Here’s What Experts Have to Say on the Future of Influencer Economy in 2022-2023

Influencer marketing is nowhere near any slowdown. Moreover, the industry is growing faster and faster: it is expected to overcome the milestone of $24 billion by 2025. It’s easy to see the rapid growth if you compare: in 2020, the influencer marketing industry was estimated to be only $6 billion.

So what does it mean for brands and marketers? For those who work directly with influencers and make deals with them? The cost of influencers’ services has its own dynamics too. Let’s see what the experts’ predictions about influencers’ prices are.

The value of micro-influencers

Today, micro-influencers (who have from 10 000 to 100 000 followers on any social media platform) are already on the wave of demand and play a big role in the industry. The market share of micro-influencers has grown from 89% in 2020 to 91% by the end of 2021. In 2022 and 2023, they are predicted to take an even bigger market share and play a greater role. Here is what Robert Welch, the CEO of Projector1 thinks:

“The audience is trusting and can relate to influencers more than celebrities. And since they ACTUALLY show how the product works. Although, the number of influencers is just increasing. Thanks to social media for providing opportunities for everyone to show their talent. Hence, the audience is having an unlimited list of people to watch and get entertained.

Due to the emergence of macro-influencers, a small business that can't afford big influencers makes a deal with macro-influencers to get exposure among their audience. And this works well for the small influencers as well. Hence, it goes hand in hand. In a nutshell, you can say that the big companies will continue to hire big influencers while emerging brands will hire small influencers.”

Pavel Beinia, the CEO of BuzzGuru influencer marketing platform and agency, has, even more, to say about micro-influencers being a good choice:

“Micro-influencers’ services are logically cheaper than those of the mega-influencers, yes, and this makes them not only affordable for smaller brands with modest budgets but also suitable for the brands that want to test the waters.

When entering a new market, one has to test different niches and ad formats to understand what really works best for their product.

Thus, there is no sense in spending the biggest piece of your budget cake on one or two celebrities. It’s better to split your marketing budget among smaller creators and get more insights.

Also, working with micro-influencers and splitting budgets helps diversify risks. I’ve learned from my own experience to never put all your eggs in one basket. Maximum diversification of risks is essential: a post of a mega-influencer on Instagram, for example, is cool, but it is safer when you have not just one big name engaged, but as many medium and smaller ones as possible.

If one such mega influencers post fails to attract new clients, and they were the only ones your celebrity engaged like that, the whole ad campaign can be considered a failure.

As for the prices’ dynamics, I can’t see any decrease in the near future. Influencers become more valued by brands, so the costs of ad integrations can only grow as they’re in demand. The higher the demand is, the higher the prices are.”

Will the prices of mega-influencers grow?

As was said above, micro-influencers have become more and more popular among brands. Also, the number of micro-influencers continues to increase. This makes influencer marketing more affordable for those who can’t spend tons of money on celebrities’ posts, as well as makes them a “danger” to the mega-influencers (who have over 1 million followers) whose services are traditionally way more expensive.

But is the “danger” real? Will it make the mega-influencers reconsider their pricing approach? Isaac Mashman, the Founder of Mashman Ventures, doesn’t think so:

“Legitimate influencers with strong audiences will continue looking for ways to stay relevant and grow, and I do not see their prices decreasing. If anything, their prices will increase as their brands strengthen. Micro-influencers are important, but they don't act as much competition to the big names.”

Kristin Stump, the Marketing Manager of MyEnamelPins, agrees:

“As the world of social media and online marketing continues to evolve, so do the prices that influencers charge for their services. In recent years, we've seen a dramatic increase in the amount of money that top influencers can command for a single post or sponsored campaign.

However, it's important to keep in mind that these prices are not set in stone. Just as the market for influencers has changed rapidly in the past, it is likely to continue to change in the future.

This means that the prices charged by influencers will also fluctuate over time.

Prices will continue to rise for top influencers. As the demand for influencer marketing continues to grow, we can expect to see prices rising for those at the very top of the food chain.

If an influencer has a large and engaged following, they will be able to command a higher price for their services.”

Most experts tend to forecast the overall growth of the prices. But some of them think that we will see some decrease in the prices of the big names. Austin Dowse, the CEO of Aimvein, gives his prediction:

“It’s predicted that we will see a continued increase in influencer prices over the next few years. This is due to the growing popularity of influencer marketing, as well as the fact that influencers are becoming more and more specialized.

As brands look to target specific demographics, they are willing to pay more for influencers who have a large following within that demographic.

Top influencers, or those with over a million followers, will continue to command the highest prices. However, we may see a slight decrease in prices for these influencers as micro-influencers become more popular.

This is because micro-influencers tend to be more relatable and have a more engaged audience, which can be just as valuable (if not more) to brands.

So what does this all mean for brands? If you’re looking to work with an influencer in 2022-2023, expect to pay more than you would have a few years ago.

However, don’t forget about the power of micro-influencers – they may be more affordable and just as effective in promoting your brand.”

How to receive more value for every dollar you spend

As the industry grows, as well as the number of influencers and even social media platforms, brands get more options to choose from.

So any influencer will have to keep making engaging content and bring interested solvent clients to the brands they collaborate with. This especially applies to micro-influencers. Samantha Schultz, Social Influencer Manager at Digital Marketing Group, shares:

“As the influencer sphere evolves and inflation rises, we will continue to see the trend of influencer compensation move upwards naturally.

However, as the pool of potential candidates to work with grows, influencers will need to adapt to stay on top of trends and continue to build an authentic and engaged audience to stand out among other creators when it comes to brand collaborations.

This ebb and flow will naturally dictate overall compensation rates and will result in brands having more options to choose from to fit a specific budget or receive more value for the dollar they spend.

When it comes to celebrity and macro-level influencers, compensation will still be dictated by their affinity to work with particular brands, the amount of sponsored work they do, and the buying power of the audience that they bring to the table.

Because they are in a category all their own when it comes to influencer marketing, this higher tier of influencers is generally unaffected by changes in the micro level market.”

The point is to choose influencers considering not only their category and number of subscribers but also their content as it is and other vital metrics, such as engagement rate.