The digital landscape is constantly changing, and influencer marketing is no exception.
Aspire’s Annual Industry Benchmark Report 2023 offers a deep dive into the state of the industry, the issues it faces, and its future prospects to stay ahead of the changes and modifications.
Celebrating 10 years in the industry, Aprire’s benchmark report offers new insights and strategies specifically for influencers looking to improve their campaigns.
The report draws on data from more than 700 major marketers and creatives to highlight the influencer marketing landscape, for example, Meta, Pinterest, and TikTok.
Unveiling The Future: The State Of Influencer Marketing 2023 – Insights From The Annual Industry Benchmark Report By Aspire.io
Key Findings
Instagram’s Dominance:
Even among emerging social media platforms, Instagram is number one for influencer marketing, with 87% of marketers and 90% of creatives planning to expand their Insta activities by the end of 2023.
The main highlight of Instagram is the short video format Reels, which dominates all content formats.
Also, YouTube and TikTok, with their high engagement rates, indicate that video content will be a major trend in the coming years.
Budget Allocations:
In 2023, 68% of brands will increase their influencer marketing budgets despite economic challenges.
This shows the effectiveness and value of influencer marketing for brands and also for influencers.
The industry has not yet reached its saturation point and there is much more to come for creative content creators.
The Rise of Nano and Micro-Influencers:
The authentic connections and high engagement rates of micro-influencers make them popular.
About 69% of marketers work with these smaller creators and this trend is going to grow in the coming years.
However, the above statistics do not change the fact that followership is still an important element in an influencer’s success.
It just points out how important authenticity and connection development are.
Long-Term Partnerships:
According to Aspire, 70% of creatives prefer long-term campaigns with companies.
To strengthen relationships with creators, 52% of brands run concurrent brand ambassador programs.
Social Commerce: The Future
The e-commerce market, estimated to be worth $6.7 trillion by 2024, is experiencing a paradigm shift toward social commerce.
Brands are increasingly using social platforms to engage with consumers throughout their buying process.
The entire shopping process is simplified and influenced by social media, from searching for products to making a purchase.
Aside from these key findings, the Aspire report talks about some of the most important scenarios and statistics in the influencer world, highlighting campaign and content production in particular.
The Current State of Influencer Marketing
Aspire highlights the changes in influencer marketing, especially with the advent of AI technologies.
Due to the current economic climate, many companies are rethinking their approach.
Influencer marketing creates content and builds communities and is a resilient strategy in these turbulent times.
Instead of slashing marketing budgets, however, businesses are shifting resources to cost-effective and mission-focused channels.
The definition of ‘influence’ is expanding.
Beyond traditional social media influencers, brands engage with diverse groups, including loyal customers, industry professionals, and creatives.
This inclusivity is fostering more authentic partnerships and driving tangible impacts. There are nano as well as micro-influencers to help boost a brand.
Social Channel Trends
Influencer marketing has picked up steam on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
Features like Instagram Stories and Reels will be critical in 2023, as 87% of brands and 90% of creatives plan to increase their presence on the platform.
Even Aspire’s campaigns are 60% on Instagram!
The main point of the report is the survey on which social media platforms brands are investing in and which platforms are considered the least useful.
Below are two screenshots that sum up the preferences of brands.
Other exciting studies include the “Average engagement rate by follower count” study on the four major players in the industry Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
The study concludes that 67% of viewers engage with nano-influencers on YouTube, while the engagement rate for macro-influencers on Facebook is 0%.
The above statistics clearly show where you should invest your money as a brand.
Pricing and Budget
Under the pricing and budget section, Aspire’s report talks about the variables that affect the average cost-per-engagement for each social media channel.
The biggest highlight was the 8-point checklist they provided to calculate how much to pay an influencer. Below is the checklist
Engagement
Reach
Quality of the content
Post requirements
Verified controls and agents
Value of product provided free of charge
Industry and experience
Shared work history
Influencers should work on all of these 8 points simultaneously to increase themselves and their revenue threshold.
They should also understand that engagement and reach are not the only variables brands are looking for in their portfolio.
Calculating the base rate formula is another important metric introduced by Aspire for the brands. Check out the formula below –
Price per post = Recent average engagements x CPE
Example:
Price per Instagram post = Recent average engagements x $0.56
Finally, Aspire talks about what ways and methods brands should use to fairly compensate creatives, highlighting one of the key elements: gifts and goodies are not an effective payment method.
Marketers should realize that creatives and influencers work very hard to create content and maintain relationships with their followers, and paying them unfairly and below average can be detrimental to brand image.
Campaign Production and Content
Aspire has done a wonderful job of shedding light on the ins and outs and statistics of campaign production and influencer-generated content.
Brands save a lot of money and time by marketing their products through influencer content instead of shooting photos and creating content themselves.
Check out the comparison infographic below that points out why as a brand you should not be focusing on the creation of content yourself and instead sublet it to the influencers.
Conclusion
The report ends with a segment called “Looking Back and Moving Forward” where Aspire talks about market statistics and the future of influencers and brands.
Aspire also gives 6 best practices for influencer marketing to keep in mind.
To be honest, we did not find anything unique or unusual here.
On the other hand, you can check out our resources to find better techniques and affiliate program reviews to assess what can work best for you.
Overall, Apsire’s report contains many new insights and important deductions for the influencer world.
For similar insightful studies and insights, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Influence Weekly.
David Adler is an entrepreneur and freelance blog post writer who enjoys writing about business, entrepreneurship, travel and the influencer marketing space.
The digital landscape is constantly changing, and influencer marketing is no exception.
Aspire’s Annual Industry Benchmark Report 2023 offers a deep dive into the state of the industry, the issues it faces, and its future prospects to stay ahead of the changes and modifications.
Celebrating 10 years in the industry, Aprire’s benchmark report offers new insights and strategies specifically for influencers looking to improve their campaigns.
The report draws on data from more than 700 major marketers and creatives to highlight the influencer marketing landscape, for example, Meta, Pinterest, and TikTok.
Unveiling The Future: The State Of Influencer Marketing 2023 – Insights From The Annual Industry Benchmark Report By Aspire.io
Key Findings
Instagram’s Dominance:
Even among emerging social media platforms, Instagram is number one for influencer marketing, with 87% of marketers and 90% of creatives planning to expand their Insta activities by the end of 2023.
The main highlight of Instagram is the short video format Reels, which dominates all content formats.
Also, YouTube and TikTok, with their high engagement rates, indicate that video content will be a major trend in the coming years.
Budget Allocations:
In 2023, 68% of brands will increase their influencer marketing budgets despite economic challenges.
This shows the effectiveness and value of influencer marketing for brands and also for influencers.
The industry has not yet reached its saturation point and there is much more to come for creative content creators.
The Rise of Nano and Micro-Influencers:
The authentic connections and high engagement rates of micro-influencers make them popular.
About 69% of marketers work with these smaller creators and this trend is going to grow in the coming years.
However, the above statistics do not change the fact that followership is still an important element in an influencer’s success.
It just points out how important authenticity and connection development are.
Long-Term Partnerships:
According to Aspire, 70% of creatives prefer long-term campaigns with companies.
To strengthen relationships with creators, 52% of brands run concurrent brand ambassador programs.
Social Commerce: The Future
The e-commerce market, estimated to be worth $6.7 trillion by 2024, is experiencing a paradigm shift toward social commerce.
Brands are increasingly using social platforms to engage with consumers throughout their buying process.
The entire shopping process is simplified and influenced by social media, from searching for products to making a purchase.
Aside from these key findings, the Aspire report talks about some of the most important scenarios and statistics in the influencer world, highlighting campaign and content production in particular.
The Current State of Influencer Marketing
Aspire highlights the changes in influencer marketing, especially with the advent of AI technologies.
Due to the current economic climate, many companies are rethinking their approach.
Influencer marketing creates content and builds communities and is a resilient strategy in these turbulent times.
Instead of slashing marketing budgets, however, businesses are shifting resources to cost-effective and mission-focused channels.
The definition of ‘influence’ is expanding.
Beyond traditional social media influencers, brands engage with diverse groups, including loyal customers, industry professionals, and creatives.
This inclusivity is fostering more authentic partnerships and driving tangible impacts. There are nano as well as micro-influencers to help boost a brand.
Social Channel Trends
Influencer marketing has picked up steam on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
Features like Instagram Stories and Reels will be critical in 2023, as 87% of brands and 90% of creatives plan to increase their presence on the platform.
Even Aspire’s campaigns are 60% on Instagram!
The main point of the report is the survey on which social media platforms brands are investing in and which platforms are considered the least useful.
Below are two screenshots that sum up the preferences of brands.
Source – Aspire
Other exciting studies include the “Average engagement rate by follower count” study on the four major players in the industry Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
The study concludes that 67% of viewers engage with nano-influencers on YouTube, while the engagement rate for macro-influencers on Facebook is 0%.
The above statistics clearly show where you should invest your money as a brand.
Pricing and Budget
Under the pricing and budget section, Aspire’s report talks about the variables that affect the average cost-per-engagement for each social media channel.
The biggest highlight was the 8-point checklist they provided to calculate how much to pay an influencer. Below is the checklist
Influencers should work on all of these 8 points simultaneously to increase themselves and their revenue threshold.
They should also understand that engagement and reach are not the only variables brands are looking for in their portfolio.
Calculating the base rate formula is another important metric introduced by Aspire for the brands. Check out the formula below –
Price per post = Recent average engagements x CPE
Example:
Price per Instagram post = Recent average engagements x $0.56
Finally, Aspire talks about what ways and methods brands should use to fairly compensate creatives, highlighting one of the key elements: gifts and goodies are not an effective payment method.
Marketers should realize that creatives and influencers work very hard to create content and maintain relationships with their followers, and paying them unfairly and below average can be detrimental to brand image.
Campaign Production and Content
Aspire has done a wonderful job of shedding light on the ins and outs and statistics of campaign production and influencer-generated content.
Brands save a lot of money and time by marketing their products through influencer content instead of shooting photos and creating content themselves.
Check out the comparison infographic below that points out why as a brand you should not be focusing on the creation of content yourself and instead sublet it to the influencers.
Conclusion
The report ends with a segment called “Looking Back and Moving Forward” where Aspire talks about market statistics and the future of influencers and brands.
Aspire also gives 6 best practices for influencer marketing to keep in mind.
To be honest, we did not find anything unique or unusual here.
On the other hand, you can check out our resources to find better techniques and affiliate program reviews to assess what can work best for you.
Overall, Apsire’s report contains many new insights and important deductions for the influencer world.
For similar insightful studies and insights, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Influence Weekly.