28 Important Influencer Marketing Statistics To Know in 2025

It’s no secret social media has become a global phenomenon. Roughly 64% of the world’s population is active on some kind of social media platform, be it Facebook, Instagram, or Twitch. However, users aren’t just following their friends; 68% of users also follow their favorite brands.

Central to social media’s rise are influencers, the people (and pets) who’ve become popular because they offer tips, personal insights, and entertainment tailored to their audiences. By collaborating with influencers, brands can drive a sustainable stream of new customers toward their products and services.

To determine whether influencer marketing is right for your business, dive into these 30+ influencer marketing statistics about the average costs, engagement, and return on investment (ROI) you can expect. 

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is a social media strategy where brands partner with people who have a large, engaged social media audience. Many influencers are bloggers, celebrities, or experts in their fields, but anyone from any background can attain a social media following. For brands, the appeal of a partnership comes from the authority and positive association that influencers can transfer to their business. 

There are several ways brands can partner with influencers. For example, ecommerce brands can give away free products to influencers in the hopes they’ll share a review with their followers. Alternatively, a brand can pay for a sponsored endorsement or collaborate with an influencer to create paid ads.

The value of influencer marketing lies in the fact that 69% of consumers trust influencers’ recommendations over information straight from a brand. For this reason, the primary goal when running influencer campaigns is to create user-generated content (UGC). 

The influencer marketing landscape

Now that we know what influencer marketing is, let’s take a look at the current landscape with some big-picture influencer marketing statistics:

The influencer marketing industry is worth $24 billion

Influencer marketing is big business. The influencer marketing market size was projected to reach $24 billion by the end of 2024, up from $21.1 billion in 2023. 

Half of marketers use influencer marketing

The influencer marketing industry is booming because so many marketers are leaning on influencers’ credibility. HubSpot found that, in 2023, half of marketers worked with influencers. According to HubSpot, “Marketers at B2C brands and agencies were more likely to have worked with influencers than those at B2B brands and on in-house teams.”

More than half of brands working with influencers run ecommerce stores

Which types of brands contribute most to the influencer marketing industry’s ballooning worth? Data shows that 57.6% of brands working with influencers have ecommerce stores.

This statistic demonstrates the rise of ecommerce businesses and suggests that they are particularly well-suited to the influencer marketing model. Because ecommerce stores are accessible to anyone around the world, they can share products with collaborators everywhere. In turn, influencers can easily link to a store without being limited by geography.

36% of brands say influencer content outperforms branded content

Brands are seeing increasing returns from influencers, with 84.8% finding influencer marketing effective and 36% stating that influencer content outperforms brand-created content.

Influencer marketing is a popular digital marketing channel because people trust influencers’ recommendations more than branded (and often biased) social media content. It’s why 36% of marketers say influencer content outperforms brand-created content on social media.

Types of influencers

Search for the type of influencer you want to collaborate with and you’ll see hundreds (if not thousands) of potential partners. But how do you choose the person you want to collaborate with on your influencer marketing campaigns?

Influencers are broken down into five categories, each based on the follower count of their most popular account:

• Nano-influencers: between 500 and 10,000 followers
• Micro-influencers: between 10,000 and 100,000 followers
• Mid-tier influencers: between 100,000 and 500,000 followers
• Macro-influencers: between 500,000 and 1 million followers
• Mega-influencers: more than 1 million followers

Here are three stats on how they compare:

Nano-influencers have the highest engagement rate

Granted, follower count is an important metric to consider in influencer marketing. However, engagement rate—the percentage of their audience who follow their page and like, comment, or share their content—is crucial, too.

The higher the engagement rate of your potential influencer partner, the more likely they are to sway what their followers think (and buy). According to 47% of marketers, they’ve had successful partnerships with smaller micro-creators.

Data from HypeAuditor found that nano-influencers with fewer than 5,000 followers have the highest engagement rates (2.53%). This engagement seems to decrease as the follower count skyrockets, until reaching the mega-influencer level (0.92%).

Nano-influencers account for 65% of all Instagram influencers

Speaking of higher engagement rates for smaller influencers, the same survey also found that it’s easier for ecommerce brands to find smaller partners to collaborate with on Instagram influencer campaigns. Now, anyone can make money on Instagram with just a few thousand followers—with influencing becoming a target career path for 57% of young people.

Marketers are most interested in working with mid-tier influencers

Mid-tier influencers have decent engagement rates and are in large supply—so it’s no surprise that marketers and brands are more interested in working with mid-tier influencers than traditional celebrities for influencer marketing campaigns.

The majority (81%) of marketers say macro-influencers top their list of ideal influencers, shortly followed by micro-influencers (74%).

Demographics most impacted by influencers

The number of people active on social media differs by generation, which means that certain demographics are more attuned to influencer recommendations than others. Here’s how it shakes out statistically:

Gen Z is most influenced by social media influencers

The success of your influencer marketing campaigns depends on the makeup of your target audience.

If they’re mostly Generation Z, or people born between 1997 and 2012, you’re in luck: that demographic is most likely to engage with influencer marketing efforts. Data show that 74% of Gen Z shoppers say they spend the bulk of their free time online, and influencers are the primary product discovery channel for this demographic.

Boomers are far less likely to be swayed by influencers

Unfortunately, influencer marketing gets a bit more challenging when you’re going after older consumers, as the percentage of people following social media influencers decreases with age. According to Statista, “roughly two-thirds of Millennials followed and purchased goods from the social media accounts of brands” in 2023. This is compared to half of Gen Z users and only 11% of baby boomers. 

Slightly more men follow social media influencers than women

Data from Statista found that more men than women follow social media influencers: approximately 95% of men follow influencers, compared to 93% of women.

Platform-specific influencer marketing statistics

You’ll find influencers on a variety of different social media platforms. Their popularity, follower count, and average engagement rate differ from platform to platform, as do the number of users who buy products via influencer campaigns. Here are some stats to consider as you go about finding a platform or two to focus on: 

46.7% of marketers consider TikTok the most important influencer marketing channel

Data shows that TikTok and Instagram lead the way in popularity. In 2024, 69% of brands use TikTok in their influencer marketing campaigns, making it the most popular channel, while 47% continue to rely on Instagram and 33% on YouTube. Instagram has dropped in popularity, from 76% last year to 47% in 2024. Some 46.7% of marketers consider Instagram the most important influencer marketing hub for their business.

The popularity of TikTok marketing is great news for brands who want to capitalize on influencer campaigns—especially considering high-profile users on the platform have excellent engagement rates. Nano-influencers on TikTok have an incredible 18% engagement rate, trumping Instagram’s 5% average and 3.5% for YouTube influencers.

To partner with TikTok influencers, start by looking at the typical engagement rates on their video content. Across their most recent videos, how does the number of likes compare to the number of people who’ve watched the video? Allow highly engaging influencers to make suggestions or take creative ownership of the content, then let them experiment to see what resonates the most. “What works well for us is an up-close image of the influencer holding our product,” says Emily Chong, founder of Healthish.

Fewer brands rely on Facebook for influencer marketing

Facebook has been causing problems for retailers since its move toward a pay-to-play model. Organic reach—the percentage of followers who see a business’s organic content—has been slowly declining.

It’s no wonder that Facebook is one of the only social media channels with declining influencer marketing activity. Now, just 28% of brands rely on Facebook’s influencer marketing potential.

That said, ecommerce brands have access to a whole host of Facebook features that make it easy to collaborate with influencers outside of traditional posts. For example, you could:

• Partner with an influencer to host a livestream
• Pay to amplify an influencer’s Facebook endorsement 
• Create Facebook Stories that appear at the top of users’ Facebook feeds

How much do influencers cost?

Each social media channel has a wealth of influencers to choose from, but how much should you prepare to spend when partnering with an influencer for sponsored posts?

To help answer this question, Influencer Marketing Hub determined the influencer marketing spend you should budget for each type of influencer:

Nano-influencers charge between $2 and $250 per social media post

Nano-influencers are often written off when brands look to the influencer marketing industry. Granted, they have a smaller follower count (10,000 followers at most), but they also tend to have the highest engagement rates, meaning followers are tuned into their recommendations.

The good news is that nano-influencers demand the lowest rates per sponsored post. Expect to pay:

• $10 to $100 for an Instagram post
• $20 to $200 for a YouTube video
• $5 to $25 for a TikTok video
• $2 to $20 for an X post
• $25 to $250 for a Facebook post

Micro-influencers charge between $25 and $1,250 per social media post

With up to 100,000 followers, micro-influencers charge slightly more per sponsored post. As a rough guideline, expect to pay:

• $100 to $500 for an Instagram post
• $200 to $1,000 for a YouTube video
• $25 to $125 for a TikTok video
• $20 to $100 for an X post
• $250 to $1,250 for a Facebook post

If you’re working with a micro-influencer, test the waters with a sponsored Instagram Story or short TikTok video. It’s the cheapest way to judge whether an influencer’s audience is a good fit for your brand—especially if the influencer shares their Story performance data post-collaboration.

Mid-tier influencers charge up to $12,500 per social media post

Influencers with up to half a million followers demand higher fees because they have a wider pool of potential customers for brands to tap into. They typically earn:

• $500 to $5,000 for an Instagram post
• $1,000 to $10,000 for a YouTube video
• $125 to $1,250 for a TikTok video
• $100 to $1,000 for an X post
• $1,250 to $12,500 for a Facebook post

Macro-influencers can charge up to $25,000 per sponsored post

Macro-influencers have between 500,000 and one million followers on their largest social media account. Influencer Marketing Hub shows that their rates can range between:

• $5,000 to $10,000 for an Instagram post
• $10,000 to $20,000 for a YouTube video
• $1,250 to $2,500 for a TikTok video
• $1,000 to $2,000 for an X post
• $12,500 to $25,000 for a Facebook post

Mega-influencers can charge beyond $1 million per social media post

Defined as those with more than a million followers, celebrities and mega-influencers earn the most for sponsored content. Influencer Marketing Hub gave estimates of:

• $10,000+ for an Instagram post
• $20,000+ for a YouTube video
• $2,500+ for a TikTok video
• $2,000 for an X post
• $25,000 for a Facebook post

That being said, some celebrity influencers demand even more for sponsored content. Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly charges $2.3 million per sponsored post. Reality star Kylie Jenner is said to demand $1.8 million.

If you decide to go this route, you may have to go through an influencer’s managing team to confirm a sponsorship. Some provide management contact info in their Instagram bios.

How influencers are paid

Wondering how brands are paying influencers these days? There’s been a noticeable shift away from the flat-rate payment model. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, nearly half of brands (49.6%) prefer a percentage of sales as their go-to method. 

Whether you go the flat-rate or commission-based route depends on whether you’re looking to increase brand recognition or short-term sales, respectively. Consider offering a mix of payment types to see which method works best for your goals. 

The ROI of influencer marketing

Influencer marketing campaigns can work well for brands with all budget sizes. But will you make a return on your investment? And what kind of results can you expect?

“Sometimes, it can be tricky to expect an immediate ROI,” says Nathan Chan, CEO of Foundr magazine. “You have to think of influencer marketing as a long-term investment and budget for it from a profit and loss perspective.”

Still, there are some statistics to keep top of mind when it comes to influencer marketing’s ROI. In particular, you should take note of channel-specific ROI when you’re planning your marketing strategy.

While the exact methods vary, 70% of marketers measured ROI in some way in 2024. Here are some stats illuminating how to go about it:

Engagement rate is the most popular way to measure influencer success

Most marketers typically kickstart influencer campaigns to generate conversions, but it’s not how most marketers benchmark success.

Just 30% of marketers consider sales a measure of success when evaluating the ROI of their campaigns. Engagement rate, reach, and brand lift are easier to track and more important to influencer marketers because increased brand recognition can lead to more resilient brand loyalty over time.

Follower count greatly influences influencer marketing ROI

Despite the fact that most influencers have fewer than 10,000 followers, the Harvard Business Review found that brands get a 9.2% better return on their investment when partnering with influencers that have more followers.

Both posting frequency and follower-brand fit had what HBR describes as the Goldilocks effect: “Influencers who post infrequently are not seen as up-to-date sources of information. They also don’t have enough presence on followers’ feeds to build intimacy and trust.”

Links to the brand’s website have the biggest impact on influencer marketing ROI. Surprisingly, the announcement of new products has a detrimental impact. According to the report, brands see a 30.5% dip in ROI when collaborating with influencers on this type of content.

Influencer marketing challenges

You can increase your reach, build trust, and generate product sales through influencer marketing. But the landscape is changing—and marketers are facing some noteworthy challenges:

Monitoring ROI is the biggest influencer marketing challenge

Not every follower who views your influencer’s sponsored post will purchase immediately. People might view the post, visit your brand’s website, and return to it three weeks later when they think about the problem your product solves.

This is why determining the ROI of influencer marketing is the biggest challenge for 60% of marketers, beating:

• Selecting the right quality influencers (55.86%)
• Content quality (52.25%)
• Brand safety (49.55%) 

One in four influencers has bought fake followers

The drive for any social media user to become an influencer pushes people to do shady things. The most questionable: buying followers. Data suggests that 9.5% of Instagram accounts are bots.

Identifying fake followers and inauthentic engagement is a huge struggle for marketers relying on brand partnerships with content creators. One in four influencers has bought fake followers, which is why brands are calling out for better influencer marketing data and metrics to allow for more transparency.

Tools like Grin and HypeAuditor help brands to spot whether an influencer has fake followers. Here are some telltale signs that show an influencer’s audience isn’t authentic:

• Their following/follower ratio is equal. Having just as many followers as accounts you follow could indicate you only have a large following because you’re in a follow-for-follow scheme.
• Their posts are littered with spam comments. Emojis, random hashtags, or “nice post” comments from bot accounts indicate that the influencer is probably not genuine.
• They have a low engagement rate. If a potential influencer has 500,000 followers and their typical post has just 1,000 likes, there’s something odd going on—likely that they’ve paid for followers.
• Large, sudden jumps in followers. Gaining 100,000 followers overnight might be normal for celebrities—for nano-influencers, not so much. Use one of the tools mentioned above to see how an influencer’s follower count has increased over time. A slow, steady increase usually indicates that they haven’t paid for fake followers.

Social algorithm changes are a problem for 48% of marketers

These days, more and more social media platforms are turning to a pay-to-play model. Organic reach is on the decline, not just for brands but for influencers, too. Keeping up-to-date with those algorithm changes is a struggle for almost half of social media marketers.

You can adapt to social algorithm changes by leaning into alternative content formats. If you’re partnering with an Instagram influencer, for example, don’t just agree on one feed post. Increase the reach of your sponsored content by having the influencer repost it to their Instagram Story or repurpose the content into a Reel. You could also share it on your own page.

Each of those tactics increases the mileage of your influencer marketing campaigns—making sure more people see the sponsored content you’ve paid for. Of course, you can always seek marketing funding to boost your ad budget, but it’s good to know that you can expand your reach through organic means instead of just paid advertisements.

The state of influencer marketing in 2024 and beyond

The state of the influencer marketing industry has evolved dramatically over the past few years. Here’s how the industry is set to change as we head into 2025 and beyond:

In 2025, brands will spend $9.29 billion on influencer marketing

The surge in influencer marketing budgets means that brands will spend an estimated $9.29 billion on influencer-related marketing campaigns in 2025. That’s a 14.2% increase from the $8.14 billion in 2024. 

A quarter of brands will spend 40% of their marketing budget on influencers

The value of influencer marketing is undeniable, and retailers are becoming more aware of it. A quarter of marketers have spent more than 40% of their marketing budget on influencer marketing.

If you’re unsure how to set budgets for your campaigns, aim to invest 10% of all planned marketing spend in influencer campaigns. That gives you room to experiment with different channels, formats, and influencers without too much risk.

More than 60% of marketers plan to use AI in their influencer campaigns

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the buzzword of 2023 and 2024. That won’t change as we head into 2025 and beyond, with machine learning (ML) technology set to revolutionize the influencer marketing industry.

An influencer marketing report found that 63% of marketers are definitely planning to use artificial intelligence for influencer marketing. 

Influencer Marketing Hub found that 55.8% of marketers would like to use AI to find the right influencers. And just over 18% want AI to help them locate and distribute relevant content.

Tools like HypeAuditor and Affable are adding AI capabilities to their software, and the demand for AI in the influencer marketing niche is set to skyrocket as we head into 2025.

Use these influencer marketing statistics to fine-tune your strategy

These influencer marketing statistics show that collaborating with high-profile social media users has the potential to impact your sales.

Understanding these statistics will help you make more informed marketing decisions—like what type of influencer to collaborate with, what channels to prioritize, and what kind of return you can expect.

But the most important takeaway of all is this: Influencer marketing is accessible to all brands, not just brands with big budgets. 

“Remember: influencer marketing is a long game,” Emily Chong of Healthish summarizes. “When an influencer posts about your product, people won’t buy straight away—many will just start following your brand and others will buy over time through retargeting campaigns, and so on. Each activity compounds, so track everything over time.”