Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends

Q1 2019
 Introduction
Influencer marketing isn’t just a new buzzword, it’s a social media
strategy that’s here to stay. Increasingly more brands are seeing
the value of this trend and are eager to implement influencer
marketing into their own social media strategies. As the report
reveals, businesses across industries and regions are scaling
their investment in sponsored content.

In this study you’ll receive the most recent insights on the current
influencer marketing landscape. Discover which content formats
are generating the most engagement, which industries influencers
are partnering with and gather enough intelligence to predict what
will happen next.
“As consumers are increasingly seeking out reviews and
trusted voices when making purchasing decisions, a huge
opportunity has been created for influencers and brands to
team up to create an authentic connection with audiences,”

Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CEO, Socialbakers

Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 2

 Table of Contents

Engagement on Instagram 4-7 Influencers by Audience Size and Region 16-18

Platform, Audience, Activity and Engagement 5 Three Types of Social Media Influencers 17
Stories Format 6 Instagram Influencers Across the Globe 18
Influencer Posts by Type 7 Influencer Demographics 19-22
The Uptrend in Influencer Marketing on Instagram 8-15 Influencers by Age Group 20
Influencers and #Ad Use 9 Influencers by Generation 21
The Rise of Sponsored Content 10 Interactions by Influencer’s Age 22
Influencers and Sponsored Posts by Audience Size 11 Influencer interests, Mentions, and Hashtags 23-26
Engagement and Sponsored Content 12 Influencers and Interest 24
Global Brands and Influencer Marketing 13 Most Common Industries Mentioned by Influencers 25
Daniel Wellington Use Case 14 Advertising Habits of Instagram Influencers 26
Retail Industry and Influencer Marketing 15 Conclusion 27

Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 3

184.04
Interactions per 1k Followers

147k 430
Followers Number of Posts

Engagement
on Instagram

Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 4

 Engagement on Instagram

Audience Activity User

Size Volume Engagement

Platform Audience,
Activity, Engagement
Instagram has a smaller audience size. However, despite
this disparity, Instagram users are far more engaged. This
demonstrates that Instagram is the go-to platform for capturing
quality engagement within smaller communities.

With such large user engagement and activity, Instagram has

become the prime channel for influencer marketing. Influencers
are easily able to use the platform to collaborate with brands
taking advantage of its diverse range of formats and striking
visuals.
“Instagram is becoming the #1 social media platform when it comes to
engagement for brands. When we look at engagement on an absolute level,
Instagram has a lot more engagement for brands than Facebook, despite
having a significantly smaller audience size. As a result, we see businesses
leveraging Instagram for advertising more than ever before.”

Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CEO, Socialbakers

Chart Time Range: November 2018 - January 2019; Sample: 5,000 largest pages/profiles by platfrom worldwide; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 5
 Engagement on Instagram

Brands Increasingly Post More Stories on Instagram

The Stories Format
100%
is Growing
80%

% of Published Content
Stories on Instagram have become an invaluable source of
60%
engagement for brands. Since March 2018, the format usage has
grown by 21%.
40%

Increasingly more brands are utilizing the flexibility of Instagram

20%
Stories, which allows them to boost brand visibility at low cost and
without spamming their audience.
0%
Apr ‘18 Feb ‘19
Stories are also a great outlet for influencers to use as they can
Stories
share products or services without having to risk the integrity of
their News Feed.

Chart Time Range: March 1, 2018 - March 17, 2019; Sample: Business IG profiles of brands that published both formats (7337 profiles); Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 6
 Engagement on Instagram

Share of Influencer Posts by Format

Influencers Post Images the Most

100% Influencer’s Use of Images,

80% Videos, and Carousel Posts
All Post Types

60%
Images are still the top content format preferred by influencers,
but the gap between the formats is closing.
40%

While in January 2017, images accounted for 91% of influencer

20%
content, in 2019 Q1, images made up 71%, videos 10%, and
carousel posts 18% of all influencer content. With Instagram’s
0%
increasing efforts to promote IGTV, the shift to video may intensify
Feb ‘17 Feb ‘19
among content creators.

Videos Carousels Images

Chart Time Range: January 2017 - March 2019; Sample: Instagram profiles with > 1,000 Followers; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 7
 The Uptrend in
Influencer Marketing
on Instagram

Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 8

 The Uptrend in Influencer Marketing on Instagram

Influencers Who Used #Ad on Their Posts

Influencers on Instagram
25K
20K

Influencers
15K
10K

The Growing 5K
0

Influencer Trend Feb ‘18

Influencers
Feb ‘19

Influencer marketing is projected to become a 10 billion dollar

All Instagram Posts Using #Ad
market by 2020. In fact, over 2018, the number of influencers
Influencers on Instagram
using the #ad hashtag on Instagram has increased by a
70K
staggering 133%.
60K
50K
When looking at the growth of all Instagram posts including #ad
40K

Posts
we see a similar pattern with a 120% increase.
30K
20K
10K
0
Feb ‘18 Feb ‘19
Posts

Chart Time Range: January 2018 - March 2019; Sample: Instagram business profiles with > 1,000 followers; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 9
 The Uptrend in Influencer Marketing on Instagram

The Rise of
Sponsored content on Instagram is growing across regions. In North America, over the course
Sponsored Content of 2018, sponsored content grew by over 150%.

Increase of Sponsored Content on Instagram by Region

Half Yearly Percent Change in Post Count
100%

80%

60%
Post Count

40%

20%

0%
Feb 1, 2018 Aug 1, 2018 Feb 1, 2019

Africa Asia Europe LATAM N. America Pacific Average

Chart Time Range: January 1, 2018 - March 31, 2019; Sample: Sponsored posts across all regions with #ad; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 10
 The Uptrend in Influencer Marketing on Instagram

Share of Influencers with Posts Containing #Ad

Instagram Influencers by Audience Size

< 10K Fans

< 50K Fans Who’s Posting #Ad More?

< 100K Fans Our findings show that influencers with a larger following are more
likely to use #ad as opposed to smaller influencers.

< 1M Fans
26% of influencers with more than 1 million followers have used
#ad in their posts.
> 1M Fans

0% 10% 20% 30%

Influencers

Chart Time Range: January 2018 - March 2019; Sample: Instagram business profiles of people with > 1,000 followers; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 11
 The Uptrend in Influencer Marketing on Instagram

Engagement on Influencer Sponsored Content

Interactions on Instagram Influencer Posts with #Ad

Engagement and #Ad

Sponsored Content
Influencer marketing has become so prominent, the Advertising
Standards Agency has created a guide for how to display
sponsored content on social media.

Though influencers are increasing their use of #ad, they aren’t Others

seeing any effect on their level of interactions. In fact, sponsored

and non-sponsored content receive nearly the same engagement.

0 100 200 300 400

Median Interactions

Chart Time Range: January 2018 - March 2019; Sample: Instagram business profiles of people with > 1,000 followers who posted #ad; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 12
 The Uptrend in Influencer Marketing on Instagram

Brands Mentioned by Influencers the Most

Brands Mentioned in Influencer Posts Using #Ad

BRAND INDUSTRY FOLLOWERS # MENTIONS # INFLUENCERS

Daniel Wellington Fashion 4,609,834 20,873 7,242

iDeal Of Sweden Fashion 407,063 2,146 1,052 Global Brands Are

Walmart Retail 1,721,354 1,779 966 Tapping Into Sponsored
REVIEW Fashion 37,144 1,799 855 Posts on Instagram
Target Retail 3,710,641 2,085 817
Iconic retail and beauty brands are making the most out of
nike Sporting Goods 86,247,075 1,569 812 influencer marketing on Instagram.

NA-KD.com Ecommerce 2,007,865 1,800 745 Daniel Wellington’s entire Instagram strategy relies on
influencer-generated content which makes their content diverse
Campaign Home & Living 12,457 2,221 739
and interesting.
Sephora Retail 17,192,897 1,275 738

Amazon Ecommerce 1,472,467 1,204 688

Chart Time Range: January 1, 2018 - March 31, 2019; Sample: Instagram posts with #ad published by profiles of people with > 1,000 followers; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 13
The Uptrend in Influencer Marketing on Instagram

Snapshot of Daniel Wellington’s

Influencer-Led Instagram Feed

Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 14

 The Uptrend in Influencer Marketing on Instagram

Total User Engagement on Branded Profiles

The Retail Industry Uses

Influencer Marketing to

Ecommerce
Drive Sales

Fashion

Beauty

Retail

Other
Auto
Traditional retail chains have been struggling in recent years with
holiday sales slowly declining.

Major retailers such as Nordstrom are turning to influencer

Ecommerce
marketing to help spark buzz and drive online sales.

Fashion

Beauty

Retail

Other
Auto
According to Socialbakers data, the retail industry is on top of their
engagement game, earning their place in the top 5 most engaging
industries on facebook and Instagram.

Chart Time Range: July - December 2017; Sample: 33,000 Instagram profiles categorized as brands; Engagement defined as sum of all likes and comments on profile’s posts; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 15
 3.6K
Followers

2.4M
Followers
10K
Followers

Influencers by 200K
Followers

Audience Size
and Region
Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 16
Influencers by Audience Size and Region
Micro-influencers
Three Types <10K
of Social Media FOLLOWERS
Influencers
PROS:
Have a tight-knit relationship
with their audience
Cover a wide range of niches
Have higher engagement and
conversion rates
Are often cheaper than big
influencers
Macro-influencers Celebrities
<50K >1M
FOLLOWERS FOLLOWERS
PROS: PROS:
Have a large, diverse Have a vast audience
audience with a broader reach
Can achieve a great reach
Have a well-established
position within a given Are highly professional
community
Can help you grow brand
Are experienced in working awareness and position your
with brands product
Already have a large
marketing potential you can
tap into
Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 17
 Influencers by Audience Size and Region

Micro Influencer Trend

The majority of Instagram influencers fall into the micro category, meaning they have less than 10K followers. Latin America holds the record for having the
most micro influencers while North America has the most celebrity influencers who have a following of 1 million or more.

Instagram Influencers Split by Audience Size

Asia

Europe

Latin America

North America

50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

< 10K Fans < 50K Fans < 100K Fans < 1M Fans > 1M Fans

Chart Time Range: March 7, 2019; Sample: Instagram profiles of people with > 1,000 followers; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 18
 AGE 18-24
AGE 35-44

COUNTRY USA
COUNTRY China

GENDER Female GENDER Male

AGE 18-24

GENDER Female

COUNTRY Canada

Influencer Demographics
Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 19
 Influencer Demographics

Distribution of Followers by Age and Gender of Influencer

25%
Share of Total Influencers’ Followers

20%

Influencers by Age
15%

Female influencers between the ages of 25-34 gather the largest

10%
share of followers - 23% of all total influencer followers. Female
influencers between the ages of 18-24 take second place and
5% male influencers between the ages of 25-34 come third.

0%
13-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Females Males

Chart Time Range: Last 90 days before April 3, 2019; Sample: Instagram profiles of people with > 1,000 followers; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 20
 Influencer Demographics

Distribution of Millenial and Gen Z Influencers, by Age and Gender

FEMALE 1M
3M 2.2M

13-17 y/o 18-24 y/o 25-34 y/o

MALE 0.5M 1.4M 2.2M

Chart Time Range: Last 90 days before April 3, 2019; Sample: Instagram profiles of people with > 1,000 followers; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 21
 Influencer Demographics

Distribution of Interactions by Age of and Gender of Influencer

25%

Share of Total Influencers’ Followers

20%

Interactions by Age 15%

When it comes to interactions distributed by age group, we see a

10%
similar pattern. Female influencers 25-34 receive the largest share
of interactions, but engagement for female influencers between
the ages of 18-24 takes a close second place. 5%

0%
13-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Females Males

Chart Time Range: Last 90 days before April 3, 2019; Sample: Instagram profiles of people with > 1,000 followers; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 22
 Beauty
Fitness
Family

Photography
Yoga

Arts and music

Influencer Interests,
Travel

Mentions, and Hashtags

Fashion
Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 23
 Influencer Interests, Mentions, and Hashtags

Most Common Interests of Instagram Influencers

INTEREST # INFLUENCERS

Hobbies & Activities 3,606,707

Business & Industry 3,048,177 Influencers and Interests
Arts & Music 2,699,837
3.6 million influencers are primarily interested in Hobbies and
Family & Relationships 2,292,634 Activities making it the most popular interest category.
Shopping & Fashion 1,938,758
However, despite some interests having less influencers, it does
Online 1,612,175 not mean they are less valuable.

Entertainment 1,543,643 These topics are often “niche” and when leveraged correctly can
have even more powerful effect on engagement.
Social Media 1,503,995
Photography 1,364,574
Food & Drink 1,122,972

Chart Time Range: March 7, 2019; Sample: Instagram profiles of people with > 1,000 followers; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 24
 Influencer Interests, Mentions, and Hashtags

Brands Mentioned by Influencers Aggregated by Industries

INTEREST # MENTIONS # INFLUENCERS # BRANDS

Fashion 1,688,453 308,865 5,329

Beauty 4,851,949 257,218 3,508

Most Popular Industries Ecommerce 822,240 191,586 2,942

Mentioned by Influencers Retail 562,589 155,808 3,080

Sporting Goods 568,945 110,225 1,154

There are 308,865 influencers working with Fashion brands. It is
the primary industry for influencer marketing. However, the most Services 357,233 93,747 3,837
mentioned industry by influencers is the Beauty industry with 4.9
million mentions. Electronics 496,499 88,789 1,487

Retail Food 116,230 62,626 1,746

FMCG Food 190,005 55,060 2,093

Accommodation 142,182 50,632 2,463

Chart Time Range: January 1, 2018 - March 31, 2019; Sample: Instagram business profiles of people with > 1,000 followers; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 25
 Influencer Interests, Mentions, and Hashtags

Brands Mentioned by Influencers

Average Influencer Activity on Instagram Split by Audience Size

< 10K Fans

< 50K Fans

Advertising Habits of
Instagram Influencers
< 100K Fans
Micro influencers, with a following of 10K or less, are less likely to
collaborate with a large number of different brands and industries.
< 1M Fans

Influencers with a following of 100K - 1M users collaborate across

industries, work with different businesses, and mention brands in
> 1M Fans
their posts more than 2X more frequently.

0 10 20 30 40

Different Industries Different Brands

Brand Mentions per Profile

Chart Time Range: January 1, 2018 - March 31, 2019; Sample: Instagram business profiles of people with > 1,000 followers; Source: Socialbakers data Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends | Q1 2019 26
 Find Your Perfect Influencer
92
Ann Bowman
Influencer marketing is a powerful strategy that marketers of every Female 18-24 years

industry are currently leveraging. Luckily with the right social 99

media marketing tools, influencer collaborations don’t have to be
out of reach. 89
Caroline Day
Katharine Chavez Female 18-24 years
With Socialbakers you can explore millions of influencer profiles
to find a perfect match for your brand. Easily uncover the ins and Female 18-24 years
👣👣
outs of an influencer’s performance and past brand collaborations Get your mindset right and your body will follow
33
to make confident decisions and avoid any potential crisis. Lora Hubbard
Female 18-24 years
Dance Sport Travel
End manual searches - take the stress out of influencer marketing
right now. 0.71 97.4k 4
Int. per 1k Followers Followers Number of Posts
12
Edna Todd
Female 18-24 years

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Must-Know Influencer Marketing Trends 2019 | Statistics by Socialbakers 27

 Socialbakers is the trusted social media management partner to thousands of enterprise brands and SMBs.
Leveraging the largest social media data-set in the industry, Socialbakers’ audience first social media marketing
platform helps brands large and small ensure their investment in social media is delivering measurable business
outcomes. With over 2,500 clients across 100 countries, Socialbakers is the leading social media management
platform. Socialbakers has been a Facebook Marketing Partner since 2011, a Pinterest Marketing Partner since
2017 and a LinkedIn Marketing Partner since 2017. Socialbakers was named in the 2018 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-
growing private companies in Europe.

www.socialbakers.com