Influencer marketing in the United Kingdom (UK) - statistics & facts

Influencer marketing has become an essential pillar of the digital marketing landscape in the United Kingdom. As the region is home to millions of social media users looking for entertainment and shopping recommendations each day, it makes perfect sense for brands to leverage the promotional power of these platforms and their most-followed accounts. Influencers have become a vital gateway for businesses wanting to boost exposure and keep their fingers on the digital pulse of time, which helps explain why the value of the global influencer marketing market has more than doubled between 2019 and 2022.

Keep calm and invest in influencers

Marketing specialists across the UK are devoting ever-increasing shares of their digital ad budgets towards influencer endorsement. A recent survey found that a majority of B2C marketing experts planned to ramp up spending in 2022, while roughly 11 percent also considered influencer partnerships their primary marketing channel. The same survey established that sponsored content and social media takeovers were the preferred types of influencer marketing among B2C marketers that year. These forms of promotion usually involve short-term commitments, meaning that brands reach out to influencers (or vice versa) to promote one specific product or participate in one single campaign. By appointing brand ambassadors, on the other hand, companies and content creators usually collaborate for longer and much more closely. What all these approaches have in common is that companies aim to increase brand awareness, expand their social media followings, and boost sales. Another relevant objective of influencer marketing, according to UK marketers, is improved brand perception.

Leading platforms and the most sought-after influencers

YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter make up the leading social media platforms in the UK. But even though these (mostly Meta-owned) properties boast user counts in the millions, not all of them serve as equally appealing destinations for influencer marketing. Overall, Instagram stands out as the top destination for influencer cooperations as it offers a variety of formats and features, ranging from posts and tags to Stories and Reels. Another app that is blossoming into an attractive influencer marketing destination is TikTok. The number of TikTok users in the UK has skyrocketed since the pandemic, and by partnering with content creators from the app, companies can stay up to date with the latest viral trends and gain access to a young (and previously hard to target) audience. As of 2021, celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay and Jeremy Lynch boasted the largest TikTok followings on their accounts, whereas Abby Roberts stood out among the UK’s most popular emerging TikTokers, with nearly 17.5 million followers.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Jan 6, 2023

Key insights

Influencer marketing market size worldwide
21.1bn USD
Global Instagram influencer market size
13.8bn USD
Number of social media users in the UK
61.67m
Get more insights

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Primary marketing channels of business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers in the United Kingdom as of spring 2022

Marketing

Leading B2C marketing channels in the UK 2022

Use of influencer marketing among business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers in the United Kingdom as of spring 2022

Online marketing

Use of influencer marketing in the UK 2022

Types of influencer marketing used by business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers in the United Kingdom as of spring 2022

Online marketing

Types of influencer marketing used in the UK 2022

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YouTube

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Consumer insights

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