Whether or not you personally follow influencers, it’s undeniable that influencer marketing has become a cornerstone of many digital marketing strategies. Spent on influencer campaigns in the second quarter of 2019 topped $314M USD in the U.S. and Canada. Social media has transformed otherwise regular users into celebrities in their own right — with these influencers, both big and small, evoking trust in consumers through more authentic and approachable images.
Instagram is a primary hotspot for influencer marketing. It seems everywhere you look someone is posting on behalf of a brand — 7 in 10 hashtags used on Instagram are branded (i.e. include a brand name). Despite the seemingly endless amount of posts, it still works: companies who used influencer marketing in 2018 earned a 520% return on investment.