Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is far from being a new concept and has seen major transformations since its beginning. Traditional advertisers will date earliest influencers back to medieval times when the ruling class deeply influenced (or dictated) the behaviour of their subjects, before the influencer emerged from the film, music, sports and reality TV sector. Today we still see evidence of such influence embedded in our media and industries. Yet influencer marketing is no longer what it used to be. The popularity of social networking sites has prompted many businesses to switch from placing significant investment into traditional media like TV, radio and posters in favour of social media platforms. Despite recognition that influencer marketing dates back before the twentieth century, it is mostly recognised as a modern digital marketing term to promote products or services (Can et al., 2025; Rizzo et al., 2024; Zhang et al., 2025). Thus, influencer marketing has become an essential part of digital marketing strategy for marketing purposes and profit generation. Industry reports have indicated an increase in revenue and practices in influencer marketing. By 2030, the global affiliate influencer marketing industry is forecasted to reach US$40 billion (Doty, 2024), in light of the growing worth of the creator content economy, which is estimated to be a $250 billion industry and is expected to double by 2030 (Deloitte, 2024). These predictions have arguably prompted advertisers to shift from utilising traditional advertising content formats, including actors, in favour of influencer sponsorships by recruiting content creators for apps like Instagram and TikTok (Doty, 2024). Thus, the rise in value of content creators has influenced the 9.51% global growth rate of the influencer advertising industry, with a projected value of US$60.52bn by 2030 (Statista, 2024).