Influencer Marketing Expected to Thrive in 2023

influencer on phone with emojis
  • In a world of branded content, UGC is refreshing as it allows brands to create personalized advertisements and content that does not feel like it has come directly from a corporation.
  • One of the trends that is expected to come is brands allocating more of their budgets toward influencer marketing in order to diversify advertising channels.
  • The lifestyle niche is the most popular category amongst influencers, followed by the fashion, beauty, and travel niches.

The influencer marketing industry has been a bull over the last decade and it shows no sign of slowing down in 2023. A new study from influencer marketplace Collabstr found 2023 to be a promising year for influencer marketing, with an expected growth size of $17.4 billion — a whopping 14 percent from 2022. 

Collabstr also projects the market to reach $22.2 billion by 2025. This can be due in part to external forces pushing advertisers into spending more on influencer marketing over the next few years. There has been an influx of influencers hitting the market as platforms like YouTube shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok make it easier than ever for anyone to create content and build an audience. 


In order to help retailers understand this huge growth opportunity, Collabstr offers some influencer marketing trends for 2023:

The Rise of User-Generated Content

The User-Generated Content (UGC) market has been on the rise over the past few years, and short-video apps like TikTok have only accelerated this. While UGC may not fit into the traditional mold of influencer marketing, it still requires that advertisers hire UGC creators and influencers to create the content for them, which ultimately boosts the spending flowing into the influencer marketing industry. 

In a world of branded content, UGC is refreshing as it allows brands to create personalized advertisements and content that does not feel like it has come directly from a corporation. This helps the content fit seamlessly into the feeds of consumers. 

Influencer Marketing After iOS 14

In the spring of 2021, Apple released an update that allowed consumers to opt-out of data tracking when using apps like Instagram or TikTok. This was a huge hit to social media companies that rely on this data for their advertising business. Apple has continued to show that they are only going to continue moving in this direction, which is a big threat to brands that rely solely on advertising to acquire new customers. One of the trends that is expected to come from moves such as this is brands allocating more of their budgets toward influencer marketing in order to diversify advertising channels and create more of a relationship with their audience. 

Influx of Micro-Influencers

As short-video apps continue to dominate the social media landscape, there has been an influx of micro-influencers in every niche. Short-video platforms like TikTok are known for their viral aspect. A big part of the reason these platforms are able to attract so many content creators is the fact that they offer more organic exposure to these creators than traditional methods, such as posting photos on Instagram. 

As a result, everyone is becoming a content creator, which means more influencers in different niches. Micro-influencers can loosely be defined as anyone with a following of less than 50,000. With more micro-influencers on the market, there is a better selection for advertisers and brands that are looking for someone to be the face of their product. 

Elisa Perez, a marketing specialist for Otter Public Relations, offers three different ways micro-influencers can help your small business: 

  1. Easily target your niche.
    Using micro-influencers is a great way to target a specific audience since they have their own niche, which means their followers are consumers that are interested in that specific category, such as fitness. Many micro-influencers have followers that also like to track their daily routine and use the same products that they are using. 
  2. Micro-influencers are more authentic.
    Smaller influencers are more engaged and connected with their followers, as opposed to the macro-influencers who may not have the time to follow up with the thousands of messages they receive. Brands that micro-influencers work with are usually more related to them and their niche, and they might genuinely use their product or service, whereas larger content creators may promote any product or service just for the money. 
  3. Micro-influencers cost less.
    Since they have less followers, smaller content creators have cheaper rates — the more followers someone has, the higher their rate will be. Due to micro-influencers being less costly, small businesses are likely to have the budget to work with them. 

Most Popular Social Media Platforms for Influencer Marketing

According to Collabstr, in 2022, TikTok was the most popular social media platform for influencer marketing, with 45 percent of paid collaborations taking place on the platform. Instagram comes in second, with 39 percent of paid influencer collaborations in 2022. In 2021, Instagram was king when it came to marketing with content creators, but TikTok has quickly gained momentum and will continue to lead. 


Most Popular Influencer Niches

The lifestyle niche is the most popular category amongst influencers, followed by the fashion, beauty, and travel niches. Categories like lifestyle, beauty, and fashion remain popular because they tend to be broad and allow for a wide range of influencers to identify with them. This also makes these niches extremely saturated and competitive. This may be an opportunity to work with micro-influencers to test the waters and not blow through your entire budget. 

As retailers finish off the holiday season and get ready for the new year, you may want to set aside some marketing budget to invest in influencers. These content creators are clearly here to stay, and now you can properly plan for 2023 and successfully grow your business through influencer marketing.


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