Over the past few years, influencers have become one of the top choices for social media marketers, providing brands an opportunity to reach millions of potential buyers practically overnight. And while brands worldwide use influencer ads to promote their products and services, in some countries, they proved to be more successful than in others.
According to data presented by OnlyAccounts.io, influencers have the biggest power over people’s purchasing decisions in Brazil, India, and China, where more than 40% of people buy products under their influence.
Influencers` Influence is Much Smaller in Western Countries
Marketers use influencer advertising because it is effective. The strong bond between influencers and their followers helps them raise brand awareness, boost traffic and sales, and improve engagement. That explains a whopping $107bn brands and companies spent on this type of ads in the past five years.
Although some people have recently started losing trust in influencers, they still have a huge impact on the purchasing decision in major markets. According to Statista Consumer Insights, influencers currently yield the biggest power over people’s purchasing decisions in Brazil, where two in five online users buy products under their influence. This also represents a substantial increase from a 36% share reported in 2019.
Indians are the second nation most likely to buy under the influence of influencers. Statistics show that 41% of Indian online users made a purchasing decision after seeing influencer ads, more than double that in Western countries. Moreover, the country has seen the biggest growth in influencers’ sway of all survey countries. Four years ago, only 27% of online buyers in India were influenced by influencer ads. China ranked third on this list with 39% of shoppers trusting influencers, 3% more than in 2019.
Statista data show the trend to follow influencers’ lead when deciding on a purchase gained traction in most other countries. Still, the Western countries are far behind Brazil, India and China. Among Europeans, Italians were most under the influence, with 24% saying they had purchased in 2023 because a celebrity or influencer advertised the product. Japan and Denmark were at the back of the list, with 9% and 11% shares among respondents.
Chinese Brands to Spend a Whopping $16.7B on Influencer Ads this Year, 2.8X More than US and UK Companies Combined
As a country with one of the highest shares of online users who made purchasing decisions based on influencer ads, China also has the lion’s share in global influencer ad spending. The Statista data show Chinese brands will spend a whopping $16.7bn on influencer ads this year, 55% of the world’s total, and 2.8 times more than US and UK brands combined.
As the second-largest market globally, the United States will hit close to $5bn in influencer ad spending, or 16% more than last year. The United Kingdom follows with just over $1bn worth of influencer ads and a 15.3% year-over-year growth.
Besides leading in total spending, the Chinese market will also see the biggest spending growth in the next four years. Statista expects total ad spending in the Chinese influencer advertising industry to jump by a massive 58% and hit nearly $26.5 by 2027.
