Survey Shows Growth of Influencer Marketing

Over the past few years, many marketers have spoken about a growing use of market influencers as a means to connect with consumers. It has been commonly accepted that this practice is not only on the cutting edge but also growing ever more popular. However, a recent survey from Influencer Marketing Hub has used a variety of metrics to put into numbers just how widespread this practice has become, as well as how much it is continuing to grow.

First and foremost, the general interest in influencer marketing has grown exponentially. The number of monthly Google searches that contain the phrase “influencer marketing” has increased by more than five times since 2015, from 3,900 to 21,000. With that increase has come a similar increase of agencies seeking to make influencer marketing a central part of their advertising approach; over 200 such agencies have been incorporated over the past two years.

Twenty-eight percent of marketing agency managers who were surveyed reported that influencer marketing was the fastest growing division of their business, almost doubling the amount who said SEO or email. Thirty-seven percent of marketers reported that they have devoted a percentage of their budget towards influencer marketing, and a whopping two-thirds said that they plan on increasing that budget over the next few years. Why all this growth? Simply put, marketers are seeing results. Currently, marketers reported seeing an average ROI of $7.65 for every dollar they spend on influencer marketing, and 84 percent of them believe that the practice is a useful and worthwhile one.

With all of this money and focus being put on influencer marketing, marketers everywhere should look to evaluate where their practices currently stand and how they can be improved upon. Advertisers need to always have a finger on the pulse of organic content creation. Therefore, marketers need to be aware of content creators with significant followings that have values similar to those of the brands. These influencer marketing partnerships are the ones that are most effective, and as such marketers need to be constantly on the lookout for the next strong relationship to pursue.