According to analysts at Insider Intelligence, TikTok is on track to overtake Facebook in terms of spending on influencer marketing this year and is expected to overtake YouTube by 2024.
Facebook now occupies fourth place in terms of spending on influencer marketing with US$739 million. TikTok occupies third place with US$774 million. YouTube came in second with US$948 million and Instagram took first place with US$2 billion.
The report estimates that 75% of U.S. marketers will use influencer marketing in 2022, and that spending on influencer marketing will increase by 28% to US$5 billion this year.
After the prominence of TikTok, several social media platforms are trying to copy the platform’s features. Instagram is now trying to transform itself into TikTok with a full-screen home feed and an increased number of recommended posts.
Instagram could also change its monetization structure so that different influencers can benefit just like TikTok. In this process, Instagram’s feed adjustments will allow smaller “micro” and “nano” influencers to take a big slice of the pie. Nano-influencers are individuals with 1,000 to 4,999 followers, while micro-influencers are individuals with 5,000 to 19,999 followers.
While marketing spending on smaller influencer partnerships is rising rapidly, spending on “nano” influencers will increase by 220% this year, and spending on “mega” influencers will increase by only 8%. Mega influencers are individuals with at least 1 million followers.
The sources for this piece include an article in TechCrunch.