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What Channels Are Most Popular for Influencer Marketing?
Instagram Marketing
Influencer marketing is a marketing strategy that has grown tremendously over the last decade. In 2016, the entire market size of influencer marketing was $1.7 billion. Since then, it’s grown to an expected $21.2 billion in 2023. These numbers reflect just how important influencer marketing has become.
Today, you can find influencers and influencer marketing campaigns on nearly every available social media platform. Some platforms are better suited to influencer marketing campaigns than others, though, and brands need to choose the right platform for their campaigns. With that in mind, this blog will help you decide which platform is best for influencer marketing for your business.
What Are the Most Popular Social Media Platforms for Influencers?
Marketers can learn a lot by looking at what other brands are doing in the influencer marketing space. So what platform is most used for influencer marketing?
Instagram has been the most popular social media platform for influencers for a long time, and that’s projected to continue into the near future. Over 75% of marketers at companies with 100 or more employees use Instagram for social media influencer marketing. Unsurprisingly, Instagram also accounts for the highest percentage of US influencer marketing spending by platform. Nearly half of all spending on influencer marketing in the US — over $2.2 billion — is spent on Instagram.
Part of what makes Instagram so appealing for influencers and brands running influencer marketing campaigns is that it’s one of the best influencer platforms for micro-influencers. Micro-influencers, social media users with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers, can prosper on Instagram. Working with micro-influencers is more affordable and often more effective than working with influencers with more followers, so it’s no surprise so many brands run Instagram influencer campaigns with micro influencers.
Instagram also benefits from having a variety of post options. Though the platform started with pictures alone, now Instagram users can post photos and videos to their feeds as well as Reels, Stories, Lives, and IGTV videos. These many different types of posts on the platform give influencers and brands alike more flexibility in their influencer marketing campaign types.
With nearly three billion active monthly users, it should be no surprise that Facebook is another social media site near the top of the list of influencer marketing platforms brands use. Brands in the United States spent close to $750 million on influencer marketing on Facebook in 2022, and that number will likely be higher in 2023. Around 58% of brands will use Facebook for influencer marketing campaigns this year.
TikTok
TikTok is a relative newcomer to the list of top social media platforms for influencer marketing. In 2019, only 27% of brands were using TikTok for influencer marketing. Now in 2023, 50% of brands with 100+ employees are expected to run influencer marketing campaigns on TikTok. The platform has invested heavily to facilitate these partnerships between brands and influencers. TikTok recently launched features like its Creator Marketplace and the TikTok Creative Exchange for that purpose.
How Many Influencers Are There Around the World?
Sometimes it may feel like everyone is an influencer these days. You may wonder what percentage of the population are influencers or simply how many influencers there are in total. According to Forbes, over 50 million from all over the world consider themselves influencers. Other estimates place the number of influencers globally between 3.2 million and 37.8 million, a wide range.
As for the number of influencers by country, that’s also challenging to precisely calculate. Some of the countries with the most social media influencers include the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Brazil, and Spain. Brands can include influencers from other countries in their campaigns to tap into new global markets and expand their reach.
Part of the reason why it’s so difficult to know the exact number of influencers in the world or any given country is that the definition of “influencer” varies. Some people think you need hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers to be an influencer. Others recognize that social media users can be influencers even with a few thousand followers.
How Lionize Can Help with Your influencer Marketing
If you’re thinking about launching an influencer marketing campaign for your brand, Lionize can help. As an influencer marketing hub for TikTok, Lionize makes it easier than ever to run successful influencer marketing campaigns — regardless of your previous experience with influencer marketing.
We’ll help you develop your influencer marketing strategy from the beginning. Not sure whether to run a campaign on Instagram or Facebook? Lionize will help you make the right choice for your brand. From there, the platform will automatically find and reach out to influencers who are a good fit. You can choose the influencers you like best and launch your campaign, just like that.
Schedule a free demo today to see how the Lionize platform works.
For Brands
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For Agencies
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