

7. The most effective Instagram posts have 3 to 4 hashtags.

(Statista)

Statistics about influencer marketing reveal that 3-4 hashtags give the highest impression rate of 3.41%. Posts with 17-18 hashtags provide the least engagement, with 3.02%. 

Using hashtags is helpful for brands and marketers. For example, users put hashtags on their bio, post, story, or reel, and their uses depend on types and campaigns. 

8. 4 out of 5 brands use IG for influencer marketing. 

(Influence Marketing Hub, Business.com)

 

Instagram is a vital influence marketing channel for 79% of brands. This number has increased by 11% since 2020. 

Brands prefer to advertise on Instagram due to its high engagement rates. Given the diverse content present on Instagram, it allows brands to enhance their visibility and connect with their target audience in every product niche. 

Instagram also provides valuable insights about consumer activity and post analytics, which give brands an overview of how their campaigns and advertisements have performed. 

9. Video content will drive the most traffic in 2022 and beyond.

(Tinuiti, Wyzowl)

In 2023, 91% of businesses use video content as marketing materials, and 96% of marketers value video as an 'important part' of their marketing strategy. 

Companies create social media videos, explainers, presentations, testimonials, video ads, and teaser videos.

Marketers can leverage video content to tell stories and allow their audience to connect emotionally with the brand's advocacies and purposes. As Seth Godin once said, 

10. Cristiano Ronaldo is the top-earning celebrity on Instagram.

(The National News)

With 604 million followers (as of September 9, 2023), Ronaldo earns a whopping $2.39 million per post. Kylie Jenner, who makes $1.83 million per sponsored post, follows Ronaldo.

Other celebrities who earn millions per post include: 

• Lionel Messi (1.77 million)
• Selena Gomez (1.73 million)
• Dwayne Johnson ($1.71 million)
• Kim Kardashian ($1.68 million)
• Ariana Grande ($1.68 million)

11. Most respondents aged 18-44 have purchased a product after seeing it used by influencers.

(Izea)

Influencers ensure they build meaningful relationships with their followers and target audience, which gain their trust and provide them credibility. 

Here’s an overview of how effective influencer marketing is according to age brackets: 

Response by age group

How Influencers Generate Revenue

Influencers earn in various ways from social media posts and engagements, such as brand collaborations, ad shares, revenues from their businesses and affiliate links, courses, advice from fans, and subscriptions. 

Know more about how influencers earn money through these statistics. 

12. Micro-influencers create 91% of engagement posts.

(Rock Content)

One might think that the big names bring in the big numbers. However, 91% of engagement posts come from micro-influencers – a 2% growth since 2020. 

13. ¼ of all sponsored posts on Instagram focus on fashion. 

(Social Shepherd)

 

25% of sponsored posts are about fashion, and 50% of Instagram users engage and follow fashion accounts. 

The fashion category is ahead of the food, baby, and entertainment niches. Given the effectiveness of visual content as a marketing tool, most influencers capitalize on this by posting fashion-inspired content that depicts a lifestyle that most consumers subscribe to. 

14. Brand ambassadors will be big in 2022.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

In 2022, brand ambassadorships are becoming increasingly prominent. Companies are adopting a continuous influencer marketing approach to maintain a consistent presence on various social media platforms.

Marketers can transform these thought leaders into genuine brand advocates by forging robust and enduring relationships. This involves partnering with individuals who possess a deep understanding of both the brand and its target audience.

15. The FTC sent 700 businesses warnings regarding inaccurate endorsements and reviews.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

In October 2021, the FTC sent hundreds of Notice of Penalty Offenses to advertisers, companies, and retailers. The warnings stated that each violation could cost up to $43 792 in fines.

Statistics on Brand Marketers

Brand marketers are increasingly realizing the great potential of influencer marketing. Its significant contribution to their marketing campaigns cannot be denied. 

Here are some of the figures to show how influencers create an impact in brand campaigns:

16. 5% of brands state they’ll spend half of their advertising budgets on influencer marketing in 2022.

(Influencer Marketing Hub, Statusphere)

77% planned to include it in their overall marketing budget. 28% said they would allocate between 30% and 40% to it.

More brands allocate budget for influencer marketing because it allows them to generate ad-ready content, raise their brand identity, earn impressions and meaningful engagements, produce lifestyle imagery, and drive web traffic to their sites or storefronts. 

17.  92% believe influencer marketing is an effective form of marketing.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

92% of respondents expressed confidence in influencer marketing as a valid marketing approach. It would be insightful to understand whether the 8% who were skeptical about its effectiveness had a negative experience or simply hadn't tried it.

18. With 81%, content quality was the number one factor for brand marketers when picking the right influencers.

(ReputationX)

If you’re considering becoming an influencer, this is one of the most crucial stats. Ensure you bring your A-game to the field – otherwise, influencer marketing companies will simply ignore you, and marketers will move on.

As David Alston describes it,

19. 42.3% of brands determine the success of influencer marketing by conversions and sales.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

Brand marketers measure the success of a marketing campaign through the number of likes, positive comments, and queries. It is vital to see the engagement of every post and assess whether it has reached its target audience. 

Influencer marketing success stats reveal that 42% of brands say influencer campaign conversions determine their effectiveness. 32.5% evaluate success based on clicks, while 29% check views, reach, and impressions.

20. 48% of brand marketers named audience relationships as the most important factor when running influencer campaigns.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

 

This is why a larger following does not necessarily translate into higher profits. Micro influencer stats show influencers with a few thousand followers tend to share more direct recommendations. What’s more, they’re usually better value for money.

89% of marketers say building brand awareness effectively draws people’s attention and strengthens customer relationships. 

21. 36% of brand marketers said recruiting influencers is their biggest challenge in influencer campaigns.

(Influencer Marketing Hub)

This may seem surprising at first, given the large and constantly growing number of influencers out and about. 

Here’s the thing: Many influencers will not work with a brand they feel ambivalent about. What’s more, if you’re engaging micro-influencers – as opposed to a key influencer with an outsized influence – you’ll likely need a host of them.

22. ½ of businesses that use influencer marketing have trouble detecting fake followers.

(Startupbonsai)

10% of followers on Instagram are bots. These fake accounts follow influencers, artificially pumping up their numbers. 

IG introduced machine learning tools to help wipe out fake profiles in 2018. However, 50% of businesses still struggle with weeding them out in 2022.

Wrap up

Brands and marketers now leverage influencer marketing to promote their products and services and build meaningful customer relationships. 

Influencer marketing has become an integral part of social media strategies as many people depend on the opinions of thought leaders and influencers in their decision-making processes. 

The statistics above show that influencer marketing is growing by leaps and bounds as a multi-dollar industry. Also,  Instagram is the leading platform of choice for influencers and marketers. And sponsored content and sponsored social media posts are the two primary sources of revenue for over two-thirds of influencers.