The Lion's Den

How Big Is The Influencer Marketing Industry?

Instagram Marketing
How Big Is The Influencer Marketing Industry?

Over the past few years, influencer marketing has become a hot topic in the marketing industry. The majority of marketers plan to increase their influencer marketing budgets over the next 12 months, and top brands from Coca-Cola to Adidas have made influencer marketing a key part of their marketing strategies. 

But, with all that in mind, how big is the influencer marketing industry in 2023? Is influencer marketing the future of marketing? Let’s get into it.  

Is Influencer Marketing Still On The Rise? 

Influencer marketing has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent years, but some people may wonder whether the influencer marketing industry’s growth is still ongoing. Is influencer marketing on the decline now? Or is influencer marketing here to stay?

Looking at the social media influencer statistics, it’s clear that influencer marketing is still on the rise in 2023. Brands that already use influencer marketing are planning on maintaining or increasing their influencer marketing budgets this year, and 17% of marketers plan to try influencer marketing for the first time. 

What Is The Market Size Of Influencer Marketing?

The market size of influencer marketing has been steadily growing since 2016. Back in 2016, the global influencer marketing market size was $1.7 billion. In 2017, it hit $3 billion, then $4.6 billion in 2018, and $6.5 billion in 2019. In 2021 the market size passed $10 billion to reach $13.8 billion. 

Finally, in 2022, the market size of influencer marketing hit a new high of $16.4 billion. Even more impressive, the influencer marketing market size in 2030 is projected to hit a whopping $143.1 billion, growing at an incredible compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 30%. So, while there’s no definitive answer to the question, “is influencer marketing the future of marketing” the industry will likely only get stronger over the next few years. 

How Many Social Media Influencers Are There In The United States?

If you’re a United States-based company, it may make sense to (at least primarily) work with influencers from the US. That could lead you to wonder — how many influencers are in the USA? 

It’s challenging to say exactly how many influencers there are in total or to break that down into the number of influencers by country. Most estimates put the total number of influencers in the United States at between 1 million and 5 million. 

Some of the top social media influencers are based in the United States, though, including MrBeast, Addison Rae, and Charli D’Amelio. And 34% of Americans aged 16 to 34 follow more than 10 influencers across social media platforms. It’s fair to say that there are plenty of influencers in the US. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding suitable American influencers for your influencer marketing campaign if that’s what your company is looking for. 

How Many Influencers Are There On Each Social Media Platform? 

You may also wonder how many influencers are on Instagram, TikTok, and other popular social media platforms. These platforms don’t directly release this data, and definitions of who is or isn’t an influencer can vary, so there’s no way to give exact answers to these questions. 

One estimate places the number of influencers on Instagram — the most popular social media site for influencer campaigns — at around 2 million. This isn’t a very precise estimate, but it does go to show that there are many, many different Instagram influencers. That variety is probably part of the reason why so many marketers run influencer marketing campaigns on Instagram. 

TikTok is an increasingly popular platform for influencer marketing also, and the number of global TikTok influencers reflects that. In 2018, there were only around 15,000 TikTok influencers, but in 2020 that number was up to over 100,000 TikTok influencers. YouTube also has a strong roster of influencers, with approximately 1.7 million influencers on the platform

Keep in mind that many of the influencers on any social media platform are micro influencers — influencers with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers. How many micro influencers are there? Around half of all influencers are micro influencers. 

How Lionize Can Help With Your Influencer Marketing Strategy 

Whether your company is interested in getting started with influencer marketing or you already have an influencer marketing strategy in place and just need help executing it, Lionize is the tool for you. 

Lionize is an AI-powered, all-in-one influencer marketing platform that does all the heavy lifting for you. All you need to do is define your campaign goals and strategy, choose from the list of strong influencer candidates that Lionize recruits for you, and watch the results of your campaign roll in.

If you have any questions about Lionize or want to see the platform in action, Book a Discovery Call with us today!