The Remarkable Rise of Influencer Marketing [Infographic]

We recently conducted an online survey to help us understand how companies see the state of influencer marketing in 2017. The results are definitely optimistic, indicating that influencer marketing is truly mainstream, on an upwards trajectory as a preferred method of marketing.

Here are the key results from our Influencer Marketing Hub 2017 Study, along with a few other relevant recent statistics.

See the updated stats and data from the largest influencer professional survey ever conducted:

2020 Influencer Marketing Hub Benchmark Report - Click Here


Summary: Quick Jump Menu


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Results from online Survey


Huge increase in searches for “influencer marketing”

There has been a 325% increase in searches for the phrase “influencer marketing” on Google alone over the last 12 months. Clearly it is a now a hot topic, and this is leading to more people wanting to educate themselves about influencer marketing, as well as find influencer marketing platforms and agencies.


Influencer Marketing Focused Platforms and Agencies have more than doubled in two years

Influencer marketing has become sufficiently mainstream that companies are continually setting up platforms to help the influencer search and selection process, as well as making the system more transparent and easier for both brands and influencers. Quite a few agencies have now opened that specialize in providing influencer marketing services. Not wishing to lose clients, quite a few traditional agencies have added influencer marketing to the services they offer.


Influencer marketing is the fastest-growing online customer-acquisition method

When asked to rank their fastest-growing online customer-acquisition methods, 28% named influencer marketing as number 1. This is nearly double those who focused on organic search, and nearly 10x more important than those who concentrate on affiliate marketing.


High average earned media value per $1 spent on Influencer Marketing

Businesses are receiving $7.65 on average for each $1 they spend on influencer marketing. The top 15% are actually receiving more than $20 for every influencer dollar spent, although 25% are either losing money or just breaking even.


Many firms now budget for both influencer marketing and content marketing

Content marketing is now so firmly established that 57% of marketers have stand-alone budgets for it. Influencer marketing is sufficiently mainstream that more than a third of responding forms now budget for this, too.


The majority of firms intend to increase their influencer marketing budget

Companies clearly see influencer marketing as a direction where they intend to head, with two third of respondents planning to increase their influencer marketing budget, and only 4% of firms deciding to move away from it.


Most marketers judge influencer marketing to be effective

Marketers and brands clearly believe in the effectiveness of influencer marketing, and this has led to an explosion of new content created over the last year. The signs are clear that this will continue into the future.


Instagram Insights


Huge numbers of photos, videos and likes on Instagram every day

Instagram has seen an explosion of use over the last few years. The idea that its users post 95 million photos and videos, and like 4.2 billion posts every day is mind boggling.


Instagram has seen huge growth in support over the last four years

Instagram has certainly not suffered from being bought by Facebook. There has been a 600% increase in Instagram users during the Facebook era, with over 700 million active users currently.


Influencer #followers vary greatly by niche on Instagram

There is a surprising variation in the number of followers that Instagram influencers have, with a few niches, such as modelling and beauty, having some extremely popular influencers who have up to 20 million followers each. Other niches, such as lifestyle and music, have less “superstars”, leading to lower average influencer followings.


Instagram Influencer Marketing spending growing at a rapid rate

The overall increase in influencer marketing, and the growing importance of Instagram as a highly visible social media channel, has lead to a large increase in brands spending money on influencers operating there. Marketers expect this trend to continue into 2018.


Number of Brand-Sponsored Influencer posts growing almost exponentially

With increased brand awareness of influencer marketing, coupled with tighter regulations regarding advertising transparency, we have seen a phenomenal growth in sponsored influencer posts. These posts trebled between 2015 and 2017, and are expected to almost double again over the next year.


Instagram engagement rates much higher than those on Twitter

Possibly because of the fact that an Instagram post sticks around for a while, yet a tweet can quickly vanish into a user’s feed, Instagram posts tend to give higher engagement rates than tweets. With both social media channels, influencers with fewer followers find it easier to build up a high engagement rate than those with more followers. In both channels, those with fewer than 1,000 followers have engagement rates about 5x greater than those with more than 100,000 followers.

About the Author
With over 15 years in content marketing, Werner founded Influencer Marketing Hub in 2016. He successfully grew the platform to attract 5 million monthly visitors, making it a key site for brand marketers globally. His efforts led to the company's acquisition in 2020. Additionally, Werner's expertise has been recognized by major marketing and tech publications, including Forbes, TechCrunch, BBC and Wired.