As social media has become a more integrated part of our lives, influencer marketing has exploded. Find out 20 of the most surprising influencer marketing statistics to see if you should use it as part of your marketing strategy.

20 Surprising Influencer Marketing Statistics

20-influencer-marketing-statistics-that-will-surprise-you

[[p]]As social media has become a more integrated part of our lives, influencer marketing has exploded.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]People are turning to their favorite Instagram stars, Twitter personalities, TikTokers and YouTubers for advice and recommendations on purchasing decisions. Plus there are [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/10-of-the-hottest-alternative-social-media-platforms" target="_blank"]]alternative social media platforms[[/a]] on the up such as [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/a-guide-to-marketing-on-threads" target="_blank"]]Threads[[/a]], Rednote, and [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/what-is-bluesky-how-can-marketers-use-it" target="_blank"]]Bluesky[[/a]].&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]These new influencers are more relatable than traditional celebrities. After all, countries across the globe are using social media platforms in one form or another. And, since more people are joining social media networks every day, companies have realized they can leverage these platforms for marketing.[[/p]]

[[p]]Social media has given normal people an opportunity to build their own brand through stimulating content and engagement. But to get the most out of any influencer you may use, it&rsquo;s crucial to [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/influencer-marketing-guide" target="_blank"]]build an influencer marketing strategy[[/a]].[[/p]]

[[p]]Influencer marketing is a powerful brand-boosting force, and here we&rsquo;re going to find out more about it with our guide on the latest insights.[[/p]]

[[p]]As the adoption of autonomous technologies across sectors continues to rise, an increasing number of brands and marketers&nbsp;use&nbsp;[[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/influencer-marketing-and-ai" target="_blank"]]AI for influencer marketing[[/a]].[[/p]]

[[p]]Statista reports that&nbsp;38% of marketing professionals use&nbsp;AI&nbsp;for influencer marketing on a limited basis while another 22%&nbsp;use&nbsp;AI extensively. In addition, AI integration improves campaign outcomes for 66% of marketers, according to Influencer Marketing Hub.[[/p]]

[[p]]As AI adoption continues to rise, we expect to see it used more widely for influencer marketing purposes in the coming years.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]This [[a href="https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/social-selling" target="_blank"]]LinkedIn statistic[[/a]]&nbsp;should be important to any brand wondering whether to invest more of their budgets in social media and influencer marketing. Social media platforms are pivotal when it comes to building trust, offering brand value, and showcasing your products&rsquo; key USPs. By working with the right influencers in your niche, you stand to grow your audience, cut through the noise, and sell more products.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]To encourage creators that dream of making a living from TikTok by using their unique voice and creativity, the platform launched the [[a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/introducing-the-200-million-tiktok-creator-fund" target="_blank"]]TikTok Creator Fund[[/a]] in 2020. Following controversy about its skewed payment model and low rates of remuneration, the platform has now launched the TikTok Creative Platform Beta across several nations, including the U.K, U.S, France, Brazil, Korea, Japan, and Germany.[[/p]]

[[p]]While in its infancy, the platform promises to offer fair rewards and a more flexible payment model to its top content creators&mdash;and this initiative is likely to attract droves of new influencers across niches.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]As a highly influential social media channel among young digital natives, [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/an-in-depth-look-at-marketing-on-tiktok" target="_blank"]]TikTok[[/a]] is now the most popular social media channel for branded marketing content. Around 66% of brands&nbsp;use TikTok for their influencer marketing efforts, compared to 47% on Instagram and 33% on YouTube according to [[a href="https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-benchmark-report/" target="_blank"]]The State of Influencer Marketing 2024: Benchmark Report[[/a]].[[/p]]

[[p]]However, since a threatened ban in the US&nbsp;the platform has experienced&nbsp;a 17.2% drop in marketers&rsquo; investment intentions. This may see marketers looking to other platforms for influencer marketing with so much uncertainty around the platform.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]With a consistently healthy engagement rate of 18% for U.S influencers using TikTok reported [[a href="https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-benchmark-report-2021/" target="_blank"]]Influencer Marketing Hub[[/a]]. This percentage is higher than most other popular social media platforms, including YouTube (0.51% engagement rate) and Instagram (2.39% engagement rate). A sure-fire reason to invest in TikTok-based influencer marketing.[[/p]]

[[p]]60% of marketers plan to increase their influencer marketing spend in 2024. In addition, businesses earn $5.78 for each dollar spent on influencers, with some seeing as much as $18. That&#39;s a significant return on investment in anyone&rsquo;s book. In terms of influencer channels, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter are cited as the most effective platforms according to Influencer Marketing Hub.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]It&#39;s becoming more important than ever to build relationships with influencers who resonate with your brand and to create campaigns that are aligned with the values of an influencer&#39;s followers. In addition, a whopping [[a href="https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-benchmark-report/" target="_blank"]]85% of marketers[[/a]] state that influencer marketing is helping them with their customer acquisition efforts.&nbsp;&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]According to The State Of Influencer Marketing Report, Fashion &amp; Beauty is the most popular vertical for influencer marketing, with at least 21.6% using it as part of their core strategy. The [[a href="https://www.kolsquare.com/en/blog/top-10-most-mentioned-fashion-brands-by-influencers" target="_blank"]]top ten most mentioned fashion brands[[/a]] by influencers are Zara, Shein, H&amp;M, NA-KD, Pretty Little Thing, and ASOS. Gaming closely follows in terms of popularity, with 11.9% of brands investing more in their influencer marketing efforts.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]More brands and marketers are coming to realize the incredible results that influencer marketing can produce. But while&nbsp;76% of marketers plan to dedicate a budget to influencer marketing in 2025, it&#39;s a 10% decrease from the previous year which Influencer Marketing Hub believes is down to&nbsp;economic uncertainties&nbsp;and&nbsp;heightened scrutiny on ROI.[[/p]]

[[p]]This change could highlight&nbsp;how influencer marketing is transitioning from tactical, campaign-based activities to a strategic discipline that requires a larger share of overall marketing budgets.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]As an industry, influencer marketing has expanded exponentially over the past few years.[[strong]]&nbsp;[[/strong]]By the end of 2025,[[strong]]&nbsp;[[/strong]]the influencer marketing industry is projected to reach $32.55 billion, up from $21.1 billion in 2023 according to [[a href="https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-benchmark-report/" target="_blank"]]Influencer Marketing Hub&#39;s benchmark report[[/a]]&nbsp;as the industry witnesses massive&nbsp;growth and becomes a more effective marketplace.[[/p]]

[[p]]This growth means more widespread use and will require marketers to evolve their approach to influencer marketing in the way [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/resources/toolkits/influencer-marketing-brief-template" target="_blank"]]campaigns are measured[[/a]], create analytics to scale campaigns and look at how to manage relationships between brands and influencers.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]According to Meltwater&rsquo;s State of Social Media Report, most marketers like to work with a small pool of between one and 10 influencers within their industry or niche. In addition, nano-influencers accounted for 76% of Instagram&rsquo;s influencer base in 2024 reported&nbsp;Influencer Marketing Hub.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]This suggests that building water-tight, long-lasting relationships with influencers that offer genuine value (in terms of brand growth, increased conversions, and customer acquisition) offers the best ROI&nbsp;in today&rsquo;s landscape.[[/p]]

[[p]]Not only is influencer marketing&nbsp;one of the world&rsquo;s most effective forms of digital marketing, but Google searches for the term in the U.K alone have skyrocketed by 400% since 2016 according to [[a href="https://www.adobe.com/uk/express/learn/blog/uk-influencer-marketing-trends" target="_blank"]]Adobe[[/a]]. This is a testament to the brand-boosting power, value and enduring value this powerful digital marketing medium continues to offer.[[/p]]

[[p]]More and more Internet users are removing traditional ads from their online experience. In the US ad-blocking usage is 37% on laptops and 15% on mobile reported [[a href="https://backlinko.com/ad-blockers-users" target="_blank"]]Backlinko[[/a]], as consumers are tired of being hammered with pop-ups and banners. But influencers are now filling the gap. People aren&#39;t blocking videos from their favorite social media celebrities - in fact, they&#39;re eating up every word they say. Advertising power is shifting to real people and influencers.[[/p]]

[[p]]Spending on influencers has increased over the past few years, and it&#39;s only going to rise. Many budgets for influencer marketing are on the rise, with 20.9% of marketers expected to invest an average of $1,000-$10,000, followed by 22.8%&nbsp; spending $100,000 to $500,000 in multifaceted campaigns reported [[a href="https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/how-much-do-brands-spend-on-influencer-marketing" target="_blank"]]Oberlo[[/a]].[[/p]]

[[p]]It&rsquo;s true. [[a href="https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/resources/76-of-consumers-buy-products-seen-in-social-media-posts"]]76% of users[[/a]] across platforms intended to or have made a product purchase off the back of a social media post. Visual posts appear to be the most effective forms of social media content for conversions, with Pew Research finding that 4&nbsp;out of 10 consumers make&nbsp;a swift buying decision after engaging with an influencer marketing post.[[/p]]

[[p]]While Facebook is still the alpha dog, YouTube is snapping at its heels particularly when it comes to making millionaires of its influencers. The platform has made celebrities and influencers of regular people (think PewDiePie and Ryan&rsquo;s World), and fame is open to all age groups and demographics. There&#39;s something for everybody on YouTube, and marketers are taking notice by putting more money into influencer marketing on the platform.[[/p]]

[[p]]This changes the meaning of comparison shopping. According to research, 3% of consumers would consider buying a product in-store if promoted by a celebrity, compared to 60% for an influencer. Not only is the influence greater, but over half of customers are consulting blogs and social media on their mobile devices prior to shopping, highlighting the importance of easily accessible information and posts (social and blogs) to reveal a product&#39;s reputation.[[/p]]

[[p]]There are a wealth of insights to suggest that influencer marketing remains on the rise. With an ever-expanding pool of popular influencers to work with across niches, there&rsquo;s never been a better time to invest in this wildly impactful branch of digital marketing. And, these stats prove it.[[/p]]

[[p]]Let&#39;s take a look at some of the most eye-popping results of these studies.&nbsp;[[/p]]

[[p]]Here are 20 influencer marketing stats that will surprise you.[[/p]]

[[p]]It&#39;s extremely difficult for brands to build the same level of trust that influencers possess, but thanks to influencer marketing that trust can be transmitted to your brand. So much so that [[a href="https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2023/03/03/creators-we-trust-gen-z-s-loyalty-influencers" target="_blank"]]45% of European GenZers[[/a]] are more inclined to buy fashion items they&rsquo;ve seen influencers wear over traditional celebrities or their peers.[[/p]]

[[p]]In an age where there&rsquo;s a huge upsurge of Gen Zers using [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/is-tiktok-a-search-engine" target="_blank"]]TikTok as their primary search engine[[/a]], tapping into influencer marketing to appeal to these content-hungry digital natives by tapping into [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/youth-marketing" target="_blank"]]youth marketing trends[[/a]] only seems natural.&nbsp; Another effect of influencer marketing is that brands don&#39;t have to waste resources promoting themselves, and instead use influencers to speak on their behalf and deliver the message they want people to hear and trust.[[/p]]

Top 10 most mentioned fashion brands by influencers

[[p]]Influencer marketing campaigns should not be a one-and-done proposition. They are a valuable ongoing strategy in a marketer&#39;s toolkit, with&nbsp;80% of marketers affirm influencer marketing as a highly effective strategy[[strong]]&nbsp;[[/strong]]reported Influencer Marketing Hub, showing that influencers can boost a campaign.[[/p]]

[[p]]So if you can partner with them and create a long-term relationship, making them ambassadors of your brand, the message they portray comes across as more trusted instead of promotional. It helps to boost your brand&#39;s credibility if you&#39;re seen as trusted by an influencer.[[/p]]

[[p]]It&rsquo;s better late than never when it comes to developing an influencer marketing campaign. Make the most out of each social media platform by learning new strategies and techniques with a fully certified and industry-recognized [[a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/students/courses/professional-diploma-in-social-media-marketing" target="_blank"]]Social Media Marketing course[[/a]]. It&rsquo;s time to get influential![[/p]]

[[p]]This statistic from [[a href="https://www.marketingdive.com/news/influencer-marketing-success-matter-study-2023/643310/" target="_blank"]]Matter Communications[[/a]]&nbsp;demonstrates the growing importance of social media influencers for brands to connect with their audiences. If consumers feel confident about an influencer&#39;s recommendation, they are more likely to make a purchase, and even make repeat purchases. Brands are able to piggyback on the trust of influencers.[[/p]]

Use this template to help you create a list of influencers that can help raise brand awareness and generate leads...

20 Surprising Influencer Marketing Statistics

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