The continued fight against fraud, the rise of nano influencers on Instagram and the dominance of TikTok have been unveiled as some of the biggest trends, HypeAuditor has revealed.
The AI analytics platform for brands has released its fourth annual “State of Influencer Marketing” 2024 report, showcasing the key Influencer Marketing trends in 2023 across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
This year, HypeAuditor predicts the Influencer Marketing market size will reach a staggering USD $22 billion by 2025. According to the platform, the contributing factors to the rise in the adoption of influencer marketing include the growing prominence of social e-commerce, the redistribution of the advertising budget towards digital advertising, and the increase in the usage of ad-blocking software.
Alexander Frolov, CEO and co-founder at HypeAuditor, said influencer marketing is increasingly being seen for its value as an essential part of brand marketing and the steady decline in the percentage of influencers impacted by fraud are no stranger to this.
“Thanks to greater awareness among content creators and steps taken by social media platforms to mitigate this phenomenon, marketers can feel more confident about the success of their influencer marketing strategies.”
Frolov added: “However, despite this good news, marketers need to continue to be vigilant of the impact of fraud, particularly when partnering with mega and celebrity influencers.”
Fighting fraud
HypeAuditor’s data reveals that although 43% of Australian Instagram influencers continued to be impacted by fraud in 2023, there was a 2.15% decrease from 2022, making this the third year in a row that this number has decreased.
The continued decreasing trend in fraud for three years in a row shows that Instagram is getting more effective in its fight against fraud, and that there is more awareness amongst influencers themselves that fraudulent methods of promotion don’t work in the long term. Mega (over 1m followers) and Macro (500k – 1m followers) influencers were the most impacted by fraud in 2023.
Nano influencers rule over Instagram
Close to 4 out of 5 (79.9%) of all Instagram creators in Australia are Nano influencers (1,000 to 10,000 followers). These content creators have a stronger connection with their audience, as they hold the highest Engagement Rate (ER) of 2.3% on Instagram compared to other categories. Brands aiming for strong audience connections and higher engagement will find value in collaborating with nano-influencers and identifying influencers in less competitive niches for unique opportunities.
Most Instagram influencers produce content related to Lifestyle (10.2%), Music (8.8%) and Beauty (5.9%).
TikTok is the top growing social media platform
After a year of releasing multiple new features and functionalities to inspire creativity and help users better engage with content, TikTok took the first place as the top growing social media platform in 2023 reaching 1.6 billion active users. Two-thirds of TikTok users are under the age of 24, of which 44% are female. If a brand or product is aimed at young women, TikTok is the ideal social media platform for their influencer marketing campaign, according to the HypeAuditor report.
TikTok influencers have a higher engagement rate than Instagram influencers. Nano-influencers on TikTok have the highest ER at 9.8%. The ER of Mid-tier, Macro and Mega-influencers slightly differs and accounts for around 9% for each tier.
High ER on TikTok is due to the fact that user behavior on TikTok differs from how people interact with other platforms. TikTok was built for users to easily create and interact with content, encouraging them to post videos, like, and follow frequently, thereby increasing engagement.
The Matildas win first place in most talked about brands on Instagram by influencers
Australia’s women’s national football team left quite an impression on influencers and Instagram users after their performance at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. They were the most talked about brands on Instagram amongst influencers with a total of 5.6 million mentions from 3.6 Aussie influencers, reaching 52 million people.
Kmart Aus took out the second place with 6.4k mentions made by 2.4k influencers and R U OK came out third with 2.5k mentions made by 2.2k influencers, the HypeAuditor report noted.
Marketers prefer Instagram for their influencer marketing campaigns
When it comes to marketing specialists, they preferred social media channels, Instagram came out on top with 89% saying that Instagram is the number one influencer marketing platform.
Instagram provides a unique avenue for creators to authentically showcase products and services. It’s a direct connection between consumers and brands through trusted individuals on a platform they frequent. Instagram’s influencer marketing transcends traditional advertising barriers, with creator recommendations considered not just credible but highly effective for brand success.
Moreover a staggering 87% of users take concrete actions after encountering product information in Instagram posts – be it following a brand, visiting a retail store, or making a purchase. These compelling statistics underscore Instagram’s role as a goldmine for leads in 2024 and beyond, according to HypeAuditor.