Our article beginning on pg. 66 of the Dec 2023 issue discusses the concept of you, the boutique owner, as an influencer.
   This is a role you must play even if you never intended to do so. The reason is simple: brides see you as an influencer, by virtue of being so visible in the store.
   It requires a mindset shift to really capitalize on that role, so check out our story for details on how best to do that.
   In the meantime, here are some key stats*:
   – In 2023, one in four marketers worked with influencers, making it a more popular marketing tactic than virtual events, webinars and social commerce
   – 36% of marketers say influencer content outperforms brand-created content on social media, largely due to the trust factor
   – one in five people aged 18-54 have made a purchase based on an influencer’s recommendation in the past three months alone
   – 79% of marketers consider Instagram the most important influencer marketing platform due to its highly visual nature putting products front and center
   – TikTok has the highest influencer engagement rate, with 78% of users having purchased a product after seeing it featured on the platform
   – Facebook is one of the only social channels with declining influencer marketing activity due to its pay-to-play model causing organic reach decline
  – the biggest challenges in working with influencers that marketers report are accurately monitoring ROI, skewed follower counts and keeping up with social algorithm changes
   – Engagement rate, reach and brand lift are the most popular ways to measure influencer success, not sales
   – links to a brand’s website have the biggest impact on influencer marketing ROI, while announcement of new products has a detrimental impact causing a 30.5% dip in ROI
   – businesses make an estimated $5.78 for every dollar spent on influencer marketing
   – retailers get an estimated $4.12 of earned media value (increased reach and brand awareness) for every dollar spent on influencer marketing through Instagram
   – influencer marketing is second to only short-form video content for the marketing trend with the highest ROI. It beats DMs, SEO and content that reflects your brand’s values
   – Nearly a quarter of marketers plan to invest more than 40% of their marketing budget into influencer marketing (in 2023 it was 5%)
   – the recommended starting spend on influencers is 10% of your marketing budget, which gives room to experiment without excessive risk
   – 72% of marketers want use AI to assist in finding the right influencers, analyzing influencer performance, streamlining workflow, writing creative briefs and repurposing content
   There are five types of influencers:


   Nano: 1,000-4,999 followers
    – 65% of all influencers
    – charge $2-$250 per post
    – typically have the highest engagement
   Micro: 5,000-20,000 followers
   – 27% of all influencers
   – charge $25-$1,250 per post
   – often viewed as the second-most ideal to work with
   Macro: 20,000-100,000
   – 6% of all influencers
   – charge $100-$12,500 per post
   – many view as the ideal to work with
   Mega: 100,000-1 million followers
   – charge $1,000-$25,000 per post
   – 1.77% of all influencers Celebrities: 1 million+ followers
   – charge $2,000-$1 million per post
   – 23% of all influencers

*Sources: Linqia “The State of Influencer Marketing 2023”; Statista; HubSpot’s “State of Marketing” and “Global Social Media Trends Report”; Hype Auditor “State of Influencer Marketing 2023”; Harvard Business Review; Influencer Marketing Hub; Shopify