“Influencer marketing is important for businesses around the world, particularly those in retail, fashion, beauty and entertainment,” said eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson, author of our recent report, "Global Influencer Marketing 2019." “Many consumers, particularly young people, get product recommendations from the influencers they follow. Retailers that collaborate with an influencer can bring new shoppers into stores and create buzz around their offerings.”
But influencer marketing can be more complex for retailers that sell a wide variety of products than it is for brand marketers who consistently target the same demographic. This is especially true when it comes to picking the right influencers on the right social platform.
For most marketers, Instagram is at the top of the list. January 2019 data from Mediakix shows that 89% of US marketers said they viewed Instagram as the most important social media channel for influencer marketing. Why do marketers value Instagram? According to December 2018 polling by CivicScience, a third of US daily Instagram users said they had purchased a product or service based on a recommendation from an influencer or blogger on the platform.