How big is the influencer market?

By: Robin Geuens

Last updated: January 15, 2025

Fact Checked

Cite this research SOAX. (2025). How big is the influencer market? Retrieved from https://soax.com/research/influencer-market

Research highlights: The influencer market is expected to hit $24 billion by 2024. Even though it's still growing, the pace has slowed down a bit, with a 13.74% increase in 2024, showing that the market is becoming more stable. 

 

 

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How big is the influencer market?

  •  By the end of 2024, the influencer market is expected to hit $24 billion

  • From 2016 to 2024, the market skyrocketed from $1.7 billion to $24 billion

  • The biggest growth spurt happened in 2017 when the market shot up by 76.47%, going from $1.7 billion to $3 billion

  • Recently, the growth has slowed down a bit, dropping from a 49.23% increase in 2020 to 13.74% in 2024

  • In terms of actual dollars, the market added $14.3 billion from 2020 to 2024, compared to $8 billion from 2016 to 2020, showing bigger dollar gains even though the growth rate has slowed

  • The market almost doubled between 2019 and 2021, jumping from $6.5 billion to $13.8 billion

  • The slowest growth year in this data is 2024, with a 13.74% increase, suggesting the industry might be leveling off

Year Market size Change
2024* 24.0B ↑ 13.74%
2023 21.1B ↑ 28.66%
2022 16.4B ↑ 18.84%
2021 13.8B ↑ 42.27%
2020 9.7B ↑ 49.23%
2019 6.5B ↑ 41.3%
2018 4.6B ↑ 53.33%
2017 3.0B ↑ 76.47%
2016 1.7B

 

What percent of marketing team's budgets are spent on influencer marketing?

  •  About 26.10% of marketers put less than 10% of their marketing budget into influencer marketing, making it the most common choice

  • Almost the same number, 26%, spend more than 40% of their budget on influencer marketing

  • Together, 48.5% of marketers use less than 20% of their budget for influencer marketing, which suggests many businesses see it as an extra strategy

  • Only 11.50% of marketers spend between 30-40% of their budget on influencer marketing

  • On the flip side, 41.8% of marketers dedicate 20% or more of their budget to influencer marketing, showing that many businesses consider it a key strategy

  • Marketers are almost evenly split between spending a small amount (<10%) or a large amount (>40%) of their budget on influencer marketing

  • The biggest budget focus is at the extremes, with 52.10% of marketers either spending less than 10% or more than 40%

 

Share of marketing budget spent on influencer marketing Share
<10% 26.10%
10-20% 22.40%
20-30% 15.80%
30-40% 11.50%
>40% 26%

 

How much is spent on social media advertising?

  •  By 2029, spending on social media ads is expected to hit $345.73 billion, which is a 6.9% bump from 2028

  • Over the decade from 2019 to 2029, spending on these ads is set to jump by 254.57%, going from $97.50 billion to $345.73 billion

  • The biggest growth spurt happened in 2021, with a 36.27% increase, likely because businesses were boosting their digital advertising after the pandemic

  • Each year, the increase in ad spending has been getting smaller, from 11.78% in 2023 to a projected 6.9% in 2029

  • Between 2020 and 2022, ad spending went up by 42.74% overall, highlighting a big shift towards social media marketing during and after the pandemic

  • The biggest jump in dollar terms happened from 2020 to 2021, with ad spending rising by $48.15 billion

  • In 2025, spending on ads is expected to go over $250 billion, which is more than double what was spent in 2019 ($97.50 billion)

 

Year Ad spend Change
2029 345.73B ↑ 6.9%
2028 323.41B ↑ 7.41%
2027 301.09B ↑ 8%
2026 278.78B ↑ 8.7%
2025 256.46B ↑ 9.53%
2024 234.14B ↑ 10.54%
2023 211.82B ↑ 11.78%
2022 189.50B ↑ 4.74%
2021 180.92B ↑ 36.27%
2020 132.77B ↑ 36.17%
2019 97.50B

 

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