research methodology of digital marketing pdf

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DIGITAL MARKETING

• February 2022

• International Institute of Information Technology, Bhubaneswar

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Journal of Indian Business Research

ISSN : 1755-4195

Article publication date: 20 February 2023

Issue publication date: 3 March 2023

This study aims to analyze the available literature on the use of digital marketing and its impact on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study identifies the use of digital marketing practices and its impact on SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review has been conducted on digital marketing, and its implementation in SMEs. The impact of digital marketing on SMEs performance is observed over the past 12 years through the resources which are undertaken for the study, namely, Science Direct, Scopus, Springer, IEEE Explorer, ACM Digital Library, Engineering Village, ISI Web of Knowledge database is used to search the research publications on the selected topic.

Although some SME firms use digital marketing, their impact is not similar where we can recommend a fixed strategy for applying digital marketing. This review provides an insight into how digital marketing has evolved over the period of time and how SMEs are adopting it for their sustenance.

Practical implications

This study will give theoretical analysis of various benefits received by SMEs because of digital marketing in the different capacities helping organizations to uplift their productivity. Mind mapping will give the idea of impact of SMEs on their various performances in rural as well as in the urban areas. This study will give further scope for digital marketers to approach those industries specifically at rural parts of the nation for bringing change into their marketing operations and also for increasing turnover by the use of digital marketing.

Originality/value

Research on the use of digital marketing by SMEs firms is still at the embryonic stage in India. This study is a pioneering effort to review the use of digital marketing in SMEs and identify research priorities for scholars and practitioners.

• Literature review
• Digital marketing
• Small and medium enterprises
• Impact on SMEs

Jadhav, G.G. , Gaikwad, S.V. and Bapat, D. (2023), "A systematic literature review: digital marketing and its impact on SMEs", Journal of Indian Business Research , Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 76-91. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIBR-05-2022-0129

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You are here: Influencer Marketing Hub » Influencer Marketing » The State of Influencer Marketing 2024: Benchmark Report

The State of Influencer Marketing 2024: Benchmark Report

The Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2024 is our latest overview of the influencer marketing industry. It summarizes the thoughts of more than 3000 marketing agencies, brands, and other relevant professionals regarding the current state of influencer marketing, along with some predictions of how people expect it to move over the next year and into the future. 

The world around us has changed considerably over the last few years. The arrival of Covid in 2020 turned much of the world on its head, with enforced lockdowns and scenes reminiscent of a Hollywood disaster movie. By 2024, however, much of the world has learned to live with Covid but struggled to cope with its financial fallout. We still suffer from supply chain disruptions, a chronic shortage of key workers, and creeping inflation threatening to unsettle the global economy. And that doesn’t even include the effects of Global Warming, associated climatic effects, and wars raging on multiple fronts.

Unsurprisingly, many businesses have struggled to survive in this new environment. And those that have made it this far need to find new ways to market, so they stand out in the minds of consumers. Creator and influencer marketing appear to be more important than ever for connecting brands with their target customers. 

We’ve also seen major advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in recent years. ChatGPT and other generative AI products have made a significant impact in many ways (not just “Deep Fakes” of Hollywood celebrities) and are now prevalent in many products we use daily. Google is experimenting with making AI an integral part of its search engine. Brands involved in influencer marketing can use AI in most phases of the process, from assisting influencer discovery to creating reports at the end of campaigns. If anything, however, we were surprised by how little change there has been in AI usage this year by the marketers who participated in our study, compared to results over the last few reports. 

As well as our annual survey collating data related to the influencer marketing industry, the Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2024 also incorporates data from HypeAuditor, and our  Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) in Influencer Marketing: Racial and Gender Inequalities Report .

The State of Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2024:

Notable highlights, survey methodology, influencer marketing expected to be worth $24 billion by the end of 2024, sizeable increase in content in recent years, rate increasing after covid lull, an increasing majority have a standalone budget for content marketing.

• Nearly 2/3 of Respondents Felt the Impact Of 2023’s Macroeconomic Woes

The Vast Majority of Respondents Believe Influencer Marketing to be Effective

More than 85% of our respondents intend to dedicate a budget to influencer marketing in 2024, nearly 60% of respondents intend to increase their influencer marketing spend in 2024, 26% of respondents intend to spend more than 40% of their marketing budget on influencer marketing, although most brands spend less than $50k on influencer marketing, nearly 15% spend over $500k., firms value working with influencers they know, more than 60% plan to use ai or ml in their influencer campaigns, the main purpose of ai/ml is for influencer identification, tiktok still expected to deliver the best roi for short-form video, strong preference for smaller influencers, more brands now pay influencers than give them free product samples, major change in payment system this year: half of the payments to influencers are made as a percentage of sale, wire transfer is marginally the most popular way to pay influencers, however, other methods are almost as common, nearly 80% of brands track sales from influencer campaigns, email addresses and referral links are the most popular ways to attract sales, 80%+ recognize the high quality of customers from influencer marketing campaigns, more than 60% of respondents have used virtual influencers, 70% measure the roi on their influencer marketing, the most common measure of influencer marketing success is views / reach / impressions, most consider earned media value a good measure of roi, 83% of firms take their influencer marketing spending from their marketing budget, 76% of influencer marketing campaigns are run in-house, 72% of respondents use tools developed in-house to execute influencer marketing campaigns, nearly 60% of all respondents use 3rd-party platforms, the most popular use of influencer platforms is for influencer discovery and communication, tiktok continues to be the most common channel used by most brands engaging in influencer marketing, user generated content (ugc) is the main objective when running an influencer campaign, influencer fraud is still of concern to respondents, increase in respondents who have experienced influencer fraud.

• Brands are Finding it “Relatively” Easy to Find Appropriate Influencers

The Majority of Firms Have Little Concerns About Brand Safety in Influencer Campaigns

Nearly 75% believe influencer marketing can be automated, content production is now considered most valuable when partnering with influencers, but audience relationship is still valued, more than 60% of respondents prefer their influencer marketing to be campaign-based, the vast majority consider influencer marketing to be a scalable tactic in their marketing ecosystem, views/reach/impressions are now the most important criteria when evaluating influencers, 60%+ of brands work with more than 10 influencers, nearly half of all influencer campaigns are run monthly, finding influencers to participate is again the greatest challenge for those who run campaigns in-house, social media user demographics statistics, the majority of instagram users are aged 25-34.

• TikTok is the Favorite of 13–24-Year-Olds.

57% of YouTube Viewers Are Male, But Females Dominate the Younger Age Groups

Lifestyle and music top instagram influencer niches, influencer engagement, instagram influencer fraud has continued to decline since 2019, the most-mentioned brands on social media in 2022, target was the most mentioned brand on tiktok in 2022.

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Influencer Marketing: 

Nearly 60% of Influencers Felt They Faced Discrimination

Almost 50% of influencers face discrimination based on their gender.

• TikTok Provided the Worst Discrimination Faced by Influencers 

Macro- and Mega-Influencers Suffer Most from Discrimination

• The Influencer Marketing Industry is set to grow to approximately $24 Billion by the end of 2024
• 63% plan to use AI in executing their influencer campaigns, 55% of these brands will use AI for influencer identification
• 85% of our survey respondents believe influencer marketing to be an effective form of marketing, an increase from previous years
• 75% admit to having increased the amount of content they produce and share
• 60% of those respondents who budget for influencer marketing intend to increase their influencer marketing budget over 2024
• Nearly 1/4 of respondents intend to spend more than 40% of their entire marketing budget on influencer campaigns
• There is a strong preference for working with small (nano - 44% and micro - 26%) influencers ahead of expensive macro-influencers (17%) and celebrities (13%)
• It is now the norm to pay influencers (41%), rather than just give them a free product (31%).
• TikTok (utilized by 69% of brands using influencer marketing) is by far the most popular influencer marketing channel, now well ahead of Instagram (47%), YouTube (33%) and Facebook (28%)
• The main purpose of running influencer campaigns is to create User Generated Content (56%). Generating sales (23%) is a distant second.

We surveyed approximately 3000 people from a range of backgrounds. 41.9% of our respondents work at marketing agencies (including those specializing in influencer marketing), and 22.3% consider themselves brands (or brand representatives). 5% are PR agencies. We merged the remaining 30.8% as Other, representing a wide range of occupations and sectors.

In the 2022 and 2023 reports, we saw a relative increase in B2B businesses over B2C firms compared to 2021. However, this year we had a noticeable increase in B2C respondents. 73.1% of those surveyed identify as part of the B2C sector (up from 62%), with the remaining 26.9% (down from 38%) running B2B campaigns.

The most popular vertical represented remains Fashion & Beauty (21.6% of respondents, down from last year's 25%). Gaming became the second-most popular sector (11.9%), followed by Sports (8.6%). Also at 8.6%, Travel and Lifestyle was only two-thirds as popular a category for respondents this year than last. Family, Parenting & Home (7.6%) also decreased representation in 2024.  After a big drop last year, Health and Fitness rebounded slightly to a 7.6% share. However, the notable change this year was the expansion of the category we’ve called Other to cover 34.1% of the respondents (more than any individual category). This covers every other vertical imaginable and signifies the variety of respondents we had for our survey. 

We have once again noticed a widespread global response to this year’s survey. 19.5% of respondents came from Asia (APAC) (14% in 2023) and another 19.5% came from the USA (16% in 2023).  14% of our respondents come from Africa (31% in 2023), 10% in South America (4% in 2023), and 8.6% from Europe (8% in 2023). 28.5% describe their location as Other (28% 2023). It is highly likely that most respondents who selected Other come from Canada, Mexico, or other parts of North America.

The bulk of our respondents came from relatively small organizations, with 35.6% representing companies with fewer than ten employees. 21.5% had 10-50 employees, 12.3% 50-100, 14.2% 100-1,000, and 16.4% came from large enterprises with more than 1,000 employees. Overall, this spread is very similar to last year’s sample.

We’ve noticed an increase in the percentage of our respondents who operate eCommerce stores compared to those who don't. For example, 57.6% of the respondents run eCommerce stores versus 42.4% not doing so. This represents a noticeable increase in the percentage of influencer-contracting brands operating eCommerce stores. Last year, 51% of such brands ran eCommerce stores.

This is surprisingly high. Remember that our survey respondents come from various backgrounds – brands, marketing agencies, PR agencies, and "Other." Clearly, eCommerce is increasing in popularity for all types of businesses. Website management systems with eCommerce capabilities, such as Shopify, now make it easy for even small businesses to set up an online store. Consumers now expect to do much of their everyday shopping online, and even many traditional brick-and-mortar stores now make this easy.

However, one thing to be aware of is that the Influencer Marketing Hub now caters to all types of online marketing. A more significant portion of the site is now devoted to articles about eCommerce than in previous years. As a result, we may have a higher percentage of eCommerce marketers (compared to influencer marketers) visiting the site and answering our survey than previously.

Despite concerns that influencer marketing (indeed, all marketing) might decrease due to COVID-19, it didn’t and has continued to increase in popularity since 2020. Initially, some industries, such as tourism and airlines, had to cut back their operations and marketing, but many others adjusted their models to survive in the post-Covid world. Now there is renewed life in these more Covid-affected industries too.

Over the last couple of years, we have experienced a global economic downturn, and increasing inflation rates, making it more difficult for people to pay for their everyday purchases, never mind perceived extras. Firms must compete more fiercely for the consumer’s dollar, pound, or euro. Successful businesses understand the importance of marketing, including influencer marketing, in tough times, and increase their expenditures on this, even when they have to cost-cut expenses elsewhere.

From a mere $1.7 billion at the time of this site's beginning in 2016, influencer marketing grew to have an estimated market size of $16.4 billion in 2022. It was then predicted to jump a further 29% to an estimated $21.1 billion in 2023. Despite these already impressive growth figures, the sector is expected to see even more robust expansion, with Influencer Marketing's Hub predicting the market size to reach an estimated $24 billion by the end of 2024 , indicating strong ongoing growth momentum in influencer marketing despite challenging economic conditions.

Results From Our Survey

We asked our respondents whether they had increased content output over the last two years. A sizable 78.5% of them admit to having upped the amount of content they produce. This is up on last year's 71%. 

After a small fall in increased content last year, most firms realize the insatiable demand for online content. The majority of marketers have increased their content marketing, year after year. Much of this increase in content must be created and delivered by influencers on behalf of brands. 

The types of content shared have changed over time, however. Our most recent Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report found that the most common types of posts on Facebook are now link posts (49.2%), followed by photo posts (30.8%), video posts (17.7%), and in a distant last, status posts (2.3%). On Instagram (business accounts) photo posts (41.7%) are the most popular, followed by video posts (38.2%), and carousel posts (20.0%). Alongside these platforms, the popularity of YouTube has led to a demand for more video posts, and the success of TikTok (and its rivals like Threads) has seen a notable shift towards short video content.

Nearly 2/3 (65.8%) admit to having a standalone budget for content marketing. This figure creeps up each year and is up from 63% last year, 61% in 2022, 59% in 2021, and 55% in our 2020 survey. 

These figures compare with a surprising finding from HubSpot that just 29% of their marketer respondents actively use content marketing, but 50% of marketers plan on increasing their investment in content marketing in 2024. 

Nearly 2/3 of Respondents Felt the Impact Of 2023’s Macroeconomic Woes

The world economy is currently in its most challenging situation since the arrival of influencer marketing. So, it was interesting to see whether the Marketing Departments at our respondent businesses are feeling the pinch. Indeed, 64.7% of our respondent businesses say they felt the impact of macroeconomic circumstances during 2023.

Unsurprisingly, considering the overall positive sentiment expressed about influencer marketing, just over 84.8% of our survey respondents believe influencer marketing is an effective form of marketing, up from 83% last year. 

This statistic has exceeded 80% in each of our surveys since 2017, however, it is still lower than 2022’s 90% support. It is clear that most firms that try influencer marketing are happy with the results and are willing to continue with the practice. However, most influencer marketing partnerships work and result in a win-win situation for all parties.

The general satisfaction felt by firms that have engaged in influencer marketing seems to flow through to their future planning. For example, 85.8% of our respondents indicated that they would be dedicating a budget to influencer marketing in 2024.

This is a moderate increase from last year's 82% result and considerably up from the 37% who claimed they would dedicate a budget in our first survey in 2017. This continuing increase could result from firms increasing marketing to combat the effects of the current global financial crisis and other negative consumer sentiment. 

59.4% of those respondents who budget for influencer marketing intend to increase their influencer marketing budget over the next 12 months. An additional 22.1% indicate that they expect to keep their budgets the same as in 2023. A further 9.3% stated that they were unsure how their influencer marketing budgets would change. This leaves just 9.3% intending to decrease their influencer marketing budgets. 

These results suggest a sizable spending on influencer marketing in 2024, although at a slower rate than last year. The 9.3% planning to decrease their influencer marketing budget is slightly higher than last year’s 7% figure. 

Although this is still proof that influencer marketing continues to be successful and is now sufficiently mainstream that it can’t be considered just a fad, it may indicate that budgets are stretched in these tough economic times, with some needing to find savings. Brands and marketers still recognize the effectiveness of influencer marketing, however, and don’t appear to be searching for something new. Further evidence of this can be seen in the next statistic.

Influencer marketing is, of course, merely one part of the marketing mix. Most businesses balance their marketing budget across a wide range of media to reach the greatest possible relevant audience. However, as we saw above, nearly 86% of our respondents' firms intend to include some influencer marketing in their mix. 

We notice a continuing trend in firms devoting a sizable percentage of their marketing budget to influencer marketing. Clearly, quite a few brands have found success with their influencer marketing and decided to return for more. 

24.2% of respondents are dedicated fans of influencer marketing, intending to spend more than 40% of their marketing budget on influencer campaigns. This is comparable with 2023’s 23%, but much increased upon 2022’s 5%, 2021's 11%, and 2020's 9%. 

11.5% of respondents (down from 13% in 2023) intend to devote 30-40% of their marketing budget to influencer marketing. An additional 15.8% plan to allocate 20-30% of their total marketing spending to influencer marketing. 

22.4% of respondents expect to spend 10-20% of their marketing budget on influencer marketing this year. 26.1% expect to spend less than 10%, which is higher than last year’s 20%.

Brands of all sizes participate in influencer marketing. Therefore, it should be no surprise to see quite some variation in what firms spend on the activity. 47.4% of the brands surveyed said they spend less than $10K annually on influencer marketing (higher than last year's 43% - these are probably a mix of newcomers dabbling with influencer marketing combined with more seasoned marketers operating with reduced budgets). 20.9% spent between $10K and $50K (down from last year’s 22%). A further 8.9% spent $50K to $100K (noticeably lower than 2023’s 14%), 8.3% $100K to $500K (down from 10%), with a sizable 14.5% spending more than $500K (up from last year’s 11% nearly 4x more than in 2022).

Clearly, the amount that a firm spends depends on its total marketing budget affects the proportion it chooses to devote to influencer marketing. Those brands that opt to work with mega-influencers and celebrities spend more than brands that work alongside micro- or nano-influencers. In 2022 we saw a leveling out of influencer marketing spending, with most brands spending a middling proportion of their marketing budget on influencer marketing. Last year, however, brands moved their spending sums to the extremes. Brands with happy influencer marketing experiences increased the percentage of their marketing budget they spent on the activity. However, brands that experienced less happy outcomes decreased or eliminated spending on the activity, turning their attention to other forms of marketing. This year saw a small movement back towards a more balanced pattern of spending.

We asked our respondents whether they had worked with the same influencers across different campaigns. The majority, 63.2% (61% last year, 57% in 2022) said they had, versus 36.8% (39% last year, 43% in 2022) who claimed to use other influencers for their campaigns (or perhaps had only had one campaign so far). We can now see a clear pattern of brands preferring to work with influencers they know.

Clearly, brands prefer to build relationships with existing influencers rather than go through the entire influencer selection process every time they run a campaign. Of course, some firms will have a range of influencers they call upon depending on the nature of a particular campaign, the products they are trying to promote, and the target market. The 2% increase in firms working with existing influencers probably indicates the natural increase in influencer-business relationships over time. The more successful an influencer campaign is, the greater the likelihood that the parties will want to work together on other campaigns.

Technology is coming to influencer marketing. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have been headlining the news often over the last year. We asked our respondents whether they planned to utilize AI and ML over the next year to identify influencers or create effective campaigns. A very sizable 63% said they would, alongside 27.1% who thought they might. Only 9.9% gave an unequivocal no to this question. Clearly, AI and ML have hit the mainstream.

We asked those who said they would (or might) use AI/ML in their influencer marketing how they intended to use it. The most popular suggestion (55.8%) was using social media data analytics to identify the most effective influencers for a particular brand or campaign. Although the respondents didn’t clarify this, they presumably intend to work with one of the many influencer platforms  offering influencer identification technology.

Although somewhat less common, the second most popular intended use of AI in influencer marketing is locating and distributing relevant content (18.6%). The popularity of this has noticeably increased from last year’s 13.3%.

Interestingly, 5.7% of our respondents intend to use AI to identify bogus influencers and engagements, an almost identical percentage as in last year’s results. It will be interesting to see if this figure rises over time, as more people discover what AI can achieve.

Until recently, the name TikTok was synonymous with short-term video, although ardent Snapchat fans may dispute this assessment. However, existing social media companies, YouTube and Meta (Facebook/Instagram) have been hit by the popularity of comparative newcomer, TikTok. Just as Instagram introduced Stories to try and neuter Snapchat, these older social channels have now introduced TikTok-killer features. You will undoubtedly notice YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and even Facebook Reels in your feeds.

For the second year running, we asked our respondents about which they believed would deliver the best ROI (although we didn’t show Facebook Reels separately in our survey options). Last year we saw a surprisingly close battle for the top position between TikTok (42%) and Instagram Reels (34%). 

This year, however, TikTok has reasserted itself at the top, with 50.1% support, ahead of 29.9% for Instagram Reels. A much reduced 12% believed YouTube Shorts would deliver the best ROI, alongside the usual diehard Snapchat disciples, with 8% opting for Snapchat Spotlights (who would undoubtedly point out that support for their platform has increased 33% from last year’s 6% figure). We won’t mention the words “margin of error” too loudly.

We asked those of our respondents intending to work with influencers this year the size of influencer (in terms of followers) they were most likely to utilize. If they used more than one type, they had to pick their preferred option.

44% of brands chose nano-influencers (1K-10K followers) as their most likely partners (up from 39%), followed by 25.7% opting for micro-influencers (10K-100K) (down from 30%). 

Far fewer brands choose to place their focus on larger influencers, with 17.4% opting for macro-influencers (100K-1M) (down from 19%), and 12.9% mega / celebrity influencers (up slightly from 12%).

This possibly reflects the reality of a small to medium-sized business. You simply can’t afford the fees charged by macro and mega-influencers. In addition, there are far fewer of these more popular influencers, limiting the number of brands they can work with. However, it may also reflect that nano and micro-influencers have far higher engagement rates than their more famous counterparts and may be better value for money for brands wanting to reach a specific dedicated audience.

There has been a notable change in the answers to this question over time. Previously, those giving free samples outnumbered those paying cash to influencers. In 2022, numbers were approximately equal. However, last year, noticeably more respondents stated that they pay money to influencers, than give them free products. This trend has continued with 40.8% offering monetary rewards, 30.8% giving free product samples, 18.9% giving their influencers a discount on their product or services (presumably more expensive items), and a smaller 9.4% entering their influencers in a giveaway.

While more brands are willing to pay influencers for their marketing services, 40.8% is still a relatively low percentage, much less than half. It is probably a sign of just how many firms work with micro and nano-influencers. These relative newcomers are happy to receive payment in kind rather than cash. Presumably, it is mainly larger firms with more sizable marketing budgets that pay influencers with money. However, this is gradually changing as even nano and micro-influencers begin to understand their worth as advocates for a brand.

As we prepare the State of Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report annually, we don’t generally tend to see major changes in survey results each year. In most cases, movement is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. However, this question saw a significant change in 2023 that has continued this year.

Back in 2022, the most common method (49.6%) was to pay at a flat rate. However, a sizable percentage of other brands (42%) structured their influencer marketing payments more like affiliate marketing payments by paying a percentage of any sales made as a result of the influencer marketing. Payments based on product level (4%) and tiered incentives (4%) were less common.

For the last two years, however, things have changed considerably. The most common method (49.6%) now is paying as a percentage of sales value. Flat rate payments now just represent 24.1% of sales, with sales based on product level (19%) now five times as popular as in 2022. Those paying by tiered incentives remain low at 7.3%.

It’s hard to understand the reason for such a significant change. Perhaps in these tough economic times brands require a higher level of evidence for the effectiveness of their influencer marketing spending. Possibly more brands engaging in influencer marketing have made increased sales the goal of their campaign, and fewer targeting brand awareness. It will be most interesting to see if this becomes a permanent change.

Isolating those respondents who pay money to influencers, we asked them their preferred payment method. 29.2% chose wire transfer (up from 28% last year), 27.2% paid by PayPal (29% last year), 25.1% said they paid manually (25% last year), and 18.5% a third-party payment service, e.g., Wise (17% last year). Manual payments include payments made by cash on delivery (COD), money orders, bank transfers, and even email money transfers in some locations like Canada. If we look over a longer period, however, there is a clearer shift from PayPal to wire transfer. Between 2022 and 2024 PayPal has fallen proportionately from 34% to 29% to 27.2%. Over the same period wire transfer has increased in popularity from 15% to 28% to 29.2%.

Payment methods depend very much on the location of the influencers. If they are based in a different country from where you operate, PayPal or something like Wise is much easier than a wire transfer or a manual transaction.

Although there are many potential goals for an influencer marketing campaign, it is clear that the majority of firms now undertake influencer marketing to drive sales. Indeed 79.8% of our survey respondents stated that they track sales from their influencer campaigns.

This is up noticeably from last year’s 74% and ties in with the previous statistic indicating that the most popular basis for influencer payment is now tied to the increased sales an influencer’s activity generates. As influencer marketing has evolved new ways to measure success have developed, with specialist platforms assisting brands alongside a recent revamp of Google Analytics.

Those who tracked sales from their influencer campaigns were asked about their methods of determining these influencer-generated sales. People could select multiple options if they used more than one.

The most common method was to use email addresses (29.9%), closely followed by referral links (28.4%). Other methods used included coupon codes (14.7%) and product SKUs (4.2%). There is a notable group of respondents who select “Other” (21%). These figures are similar to last year’s results.

Brands carry out influencer marketing for a range of purposes. Some campaigns are designed to increase brand awareness rather than encourage sales. This is because some customers are more lucrative for a business than others – they buy high-margin products and add-ons. In some cases, influencer marketing may bring new customers to the brand, but the additional spending may be less than the cost of running the campaign. 

Our survey respondents are highly optimistic about the value of influencer marketing overall. Most agree that influencer marketing attracts high-quality customers, with 83.8% believing that the quality of customers from influencer marketing campaigns is better than other marketing types. 

This was a new question in 2023, and we found the results somewhat surprising. When asked about whether they had ever used virtual influencers, 60.4% admitted to having done so. A year on, we found even more users of virtual influencers: 62.2%.

A  virtual influencer  is a digital character created using computer graphics software. The character is given a personality and acts on social media platforms as if he/she is an influencer. A study in the US found that 58 percent of respondents followed a virtual influencer . Lu from Magalu became the most famous virtual influencer. Magalu is the biggest retail company in Brazil. Their advertising agency created Lu as a virtual assistant back in 2003 and then built her up as the face of the brand. Over time they created social accounts for her and eventually, she became a powerful influencer. She became a cultural celebrity, trendsetter, fashion icon, and social media diva. Global brands like Adidas, Samsung, and McDonald’s hired her as an influencer – giving her 31 million followers at peak (outstripping Barbie, Lil Miquela, Minnie, and many “real” influencers). The Lu from Megalu campaign appears to be over now, however, as her former social accounts are now named after the current “owner”, Magazine Luiza.

It should come as no surprise that brands have taken notice of this virtual influencer trend and want to make financial arrangements with (the representatives of) these virtual influencers.

We saw above that nearly 80% of our survey respondents stated that they track sales from their influencer campaigns. Therefore, it should be no surprise that a similar number (70%) also measure the ROI from their influencer campaigns. This is slightly down on 2023’s 71%, but better (or equal) to 2022's 70%, 2021's 67%, and 2020's 65% results.

It is somewhat surprising that 30% of firms don't measure their ROI. You would think that every firm would want to know how effective their marketing spending is. At least there is a gradual improvement in this metric, and hopefully, this trend will continue, if not accelerate.

This result shows a marked change from previous years, yet it seems inconsistent with increases in firms tracking sales and paying influencers based on the sales they generate.

In 2019 and preceding years, influencer marketing measurement's focus was relatively evenly balanced between differing campaign goals, but Conversion/Sales was the least-supported reason. However, in 2020 things changed, with Conversions/Sales taking a clear, undisputed lead, which continued in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, however, things changed with nearly half of our respondents stating that they measure the success of an influencer marketing campaign by views/reach/impressions.

This trend continued this year. An even higher 54.3% of our respondents stated that they measure the success of an influencer marketing campaign by views/reach/impressions, 23.5% by engagement or clicks, and just 22.1% by conversions/sales.

Earned Media Value has become more recognized in recent years as a good measure of influencer campaigns' ROI. We asked our respondents whether they considered it a fair representation. This year, 80.7% favor the measure against 19.3% who don't. This result is similar to last year’s.

Earned Media Value provides a proxy for the returns on the posts that an influencer has historically given the firms they have worked with. It indicates what an equivalent advertising campaign would cost for the same effect. EMV calculates the worth you receive from content shared by an influencer.

The only negative of using this measure is that the calculation of EMV can be complicated. As such, it can sometimes be difficult for marketers to explain the concepts to their managers.

Another name used for earned media value when related to influencer marketing is influencer media value (IMV), which we have written about in  What Exactly is an Influencer's Media Value .

Presumably, most of the 19% against using the statistic either don't understand it or struggle to communicate its worth to their management team.

This is another statistic that has shown little change over the period we have undertaken this survey (since 2017). 83.2% of the respondents in our survey take their influencer marketing spending from their Marketing Department's budget. The remaining 16.8% take their influencer marketing spending from their PR Department's funds. 

Presumably, the firms in the minority group use influencer marketing predominantly for awareness purposes rather than as a direct means to sell their products or services.

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There has been a small increase in the number of campaigns held in-house this year. 76.2% of our survey respondents (up from 72% last year) claim that they ran their influencer campaigns in-house, with the remaining 23.8% opting to use agencies or managed services for their influencer marketing.

In the past, firms found influencer marketing challenging because they lacked the tools to facilitate the process – organic influencer marketing can be very hit-and-miss, making it frustrating for brands trying to meet their goals. However, many firms now use tools (whether in-house or from third parties) to facilitate the process. For example, they use platforms like Grin, Brandwatch, or Creator.co to discover suitable influencers.

Some brands prefer to use agencies when partnering with micro and nano-influencers because the agencies are more experienced at working with influencers at scale. Also, many larger firms use agencies for all their marketing, including influencer marketing.

In 2022, we introduced a new question asking our respondents whether they used any tools developed in-house to execute their influencer marketing campaigns. The result was that half admitted to using their own tools.

In 2023, we noticed a significant change. 71% of our respondents stated that they used in-house tools for their influencer marketing campaigns, and we saw a similar result this year, with the percentage increasing marginally to 71.8%. 

As influencer marketing becomes more mainstream, more businesses have developer talent in-house with the time and capabilities to develop suitable in-house tools.

Just as more firms use in-house tools for influencer marketing compared to previously, noticeably more also use third-party platforms. When asked whether they use third-party platforms to assist them with their influencer marketing, 57.5% said they did (60.3% in 2023). 

A clear majority of firms now recognize the advantages of using technology to assist them with their influencer marketing. 

We must also remember that these figures exclude brands that opt to use someone else's technology (an agency) to carry out much of their influencer marketing for them).

The figures in this section show a percentage of those who answered that they use a third-party platform, not the percentage of all survey respondents as a whole.

Influencer platforms initially focused on offering tools to help with influencer discovery . Therefore, it should be no surprise that that is still the most popular use of influencer platforms at 47.9% (although down slightly from last year's 54%).

Other popular uses of the influencer platforms include campaign automation and reporting (35.6%), influencer payments (34.5%), fraud and fake follower analysis (27.8%), paid amplification (24.2%), and conversion attribution (23.2%). An additional 30.9% of respondents use the platforms for some other type of service. The percentage of respondents using the platforms for these purposes has increased in all categories.

Interestingly many of these percentages are lower than in 2022, but the 26% selecting Other is significantly higher. Clearly, the range of services offered by the platforms has expanded, and many firms now use their newer features.

It wasn’t until 2021 that TikTok made its first appearance in our charts, rising from merely being lumped in "Other" in 2020 to 45% usage in 2021. It kept its popularity in 2022, increasing slightly to 46%, but dropping a position to third. In 2023, however, TikTok came into its own, taking over first place, used by 55.5% of brands tapping into it for influencer marketing campaigns. 

However, it has really taken off this year, with even grey-haired marketers understanding the importance of including TikTok in their channel mix and now 68.8% of those respondents who engage in influencer marketing include TikTok in the channels they tap into.

From the inception of the IMH Benchmark Report in 2017 until last year Instagram was the network of choice for influencer marketing campaigns. In 2022 it was used by 79% of our respondents for influencer marketing. It is still popular, but this year “only” 46.7% of brands go to Instagram when they decide to participate in influencer marketing, dropping it down to second place. This is the first time we have found fewer than 50% of respondents to include Instagram in their plans.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Instagram was synonymous with influencer marketing. Is it losing its luster? Time will tell.

Surprisingly, Facebook jumped in popularity as an influencer marketing channel in 2023, with 50% of brands working with Facebook influencers, but it fell back to just 27.5% this year. This is interesting, because we saw a resurgence in Facebook popularity in this year’s Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report , indicating a difference in brands’ approaches to Facebook marketing when paying influencers compared to their own marketing efforts. Facebook doesn't have as many high-profile influencers as its more visual counterparts, but it is still relevant, particularly with older audiences, and has a seasoned advertising marketplace.

Many of the other social channels have seen reduced usage for influencer marketing compared to last year. For example, 33.1% of the respondents tapped into YouTube for their campaigns (38.3% last year and 44% in 2022), 9.9% X/Twitter) (14.4% in 2023, 23% in 2022), 9.6% LinkedIn - presumably those involved with B2B companies (10.1% in 2023, 20% in 2022), 7.9% Twitch (6.3% in 2023, 11% in 2022), and a further 14.7% spread across the less popular or more specialist social networks (12.8% in 2023, 7% in 2022). 

X/Twitter’s drop in importance for influencer marketing is notable. Has Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase killed confidence in the platform, or is he a white knight rescuing an already-fading platform?

Bear in mind, the figures here might exceed the usual 100% mark as respondents had the flexibility to select more than one channel for their influencer marketing efforts. This multi-channel approach reflects the diverse strategies brands are adopting in the digital realm.

The answers to this question have changed markedly over the last few years. In 2022 36.7% of our respondents claimed their influencer campaign aimed to increase sales, 35.7% focused on awareness, and 32.8% declared they participated in influencer marketing to build up a library of user-generated content.

By 2023, however, the wish for generating UGC jumped ahead as the main reason for influencer marketing campaigns (45%), with Sales (29%) and Awareness (26%) both noticeably reduced in importance.

This year sees a similar trend to last year but with even more focus on user-generated content. The desire for generating UGC surged further ahead as the main reason for influencer marketing campaigns (55.8%), with Sales (23.2%) and Awareness (21%) both reducing in importance.

Perhaps this is a sign of the increased importance of TikTok to influencer marketing – TikTok is now the natural home of UGC, with many brands engaging influencers to set up dance challenges and the like on their behalf.

Every so often, mainstream media highlights influencer fraud. Luckily there are now many tools to help detect fraudsters, reducing the effects of influencer fraud. Hopefully, it will soon be a chapter in the industry's history. 

However, influencer fraud has not been vanquished from brands' and marketers' minds yet. This year, an increased 71.7% (up from 64%) of firms still have worries about the practice.

Several influencer platforms have recognized this area of concern over the last few years and implemented tools to discover and deter influencer fraud. They may still have work to do to alleviate the fears of brands and marketers, however.

Possibly the main reason for the increase in concern about influencer fraud is that the number of firms that say they have experienced it has risen to 59.8% this year. This is up from 31% in 2022 and 55% in 2023. However, the wording of this question looks at whether a respondent has experienced any influencer fraud in the past, not just in the past year. Therefore, it is not surprising to see this figure increase, despite all the tools now available. Is this a sign of increased influencer marketing fraud levels, or is it an indication that businesses are now better at spotting fake “influencers” with whom they have engaged?

Brands are Finding it “Relatively” Easy to Find Appropriate Influencers

Those who consider finding appropriate influencers to be of “medium” difficulty are still the largest category (41.4% slightly down from 45% in 2023), with 37.7% declaring finding influencers to be easy (37% in 2023), just leaving 21% who considered finding appropriate influencers to be very difficult (18% in 2023). 

Perhaps the best way to look at this statistic is that 79% don't consider it very difficult to find appropriate influencers. This suggests that brands benefit from having more platforms and other influencer discovery tools available than ever (as well as influencer agencies for those wishing to outsource the entire process). Firms frequently reuse influencers with whom they have worked in the past. Some brands still struggle to find suitable influencers, however, perhaps because they are unwilling to pay for the relevant tools or platforms. 

This statistic suggests that influencer platforms and agencies can still do a better job at marketing their services of discovering and reaching out to potential influencers.

A headline-making issue in past years was influencers acting in a way deemed inappropriate by the brands they represent. For example, Logan Paul once faced criticism over a tasteless video he shared, and brands wondered whether they should continue their connection with him. YouTube has also implemented stricter rules for channels targeting children after concerns about the suitability of some content.

The key to successful influencer marketing is matching your brand with influencers whose fans are similar to your preferred customers and whose values match your own.

An unchanged 36% of our respondents believe that brand safety is always a concern, although 33.7% acknowledge that brand safety could occasionally be a concern when running an influencer marketing campaign. 

The remaining 30.3% believe it is not really a concern. Presumably, this last group has mastered the art of finding appropriate influencers for their brands, and they have little concern about incongruent values.

A contentious issue in influencer marketing in the past was the amount of automation you can successfully use. Some people believe you can automate virtually everything from influencer selection to influencer payment. Others value the personal touch and think influencer marketing is a hands-on process.

This year there has been a small decrease in the respondents believing that automation plays a vital role in influencer marketing (73.4%, down from 77% last year). Most businesses using influencer marketing are happy to use tools and platforms (or work with agencies that do so) nowadays. Initial suspicions about AI and automation have dramatically lessened over the last few years. This small reduction may be antipathy towards the widespread use of AI nowadays.

The most important factor when partnering with influencers for survey respondents is content production at 37.1% (similar to last year's 36%). This ties in with the view that user-generated content is the primary objective when running an influencer campaign. 

22.9% of the survey respondents believed audience relationships to be the most valuable factor when considering collaborating with a particular influencer. This is noticeably down on last year’s 29%, and considerably down on 2022’s 51%. Those favoring this option see little value in working with somebody who doesn't really influence their audience or perhaps has an excellent relationship – but has the wrong audience for that brand. 

The third popular reason favored by 18.1% of our respondents (up from 17%) found for working with influencers is distribution. Although this is lower than the other options, it connects with audience relationships – influencers use their audience to distribute content relating to a brand.

7.5% of our respondents opted for attribution and tracking (7.4% in 2023). This ties in with those who worked with influencers to generate sales for their partner businesses.

We have seen more brands cultivating long-term relationships with influencers in recent times. Yet, most brands still think in terms of influencer marketing campaigns. Once they complete one campaign, they plan, organize, and schedule another one. Brands find that influencers they have worked for on previous campaigns are more genuine. Despite this, a significant 62.9% of influencer marketing relationships are campaign-based (up slightly from 60% in 2023), with only 37.1% "always on" (40% last year). 

This preference towards a campaign-based approach could represent brands entering the industry, dipping their toes in the water before making long-term commitments to influencers. Alternatively, they may run multiple campaigns, customizing their selection of influencers for each campaign, depending on the target market. Time will tell whether the nature of brand-influencer relationships changes in any significant way.

One of the most significant advantages of influencer marketing over social activity using official company accounts is the ease of scaling the activity. If you want to create a more extensive campaign, all you need to do is work with more influencers, particularly those with larger followings – as long as they remain relevant to your niche.

While organic influencer marketing may be challenging to scale because of the time needed for influencer identification and wooing, there are approximately 18,900 influencer marketing-related services/companies worldwide that businesses can use to help scale their efforts. Many of these operate globally and accept clients from anywhere in the world.

56.9% of our respondents believe that influencer marketing is definitely a scalable tactic in their marketing ecosystem, and a further 27.2% think it is somewhat of a scalable tactic. Only 15.9% disagree totally with the sentiment. The vast majority recognize that influencer marketing is, to some extent, a scalable tactic in their marketing ecosystem.

We have regularly seen that businesses have a variety of objectives when they create influencer marketing campaigns. While the criteria by which our survey respondents evaluate influencers do not precisely match their differing goals, there is some clear correlation.

We noticed last year that brands had changed their most common reasons for working with influencers, and this also flowed through to how they evaluate the success of influencers in meeting goals. This pattern continued this year, although to a slightly lesser extent.

32.9% of our respondents consider views/reach/impressions to be the most important criterion (35% last year), while 21.1% opted for content type/category (compared to 19% last year). 

A consistent 18.4% preferred to focus on Sales (18% in 2023). Almost as popular with 16.4% support was engagement or clicks (17% in 2023). This was a major decrease from 2022, when 39% opted for this category, ahead of everything else. 

The remaining 11% of the respondents have different ideas on this topic, opting for Other as the most important criterion when evaluating influencers.

We asked those respondents engaged in influencer marketing how many influencers they had worked with over the last year. This year we noticed the continuation of a gradual movement towards working with greater influencer numbers. 37.6% of our respondents stated that they had worked with 0-10 influencers (39% last year). A further 19% had worked with 10-50 influencers (21%) and 15.2% had worked with 50-100 influencers (16%).

Some brands prefer to engage in influencer marketing on an even larger scale, with 13.5% of those surveyed collaborating with 100-1000 influencers (11%). For the second year running, we saw an increase in the number of those working with influencers on a massive scale, with 14.7% working with more than 1,000 influencers, compared to 12% last year (and just 3% in 2022). 

These figures probably indicate just how many brands now collaborate with multiple nano- and micro-influencers, rather than just a few macro-influencers and celebrities.

We saw a gradual movement in favor of quarterly campaigns over many years, to the point where it was the most popular campaign type in 2022, but in 2023 the longer campaign period fell dramatically out of fashion. 

Of those who operate discrete influencer campaigns, 49% (48% in 2023 and 34% in 2022) now prefer to run them monthly. A further 15% (18% in 2023 and 35% in 2022) run quarterly campaigns. Just 14.4% (15% in 2023 and 14% in 2022) prefer to organize campaigns annually. These later companies are probably brands that like the "always-on" approach to influencer marketing. The remaining 21.5% (19% in 2023 and 18% in 2022) take a different approach and only run campaigns whenever they launch a new product.

We asked those survey respondents who ran campaigns in-house what they saw as the greatest challenges they faced. Apart from a blip in 2022, the most significant challenge has consistently been finding influencers to participate in their campaigns, and it remains the main problem faced this year Despite the increase in usage of both internally developed and external tools to ease the discovery process, 29.8% of respondents ranked this as their top concern, although that is down from 36.3% last year. 

Another area of high concern to our respondents is processing payments to influencers on 17.1% (up slightly from 15.3% last year). This is followed by managing the contracts/deadlines of the campaign 13.9% (13.2% in 2023)

We saw a continued drop in 2022’s top concern, measuring ROI and campaign results, with 13.6% opting for it (14.9% in 2023, 28.1% in 2022). 

There must be a variety of new concerns now, however, as the second-highest category this year was Other with 21.2% support (14.2% in 2023). 

Our partner, HypeAuditor , provides much of the data for the next section.

This section highlights statistics that emphasize the types of people most likely to use social media. When you are searching for influencers to promote your brands, you will want to focus on those influencers who are followed by the type of people most likely to be interested in your products or services. The social media network where each influencer has gained the most fame impacts this – clearly, you want to work with popular people on the same social networks where your potential customers spend their time. Remember, just because you spend time on a particular social network doesn't mean that your customers do too, particularly if they are of a different demographic than yourself.

As with last year, the majority of Instagram users are people aged 25-34 (46.81%), followed by 18–24-year-olds (33.17%). In both cases, more females than males use Instagram, although the difference is less for 25–34-year-olds: 18-24 yr-olds (56% female: 44% male), 25-34 yr-olds (52% female:48% male).

For the second year, however, we notice that there are more male Instagram users than females in (almost) all older age groups. For example, the ratio of Instagram users aged 45-54 is 32% female:68% male, although this is based on low overall numbers. Does this indicate that older males are more likely to have an interest in graphics, design, and photography than their female counterparts?

We saw elsewhere in this report that Instagram has lost its spot as the “Top Dog” influencer marketing platform to TikTok. This is possibly a reflection of a lack of interest from Generation Alpha and a reduction in Generation Z – only 4.27% of 13–17-year-old females and 3.11% of 13–17-year-old males now use Instagram. This must have Meta wondering.

TikTok is the Favorite of 13–24-Year-Olds.

Anyone who thought TikTok was just a flash in the pan, ready to fade away as the next trend arrived, doesn’t understand the power of TikTok to hook its audience. If you want to reach 13-24-year-old females it is where you should focus your marketing. 24.27% of TikTok’s audience are 18–24-year-old females and 17.04% are 13–17-year-old females. Surprisingly, males take to TikTok later, with more 25–34-year-olds liking it (15.74% compared to 11.77% for females of that age), as they do with Instagram. 

Also, like Instagram, there are more older TikTok male users (albeit still a very small percentage overall) than female users.

As with Instagram and TikTok, more young females watch YouTube videos than males: Females 13-24 (26%) vs Males 13-24 (22%). However, in all other age groups, males are more likely to view YouTube videos.

Maybe this is because of the inherently passive nature of YouTube compared to TikTok – you can easily view YouTube videos like a traditional television – but you almost feel compelled to engage when watching TikTok videos.

We commented last year, how almost 1 in 5 YouTube views came from male Millennials (25–34-year-olds). This year, that group loves YouTube even more, and now watches 22.2% of all YouTube views.

The most common niche in which Instagram influencers posted in 2020, 2021, and 2022 was Lifestyle. This is no great surprise when you consider which influencers are the best known to most people. In addition, lifestyle is an easy niche to share captivating, vivid images. 

However, we have seen an interesting change in second place. The inherently non-visual category of Music now takes second place, with Beauty dropping to third. Is this a sign of Instagram’s male users having an impact?

Third-placed Beauty is highly visual, however, making it an ideal subject for posting on Instagram. Also, when you consider Instagram's core audience is still 25-34 females, it is hardly surprising that beauty influencers would remain relatively popular on the platform.

Instagram Influencer Engagement Fell to Lowest Level in Five Years

In all the time we have reported on influencer marketing, we have observed a general pattern of Instagram accounts with large numbers of followers having a lower engagement rate than accounts with fewer followers. This is logical – it is much harder for popular influencers to reply to every comment and engage as closely with each follower as smaller Instagrammers. This is because people only have limited time to engage. Also, many people deliberately choose to follow popular influencers passively, happily "lurking," and viewing shared images without active participation.

We have seen a general reduction in engagement over the last few years, however, particularly for large accounts. Indeed, engagement for accounts with over a million followers (0.95%) is now less than half what it was in 2018 (1.97%).

Average engagement overall now stands at 2.05%, down from 2.18% in 2021. However, it is close to 2019’s pre-Covid rate of 2.08%. 

TikTok Engagement is Considerably Higher Compared to Other Social Networks, Even for Large Influencers

We have observed elsewhere in this Benchmark Report how TikTok has now become the platform of choice for influencer marketing. Not bad for a social channel that we lumped under “Other” until a couple of years ago. One reason for this is undoubtedly the platform’s phenomenally high comparative engagement rates.

We’ve just written about how Instagram’s engagement rates range from 0.95% for accounts with over 100K followers to 4.21% for accounts with fewer than 5K followers. In comparison, TikTok’s largest accounts with over 1M followers average 10.53% engagement, and small accounts with 1K-5K followers have an incredible 15.04% engagement. No wonder more brands are wanting involvement there.

In one way, however, TikTok has become more “normal”. Last year, we reported the oddity that large TikTok accounts had better engagement than smaller accounts. This year, as we showed above, engagement levels picked up for the smaller accounts, meaning that TikTok now exhibits the normal distribution pattern again.

Larger YouTube Channels Have Better Engagement Than Smaller Channels

While TikTok may have returned to its usual engagement distribution pattern, YouTube hasn’t (quite) yet. Larger YouTube channels have higher engagement rates than smaller channels. Technically, channels with 100K-1M followers have the highest engagement rate (3.47%), but huge YouTube influencers (1M+ followers) aren't far behind (3.40%). In comparison, small YouTube channels with just 1K-5K followers only manage an engagement of 1.90%.

In those heady pre-Covid days, influencer fraud became a significant discussion point. Indeed, there was a danger that influencer fraud could stop the still-nascent industry in its tracks. 

Since then, there have been many tools and platforms developed that brands can use to detect influencer fraud. As a result, the percentage of influencer accounts impacted by fraud fell across the board. By 2021 it was just less than 50%. Rates fell further in 2022, reaching 36.68% on average. Unsurprisingly influencer fraud has had a much greater impact on larger Instagram accounts than on small ones, where fraudsters have less to gain.

As the data indicates, it is still a problem for some influencers, however. Also, as we saw in our Benchmark survey, more brands are now admitting to having been affected by fraud than ever before.  It is advisable, therefore, that all brands use the available tools to ensure influencer authenticity when searching for suitable influencers.

Despite us lumping everything together as 'influencer fraud", in some cases, the influencers are the victims, not the perpetrators. For this report, we consider "influencers impacted by fraud" to be Instagram accounts with over 1000 followers with growth anomalies or inauthentic engagement (comments and likes from bots, giveaway comments, comments from Pods, etc.) Not all influencers impacted by fraud do so on purpose. On average, 36.8% of influencers globally are affected by fraud. This is down somewhat from last year’s 49.23%.

Zara Was the Most Mentioned Brand on Instagram in 2022 … Apart from Instagram Itself

Although Zara’s Instagram numbers were smaller than last year, they will be loving the 182K Instagram mentions they received in 2022. Of course, it helped that it had nearly 66K influencers posting and sharing about their products, with a combined reach of more than 1.2 billion people. 

However, after a quiet 2021, Instagram once again took the engagement lead on its platform in 2022, with 327K mentions, 86K influencers, and an estimated reach of 1.8 billion.

We commented last year on how pleased YouTube must be to have the tenth most mentions on social rival Instagram.  Well, this year YouTube improve on this, coming in eighth place.

In 2021, TikTok saw an interesting cross-brand trend, with the streamer, Netflix, being the most mentioned brand on the platform. When people weren't watching videos on Netflix, they were talking and making videos about what they'd streamed on TikTok. 

Alas, Netflix couldn’t quite repeat the feat in 2022, however, although they almost did, being the second-most mentioned brand. 

Top place in 2022 went to retail goliath, Target, which received 14,720 mentions compared to Netflix’s 11,520. 

Notably, however, Netflix’s 31M followers swamped Target’s 2.1 million.

Highlights from our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) in Influencer Marketing: Racial and Gender Inequalities Report .

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Influencer Marketing: 

We asked our influencers whether they feel they have ever been discriminated against (as an influencer) on any social platform. 58.3% stated they had, leaving 41.7% who hadn't.

When asked to highlight an area of discrimination the respondents felt they had faced, 47.73% believed they had suffered from gender discrimination. Physical feature discrimination (21.75%) followed this, then racial discrimination (13.29%), political discrimination (9.06%), and sexual discrimination (8.16%). 

TikTok Provided the Worst Discrimination Faced by Influencers 

We asked influencers to name a channel where they encountered discrimination. Significantly more than half of those respondents who had faced discrimination received it on TikTok (58.42%), compared to YouTube (13.62%), Instagram (12.9%), and Facebook (10.04%). 

We have seen elsewhere in this report that TikTok has been increasingly important for brands wishing to engage in influencer marketing. Yet is it not always an easy platform to establish yourself as an influencer, particularly if you are outside the “norm”. 

Macro-influencers (81.25%) and Mega-Influencers (69.7%) are most likely to report facing discrimination than smaller, less popular influencers. This is possibly a reflection of their fame – they are more visible than most, making them greater targets for “haters.” 

Wrapping Things Up

In earlier versions of this benchmark report, we always used to observe that influencer marketing was still a relatively new industry, enjoying its time as the “next big thing”. Even we, the strong influencer marketing champions that we are, wondered just how long it would last until some new “shiny new object” came along. Yet, as we can see from this, our eighth annual State of Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report, the industry is as strong as ever, and the participants are still as optimistic about the success of their campaigns.

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The Impact of Technology on the Workplace: 2024 Report

The impact of technology on the workplace over the last year has been nothing if not substantial. From the integration of generative AI platforms like ChatGPT to the increase in data breaches across the industry, keeping up with shifting trends is a full-time job at this point in history.

Fortunately, you’ve got Tech.co to help you out. In our inaugural annual report on this subject, we’ve embarked on an in-depth journey to quantify and explain a wide range of workplace trends, noting the influence of technology as a primary driver.

We surveyed over 1000 US business leaders to ensure an accurate depiction of the workplace heading in to 2024, and help you to strategize for the year ahead.

Below, we’ll introduce our 2024 workplace report and give you a preview of its key findings. Make sure to download the full report if you want the learn more about how the workplace is changing in the face of evolving technology.

Impact of Tech on the Workplace Report 2024: Key Findings

Our Impact of Tech on the Workplace report found a wide range of statistics that point to how the world is adapting to new technology. Here are some of the key findings we identified, which are further outlined below:

• Using more collaboration tools and AI results in higher productivity
• 59% of people who use AI have greater job satisfaction
• ChatGPT is the most popular AI tool used amongst businesses
• Digital natives and businesses that use AI are more open to the idea of a 4-day working week
• The majority of companies found it challenging to hire new staff – but remote working organizations find it easier
• Remote working organizations report higher levels of productivity
• Phishing attacks were the most common cause of a data breach

1. Using more collaboration tools and AI results in higher productivity

The use of online tools and digital resources is certainly not new to the business world. In 2023, collaboration tools and generative AI platforms took that usage to another level, adding a robust set of functionalities to the average business’ operations .

Did they actually have an impact? According to our research, j ust over half of businesses (56%) report high productivity levels , so it appears that there is a positive effect associated with this kind of technology.

More specifically, the use of AI platforms and features has seriously improved productivity for businesses of all sizes. Our research found that 72% of respondents who use AI extensively report high organizational productivity, compared to 55% of respondents who use AI to a limited extent .

2. 59% of people who use AI have greater job satisfaction

It’s no secret that AI entered the workforce in a big way in 2023. As soon as the technology became advanced enough to handle certain operations, businesses started integrating it into their systems in hopes of improving productivity. It’s a trend guaranteed to continue in 2024 and beyond.

How did employees who were encouraged to use the technology feel about AI’s rapid rise in the workplace? While many headlines you read claim that workers dread AI and fear it’s only there to steal their jobs, our research actually found that 59% of people who use AI have great job satisfaction , quelling such concerns.

Given this, businesses should feel more comfortable rolling out this technology in 2024, as many are still lagging behind on the full adoption of the technology. In fact, we found only 1 in 25 companies have fully integrated AI throughout their organization .

3. ChatGPT is the most popular AI tool used among businesses

In November 2022, ChatGPT launched. The value of this groundbreaking technology was apparent almost immediately, and businesses were scrambling for ways to use its generative functionality to improve their businesses as much as possible.

Since then, a myriad of ChatGPT alternatives from big tech firms like Google and Microsoft have rolled in 2023. From Bard and Copilot to Claude and Jasper, these alternatives have their merits, but ChatGPT still reigns supreme.

In fact, our research found that 65% of businesses say they use ChatGPT , well ahead of the second place AI chatbot Google Bard, which boasts only 49% usage. Other alternatives included Bing AI Chat (20%), Claude AI (10%), and Jasper Chat (9%), with 8% of respondents using a lesser known “Other” platform.

4. The majority of companies found it challenging to hire new staff, but remote working organizations find it easier

The Great Resignation was the big story last year, with scores of employees leaving their positions after the pandemic gave them a taste of the flexibility while working from home. As a result, our research found that companies are still having a tough time when it comes to recruiting.

However, not all companies are having a hard time attracting new employees. Specifically, organizations offering remote job roles are recruiting with much greater ease compared to fully in-office and even hybrid working businesses.

All that to say, if an in-office policy is that important to you, employee retention should be an equally high priority for your team.

5. Digital natives and businesses that use AI are more open to the idea of a 4-day working week

Now that remote and hybrid work have become the new normal for many businesses, the newest employee perk to pique our interest is the 4-day workweek. Study after study has shown that the shortened week for the same pay has a notably positive impact on productivity, employee wellbeing, turnover, and absenteeism.

Many business owners and decision makers are coming around on it too, but the acceptance definitely depends on age. Our research found that  65% of senior leadership aged 35-44 (Millennials and Gen X) would consider implementing a 4-day working week or have already implemented it, while only 45% of senior leadership aged 55-64 (Baby Boomers) felt the same.

Beyond age, business owners of AI-powered companies are fully embracing the new work policy. In fact, a staggering 93% of senior leadership of organizations where AI plays a central role in operations are either considering a 4-day working week or have already implemented it.

There are many companies offering a 4-day workweek and some US states with 4-day week policies for employees, so if you’re tired of working on Friday, there are some serious opportunities for you out in the world.

6. Remote working organizations report higher levels of productivity

Since the pandemic, remote work has indeed become a standard for many businesses. In fact, our research found that almost all businesses have the tools to facilitate remote working , from video conferencing software to project tracking services.

The remote work had some unintended benefits including boosts to employee mental health and productivity. Our research found that 64% of remote businesses report high productivity levels compared to 54% of in-office businesses . Suffice to say, remote work is good for your bottom line.

However, despite all the studies that show remote work to be beneficial for employers and employees alike, business owners have started demanding their employees return to the office. Our research found that, in 2023, over half of companies (52%) expect their employees in the office 5-days per week.

The difference between remote and hybrid work policies is notable here as well, with 38% of employees at hybrid working organizations going to the office more than they are required , based on company policy. This means that these strict return-to-office policies might not even be necessary in some situations, as your team will still commute if needed.

7. Phishing attacks were the most common cause of a data breach

Not all advancements in technology have been good for the workplace. As a result of evolving tech, bad actors have been able to ramp up their hacking activity, leading to an online security crisis that is costing businesses millions of dollars .

So, what kind of nefarious behavior should you be on the lookout for? Our research found that 23% of data breaches were caused by phishing attacks , according to senior leadership employees that we spoke to. Computer virus (22%) was also quite common, followed by employee error (12%), advanced persistent threats (9%), and unsecure Wi-Fi (8%).

Simply put, protecting your business online must be a top priority in the new year, particularly if your business works with any sensitive information.

Research Methodology

To inform how technology is impacting the workplace in 2024, Tech.co surveyed a large sample of senior leadership professionals from businesses based in the United States. Senior leadership professionals had job titles ranging from manager to director.

We surveyed companies with 10 or more employees to ensure that our data captured the experiences and perspectives of individuals holding key leadership roles within established organizations.

To ensure an impartial and unbiased sample, we also gathered data through a survey with participants selected via a third-party panel provider. Data collection was obtained in October and finalized in November of 2023.

Finally, to guarantee an accurate reflection of US businesses, a total of 1047 responses were obtained at a confidence level of 99.9%.

About Tech.co

If you’ve stumbled across our 2024 workplace report and are looking for answers on the brains behind the booklet, here’s a little more information on who we are.

Tech.co was established in 2006 as a networking platform for companies working out of the Chicago area, and has transformed into a fully-fledged media company with readers around the world.

We aim to translate our passion for technology into insightful news and analysis, helpful buyers’ guides and practical resources, so SMBs across the US and beyond can grow their revenues, work smarter, and secure their success – now and in the future.

Each year, Tech.co carries out thousands of hours of independent product testing and market analyses to support over 5 million professionals annually in their pursuit to learn more about technology and make the right purchasing decisions.

We also work directly with dozens of Fortune 500 clients, such as Salesforce, monday.com, HubSpot and Zoom, to help advise on their strategies and enable them to reach brand new audiences.

To stay informed on the latest developments and find the right technology for your workplace, you can sign up to our newsletter , or learn more about Tech.co here .

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McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2023

After a tumultuous 2022 for technology investment and talent, the first half of 2023 has seen a resurgence of enthusiasm about technology’s potential to catalyze progress in business and society. Generative AI deserves much of the credit for ushering in this revival, but it stands as just one of many advances on the horizon that could drive sustainable, inclusive growth and solve complex global challenges.

To help executives track the latest developments, the McKinsey Technology Council  has once again identified and interpreted the most significant technology trends unfolding today. While many trends are in the early stages of adoption and scale, executives can use this research to plan ahead by developing an understanding of potential use cases and pinpointing the critical skills needed as they hire or upskill talent to bring these opportunities to fruition.

Our analysis examines quantitative measures of interest, innovation, and investment to gauge the momentum of each trend. Recognizing the long-term nature and interdependence of these trends, we also delve into underlying technologies, uncertainties, and questions surrounding each trend. This year, we added an important new dimension for analysis—talent. We provide data on talent supply-and-demand dynamics for the roles of most relevance to each trend. (For more, please see the sidebar, “Research methodology.”)

New and notable

All of last year’s 14 trends remain on our list, though some experienced accelerating momentum and investment, while others saw a downshift. One new trend, generative AI, made a loud entrance and has already shown potential for transformative business impact.

Research methodology

To assess the development of each technology trend, our team collected data on five tangible measures of activity: search engine queries, news publications, patents, research publications, and investment. For each measure, we used a defined set of data sources to find occurrences of keywords associated with each of the 15 trends, screened those occurrences for valid mentions of activity, and indexed the resulting numbers of mentions on a 0–1 scoring scale that is relative to the trends studied. The innovation score combines the patents and research scores; the interest score combines the news and search scores. (While we recognize that an interest score can be inflated by deliberate efforts to stimulate news and search activity, we believe that each score fairly reflects the extent of discussion and debate about a given trend.) Investment measures the flows of funding from the capital markets into companies linked with the trend. Data sources for the scores include the following:

• Patents. Data on patent filings are sourced from Google Patents.
• Research. Data on research publications are sourced from the Lens (www.lens.org).
• News. Data on news publications are sourced from Factiva.
• Searches. Data on search engine queries are sourced from Google Trends.
• Investment. Data on private-market and public-market capital raises are sourced from PitchBook.
• Talent demand. Number of job postings is sourced from McKinsey’s proprietary Organizational Data Platform, which stores licensed, de-identified data on professional profiles and job postings. Data is drawn primarily from English-speaking countries.

In addition, we updated the selection and definition of trends from last year’s study to reflect the evolution of technology trends:

• The generative-AI trend was added since last year’s study.
• We adjusted the definitions of electrification and renewables (previously called future of clean energy) and climate technologies beyond electrification and renewables (previously called future of sustainable consumption).
• Data sources were updated. This year, we included only closed deals in PitchBook data, which revised downward the investment numbers for 2018–22. For future of space technologies investments, we used research from McKinsey’s Aerospace & Defense Practice.

This new entrant represents the next frontier of AI. Building upon existing technologies such as applied AI and industrializing machine learning, generative AI has high potential and applicability across most industries. Interest in the topic (as gauged by news and internet searches) increased threefold from 2021 to 2022. As we recently wrote, generative AI and other foundational models  change the AI game by taking assistive technology to a new level, reducing application development time, and bringing powerful capabilities to nontechnical users. Generative AI is poised to add as much as $4.4 trillion in economic value from a combination of specific use cases and more diffuse uses—such as assisting with email drafts—that increase productivity. Still, while generative AI can unlock significant value, firms should not underestimate the economic significance and the growth potential that underlying AI technologies and industrializing machine learning can bring to various industries.

Investment in most tech trends tightened year over year, but the potential for future growth remains high, as further indicated by the recent rebound in tech valuations. Indeed, absolute investments remained strong in 2022, at more than $1 trillion combined, indicating great faith in the value potential of these trends. Trust architectures and digital identity grew the most out of last year’s 14 trends, increasing by nearly 50 percent as security, privacy, and resilience become increasingly critical across industries. Investment in other trends—such as applied AI, advanced connectivity, and cloud and edge computing—declined, but that is likely due, at least in part, to their maturity. More mature technologies can be more sensitive to short-term budget dynamics than more nascent technologies with longer investment time horizons, such as climate and mobility technologies. Also, as some technologies become more profitable, they can often scale further with lower marginal investment. Given that these technologies have applications in most industries, we have little doubt that mainstream adoption will continue to grow.

Organizations shouldn’t focus too heavily on the trends that are garnering the most attention. By focusing on only the most hyped trends, they may miss out on the significant value potential of other technologies and hinder the chance for purposeful capability building. Instead, companies seeking longer-term growth should focus on a portfolio-oriented investment across the tech trends most important to their business. Technologies such as cloud and edge computing and the future of bioengineering have shown steady increases in innovation and continue to have expanded use cases across industries. In fact, more than 400 edge use cases across various industries have been identified, and edge computing is projected to win double-digit growth globally over the next five years. Additionally, nascent technologies, such as quantum, continue to evolve and show significant potential for value creation. Our updated analysis for 2023 shows that the four industries likely to see the earliest economic impact from quantum computing—automotive, chemicals, financial services, and life sciences—stand to potentially gain up to $1.3 trillion in value by 2035. By carefully assessing the evolving landscape and considering a balanced approach, businesses can capitalize on both established and emerging technologies to propel innovation and achieve sustainable growth.

Tech talent dynamics

We can’t overstate the importance of talent as a key source in developing a competitive edge. A lack of talent is a top issue constraining growth. There’s a wide gap between the demand for people with the skills needed to capture value from the tech trends and available talent: our survey of 3.5 million job postings in these tech trends found that many of the skills in greatest demand have less than half as many qualified practitioners per posting as the global average. Companies should be on top of the talent market, ready to respond to notable shifts and to deliver a strong value proposition to the technologists they hope to hire and retain. For instance, recent layoffs in the tech sector may present a silver lining for other industries that have struggled to win the attention of attractive candidates and retain senior tech talent. In addition, some of these technologies will accelerate the pace of workforce transformation. In the coming decade, 20 to 30 percent of the time that workers spend on the job could be transformed by automation technologies, leading to significant shifts in the skills required to be successful. And companies should continue to look at how they can adjust roles or upskill individuals to meet their tailored job requirements. Job postings in fields related to tech trends grew at a very healthy 15 percent between 2021 and 2022, even though global job postings overall decreased by 13 percent. Applied AI and next-generation software development together posted nearly one million jobs between 2018 and 2022. Next-generation software development saw the most significant growth in number of jobs (exhibit).

Image description:

Small multiples of 15 slope charts show the number of job postings in different fields related to tech trends from 2021 to 2022. Overall growth of all fields combined was about 400,000 jobs, with applied AI having the most job postings in 2022 and experiencing a 6% increase from 2021. Next-generation software development had the second-highest number of job postings in 2022 and had 29% growth from 2021. Other categories shown, from most job postings to least in 2022, are as follows: cloud and edge computing, trust architecture and digital identity, future of mobility, electrification and renewables, climate tech beyond electrification and renewables, advanced connectivity, immersive-reality technologies, industrializing machine learning, Web3, future of bioengineering, future of space technologies, generative AI, and quantum technologies.

End of image description.

This bright outlook for practitioners in most fields highlights the challenge facing employers who are struggling to find enough talent to keep up with their demands. The shortage of qualified talent has been a persistent limiting factor in the growth of many high-tech fields, including AI, quantum technologies, space technologies, and electrification and renewables. The talent crunch is particularly pronounced for trends such as cloud computing and industrializing machine learning, which are required across most industries. It’s also a major challenge in areas that employ highly specialized professionals, such as the future of mobility and quantum computing (see interactive).

Michael Chui is a McKinsey Global Institute partner in McKinsey’s Bay Area office, where Mena Issler is an associate partner, Roger Roberts  is a partner, and Lareina Yee  is a senior partner.

The authors wish to thank the following McKinsey colleagues for their contributions to this research: Bharat Bahl, Soumya Banerjee, Arjita Bhan, Tanmay Bhatnagar, Jim Boehm, Andreas Breiter, Tom Brennan, Ryan Brukardt, Kevin Buehler, Zina Cole, Santiago Comella-Dorda, Brian Constantine, Daniela Cuneo, Wendy Cyffka, Chris Daehnick, Ian De Bode, Andrea Del Miglio, Jonathan DePrizio, Ivan Dyakonov, Torgyn Erland, Robin Giesbrecht, Carlo Giovine, Liz Grennan, Ferry Grijpink, Harsh Gupta, Martin Harrysson, David Harvey, Kersten Heineke, Matt Higginson, Alharith Hussin, Tore Johnston, Philipp Kampshoff, Hamza Khan, Nayur Khan, Naomi Kim, Jesse Klempner, Kelly Kochanski, Matej Macak, Stephanie Madner, Aishwarya Mohapatra, Timo Möller, Matt Mrozek, Evan Nazareth, Peter Noteboom, Anna Orthofer, Katherine Ottenbreit, Eric Parsonnet, Mark Patel, Bruce Philp, Fabian Queder, Robin Riedel, Tanya Rodchenko, Lucy Shenton, Henning Soller, Naveen Srikakulam, Shivam Srivastava, Bhargs Srivathsan, Erika Stanzl, Brooke Stokes, Malin Strandell-Jansson, Daniel Wallance, Allen Weinberg, Olivia White, Martin Wrulich, Perez Yeptho, Matija Zesko, Felix Ziegler, and Delphine Zurkiya.

They also wish to thank the external members of the McKinsey Technology Council.

This interactive was designed, developed, and edited by McKinsey Global Publishing’s Nayomi Chibana, Victor Cuevas, Richard Johnson, Stephanie Jones, Stephen Landau, LaShon Malone, Kanika Punwani, Katie Shearer, Rick Tetzeli, Sneha Vats, and Jessica Wang.

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Why Most Video Content Fails To Reach Its Full Potential [New Research]

• by Lisa Murton Beets
• | Published: November 8, 2023
• | Trends and Research

In an AI-driven world, human connections matter more than ever.

Video’s ability to tell stories and resonate emotionally with audiences makes it an ideal format for making those connections. That’s a big reason why B2B marketers frequently use it, according to CMI’s recent B2B research .

But CMI’s latest research into video and visual storytelling tells a more nuanced story. Sixty-seven percent of marketers say video has become more important to the business over the last year. Yet only 7% say they use it to its full potential.

“Video is a top priority for many organizations. But why haven’t budgets for video gone up,” asks Robert Rose, CMI’s chief strategy advisor. “It’s not that organizations don’t take it seriously. They’re building in-house capabilities for it. But interestingly, they’re not spending the money, time, or effort to produce enough of it, or any of it consistently.”

So, it’s no surprise most marketers say they get average results from the format.

However, some surprises did show up in the survey of 382 marketers conducted in August 2023. You can read the results of the third annual Content Marketing Institute Video & Visual Storytelling Survey. Use this table of contents to go directly to the sections you’re most interested in, or dive in and read it all.

Table of contents

Video use, types, production, and challenges.

Artificial intelligence use in video

Audience journey and preferences

Video effectiveness

Budgets and spending

Action steps

Methodology

Video continues to be an important component of the marketing mix: 67% of marketers say video has become more important to their business in the last year. About one-third (32%) say the importance remains the same, while 1% say video is less important.

Seventy-seven percent of respondents use social media videos – the most frequently cited type. More than half say they use video for:

• Branded stories, such as short films, series, and documentaries (61%)
• How-to or explainer topics (59%)
• Interviews with influencers and subject matter experts (54%)
• Case studies, testimonials and customer stories (51%)
• Thought leadership with company leaders (51%).

Less than half of marketers use video for product overviews/demonstrations (45%), stories about their organization/employees (41%), external training videos (24%), livestreaming videos (24%), and other types (4%).

Click to enlarge

Which types are most effective? Fifty-four percent of marketers say social media videos deliver some of their best results. Fifty-one percent name case studies, testimonials, and customer stories, 48% cite how-to videos, 44% name branded stories, and 41% cite interviews with influencers and subject matter experts .

Where do marketers post videos most often? Seventy-nine percent say they post on YouTube, followed by LinkedIn (76%), Facebook (72%), Instagram (71%), X (38%), TikTok (28%), and other (6%).

Most marketers (69%) produce videos in-house. Twenty-one percent mainly outsource, 8% rely primarily on employee-generated videos, and 2% rely on user- or customer-generated videos.

The time to produce videos is a challenge cited by most respondents (69%). Other widely shared challenges include generating video content consistently (56%) and producing enough video content (52%).

Conversely, fewer marketers see the following as challenges: human resources to produce videos (43%), cost to produce videos (40%), producing high-quality videos (34%), the expertise required to produce videos (31%), and choosing the right distribution channels (14%). Three percent say they don’t face challenges, and 2% picked the other category.

Video AI use: Few marketers use AI to assist with video creation so far

Only 18% of marketers use AI to assist with video creation. However, one in three marketers who don’t use AI for video now plan to do so in the next year. (Thirty-seven percent say they have no plans, while 30% say they’re unsure.)

One marketer explained the value of AI for video creation in their open-ended response: “[It] has the potential to revolutionize the way videos are produced. AI can assist at various stages of video creation, from generating scripts and storyboards to automating the editing process and enhancing visual effects. Importantly, automating certain aspects of video production through AI can potentially reduce costs associated with hiring a large production team.”

Most marketers who answered the open-ended question appeared positive about using AI for video creation. They express interest in using AI as a tool to generate scripts, enhance efficiency, and streamline production processes:

• “Anything that can improve production time without impacting quality is a must-use solution.”
• “We will be incorporating more AI throughout the whole video production process.”
• “I think AI is great for content, so I’m sure there’s room for value for AI for video creation as well.”
• “AI is [a] game-changer for video creation.”

Others expressed concerns and reservations, including worries about AI-generated content appearing inauthentic , ethical considerations, and the need for human involvement in content creation:

• “I wouldn’t be opposed [to AI] for script drafting, but ideation and visuals? No. You miss the human touch.”
• “Responsibility and trust are paramount. I can see using AI to help with script development and the creation of visuals to support a narrative that is edited and overseen by a comms lead. My concern is ensuring that my audience trusts that the subject matter expert/talent is, in fact, the person speaking and that the video has not been manipulated.”
• “I see using AI as a tool for video creation. There will always be a human factor in the creative process. AI creates what you tell it to create. It is not autonomous!”
• “We’re using AI for voiceover and some motion graphics and script writing. Beyond that, our company has guidelines in place for AI usage – against things like AI for people/imagery, etc. AI poses several unique opportunities to produce videos more efficiently; however, I think challenges could arise in terms of ethics and truthfulness.”

Among marketers who use AI, most use it to create video scripts (69%), followed by video editing (34%) and generating videos from existing scripts/text (26%).

Other uses include adding motion graphics (23%), generating new content from existing videos (20%), localization (10%), and other (17%).

Marketers most often cite time savings as a benefit of using AI for video creation, but only 17% say it resulted in higher-quality content. This suggests AI isn’t quite there yet when it comes to delivering the video products marketers want.

Among the other cited benefits are an easier video creation process (59%), cost savings (47%), more content variety (41%), fewer human resources needed (33%), and improved ability to maintain multiple digital channels (19%).

“Using AI for video creation can be a game-changer when it comes to saving time,” says Melissa Francois , content, comms, and social lead for PlayPlay, a video content creation tool provider. “Imagine going from a plain text idea to a full-fledged video within seconds – it’s a marketer’s dream come true.

“Once you’ve got your tool of choice, the fun begins. Take time to learn the ins and outs of the software, experiment with different text prompts, and watch as your ideas come to life in the form of engaging videos. Just remember that you should treat each AI-generated video as a first draft to build from, not the final version. Regardless, using AI will save you time and help you stay agile and creative in the ever-evolving world of digital marketing.”

As last year’s research showed, marketers most often create videos for the brand awareness stage (48%). Twenty-two percent produce them for the consideration stage, while 15% create for the buying stage and 15% develop videos for post-purchase.

Video’s value in making human connections grew in importance this year – up to 43% from 37% last year.

To achieve that, create videos sharing the stories of real-life people to whom your audience can relate. Grainger’s Melissa Hodai and Bean Porter share how they did with the brand’s Everyday Heroes series in their Content Marketing World 2023 presentation.

“Human focus is what creates connection for us,” Melissa says.

Bean offers questions to answer to create a successful human-focused video:

Forty-three percent of surveyed marketers say video can create a human connection by sharing stories, struggles, and triumphs. One-third (35%) say videos can inform by showcasing products and services, while 20% see video as a help to educate audiences.

But tread cautiously. Only 30% of marketers say their key audience prefers video over other content types. Almost half (45%) say their audience consumes videos but doesn’t seem to prefer them over other content types. One in five marketers say they’re unsure about the audience’s preference, and 5% say their audience prefers other content types to video.

Video effectiveness: Organizations have a long way to go

Only 7% of marketers say their organization uses existing videos to their full potential. Sixty-three percent say not yet, but they’re getting there. But the group saying their organization has a long way to go grew to 30% this year from 22% in 2022.

Only 14% of marketers say the results from videos exceed their expectations (compared with 15% in 2022). Most (70%) say the results meet their expectations, while 16% say they saw below-average results.

What do marketers think they need most to get better results? Sixty percent say they need a video strategy (same as in 2022). Less than half cite other needs:

• More budget (49%)
• More human resources (46%)
• Better distribution (35%)
• Better on-camera talent, including subject matter expert participation (32%)
• Better measurement (30%)
• More training on best practices (28%)
• Better equipment/production, editing tools (20%)
• Better quality videos (20%)

“It’s alarming to see so few marketers reporting above-average results. This, along with CMI’s finding that 60% of marketers say an improved strategy would help, suggests an issue of execution rather than the content medium itself,” says Amy Balliett , author and senior fellow for visual strategy at Material.

“Video, executed properly, can yield amazing results for brands hoping to connect with their customers. But modern audiences are very discerning. For many, their perception of your brand or service will be based entirely on the design quality of your visual content . Audiences are no longer impressed by traditional, live-action video content,” she says.

“If you’re set on live action, avoid using stock video and ensure everything is custom. Add animated overlays and custom transitions to take your content to the next level. Alternatively, move away from live action entirely. Focus on high-quality motion graphics instead.”

Video budgets and spending: Many spend less than $10,000 a year on video creation

Half of the surveyed marketers have knowledge of their organization’s budgets. Of those, two-thirds spend less than $10,000 a year on video creation. Here’s how the budget figures break down:

• Less than $5,000 (36%) 
• $5,000 to $9,999 (16%) 
• $10,000 to $24,999 (14%) 
• $25,000 to $49,999 (7%) 
• $50,000 to $74,999 (7%) 
• $75,000 to $99,999 (3%) 
• $100,000 or more (13%) 

Forty percent say their 2023 video budget was more than their 2022 budget, 34% say it stayed the same, 12% saw a drop, and 9% didn’t have a video budget in 2022. Five percent are unsure.

For 2024, 64% expect the budget will increase (27% expect a more than 9% jump, while 37% plan for a 1% to 9% increase). About one-fourth (26%) expect the video budget to stay the same, with 1% expecting a decline of 1% to 9% and 2% expecting a drop of more than 9%. Seven percent are unsure.

Still, 75% of those surveyed say their organization needs to invest more in video. One-fourth (24%) say they invest the right amount, and 1% say they need to invest less.

“This research shows us that, in many cases, marketers don’t feel like they get good results from their videos,” says Tony Gnau , founder and chief storytelling officer of T60 Health. “The reality is many don’t have a plan for their video projects. The video itself is their plan. Wrong! If you want more budget for video, make sure each video or video series has its own plan for success. Share your video production strategy with your company’s decision-makers. Sharing that plan for success will help you get buy-in.”

Action steps: Strategy and story drive video’s real value

Let’s return to CMI’s chief strategy advisor Robert Rose for his further take on this year’s findings.

He says content teams need a strategy with video as a core component. Among the strategic actions he proposes:

• Invest in the process – not just the output. Developing an institutional process and expertise for the creation of videos – regardless of whether it’s executed internally or outsourced – contributes to success. If you invest more in the process of developing great content, you have more great content from which you can decide what would make great videos.
• Develop measurement plans. Companies with successful video-creation processes also have clear measurement plans, not just views or downloads. A high-level framework for measurement can help justify spending more time and money on video.
• Use the competency of quality to drive quantity. It seems intuitive, but organizations that start slowly and focus on quality have a better capability to later produce higher-quality videos in greater quantities. Get good at creating video first and then focus on how to scale it.

“Remember, video isn’t just a one-off format created in a silo. It should be an integrated and connected part of the broader storytelling operation,” Robert says. “Work it through a process that refines that story for some or all formats. Once you’ve nailed down the story, you can start developing scripts. The ultimate goal is to produce videos with specific objectives, designed for multiple uses, that integrate into the broader brand story.”

After you’ve done that, he says, “That’s when you’re ready for your close-up.”

For its third annual video and visual storytelling survey, CMI surveyed 382 marketers, mostly from North America, in August 2023. The survey was emailed to CMI opt-in subscribers.

Thanks to the survey participants, who made this research possible, and to everyone who helps disseminate these findings throughout the content marketing industry.

Get the latest Content Marketing Institute research reports while they're hot – subscribe to the daily or weekly newsletter.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:

• 5 Lessons on Creating Video Like a Pro Even If You’re Just Starting Out
• Video Storytelling: Here’s How To Get More From Your Investment
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

Lisa Murton Beets

Instagram Marketing Strategy Guide: Tips for 2024

Instagram marketing is competitive, but not impossible. Follow this guide and try our top strategies to succeed in 2024 and beyond.

Table of Contents

With over 2 billion monthly active users, Instagram is both the O.G. and trendsetter of social media marketing.

It’s not just a place for friends to trade vacation pics. Instagram has shaped social commerce, the creator economy, and how brands use social media for over a decade.

But forget about the big picture: How can you use Instagram marketing to grow your business in 2023? Do you need Instagram ads (or, worse, dancing Reels) for your brand to be successful? Are Instagram’s shopping tools a fun perk or an absolute necessity?

Find out how to use Instagram to grow your business online, no matter your industry or goals.

Bonus: Claim your free pack of 15 creative Instagram post templates made by Hootsuite’s professional graphic designers. Easily customize them in Canva, and start getting more engagement today.

What is Instagram marketing?

Instagram marketing is the practice of using Instagram to grow your brand awareness, audience, leads, and sales. As the most-used social media platform for people ages 16-34 , Instagram is a highly effective marketing platform for brands, entrepreneurs, and creators.

Instagram marketing strategies include:

• Organic content . Photo, video, or carousel posts, Reels, Stories
• Paid content . Instagram ads, including Stories ads, Shopping ads, and more
• Influencer marketing .
• Shopping tools . Shop tab, Product tags and catalogs, Live shopping, Instagram Checkout, Shopping ads

Why market on Instagram?

Instagram has more than 2 billion active monthly users , making it the world’s third-most-used social media platform . If you run a business of any kind, your customers (present and future!) are absolutely on the app.

People also love using Instagram. In a survey about preferred social platforms, Instagram came in hot as the number two overall pick . No wonder Instagram users spend an average of 12 hours a month on the app .

And guess what they’re doing there? Looking for things to buy.

That’s right: 44% of Instagram users use the app to shop on a weekly basis, and 62.4% of social users use Insta to follow or research brands, products, or services.

Some users even go beyond just commercial interactions: 2 out of 3 active users say Instagram allows them to build meaningful relationships with brands.

So get out there! Make some new bffs… in the name of business! (Want more intriguing Instagram statistics? Here’s our extensive list .)

How to set up Instagram for marketing

Creating a professional Instagram account doesn’t just lend your brand an air of legitimacy—it gives you access to important business tools like analytics (called Insights) and advertising options. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to change your Instagram profile to a business profile.

1. Head to your Instagram profile page and hit the hamburger menu in the top right corner.

2. Tap Settings and privacy .

3. Scroll down to Account type and tools .

4. Tap Switch to professional account .

5. Choose Continue and continue through the prompts

6. Choose the category that best describes you or your brand. Depending on your category type, you may be prompted to clarify if you’re a Creator or a Business . Both types of accounts have access to analytics and advertising tools, so choose whichever suits you best. Tap Next .

7. Review your contact information and update it as required.

How to create an Instagram marketing strategy

Sure, some Instagram accounts thrive thanks to pure luck. But for the most part, brands with active Instagram followings and high engagement have executed some time-tested processes and techniques.

Follow these steps to create a winning Instagram marketing strategy for your own Instagram business account.

Understand your audience

If you don’t know who’s reading your posts, it will be hard to create engaging content. A strong Instagram marketing strategy starts with a deep understanding of your target market.

Where do they live? How old are they? Where do they like to hang out online? What kind of hashtags or online communities are they a part of? Look at your analytics and data from your offline marketing efforts, too, to determine who you’re talking to.

These insights will help your team decide on appropriate content, a strong editorial voice and campaigns that will resonate. Just think about it: your Instagram presence will be very different if your followers are teen boys from India or suburban grandmas from Canada.

Learn more about defining your social media target market here.

Make the best Instagram profile possible

Think of your Instagram profile as your digital business card. It’s your first impression, so you’d better do it right.

Like a business card, there’s limited space to share what you need to share, so make sure you have a snappy bio packed with as many SEO keywords as possible.

Or, take a page out of this wine club’s book and get playful with the emojis. (Maybe you want to take advantage of Instagram Story highlights to showcase some past content, too.)

It’s also best practice to make sure all your contact details are filled out and your URL is working. You’ll also want a high-res professional profile image that aligns with your business’ branding.

For more tips on making the best Instagram profile possible, here’s our deep dive into optimizing your social media profiles .

Align your social strategy with your business goals

Before you start posting up a storm, take a beat to make sure your social plan serves your bigger business goals.

Optical company Warby Parker, for example, regularly posts non-glasses-related content—for instance, a meme about soup. We’d take a good guess this sort of content is part of the company’s broader business goal to make the brand seem fun, approachable, relatable and human. (Or maybe they’re about to pivot into DTC soup; we’re speculating here.)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Warby Parker (@warbyparker)

So, if you’re all about creating brand awareness, make a social plan that is focused on exposure and reach. Or, if you’re hoping to build your database of leads this year, your social strategy should be built around driving traffic into your sales funnel . In other words, there should be a reason behind everything you do.

In case it’s helpful, here’s a primer on how to set social media goals that make sense for your business needs .

Create a content calendar

What’s the best way to plan and organize your content? A content calendar.

As fun as off-the-cuff posts can be, it’s a lot of pressure to find that perfect moment every day that also happens to align perfectly with your business goals. Instead, brainstorm content pillars and plot out your social content in advance.

By carving out dedicated time to plan and prep in advance, you’ll be more efficient (and definitely less prone to typos.) Learn more about creating a social media content calendar here.

Schedule your posts in advance

With a scheduling tool (like Hootsuite, ahem), you can batch-prep a week or month’s worth of posts when you’re in the creative zone for maximum impact.

Scheduling your Instagram posts is also a great way to make sure you’re posting when your audience is most likely to be online . (Hot tip: Hootsuite will actually analyze your past posts and suggest unique-to-you times and dates for maximum engagement. What a sweetie.)

Start your free Hootsuite trial today

You can even schedule Instagram Stories, too!

Never miss a mention (or keep an eye on the competition)

Instagram marketing isn’t just about what you’re putting out into the world. It’s about being responsive and receptive to the people who are talking to and about you, too.

Social listening is a key component of a strong Instagram marketing strategy. With Hootsuite Streams, you can track mentions, keywords and search terms most applicable to your business.

Want a running feed of industry news? Looking to catch all those Tweets that misspell your business name? Custom search streams will make sure you never miss an opportunity to react.

Get familiar with the algorithm(s)

Instagram’s algorithms control what winds up in people’s feeds, what makes the cut on the Explore page, and what winds up languishing in Instagram purgatory. If you wanna succeed on the platform, you better study up.

Put simply, Instagram’s algorithms look at information about content (Reels, feed posts, and Stories) and information about users (interests and behavior on the platform) to serve the right content to the right people.

Each algorithm considers information about the post (like relevance and popularity), the person who posted, your history of interaction with them, and your activity across the platform.

Want to learn more about best practices for mastering Instagram’s algorithms? We’ve got posts on Instagram’s primary algorithm as well as the ones that govern Reels and the Explore Page .

Experiment with different formats

While Instagram started as a simple photo-sharing app in 2010, the platform is a very different beast in 2023. Instagram now offers a variety of formats to explore.

You can cultivate the perfect Instagram grid on your main feed and share photos, videos or even carousels of pictures .

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Native Shoes (@nativeshoes)

Instagram Stories have a prime, top-of-the-feed position, capture millions of views daily…and disappear after 24 hours.

Instagram Reels , meanwhile, are a chance to play with short-form video .

Most businesses try a mix of these different content styles. What’s best for your unique needs? Well, there’s only one way to know what works best for your audience: get postin’, kid.

Try out a livestream

Instagram’s livestream feature offers a unique (and extremely engaging) opportunity to broadcast live to your followers.

Whether you’re giving a behind-the-scenes tour, sharing an exciting product update, taking questions from your audience, interviewing a brand ambassador, or even selling your wonderful wares, Instagram live streams are a thrill to audiences—a chance for an intimate interaction with the brands they love. (And you can repost that Live content to your feed later, too.)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Western Living (@westernliving)

Here’s everything you need to know about going live on social.

Set up an Instagram Shop

Rather than directing customers from your account to your website, Instagram Shopping allows them to select and purchase products easily from the Instagram app.

An Instagram Shop is a brand’s customizable digital storefront. It allows customers to shop right from your Instagram profile.

Think of it as a landing page where users can discover or browse all your products. If you sell tangible goods, your Instagram Shop is a great opportunity to capture a ready-to-buy market right on the app… especially if you actively tag products in your Stories and Posts.

Find a step-by-step guide to setting up your Instagram Shop here.

Boost top-performing posts

Maybe Instagram advertising isn’t a fit for your business, but you still would love to get some exposure to a new audience. If that’s the case, Instagram’s boosting option is a lifesaver.

Just set the budget at your comfort level, define a target audience, and pay to give a regular Post a little extra juice. You can even boost Instagram posts right in Hootsuite —and then get back to your social media monitoring and scheduling in the very same dashboard.

Measure content performance with analytics

The best Instagram marketing strategy is built on a foundation of knowledge. And the data you need for peak performance is right here in front of you, thanks to our old pal analytics.

Instagram’s own Insights offer plenty of, well, insight into which posts are doing well, which Stories are popping off, and exactly how many people saw your latest Reel. This info is incredible feedback to help you take your next batch of content even further—you’ll see what worked, what didn’t, and where some tweaks might be helpful.

Hootsuite’s own Analytics tool is really, really great for Instagram, too. (Really!) You can even schedule auto-reports that track your preferred metrics in a visually appealing package to really wow your team.

Try Hootsuite Analytics for free

Ultimately, there isn’t really any special trick to creating a great Instagram marketing plan: it’s all the same stuff that will make any of your social media accounts pop.

Check out our video recap of everything you need to know to create the perfect social media strategy here:

Most popular types of content on Instagram

According to a 2023 Statista study , 50% of weekly Instagram users said they prefer to consume funny content on the platform. Forty-six percent seek out “creative” posts, while 41% of active users like informative content.

This Recess post? Definitely funny.. .and definitely creative.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Recess (@takearecess)

Other popular types of content, appealing to around 36% of users, include posts and Stories that are relaxing, inspiring, engaging or trendy.

In 2022, the most popular posts by number of likes were all by celebrities (save for one enigmatic egg ).

But what’s interesting is that the celeb posts that continue to drive engagement are all deeply personal—pregnancy announcements, dramatic makeovers, wedding photos, or jokey posts with friends. They’re not pushing tickets to their soccer games or advertising their movies. They’re being (seemingly) authentic, and fans connect with that in a big way.

So, even if you’re a brand and not a pregnant Kylie Jenner, there are ways to tap into that desire for connection. Get personal. Be silly. Express your values creatively. Showcase the people and personalities behind the scenes.

Helpful Instagram marketing tools: free & paid

1. hootsuite.

Hootsuite helps you plan great content, boost your follower count, and rack up more sales on Instagram — in way less time, with way less effort. Grow your account, manage all of your Instagram marketing in one place, and save time with Hootsuite, your all-in-one social media management tool.

• Create engaging content using built-in creative AI tools, a hashtag generator, Canva editing tools, and more
• Schedule posts, carousels, Stories, and Reels in advance
• Get personalized recommendations for the best times to post on Instagram to reach more people
• Boost organic posts and Reels with just a few clicks
• Answer comments and DMs from all your Instagram accounts
• Keep tabs on competitors, industry leaders, and relevant influencers
• Track your results in real-time
• Download custom reports to showcase your success
• Handle Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest from one dashboard

Try Hootsuite free for 30 days

2. Ads Manager

Ads Manager serves as a shared platform for both Facebook and Instagram—it’s a tool for creating and monitoring advertisements on Meta’s social networks. Ads Manager offers advertisers access to Facebook’s targeting capabilities and the flexibility to run campaigns on both platforms.

Once your campaign is rolling, you can make modifications, engage with comments, and monitor performance. The Amount spent and Cost per result sections are there to help you gauge the effectiveness of your spend.

3. Instagram hashtag generator

Give your feed posts, Reels, and Stories a dash of viral magic with this Instagram hashtag generator. Everybody knows hashtags are social media’s secret sauce, but who has time to come up with them from scratch? This handy hashtag helper can do it for you.

4. Instagram username generator

Get a list of Instagram name ideas in a few seconds flat. It’s the perfect tool for businesses or individuals looking to nail it on Insta. Just answer a few Qs, and this AI username generator will whip up a list of inspiring handles to get you started on your Instagram marketing journey.

5. Instagram bio generator

Your bio is your chance to tell the world what you’re all about (within the character limit, of course). Give your Instagram profile a refresh with this quick Instagram bio generator. It works for business and personal accounts.

Visuals are everything on Insta, but we aren’t all graphic design specialists. Luckily, Canva can help you create eye-catching images and simplify your content creation process.

It even integrates with Hootsuite, so you can use templates made specifically for social media and save time bringing your ideas to life.

Get Canva for Hootsuite

7. Content ideas generator

We know, we know: saying “build a content calendar” is easier said than done. If you need some help getting the creative juices flowing, this AI-backed content ideas generator is here to help. Answer a few Qs and you’ll be given ideas for social media posts, blog posts, videos, and more.

8. Panoramiq Insights

Panoramiq Insights seamlessly integrates robust Instagram analytics into your Hootsuite dashboard. (Oooh!) With Panoramiq, you can delve into account activity, explore follower demographics (very useful for targeted campaigns), and gauge the effectiveness of your Posts and Stories.

Get Panoramiq Insights for Hootsuite

9. Instagram caption generator

A picture is worth a thousand words, so you gotta think words themselves have a pretty big impact, too, right? (And our experiments with Instagram captions prove it.) Generate Instagram captions in seconds with this AI-powered Instagram caption writer.

10. Engagement rate calculator

Your engagement is everything: it defines just how much you’re connecting with your audience. Determine your social media return on investment (ROI), enhance your media kit, and figure out which posts work and which need work with this easy engagement rate calculator tool for Instagram.

11. Adobe Lightroom

If Instagram’s editing options are falling short, it might be time to experiment with Adobe Lightroom CC. The app simplifies the use of professional photo editing tools and can even be enhanced with downloaded Lightroom presets.

Find more amazing tools marketers should use for Instagram here .

Instagram marketing FAQs

When was instagram created.

Instagram was released to the public in October 2010 . By the end of the first day, it had 25,000 users and hit one million users in under three months.

Does Facebook own Instagram?

Yes, Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion . Since then, the company has restructured. Now, both Facebook and Instagram are operated by a parent organization called Meta (still helmed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg). Meta also operates Threads and Whatsapp .

Manage all your Instagram marketing alongside your other social platforms with Hootsuite’s time-saving tools. From a single dashboard, you can schedule posts, Stories, and Reels, engage with your audience, and measure your social ROI. Try it free today.

Get Started

Easily create, analyze, and schedule Instagram posts, Stories, Reels, and Threads with Hootsuite. Save time and get results.

Become a better social marketer.

Get expert social media advice delivered straight to your inbox.

Stacey McLachlan is an award-winning writer and editor from Vancouver with more than a decade of experience working for print and digital publications.

She is editor-at-large for Western Living and Vancouver Magazine, author of the National Magazine Award-nominated 'City Informer' column, and a regular contributor to Dwell. Her previous work covers a wide range of topics, from SEO-focused thought-leadership to profiles of mushroom foragers, but her specialties include design, people, social media strategy, and humor.

You can usually find her at the beach, or cleaning sand out of her bag.

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Digitalization and its impact on contemporary marketing strategies and practices

• Guest Editorial
• Published: 20 April 2022
• Volume 10 , pages 103–105, ( 2022 )

Cite this article

• Tat-Huei Cham 1 ,
• Jun-Hwa Cheah 2 ,
• Mumtaz Ali Memon 3 ,
• Kim-Shyan Fam 4 &
• Józsa László 5  

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Since its inception, technology has transformed the way businesses operate and the consumption of goods and services. (Matarazzo et al. 2021 ; Sestino et al. 2020 ). For example, technology has revolutionized the way companies promote their products and services, perform their business activities, communicate/exchange information, and manage resources. On the consumer side, technology has significantly changed consumption patterns and empowered them to be part of the product acquisition process (Cham et al. 2020 , 2022 ; Cheah et al. 2022 ; Lim et al. 2022 ). In every aspect of business, the emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, virtual reality, and robots have created a new paradigm shift and promoted innovation in the area of marketing research and practices (Grewal et al. 2020 ; Lim et al. 2020; Steinhoff and Palmatier 2021 ). Such transformation has become a marketing catalyst, perpetuating new marketing trends and archetypes in digital marketing and marketing analytics.

In recent years, the progression of digital marketing via social media has expanded beyond its original purpose as a platform for social networking. Instead, it has evolved into a platform that enables businesses to communicate with their customers almost instantly and be directly involved in developing marketing strategies (Cham et al. 2021 ; Iankova et al. 2019 ). Specifically in digital marketing, customers can collaborate with companies as co-creators in almost every aspect of the business process including product/service development, value creation, and marketing strategy development (Li et al. 2021 ; Olson et al. 2021 ). By incorporating user-generated content into digital marketing, consumers can assume the role of “broadcasters,” they no longer listen to the marketers, just like what happened in the past (Cham et al. 2022 ; Cheung et al. 2021 ). Undoubtedly, the benefits of digital marketing and the potential of high ROI have made this channel one of the marketers’ most preferred choices (digitalthirdcoast.com 2022 ).

In addition, the emphasis on digitization and data-driven practice among businesses nowadays has made marketing lean towards science-based and provides marketers unlimited access to valuable insights into their company performance, customers, and opportunities (Ritter and Pedersen, 2020 ). In essence, marketing analysis is seen as identifying patterns of data that help marketers in marketing decisions. With the availability of marketing and data analysis tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Phyton, Heap Analytics, Optimizely, Klipfolio, etc.), the importance of how data can explain market trends and better understand consumer preferences are clearly spelled out (Petrescu and Krishen 2020 ; Yu et al. 2019 ). More importantly, marketing analytics help businesses and marketers optimize their marketing campaigns, segment their market, and reduce costs associated with marketing activities, providing business organizations with a sustainable approach in the long term.

Despite particular research conducted on the issues related to digital marketing and marketing analytics, additional attention is needed to study the revolution and potentially disruptive nature of these domains (Petrescu and Krishen 2021 , 2022 ). Considering the substantial impact of digital marketing and marketing analytics in the current competitive and demanding business landscape, the special issue editors hope that this issue lays a foundation in the academic perspective of these domains. We would like to recommend that more research be conducted to challenge the existing status quo and raise awareness of these domains in the near future; especially in the contemporary environment that requires more than just the knowledge brought from traditional marketing. For instance, there is room to explore further how biological technology (i.e., facial recognition payment), livestreaming, virtual influencer, neuromarketing, blockchain technology, metaverse, gamification, and omnichannel platform could be used for the marketing and analytic purposes.

Lastly, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the authors who have submitted their work to this special issue, “ Digitalization and Its Impact on Contemporary Marketing Strategies and Practices, ” of the Journal of Marketing Analytics, and we are grateful to all reviewers who have rendered their service and expertise to ensure the quality of the publications. We want to extend our appreciation to the editors, Anjala S. Krishen and Maria Petrescu, for their endless support and for entrusting us with this task.

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UCSI Graduate Business School, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tat-Huei Cham

School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Jun-Hwa Cheah

NUST Business School, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan

Mumtaz Ali Memon

School of Management, Harbin University of Commerce, Harbin, China

Kim-Shyan Fam

Széchenyi István University, Győr, Hungary

Józsa László

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Cham, TH., Cheah, JH., Memon, M.A. et al. Digitalization and its impact on contemporary marketing strategies and practices. J Market Anal 10 , 103–105 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41270-022-00167-6

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Accepted : 11 April 2022

Published : 20 April 2022

Issue Date : June 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41270-022-00167-6

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