Posted on

28/11/2024

Influencer marketing in the UK 2024: Hang on to your hats, it’s fast and furious

Is influencer marketing still relevant in 2024?

The UK influencer marketing industry is the most mature in Europe.

Flush with cash, creators, and a receptive audience, the UK’s influencer marketing industry is a hotbed of opportunity.

But it's a tale of two halves.

The UK market is dominated by experienced brands and agencies adept at leveraging data to drive campaign ROI, hot new features like TikTok Shop, and progressive campaigns to reach untapped audiences.

On the flip side, the sheer volume of creators and campaigns has bred confusion and misunderstanding. Brands and agencies that fall behind and continue to focus on vanity metrics and a lack of understanding amongst nano and micro creators with regards to campaign objectives, payment structures, and regulatory requirements, the influencer marketing industry in the UK is anything but an easy ride.

“Influencer marketing is here to stay. It’s only going to grow, but the challenge is that it is so big, so unregulated...Everyone wants to be an influencer so it’s quite difficult to find one who is authentic and has the right audience. It’s not as easy as it was five years ago. It’s a blessing in disguise. You have all these opportunities, millions of influencers you can work with, but you can easily waste a lot of money and time because you work with the wrong people.” - Andra Dorolti, Senior Partnerships Manager for Tech Beauty Brand CurrentBody .

Key Takeaways

With its mature market, high ad spend, and an extensive pool of creators, the UK offers excellent opportunities for brands targeting diverse and engaged audiences.
UK influencer marketing thrives when focusing on a data-driven approach tailored to the target audience.
Brands that collaborate with specialised agencies or platforms offering personalised services can achieve better results through campaigns aligned with their goals.

In figures: Influencer marketing stats UK

Despite a similar population size to France, the UK's ad spending on influencer marketing in the UK more than doubles that of its cousins across the Channel.

According to Statista, ad spending on influencer marketing in the UK is expected to reach a whopping £930m (US$1.17bn) in 2024, rising by a total £434.6m (48.5%) to reach £1.3bn (US$1.63bn) in 2029.

This compares to France and Germany, where ad spending on influencers in 2024 is forecast to hit €470m (US$506.3m), and €650m (US$700m), respectively.

“Brands are realising that, with the right strategy, influencer marketing can be a cost effective way of getting results,” comments UK influencer marketing and influencer agency Summer Managing Director Mischa Joslin.

“Brands are cutting their marketing budgets overall, but they’re getting more savvy in how they spend it. In some ways, the inflationary issue is almost benefiting influencer marketing […because] what influencer marketing offers that other forms of marketing doesn’t, is a dedicated, tailored audience that’s going to give you more ROI for every pound spent.”

The UK market is also notable for the huge amount of smaller Instagram creators it has compared to similar-sized markets in Europe.

Influencer marketers in the UK have an impressive pool of 98,000 creators with +5K followers on Instagram to choose from — 33,000 more than in France, and 45,000 more than Germany — according to Kolsquare influencer marketing statistics UK from March 2024.

And although the burst of the post-Covid bubble saw the number of very small Instagram accounts decline 23% during the same period, the UK is home to a massive 633K Instagram accounts with +1K followers, more than double the amount in France or Germany.

“A lot of young people want to be an influencer because they think it is easy, but the reality is that most of them don’t earn enough to live on. It’s a very small percentage that earns enough,” comments CurrentBody’s Dorolti.

Brand and campaign strategies: integrated, innovative and diverse

As the market grows, brands and agencies are pushing to disrupt conventional influencer marketing strategies, drilling ever deeper into the data to achieve results and measurable ROI. For Summer’s Joslin, the shift in understanding of how to drive ROI with influencer marketing services has been a key driver of market growth.

“Agencies have focused a lot more on showing ROI and making brands understand the role it can play in helping to drive everything from awareness through to sales, rather than just being top of the funnel,” comments Joslin.

With the inflationary crisis forcing brands to drastically cut marketing budgets overall, there continues to be an uptick in spend on influencer marketing as brands recognise the cost-effectiveness of working with nano and micro creators to reach the right audience.

And at the higher end of the scale, brands are increasingly engaging in long-term influencer relationships and handing more control over campaigns to seasoned creators.

“We’re seeing more integrated campaigns, where the campaign starts with the influencer before moving out to other marketing disciplines,” comments Influencer Marketing Trade Body (IMTB) Director General Scott Guthrie.

“Three years ago, influencer marketing was on the periphery. Now, creators are not just creating the content, they’re helping shape the strategy.”

To this end, major UK brands have embraced diversity and inclusion in their influencer marketing strategies. While this was especially true during the pandemic years and #BlackLivesMatter movement, the inflationary context has forced some brands to move away from using diverse creators.

Disability-led influencer marketing agency The Purple Goat Co-founder and CEO Martyn Shibley says that as the UK market matures, more room is being created for content creators to lean into their individuality and their community's preferences.

“[Brands] definitely [had] a one-shot mentality [towards diverse and inclusive campaigns] when we started four years ago and as an industry mentality. With the proof of how diversity makes genuine business sense in influencer marketing and beyond, we're seeing many more brands returning to work with The Purple Goat." - Martyn Shibley

Metrics, strategies, payments: Is influencer marketing effective in the UK?

Despite the evident maturity of influencer marketing in the UK, there are still large swathes of the market that have yet to fully grasp the concept that success lies in understanding the data. Many brands continue to conduct influencer discovery manually, and to focus on vanity metrics like views and followers.

“There’s still big brands that don't quite get it. They’re only just shifting out of vanity metrics to look towards intent and impact metrics. Some big household names, it’s quite surprising where they’re at,” comments the IMTB’s Guthrie.

Kolsquare Account Executive UK Ore Akinniranye agrees. He says that although UK marketers at the operational level are often well-versed in running data-driven campaigns, many C-level managers remain unconvinced.

“There is still a gap in understanding and defining metrics at the C-level; a lack of understanding in how influencer marketing platforms like Kolsquare can deliver the full impact of the campaign through detailed creator and campaign data,” says Akinniranye.

And although brands in the UK were quick to to bring influencer marketing services in-house with dedicated teams, inflationary pressures combined with market complexity are forcing many into a rethink.

“There was a misconception of how easy it is to do. [Brands] thought ‘we can hire someone with two years’ experience and they’ll replace an agency, but what we’re seeing now is a huge amount of redundancies and layoffs,” comments Joslin, who predicts rationalisation will hit agencies that have bolted-on influencer marketing services to try to capitalise on the market’s growth.

“There will be a saturation point where brands go back to influencer-specific agencies. There will also be a lot of agencies that go niche, or home in on a specific platform or one form of influencer marketing to capitalise on doing something really well, rather than being a jack of all trades,” comments Joslin.

The huge amount of nano and micro creators in the market, combined with the growing trend of performance and sales-based influencer campaigns, also feeds into widespread confusion about payment rates and fee structures. Joslin estimates that 25% of influencer campaigns in the UK now include a commission-based fee.

“There’s no rules on payments, on how much something is worth,” comments CurrentBody’s Dorolti. “A lot of influencers don’t understand that companies will have different campaigns in mind. It’s very hard to explain to some influencers or agents that different campaigns will have different budgets depending on whether it’s awareness or performance focused.”

Regulation: has ‘name and shame’ delivered a more transparent market?

UK consumers may have a ferocious appetite for influencer content, but they are much less enamoured with the influencers themselves.

Just 28% of Gen Z and 18% of Millennials in the UK trust influencer ads, which, in 2022, were the second largest category of advertising that consumers complained about to the self-regulatory organisation the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Although the UK government declined to legislate a dedicated law for influencer marketing that same year, in 2023 it passed the Online Safety Act 2023 that beefed up consumer protections from potentially harmful content on social media.

“The bedrock of any regulation is going to be evidence-based and the fact that the government has a sensation that things are worse in some quarters than the evidence would suggest […] isn’t necessarily born out by the data,” comments the IMTB’s Guthrie.

Meanwhile, the ASA has published a best practice guide for influencers covering transparency and consumer protection. It has also implemented a ‘name and shame’ policy, which publishes a list of influencers who have been found to regularly flout the rules around advertising transparency.

To date, just 26 influencers have appeared on the ‘name and shame’ list. 23 have already been removed after regular monitoring proved they had changed their disclosure practices.

However, many industry players argue the current regulations are unclear on two key points: influencers who double as business owners and post about their own products, and the requirement to tag any content as an ad even if the content post is outside the scope of an agreed contract.

Meanwhile, despite the widespread use of #ad on influencer marketing content in the UK today, the sheer volume of content and campaigns means many consumers still don’t fully comprehend influencer campaign content are ads, says Dorolti.

Platforms: TikTok continues its ascent, but Instagram remains the go-to

That the UK has been an enthusiastic early adopter of influencer marketing on social media is reflected in the figures. Some 84% of UK Gen Z and two-thirds of Millennials social media users follow influencers, with short-form video as the preferred content format.

“I started [as an influencer] when Instagram was really bigging up Reels because TikTok had become popular. I started to post Reels and one of them got nearly 1 million views. That's when I started to gain more followers,” comments UK creator Ella Kirby (@ellakirbyx), who has 199K followers on Instagram and 129K followers on TikTok.

That said, Kolsquare data shows that although the UK market is awash with Instagram creators, it has been slower to take off on TikTok. The UK has 46K fewer influencers with 5K+ followers and 3.3K fewer influencers with 100K+ followers on TikTok than France and only marginally more than Germany.

This reflects the entrenched position of Instagram in an already mature market. Kirby, for example, says her main focus is to create Reels for Instagram which she then posts to TikTok.

Paradoxically, TikTok trends are more advanced in the UK than in neighbouring Europe. The market was an early testing ground for TikTok Shop, which has become a flashpoint for influence campaigns with sales objectives since its launch late last year.

“In terms of consumer behaviour, the ease of purchase [of TikTok Shop] without ever having to go to a website is something they absolutely love.

“It works well for certain sectors and certain types of products, like beauty and cheaper fast fashion. Anything premium or luxury is very reluctant to be involved because of the format and the way it’s delivered. It’s just got that TV shopping feel.” - Summer’s Joslin

The excitement around TikTok is also resulting in the phenomenon of new, Generation Z creators on TikTok being able to drive better ROI than established, expert YouTube creators in big categories like skincare, comments CurrentBody’s Dorolti.

“That just shows how the market has changed, with a lot of the consumers being younger and shopping through TikTok. Now, most of the revenue that we see [through promo codes and tracking links] is through our own direct influencers on TikTok,” comments Dorolti, whose brand works with an average of 200 influencers per month.

As new platforms and technologies like AI disrupt the industry, the rapid pace of change that defines Influencer Marketing in the UK is only set to continue.

To succeed and drive true ROI in this ultra-competitive industry, marketers must wholeheartedly embrace data analytics combined with authentic campaigns and relatable content. Anything less will be the equivalent of throwing marketing pounds into the wind.

Influencer Marketing Platform vs Agency: The Battle of UK Apps and Services

Data is changing influencer marketing, especially in the mature UK market. However, brands have different options for accessing these insights. They can work closely with agencies that guide campaigns end-to-end, or they can receive insights in-house using an influencer marketing platform.

One of the key elements of influencer marketing platforms is AI. Agence Wellcom Director Digital and AI expert Karlis Montchovi spoke to Kolsquare about the powerful opportunities AI is opening up.

"In influence marketing, AI aids data processing, tagging content, and identifying suitable influencers by editorial affinity rather than just profile reach. The ability to analyse vast amounts of data and tailor content accordingly is a significant advantage for modern marketers." - Karlis Motchovi

For Motchovi, AI is a technology with vast potential, set to transform the industry for the unforseeable future.

"Automation makes it possible to crawl all the engagements, all the content, thematise it, label and afterwards to summarise it. This approach will evolve, potentially changing agency models. Our customers, our advertisers, may be more intelligent because they'll have access to data and platforms, and may once again integrate platforms that produce their own content, perhaps generated by an AI." - Karlis Motchovi

Motchovi believes that both agencies and platforms will benefit and adapt to AI. Platforms may even begin to offer content creation capable of producing diverse results based on their data.

Marketing agencies already provide hands-on expertise and personalised services. Their team, fully equipped with deep knowledge about the digital landscape, becomes your team, though often at higher costs. They excel in crafting bespoke strategies from start to finish but require longer commitments and larger budgets.

Influencer marketing platforms aim to empower brands to connect with target audiences through social media platforms without external aid. They give brands access to intricate datasets and the power of AI from the desktops in their offices and work-from-home laptops.

Platforms like Kolsquare simplify what can be an arduous process of reaching business results through influencer marketing. They supply ample insights into influencers across many social media platforms, helping brands find their best-fit influencers. Many of these insights are dug out by AI analysing hashtags, comments, and conversations.

They show you a birds-eye view of the conversations happening around your brand and your share of voice (the percentage of brand mentions or visibility compared to competitors). You can also access deep insights into industry trends and competitor's campaigns through social listening.

A platform acts as a guide to influencer marketing conversations as well as an influencer relationship and campaign management software, keeping your team organised and aligned. When the time comes to create reports, the data is readily accessible in a presentable format, making it easy to scale or pivot.

These insights are invaluable for reaching target audiences. They give brands the tools to develop excellent campaigns based on real insights, preventing the risks from relying on guesswork.

If you'd like to learn more about the influencer marketing platform Kolsquare, book a demo today.

Best Influencer Marketing Platforms in the UK

There are many influencer platforms in the UK. Here are some of the most popular options:

Kolsquare: A comprehensive platform offering tools for influencer discovery, campaign management, and performance analysis. It has many powerful features including social listening, AI, reporting, campaign management, and more.
Modash: Provides access to a large database of influencers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, making it easy to discover and manage campaigns.
Grin: Offers a suite of tools for managing influencer relationships, creating content, and tracking campaign performance, streamlining the entire process.
Upfluence: Helps brands identify and connect with influencers, manage campaigns, and analyse performance metrics to optimise strategies.

These platforms provide brands with the tools to effectively manage influencer marketing campaigns in the UK.

FAQ

How big is the influencer market in the UK?

The UK influencer marketing sector reached £1.45 billion in 2023, showing remarkable growth from previous years. Social media engagement rates peaked at 84% among Gene Z consumers, making the UK one of Europe's most dynamic markets for creator partnerships.

The surge in micro-influencer partnerships has shaped a more targeted approach, with 47% of UK consumers making purchases based on creator recommendations.

TikTok's dominance has reshaped the landscape, with UK-based campaigns seeing a 26% increase in creator collaborations compared to 2022. This shift signals strong momentum for continued market expansion through 2024.

How much do UK influencers charge?

The UK influencer marketing landscape shows remarkable pricing diversity across creator tiers. Nano-influencers typically charge £50-£200 per post, while micro-influencers command £200-£1,000. Mid-tier creators price their content between £1,000-£5,000, reflecting their specialized expertise and engaged audiences.

To discover how much a specific influencer charges on TikTok or Instagram, try our free calculators:

How much does influencer marketing cost UK?

From a brand's perspective, the cost of influencer marketing campaigns in the UK depends on factors like the influencer’s reach, engagement, and platform, as well as the campaign’s scope and objectives. For instance, nano-influencers with highly engaged niche audiences can cost as little as £8 per Instagram post, while macro-influencers or celebrities may charge thousands.

Brands must also consider additional costs for exclusivity, content rights, or long-term partnerships. While pricing varies, the investment can deliver a high ROI when aligned with clear marketing goals, authentic influencer collaborations, and precise audience targeting.

Remember that beyond base costs, you'll need to factor in creator payments, content production, and potential paid promotion budgets. Most UK brands find success allocating 15-20% of their total marketing spend to influencer initiatives.

What are influencer marketing companies?

Influencer marketing companies fall into three main categories: technology platforms, specialised agencies, and hybrid solutions. Technology platforms provide data-driven tools for campaign management and creator discovery, with companies like Kolsquare offering automated solutions across multiple social networks.

Specialised agencies focus on hands-on campaign management and strategy development, often maintaining exclusive creator relationships. These firms excel in crafting custom campaigns but require higher budgets and longer commitments.

How do I become an influencer marketer?

To kickstart a career in influencer marketing, consider studying courses in digital marketing or social media strategy to build foundational skills, from content creation to performance tracking. Gain hands-on experience through internships or entry-level roles, focusing on everything from campaign creation to performance tracking. Understand marketing goals and how to align influencer collaborations with them.

Looking for opportunities? Kolsquare is a software-as-a-service company, but we do specialise in influencer marketing. Still interested? Check out our career page!

About Kolsquare

Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, offering a data-driven solution that empowers brands to scale their KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing strategies through authentic partnerships with top creators.

Kolsquare’s advanced technology helps marketing professionals seamlessly identify the best content creators by filtering their content and audience, while also enabling them to build, manage, and optimize campaigns from start to finish. This includes measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors.

With a thriving global community of influencer marketing experts, Kolsquare serves hundreds of customers—including Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, Lush, and Hermès—by leveraging the latest Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning technologies. Our platform taps into an extensive network of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers across 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat.

As a Certified B Corporation, Kolsquare leads the way in promoting Responsible Influence, championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations that inspire positive change.

Since October 2024, Kolsquare has become part of the Team.Blue group, one of the largest private tech companies in Europe, and a leading digital enabler for businesses and entrepreneurs across Europe. Team.Blue brings together over 60 successful brands in web hosting, domains, e-commerce, online compliance, lead generation, application solutions, and social media.