In 2021, **** percent of U.S. marketers in companies larger than 100 employees were expected to use influencers for marketing purposes. On the global level, the influencer marketing market was valued at **** billion U.S. dollars in 2021.

Introduction

Influencer Marketing Statistics: Influencer marketing is a strategy where different brands work with people who have a lot of followers on social media to promote their products or services. These people, called influencers, use platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook to create content that their followers like.

The effective benefit of influencer marketing is that it helps brands reach a specific audience in a real and engaging way, which builds more trust between the brand and its customers. Social media has made influencer marketing one of the best ways for brands to connect with consumers, making it a strong tool in today's digital marketing world.

The global influencer marketing market size has more than tripled since 2020. In 2025, the market was estimated to reach a record of approximately 33 billion U.S. dollars. What is influencer marketing? Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing that involves product placements and endorsements from online creators. In today’s competitive marketing landscape, brands are collaborating with influencers more firmly than ever, as partnerships with well-known creators can open the door to large potential audiences. In 2024, influencer marketing spending in the United States was forecast to reach an all-time high of 7.1 billion U.S. dollars. Seeing that internet stars can boost brand visibility, drive engagement, and impact purchasing decisions for millions of users, it comes as no surprise that spending on influencer cooperation is expected to pick up even more speed in the future. Top influencer marketing platforms Marketers can choose from an ever-expanding list of social media platforms to bridge the gap between brands and consumers. According to a recent survey, Instagram remains the most popular platform for influencer marketing in the United States, and in 2025, the global Instagram influencer market size was estimated to surpass 22 billion dollars for the first time. Apart from the photo-sharing app, video-based platforms such as TikTok have become popular among brands and marketers. In the first half of 2024, the most successful brands earned over half a billion U.S. dollars in earned media value (EMV) with their TikTok influencer marketing campaigns.

During a 2024 survey, nearly 45 percent of responding consumers from Brazil and South Africa stated they purchased products because celebrities or influencers advertised them. Among the surveyed countries, the share was lowest in Japan, at 11 percent.

According to a study of Instagram (IG) influencer engagement rates (ER) worldwide, nano influencers have been seeing the highest popularity compared to other tier profiles. Influencers who had between *** and *** thousand followers had an engagement rate of **** percent in 2024. On average, the ER for all studied IG influencers stood at **** percent in the same year.

According to a global survey conducted among marketers in January 2023, ** percent of responding social media marketers stated that keeping up with social media trends was one of the top challenges of influencer marketing. The cost of working with influencers came second, with ** percent of respondents listing it as a leading challenge.

During a 2024 survey, 86 percent of respondents from India and Indonesia stated they believed social media influencers were a useful source of information on travel topics. In Germany, the share stood at 46 percent.

In 2024, approximately *****billion U.S. dollars were spent on influencer marketing in the United States. This figure increased from the previous year, when spending reached ******billion dollars. Further growth is anticipated to reach over ***billion by the end of 2025. Benefits of influencer marketing Influencer marketing has become one of the most popular and effective forms of social media marketing. By partnering up with well-known internet personalities, brands can leverage their massive audience reach and promote products and services to a wealth of potential customers. Apart from increasing visibility and driving engagement, influencer cooperation can also boost revenues for companies of all sizes, as recommendations from social media stars have come to impact shopping behavior for millions of online users worldwide. In line with overall spending growth on this channel, the global market size of influencer marketing platforms is also growing by double digits. What is the most popular platform for influencer marketing? Influencers bridge the gap between brands and consumers in terms of engagement and interaction, but which platform is best suited for collaboration? According to a recent survey, Instagram remains the most popular platform for influencer marketing worldwide. Content creators have long embraced the app for its various photo- and video-sharing features. Seeing that the platform now also has an inherent shopping tab, it comes as no surprise that marketers are planning to increase influencer endorsement on Instagram in the future. Video-based platforms such as TikTok are also becoming increasingly relevant because of their massive reach, particularly among Gen Z internet users.

Travel was the leading industry for influencer marketing engagement, averaging an engagement rate of *** percent among global social media users in 2023. Beauty and sports and fitness followed with **** percent and *** percent, respectively. Fashion and education industries reported engagement rates of **** percent and **** percent.

In 2024, nearly ** percent of marketers in the United States used Instagram for influencer marketing. During the same period, around ** percent also turned to YouTube. By 2025, more than half of U.S. marketers are expected to incorporate YouTube into their influencer marketing strategies. TikTok, which had been adopted by ** percent of marketers in 2021, saw its usage rise to approximately ** percent by 2024.

As of May 2024, around ** percent of marketers surveyed in Brazil said generating amplification and awareness of a brand was among the influencer marketing goals producing the best results. Approximately ** percent mentioned reaching new audiences, while ** percent cited translating the brand's messages. According to the same study, marketers' leading criteria for selecting influencers included affinity with the brand's target group and credibility.

During a survey conducted among marketers in the United States and released in July 2023, 58.2 percent of respondents said they were planning to use Instagram Reels for influencer marketing purposes in 2024, while 54 percent said they planned to use TikTok.

During a summer 2024 survey, approximately 89 percent of responding decision makers in Europe reported regularly using Instagram for influencer marketing, followed by TikTok with 64 percent. In comparison, 12 percent stated they would use Twitch or Pinterest.

Average influencer fraud rates (ER) worldwide had decreased gradually since 2019. The fraud rate was about 63 percent in 2019, only to drop to 45 percent four years later, in 2022 and then raised back again in 2023, to 49.19 percent on average. The influencer fraud rates are based on buying followers, likes and comments, stories views, and comment pods.

During a survey among brands working with influencer marketing in Brazil released in December 2024, approximately **** percent reported using Instagram for that purpose. Facebook and YouTube followed, mentioned by **** and **** percent of respondents, respectively. According to the same study, almost ** percent of agencies in Brazil recommended that their clients spend more on influencer marketing throughout the following year.

The annual expenditure of businesses on influencer marketing in Japan was projected to amount to ** billion Japanese yen in 2024. It was expected that the market would grow further and reach a value of more than *** billion yen by 2029. Advertising and social media in Japan Japan is home to a large advertising market, which is considered to be one of the most creative worldwide. In recent years, online advertising has become more and more important, while many traditional media increasingly struggle to generate advertising revenues. This shift from traditional to digital media was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led people to spend more time inside their own homes and increased the demand for digital entertainment. Social media plays an increasingly important role for advertising not only because social media platforms offer an opportunity to connect with other people, but also because they are frequently used to look up information. Among social advertising expenditures, regular social networking services as well as video sharing platforms constitute the largest ad categories. Social media marketing Unlike advertising, which refers to the process of making a product or service known to potential customers, marketing usually involves further aspects that are directly related to the dissemination of advertisements, such as the research and analysis necessary for the design and creation of ads. Influencer marketing is part of the larger social media marketing market, which is expected to exhibit strong growth in the coming years. As a breakdown of this market shows, it consists of social media advertising, influencer marketing, support for the operation of social media accounts, expenses for analytics tools, as well as campaign planning and consulting. While analytics tools and campaign planning and consulting make up comparatively small shares of the market, they are indispensable aspects with regard to choosing the right platform and advertising strategy. Within the Japanese influencer market, YouTube, Instagram, X (previously known as Twitter), and Tiktok represent the major segments.

During a 2024 survey, 86 percent of respondents from India and Indonesia stated they believed social media influencers were a useful source of information on travel topics. In Germany, the share stood at 46 percent.

TikTok nano-influencers with one to ** thousand followers had the highest engagement rate (ER) compared to other TikTok profiles worldwide in 2023. Nano-influencers had an ER of ***** percent, while micro-influencers with 10,000 to 50,000 followers came second with ***** percent.

An August 2021 survey of internet users in leading online markets found that ** percent of all respondents thought that influencers were the most effective at promoting beauty or personal care products. Clothes and accessories ranked second, named by 45 percent of interviewees. The same source found that 43 percent of internet users worldwide followed some type of social media influencer.

During a survey of consumers in selected countries worldwide in 2024, 87 percent of participants in Brazil indicated they trust recommendations made by influencers. In comparison, 72 percent of participants in France stated they trust the recommendations made by influencers.