Leading influencer marketing company Linqia recently released its fourth annual report, “The State of Influencer Marketing 2020.” Having surveyed 192 marketing professionals across industries such as consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, media, and retail, Linqia uncovered a fascinating trend — and some good news for social media influencers! 

Budgets

Over half (57%) of marketers intend to increase their influencer budgets this year.

Specifically, 11-25% said that they planned to invest over 40% of their digital marketing budgets in influencer marketing, and nearly 20% said that they would spend 26-50% of their digital marketing budget on influencers. 

Levels of Influencers

Linqia’s survey also revealed which types of influencers are expected to get the bulk of the business. Seventy-seven percent of surveyed marketers expressed interest in working with micro-influencers (5,000 to 100,000 followers). Slightly lower, 64% plan to work with macro-influencers (100,000 to 500,000 followers). Interestingly, more marketers wish to work with nano-influencers (fewer than 5,000 followers) than celebrity endorsers — 25% and 22%, respectively.

Platforms

Instagram continues to lead as the number one platform of choice for influencer marketing strategies. Nearly 100% of the survey’s respondents said they would be using Instagram for their influencer marketing needs while Facebook followed — 79% said they would be using this social media platform for influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is undeniably a growing channel for digital marketers. No longer a niche strategy reserved for high-priced celebrity endorsements, influencer marketing is expanding to include a wide range of influencers across an even wider variety of platforms and industries.