Today’s consumers rely heavily on recommendations from online “influencers,” or those who have amassed sizable online fan bases through consistent, authoritative content sharing. By working with influential people, brands may attract a flow of new customers.

So, should you invest in influencer marketing for your company? We’ve compiled over 30 data points on influencer marketing to assist you make your choice, including average expenses, platform engagement, and return on investment for different types of influencer marketing. You may use these numbers to better prepare your marketing plan for 2022.

So, what exactly is influencer marketing?

With influencer marketing, companies form partnerships with online personalities that have a sizable and active following. Bloggers, A-listers, and Regular Joes alike can fall into this category.

In exchange for an influencer’s public post, an ecommerce firm might offer free items, pay for an endorsement, or work with the influencer on a large creative project.

The fact that 61% of consumers believe influencer recommendations, compared to only 38% who trust branded (and frequently biased) sponsored social media material, is a major factor in the success of influencer marketing campaigns. Brand exposure, website traffic, and revenue may all be improved by partnering with the people your target consumers listen to and trust.

The engagement rate is highest for nano-influencers.

Admittedly, the number of one’s followers is a significant indicator to use while conducting influencer marketing. An equally important metric is the engagement rate, or the proportion of their fans who actively participate in the page by like and commenting on posts and sharing them with others.

The more active an influencer’s followers are, the more they may be persuaded by their words. (and buy).

According to HypeAuditor’s findings, the highest engagement rates (5%) are achieved by pico-influencers with less than 5,000 followers. As the number of followers grows exponentially, this trend tends to reverse itself, eventually hitting a minimum at the celebrity level (1.6%).

Influencer marketing generates $5.20 in value for every $1 invested by businesses.

The return on investment for influencer marketing efforts is higher than that of more traditional forms of advertising, such as television commercials. To what extent, though?

A recent study found that for every dollar invested in influencer marketing, firms saw a return of $5.20. Spending $2,000 a month on influencer partnerships will certainly generate sales of over $10,000.

The ROI for brands using Instagram influencers is $4.87 for every $1 invested.

While more revenue is a desirable outcome, that isn’t usually the aim of an influencer campaign. Collaboration with a well-known, respected figure may do wonders for your brand’s visibility. You’re more likely to meet new individuals now, especially on social media like Instagram.

According to HypeAuditor, businesses can expect to see a return on investment (ROI) of $4.87 for every $1 spent on Instagram influencer marketing.

Problems with Influencer Marketing

There are clear benefits to using influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is an effective way to broaden your customer base, enhance brand credibility, and drive product sales. However, marketers need to be aware of the shifting conditions and the associated problems.

Fifty percent of marketers have no idea if an influencer’s audience is inflated.

Any social media user’s desire to be seen as influential might lead them to engage in unethical behavior. Of all the unethical tactics, purchasing fans is the most problematic. Only 55% of followers on Instagram are verified users, according to the platform’s data. Inactive or automated accounts account for the remaining 45%.

For companies that rely on influencer collaborations, it is a major challenge to detect phony followers and inauthentic interaction. Brands are asking for improved data and metrics on influencer marketing since half of managers can’t tell real followers from phony ones.

Grin and HypeAuditor are two examples of tools that may assist marketers determine if an influencer has false followers. On the other hand, there are indicators that an influencer’s following is not genuine:

  • Their number of followers is disproportionately high. Perhaps their big following is the result of a follow-for-follow system.

  • Comments on their postings are mostly spam. Bot accounts that remark “nice post” or use emojis on posts are a dead giveaway that an influencer is not genuine.

  • Their rate of participation is really low. There must be something off if an individual with 500,000 followers only receives 1,000 likes on their usual post. (Most likely due to the fact that they’ve bought likes.)

  • Huge, unexpected increases in the number of fans. For famous people, it may be common to get 100,000 fans overnight. As for nano-influencers, they don’t amount to much. Check out the rise in an influencer’s fan base using one of the aforementioned tracking apps. A gradual rise over time suggests they haven’t bought false fans.

Almost half of all marketers say they have trouble adapting to social media platforms’ ever-changing algorithms.
These days, you have to spend to get any traction on social media. Not just for businesses, but for influencers as well, organic reach is decreasing. Nearly half of all influencer marketers say that keeping up with these algorithm updates is difficult.

No money for marketing? Have no fear. Use a variety of content types to counteract the effects of shifting social media algorithms. Don’t limit your collaboration with an influencer to a single post on their feed. Get the influencer to share your sponsored material on their Instagram Story, turn it into a Reel, or share it on their own page to expand its exposure.

You may get more out of your influencer advertising budget by employing any or all of these strategies, which will enhance the reach of your sponsored content. You can always apply for marketing grants to increase your advertising budget, but it’s helpful to know that there are other ways to grow your audience.