In today’s cluttered and confusing media landscape, marketers across the globe need to find innovative ways to reach their audiences. Influencer marketing has emerged as a powerful tactic that targets consumers where they already spend their time: social media.

• Social media users from all over the world follow influencers for inspiration, honest opinions and even expert advice. Influencers can provide a direct and authentic line for brands trying to reach their customers.
• On a global level, Instagram is the primary platform for many influencer-brand campaigns. That’s especially true in places with high Instagram user penetration rates, like Sweden and Australia, but its importance is rising in nearly every country. One exception is China, where local platforms like Weibo and WeChat dominate.
• One of the leading ways in which marketers engage with influencers is through sample lending or gifting. That makes putting a dollar figure on the size of the influencer market difficult, though research shows that budgets are rising in all parts of the world.
• Microinfluencers are playing a greater role for marketers in Europe and the US, while those in China and the Middle East are still more focused on macroinfluencers or celebrity influencers.
• Macroinfluencers or celebrity influencers can provide marketers with reach that surpasses that of traditional media, while smaller influencers tend to be better for engagement and sometimes sales generation.