Growth Facts & Trends About The Creator Economy | SocialLadder

Overview:

With customer acquisition costs skyrocketing, brands are turning in mass to influencer marketing. As you already know, the cost of advertising on “traditional” marketing channels such as Google, Youtube, Facebook, and even TikTok is up by close to 100% year over year. On top of that new tracking and attribution regulations are getting stricter, making it harder for us marketers to evaluate the efficiency of our campaigns. 

How big is the influencer marketing industry and why should you care? 

• In 2016 influencer marketing was worth $1.7B
• The industry has grown consistently by 20% since 2016 and is now projected to be worth $16.4B at the end of 2022.
• In 2021 alone, the industry saw a 30% increase in brand paying for influencers. 
• This year 75% of marketers are dedicated budgets to influencer marketing. 
• In 2022 brands will spend $4B in influencer marketing in the US alone. 

The industry is growing at such a rapid pace that brands are dumping money left and right into their influencer programs hoping for magic results. Unfortunately, traditional influencers lack authenticity. Customers are asking for real people, and since 2020 we’ve seen a fundamental shift toward micro-influencers and small brand ambassadors. Brands have seen this happen in real time and responded by building longer, more authentic relationships with smaller and smaller influencers.  The economics of working with micro-influencers makes more sense for brands at scale, and they are embracing the movement wholeheartedly. 

With more than 50 million creators worldwide, there has never been a better time to activate your fans and turn them into ambassadors for your brand. Here are some ROI numbers:

• Purchases influenced by content generated $71B in revenue in 2021.
• Brands see a 12:1 ROI ratio for performance base and trackable offering 
• Micro-influencer and brand ambassadors leverage affiliate programs: a performance-based model that brings the most ROI for brands.

Key Takeaways:

In 2022, influencer marketing continues its ascent with a shift toward micro-influencers and brand ambassadors at the forefront. New social media platforms are emerging, budgets are shifting from traditional ads to influencer marketing, and brands across the board are relocating budgets for better ROI. Activating your brand fans into trusted brand ambassadors and authentic micro-influencer is the new way of advertising.

Successful marketer scale influencer marketing by using tools that provide:

• Measurement capabilities (tracking and attribution)
• ROI dashboards
• Creator search tools
• Easy application and recommendations for new creators
• Offering a space for ambassadors to share ideas and content that performs
• Relationship management tools to keep ambassadors engaged
• Configurable payout systems with rewards and challenges