7 Stats That Prove the Power of Influencer Marketing

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How much time do you spend on social media? In 2022, users worldwide scrolled and scrolled for an average of 151 minutes per day. With so many eyes lingering on screens, influencer marketing has become a cornerstone of modern-day marketing and branding. Influencer marketing happens when brands form partnerships with content creators, leveraging their influential reach to boost sales and enhance brand visibility. This innovative strategy has allowed businesses to connect with audiences in a more organic and personal way while raking in more bucks for both parties.

Is Influencer Marketing Effective?
Yes, influencer marketing is incredibly effective for businesses spanning from startups to Fortune 500s. Case in point: Swedish watchmaker Daniel Wellington knows what time it is. After the brand launched in 2011 to little fanfare, it soon strategically began giving away its watches to key influencers and granting them each a unique discount code to share with their followers to track multiple metrics. It worked. The brand grew to a $200 million behemoth, complete with Hailey Bieber rocking a timepiece of her own.
Industry titans also stand on the shoulders of influencers. In 2023, Coca-Cola asked six influencers to lend their star power to the launch of its #takeataste campaign for  Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.

How Influencer Marketing Works 

If you’re wondering how influencer marketing works, there is some psychology at play when it comes to consumer behavior. Unlike traditional ads, influencer endorsements often come across as personal recommendations, making them more relatable and trustworthy to the consumer. These influencers create content featuring the brand or product, often blending it seamlessly into their regular posts. This approach benefits from the trust and engagement that influencers have already established with their audience. The content, whether it’s a product review, a lifestyle post, or a creative visual, appears more authentic and less intrusive compared to traditional advertisements. Brands often track the success of these collaborations through metrics like engagement rates, conversion rates, or sales data, ensuring a measurable impact on their marketing goals. This shift represents a significant change in the marketing paradigm, where authenticity and relatable content reign supreme.

Will Influencer Marketing Last?
Yes, influencer marketing seems to show no signs of slowing down, and it appears that influencer marketing will continue its reign over social media content. Read on to learn seven stats that prove that influencer marketing is a powerful way to propel brands.

According to influencermarketinghub.com’s State of Influencer Marketing 2023 report, which surveyed 3,500 marketing agencies, brands, and other notable professionals:

1. Influencer marketing is projected to grow significantly, with a valuation of $21.1 billion in 2023 alone. That number has more than tripled since 2019. Fueling that big boom? Influencer marketing platforms are on the rise.
2. A large majority of marketers — over 80% — plan to allocate a budget specifically for influencer marketing in 2023, with about 67% of marketers intending to increase their influencer marketing spend, a nod to influencer marketing’s perceived value.
3. Smaller influencers, such as nano- and micro-influencers, are having a big moment. These influencers — defined as having a social media presence of between 1,000 and 100,000 followers — are now preferred by many brands due to their higher engagement rates.
4. Influencers know that freebies don’t pay the bills. There’s a growing trend of companies compensating influencers monetarily, rather than solely with free products. Over half of the payments to influencers are being made as a percentage of sales, the report found. 
5. TikTok reigns as the most popular platform for influencer marketing, surpassing Instagram, with 56% of brands working with creators on the platform. 
6. About 74% of brands are increasingly tracking sales and return on investment from influencer campaigns. A total of 31% of those surveyed said they tracked sales via e-mail addresses; 30% answered by referral links; coupon codes (12%), SKUs (5%), and “other” (21%) rounded out the remainder of respondents.
7. Virtual influencers are swiftly becoming a thing. The report also found that 60% of companies surveyed said they had used a digital character created with software. One, Lu do Magalu, boasts nearly 7 million followers, and is ranked as the No. 1 virtual influencer in the world. Barbie takes a back seat, coming in at No. 3. 

How Can I Begin Influencer Marketing?

Beginning with influencer marketing is easy with the right approach and partnerships. A knowledgeable and well-connected digital marketing firm like Triple7Marketing, based in New York City, is a perfect starting point. Triple7Marketing connects brands of all sizes with a diverse pool of influencers. With a trained eye on influencer-brand match, we ensure that the influencer’s audience aligns with the brand’s target demographic. We plan campaigns, from content conception to execution, and provide analytics to measure campaign effectiveness. Whether it’s a startup looking to make a splash or a Fortune 500 company aiming to strengthen its market presence, Triple7Marketing tailors influencer marketing strategies to meet specific goals, ensuring a seamless and impactful integration of influencers into the brand’s marketing mix.

Triple7Marketing has adeptly navigated this new terrain, with an eye on expertly pairing brands with the right influencers.

Contact us today for a free consultation. 

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