Instagram influencer marketing was valued at $1.7 billion in 2019 and research suggests that the industry’s value could grow to be worth $2.3 billion in 2020, according to a study by mediakix.
Social media platform Instagram, which came to prominence in recent years, is now ranked the most strategically important social media channel for influencer marketing and has continued to launch new formats such as IGTV and features including shoppable Instagram functionalities.
Earlier in 2019, the company introduced Checkout on Instagram, which allows users to purchase and manage orders directly from the app.
Some 79 percent of brands in a survey said they predominantly use Instagram for influencer campaigns.
This is compared to 46 percent of brands that use Facebook, 36 percent who use influencers on YouTube, and 24 percent who employ influencer campaigns on Twitter.
Instagram is, however, facing increased rivalry from new entrants such as video-sharing social networking service TikTok, which has evolved from a music platform to include dance, beauty, and sports content.
Beijing-based TikTok is growing in popularity and brands are increasingly seeing it as an effective platform for influencer marketing campaigns.
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Instagram is considering hiding the number of likes on posts as a new feature. This could affect how influencers are measured and remunerated. The platform is testing the feature.
About 54 percent of brands believe that this feature will uplift content as influencers will have to prove their worth on the basis of content quality rather than numbers.
