Influencer Marketing: The “Now Big Thing” in Online Customer Acquisition

Imagine seeing your sales skyrocket in a day because an influencer promoted your product on Instagram or TikTok, convincing thousands of new customers to purchase or check your product.

Well, brands with a vision are dedicating higher budgets to influencer collaborations to increase their sales and ROI with this influencer marketing strategy.

And that has been happening for a while now. 

In 2015, a survey by Tomoson revealed that brand collaborations with influencers earned businesses 6.5 times more in revenue for every dollar spent. And some up to 20 times!

Today’s figures show even higher ROI from influencer marketing. And that makes it the gold miner in online customer acquisition. 

But what is influencer marketing, and why is it the “now big thing” in online customer acquisition? Let’s take it bit by bit.

 

Influencer Marketing: What It Is and Why It’s Effective

So, what is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is a form of earned media marketing in which content creators with a large following on social media platforms promote a brand or product to their followers.

Influencer marketing utilizes strategies like mentions, comparisons, tests, and endorsements presented in text or video.

Their word on the brand or product works as proof to prospective customers, and followers perceive it as more credible because it is from an admired third party.

So, how does influencer marketing work to count as one of the fastest-growing online customer acquisition channels?

Simple! Influencers continuously and directly communicate with the audience targeted by brands. 

As such, they can create vast awareness and build tangible credibility about a product. This way, they drive leads to the business, whether directly to the product or the brand’s website and social media platforms. 

Also, social media influencers can market a product in many ways, including: 

• Posting product comparisons and reviews.

• Making videos while unboxing or consuming/using the product.

• Announcing product giveaways and product promotional events.

• Including a product promotion in their usual content. 

• Sharing news about exclusive deals or access to discount codes.

• Reporting about a brand’s support to the influencer’s social causes or fundraisers.

Aware of its effectiveness, many brands are not raising their budgets for influencer marketing. 

 

Brand Budgets for Influencer Marketing are on the Rise

Yes. It’s no secret. Businesses are increasing the amount of money they put into influencer marketing. 

In a 2025 comprehensive survey by the Influencer Marketing Hub, 75.6% of participating brands plan to dedicate a budget to influencer marketing. That’s over three-quarters of brands, even though there’s a detail worth noting. 

This figure went down by 10.2% from 2024. This is due to economic and political uncertainties, such as the TikTok ban. Challenges like assessing the ROI of influencer marketing also played a part.

These factors also explain why the number of brands planning to increase their influencer marketing budget reduced from 59.4% in 2024 to 49.2% in 2025.

Almost 12% of participating brands plan to dedicate over 50% of their marketing budget to influencer marketing. Instead, a majority of brands will put in 10%-15% of their marketing budget to influencer budgeting.

On the same question, a survey by Marketing Brew found that 46% of brands will increase their influencer marketing budget by 5%-25% in 2025. 7% will increase it by over 25%, while 37% and 10% will keep it the same or reduce it, respectively.

The two surveys confirm that brand budgets for influencer marketing are on the rise. Brands want to take full advantage of the rapid growth of the influencer marketing channel. 

 

Influencer Marketing is a Fast-growing Channel

Overall, the global market size of influencer marketing has experienced rapid growth in the last ten years. Statista data shows that the market has moved from a mere 1.7 billion USD in 2015 to a whopping 32.55 billion USD 

in 2025. 

The enabling drivers for this exponential growth include:

• The growing consumer preference for authentic content and its role in raising their trust in brands.

• The boundless global growth in internet penetration.

• The expanded number and scope of social media platforms and the consequent growth in user engagement.

Compared to other online marketing channels, influencer marketing sends the signal that it’s a fast-growing customer-acquisition channel.

Past surveys, like the 2015 Tomoson one, found that influencer marketing was the fastest-growing online customer acquisition channel. 

Other recent surveys, including one by IZEA on ‘trust in influencer marketing 2025’, confirm that influencer marketing is indeed a fast-growing channel. In fact, 77% of consumers favor content created by influencers over brand-created ads. 

Compared to social ads, for example, influencer marketing shows a more consistent resilience. According to EMarketer, the channel recorded a 14% spending change against social ads’ 4.1% in 2023. The change was projected at 14.3% in 2025 against 9.7% for social ads.

 

Email and Social Media Marketing are the Most Cost-Effective 

The 2015 Tomoson survey reported a tie between email marketing and influencer marketing in cost-effectiveness. 

Ten years later, the two continue to be among the cheapest digital marketing channels today.

According to Web FX, businesses’ average monthly spend in digital marketing is around $50-$6,000. 

Considered separately, email and social media marketing have the lowest averages of $51-$1,000 and $100-5,000, respectively.

 

Influencer Marketing Records a High ROI

Influencer marketing ROI (Return on Investment) measures the revenue or profits that brands make from customers acquired through influencer marketing compared to the amount they spend.

Remember our data from the 2015 Tomoson survey that showed brands were reaping between 6.5x and 20x more in revenue for every dollar they spent?

A year later, a highly referenced case study by NeoReach reported an 11x ROI after investing in influencer marketing compared to all other forms of digital marketing. But, note, it’s just a case study!

Other data by HypeAuditor suggest the average revenue from spending on Instagram marketing, currently at the top of the pyramid for the most profitable influencer marketing channel, is $4.21 per dollar spent.

Still, data by Storyclash shows an average of $5.78 in profits for every dollar spent on influencer marketing, with 13% of top earners reaping up to $20 from every dollar.

Despite the difference in the figures, the data suggest that influencer marketing is returning a good buck in profits.

A HubSpot 2024 survey compared the different social media platforms and found that YouTube returns the highest revenue from investment. Facebook and Instagram follow.

 

Customers from Influencer Marketing Are of Better Quality

So, what’s the quality of customers won through influencer marketing?

Brand marketers confirm that they get better quality customers from influencer marketing.

To be precise, 83.8% of marketers say customers acquired through influencer marketing are worth more than those from other marketing channels. This is not just about customer numbers but also the high-margin value of purchases.

But why do influencers manage to deliver high-quality customers?

Because they can reach niche consumers interested in your product. Besides, their firsthand experience with the product reassures high-intent buyers that the product is worth their money.

According to Sproutsocial, social media influencers convince consumers to purchase because they respond to their expectations for qualities such as honesty and impartiality. They are also entertaining.

 

Brands and Consumers Prefer Instagram and TikTok for Influencer Marketing

TikTok and Instagram are the top channels where brand marketers seek influencer partnerships. The two are also consumer preferences for connecting with influencer content creators.

TikTok was the top option for influencer marketing in 2024. However, the economic and political issues surrounding its ban in the US have triggered caution among marketers, helping Instagram shoot back to the top.

In 2024, 68.8% of marketers tapped influencer marketers from TikTok, while 46.7% preferred Instagram. In 2025, 57.1% of consumers prefer influencer campaigns on Instagram, while 51.6% prefer TikTok. YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn follow in that order.

 

A Majority of Brands use Influencer Marketers to Drive Sales

When asked about their primary objective in using influencer marketing, most brands use it to increase sales. 

The influencer marketing hub survey 2025 showed that 35.6% focus on sales, while awareness, user-generated content, and community building follow in that order.

 

Having sales increase as the primary objective for influencer marketing also highlights the need to measure ROI effectively. Measuring ROI is the number two challenge for most brands, after finding influencers.

 

Brands Prioritize Views and Impressions to Measure Influencer Marketing Success

Most of us will assume that sales and generating an ROI are the main metrics for measuring influencer marketing success. Data tells a different story.

Whether they opt to engage mega or nano marketers, brands are giving more value to impressions, clicks, views, and engagement over actual sales. 

That’s because brands don’t just market for actual sales. They also do so for other key performance indicators (KPIs) like generating leads, brand exposure, and content promotion. 

Both the 2024 and 2025 Influencer Marketing Hub reports showed that impressions, clicks, views, and engagement make the core criteria for measuring influencer marketing success. Brands also use the same metrics to choose their influencer marketers.

54.3% of marketers in 2024 and 25.8% in 2025 prioritized this metric. 22.1% and 20.7% focused on sales in the two years, respectively.

 

Conclusion: Key Recommendations

Ten years of influencer marketing prove that it is a fast-growing online customer acquisition channel. Additionally, all indications point to continued growth in influencer marketing. 

This is true because brands are investing more in working with content creators on major social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. 

Also, making certain influencer marketing decisions will greatly benefit brands in the future. These include:

• Invest in the strategic use of AI automation to identify influencers and measure ROI.

• Prioritizing micro-influencers over macro-influencers because of their vibrant and vast engagement with consumers.

• Engaging influencers from multiple channels.

• Adopting innovative content formats that respond to changing consumer expectations, including short-form videos and real shopping experiences.