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Chart showing: Influencer Marketing Market Size (2016–2024)

Influencer Marketing Market Size (2016–2024)

Influencer marketing has emerged as one of the most effective strategies for business growth. Leveraging the influence of popular personalities on platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, this approach has significantly helped numerous businesses expand their brand visibility, widen their audience, and enhance sales performance.

The remarkable popularity and proven effectiveness of influencer marketing have unsurprisingly led to a substantial expansion in the market size of this industry. Over the years, the influencer marketing sector has witnessed exponential growth. Just how big is the influencer marketing industry? Here’s an in-depth look.

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Growth of influencer marketing: 2016–2024

Year

Influencer marketing market size

2016

$1.7 billion

2017

$3.0 billion

2018

$4.6 billion

2019

$6.5 billion

2020

$9.7 billion

2021

$13.8 billion

2022

$16.4 billion

2023

$21.1 billion

2024

$24.0 billion

According to the latest influencer marketing statistics, as of 2024, the influencer marketing industry has a valuation of $24 billion, reflecting a 13.7% increase from its $21.1 billion valuation in 2023. This growth, while impressive, represents a slowdown from the previous year’s acceleration. The influencer marketing market size experienced a robust 28.7% year-over-year growth in 2023, more than doubling the growth rate projected for 2024.

To really understand how impressive the growth of influencer marketing has been, we only need to look at statistics from as recent as 2016. At that time, the influencer marketing market size was just $1.7 billion, a fraction of its current valuation. In merely eight years, the influencer marketing sector has expanded over ten-fold.

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The biggest annual growth was registered in 2017, when the industry grew by 76.5%, year over year, to $3 billion. The momentum continued in the following year, with a growth of 53.5%, reaching $4.6 billion. The sector maintained its rapid expansion, growing by more than 40% annually and surpassing the $10 billion milestone in 2021, with a valuation of $13.8 billion.

From 2016 to 2024, the average annual growth rate of the influencer marketing industry is 40.5%. According to industry analysts, the COVID-19 pandemic was a driving force behind the immense growth experienced in 2020 and 2021, and the data shows that this trend is expected to persist. 

Further reinforcing this outlook, a study conducted by another research firm projects that the influencer marketing sector is poised to generate $199.6 billion in revenue by 2032. This forecast underscores the significant potential and enduring momentum of influencer marketing as a key driver in the digital economy.

Influencer marketing market size: increasing budgets

As the influencer marketing industry expands, companies are correspondingly scaling up their budgets for influencer efforts. Recent influencer marketing data reveals that nearly three out of five (59.4%) businesses intend to increase their investment in influencer marketing for 2024. More than one in five (22.1%) intend to maintain their previous year’s budget, while the remainder are either undecided or considering reductions.

Chart showing: How Much Do Brands Spend on Influencer Marketing?

Expected influencer marketing spend (2024)

Proportion of brands intending to spend the stated amount

Less than $10k

47.4%

$10k to $50k

20.9%

$50k to $100k

8.9%

$100k to $500k

8.3%

More than $500k

14.5%

In terms of dollar expenditure, 47.4% of brands say they intend to spend less than $10,000 on their influencer marketing campaigns in 2024. This marks a 4.4 percentage point rise from the 43% of businesses that budgeted within the same range in 2023.

Additionally, more than one in five (20.9%) have set aside between $10,000 and $50,000 for influencer marketing. A smaller fraction, 8.9%, have earmarked budgets ranging from $50,000 to $100,000. Approximately 8.3% of companies plan to spend between $100,000 to $500,000, while a significant 14.5% of brands are dedicating more than half a million dollars to their influencer marketing efforts for 2024.

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