Influencer marketing involves a partnership between popular social media users who have a strong following and brands to promote their products or services effectively (McKinsey&Company, 2023). Influencer marketing effectively reaches the younger Gen Z generation born between 1995 and 2010. In 2019, Gen Zers were on social media for an average of 2 hours and 55 minutes a day (Viens, 2019).

The higher the number of followers, the more an influencer can be paid to collaborate with a brand. It is often said that brands resort to influencer marketing because it benefits all parties involved – the brand, the influencers, and the consumers (McKinsey&Company, 2023). Collaborating with influencers can bring a brand a sense of authenticity, credibility, awareness, and trust (Brandbassador, n.d.).

One downfall of influencer marketing is that hiring influencers with a large audience is costly, so typically, only larger brands can take advantage. For smaller brands, another type of influencer marketing is available: a micro-influencer. A micro-influencer allows small or local businesses to benefit from collaborating with influencers who have a smaller but more targeted following, without incurring high costs (Brandbassador, n.d.).
A crucial aspect for brands in influencer marketing is selecting the right partnership, as it entails a significant amount of trust. It’s crucial to ensure the influencer’s content aligns with the brand’s image to avoid damaging the brand’s reputation (Mathew, 2023).

According to Influencer Marketing Hub and their State of Influencer Marketing report in 2023, the influencer market is a $21.1 billion industry (Santora, 2024). This is a 29% growth over 2022 (Santora, 2024). Instagram is reported as the platform with the highest ROI for influencer marketing at 30%, with YouTube and Facebook at 20% (Santora, 2024).

One thing is clear, social media influencer marketing is not going away any time soon, and most brands are increasing their influencer marketing budgets to increase engagement (Santora, 2024).
31% of social media users will find new products because of an influencer that they follow on social media (Santora, 2024).  Establishing a healthy and long-term partnership with creators is crucial for companies that leverage influencer marketing, as it increases their likelihood of success (Santora, 2024).

References

Mathew, J. (2023, September 12). Council post: Understanding influencer marketing and why it is so effective. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2018/07/30/understanding-influencer-marketing-and-why-it-is-so-effective/?sh=301c18ea71a9

McKinsey&Company. (2023, April 10). What is influencer marketing?. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-influencer-marketing

Jeremy. (n.d.). 8 pros and cons of social media influencers endorsing your brand. The Ultimate Ambassador Marketing Platform. https://www.brandbassador.com/en-gb/resources/pros-and-cons-of-social-media-influencers

Santora, J. (2024, February 6). 17 key influencer marketing statistics to fuel your strategy. Influencer Marketing Hub. https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-statistics/

Viens, A. (2019, October 2). This graph tells us who’s using social media the most. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/social-media-use-by-generation/