The use of social media influencers in advertising is on the rise.
More and more companies are adopting the practise of using influencers as part of their marketing strategies, and as a result, the popularity of this strategy has risen quickly. Funding has been increasing alongside the technique’s rising popularity. In numbers, it looks like this:
1. 66% of companies are planning to allocate more funds to influencer marketing.
Two conclusions can be drawn from this: first, the value of influencer marketing is becoming increasingly apparent, and second, marketers are becoming increasingly comfortable employing it. There is a lot to be gained from this approach, even accounting for the money that can be lost on fake influencers (which I will discuss in more detail below).
2. According to a report that serves as a standard for the industry,
Two-fifths of those polled plan to allocate at least 20% of their 2019 marketing budget to this channel.
This is a staggering sum of money for such a novel field of advertising. They aren’t putting 100% of their faith in this, but they seem to be optimistic. After all, it’s a significant investment to risk losing.
Similarly, this survey tells us:
3. Rather than hire an outside firm, 77% of respondents rely on their own staff to manage their influencer campaigns.
In contrast to using an agency, 77% of respondents said they manage their influencer campaigns internally.
One possible explanation is the widespread apprehension that middlemen are more susceptible to being duped by dishonest influencers. That’s important because agencies care about their reputations, but they don’t get paid until they find a good match. Legitimate businesses will take precautions to safeguard their names, but fraudulent ones can use corrupt government agencies as a useful tool. Buyer beware, as always.
Additionally, a survey found that
4. 93% of marketers have used influencer marketing.
Ninety-three percent of marketers say they’ve used influencer marketing.
We can see that whether or not marketers use influencers heavily, they are experimenting with the strategy. Influencer marketing has the potential to become one of the most significant developments in recent marketing history, though its importance will vary widely depending on the industry and the specifics of your marketing objectives.
In fact, it’s becoming an essential component of marketing plans across all sectors.
5. The market for marketing to influential people is growing rapidly.
There is always room for improvement when it comes to marketing any type of business. In the end, there are plenty of competitors who would be happy to take your potential client’s cash if you didn’t. The ability to select influencers who already exist within or are attractive to your target market is perhaps the greatest benefit of using them. In the construction industry, for instance, it could help to have an influencer who is a general contractor in order to sell building supplies. Marketing cosmetics to the young consumer market? Decide on a role model who is the same age as you. Is the business you’re serving a home improvement firm? It could be helpful to have recommendations from influential local homeowners.
This marketing strategy is effective, which is why:
The amount of money spent on influencer marketing will hit $15 billion in 2022.
Spending is expected to increase from the meagre $2.5 billion in 2020 to this year.
More than $32 billion will be spent on influencer marketing by businesses worldwide in 2023, according to a recent study.
More than $32 billion will be spent on influencer marketing by businesses around the world in 2023.
That’s some serious expansion!
The return on investment for influencer marketing is quite high.
Although it can be done, calculating the return on investment for influencer marketing can be trickier than for other strategies. It can be difficult to attribute a sale to a specific influencer marketing effort. Links within the influencer-produced or –promoted content, influencer-specific discount codes (often used in conjunction with affiliate marketing), customer surveys, and monitoring customer engagement with the content are all examples of how this can be done.