Influencer Marketing Statistics – Is It Still Relevant in 2024?

The rise of social media gave us the opportunity to make our opinions widely known.

Many took this chance seriously.

This is how influencers were born.

Before we start with influencer marketing statistics, there’s something important we need to talk about first.

What is an influencer?

There is a distinction between influencers and celebrities. Celebrities are singers, actors, models and whatever Kim Kardashian is up to these days. Influencers, on‌ ‌the‌ ‌other‌ ‌hand, are bloggers, vloggers, streamers and all that jazz.

Celebrities can be used for influencer marketing and some influencers do become celebrities, but the distinction stands.

Now that we’ve covered that, let’s see why influencer marketing is so huge right now.

Whopping Influencer Marketing Stats

• 49% of customers admit they listen to influencers.
• 87% of people admit they’ve made a purchase because an influencer prompted them to.
• 90% of marketers say their influencer marketing ROI is equal to or better than the ROI of their other marketing initiatives.
• For every dollar spent on influencer marketing, businesses receive $6.50.
• 39% of marketers plan an increase in their influencer marketing budget.
• Influencer marketing is expected to become a $10 billion industry by 2020.
• 99.3% of businesses use Instagram for their influencer marketing campaigns.

Got your attention?

Read on to find out more!

Influencing the Masses

1. 49% of customers admit they listen to influencers.

(Source: Digital Marketing Institute)

• 70% of teens value the opinion of influencers more than the recommendations of traditional celebrities.
• 86% of women go on social media to seek advice for purchases.
• 37% of consumers value the authenticity of the influencers’ opinions in sponsored posts.

It is obvious that influencers have the power to form people’s opinions. Why is that?

Well, influencers have credibility. Almost no one nowadays trusts celebrities. Their photos in magazines are constantly photoshopped and they’re often the faces of products and brands they don’t even use. Most of the things they do are for the sake of PR.

Even on Instagram, celebrity endorsements are losing their power.

Influencers, on the other hand, share their genuine opinions. At least most of the time, anyway. They’re not scared to admit they don’t like certain products. This is why people trust them.

2. 87% of people admit they’ve made a purchase because an influencer prompted them to.

(Source: SocialMediaToday)

• Almost 40% of Twitter users admit they’ve purchased something because an influencer tweeted about it.
• 6 in 10 Youtube users would rather listen to the recommendations of their favorite YouTuber than those of their favorite TV or music star.
• It is probably because 25% of influencers would refuse to work with a business that has too restrictive guidelines.

It’s all about genuine credibility. People are sick and tired of fake commercials and false advertising. If an influencer is dishonest, he or she risks losing their followers. Most of them – those who didn’t buy into the gig – spend years trying to build their followers base. Keeping it is a top priority.

Don’t risk trying to convince an influencer to market something they’re not sure about. They’ll either reject your offer or their audience will sense the dishonesty. In the second scenario, both the influencer and you will be on the losing end.

The Marketing Side of Things

3. 90% of marketers say their influencer marketing ROI is equal to or better than the ROI of their other marketing initiatives.

(Source: BigCommerce)

• 67% of marketers promote their content with the help of influencers.
• However, measuring the exact ROI turns out to be quite a challenge.
• 90% of marketers have found that measuring engagement is the easiest way.

Influencer marketing ROI is such that you can’t help but pay attention. Just look at those influencer marketing statistics! However, the actual measuring part can be tricky. Don’t let that discourage you though – influencers will be helpful for your campaign.

4. For every dollar spent on influencer marketing, businesses receive $6.50.

(Source: Influencer Marketing Hub)

• The top-ranking businesses get $20 or above.
• 17% of businesses spend more than half of their overall budget on working with influencers.
• 22% of marketers point to influencer marketing as the most cost-effective strategy to get new customers.

You’ve surely asked yourself if it is all worth it. Those influencer marketing stats should put things in perspective.

Most businesses have seen the positive outcome of betting on influencers. They’re even planning on spending more money on those types of campaigns.

5. 39% of marketers plan an increase in their influencer marketing budget.

(Source: TRIBE)

• 84% of businesses intend to work with social media personalities for their next campaigns.
• 93% of marketers plan to spend more than $10K to work with influencers.
• 67.6% of marketers think that finding relevant influences for their campaign is their biggest challenge.

The sea of influencers is vast and endless. This allows you greater choice, but can also be confusing if you don’t know what you want.

Beauty influencers marketing energy drinks just doesn’t seem right. But it does sound like a fitness guru’s cup of tea. Know your audience and get familiar with their favorite social media personalities.

6. Influencer marketing is expected to become a $10 billion industry by 2020.

(Source: Digital Marketing Institute)

• 28% of businesses point to influencer marketing as the fastest-developing customer-acquisition channel online.
• 69.4% of influencers chose this path to earn revenue.
• How much is the influencer market worth? $1.7 billion.

While a few years ago “internet personality” didn’t seem like a real job, nowadays it most certainly is. A profitable one, at that.

So ha-ha, mom.

You see influencers on basically every social media channel. While it did start as a fun hobby for some, these days the majority of the new wave are in it for the money.

And the new wave is already here. More and more people are proclaiming themselves to be a digital influencer. Especially on Instagram, which seems to be everybody’s favorite platform.

One Social Media to Rule Them All

7. 99.3% of businesses use Instagram for their influencer marketing campaigns.

(Source: Influencer Marketing Hub)

• It is, after all, the fastest growing social media network.
• Users share 95 million photos and videos on Instagram on a daily basis.
• 77% of fashion micro-influencers say they prefer Instagram over other social media platforms.

Social media influencer marketing is the big thing in the last few years. But which social media exactly rules them all?

Digital marketing facts point to Instagram as the favorite social media platform of the masses.

Gone are the days where Facebook ruled the world. Instagram might even outshine YouTube. It offers everything – photos, videos, stories, IGTV.

You’re probably wondering – how many influencers are there on Instagram?

More than 500,000, apparently. So if your business is not on Instagram… what are you waiting for?

Wrapping Up

In case you’ve wondered if influencer marketing is still relevant, the short answer is a resounding yes.

Not only is it still going strong, but it’s not going anywhere soon. There’s a flood of influencers on the market. Some of them are doing it for the money, some of them just want their voices to be heard.

It might be difficult to choose, and the risk of betting on the wrong one and flushing your marketing budget down the drain might seem a tad bit worrying. Still, the solution is so simple, it might actually blow your mind.

Find some influencers with interests close to your brand. You don’t need to choose the one with the most followers. Pay close attention to how many people like and comment on their content. More often than not, micro-influencers have a more devoted audience. They are also more educated about their niche.

Make sure they have a pleasant experience with your product or service. And boom! It’s raining money!

Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point.

Businesses are dedicating more and more of their budget to working with influencers.

You know how mothers say “If all of your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?” Following the masses, especially when it comes to marketing, doesn’t seem like a good idea to many. We all want to be different, special, and noticeable. But maybe just this time it wouldn’t be that bad to jump on the bandwagon.

If you’re still not sure, look at the numbers those influencer marketing stats provided. They really tell the whole story better than words can.

Well, that’s all for today.

Hopefully, you found those influencer marketing statistics interesting and informative. Till next time!