Emplifi, the leading customer engagement platform, released its “2024 State of Influencer Marketing Report,” revealing key trends to help brands optimize their influencer marketing partnerships. A recent report from EMARKETER underscores the critical role influencers play in a brand’s ecommerce outcomes, with influencer and creator content driving nearly 49.5% of social shoppers to make a purchase. According to Emplifi’s data, there’s a definitive correlation between an influencer’s audience size and the amount of sponsored content they post, as well as the type of content they share.

“To maximize impact, brands should combine larger influencers for wide exposure with smaller, niche influencers for deeper engagement and conversions. A balanced approach ensures brands don’t overlook any opportunity or rely too heavily on a single strategy”

Emplifi discovered that influencers with 100,000 followers or more on Instagram (defined as L and XL influencers) post fewer sponsored posts than influencers with smaller audiences even though they post more content. In fact, micro-influencers (influencers with 10,000 followers or fewer) post 67% more sponsored content than L and XL influencers.

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Not only are Instagram influencers with less than 100,000 followers posting more sponsored content, the XS influencers or “micro-influencers” with 10,000 or fewer followers are the only influencers who publish more photos than videos. Meanwhile, Instagram influencers with larger follower counts have doubled down on video content, with videos accounting for nearly 60% of posts from influencers with 100,000 or more followers.

One of the more interesting findings from Emplifi’s data shows that there doesn’t appear to be a significant difference in engagement between sponsored and non-sponsored posts from influencers on Instagram. When it comes to sponsored content, Emplifi’s data found that approximately 7% of influencer content on Instagram is sponsored, with slight regional variations.

“Our findings show that macro-influencers—creators with a million or more followers—are becoming more selective about the brands they work with to maintain authenticity and avoid overwhelming their audience with sponsored posts. While they demand higher fees, they deliver massive exposure if the content aligns with their audience,” said Susan Ganeshan, CMO of Emplifi. “Micro-influencers, meanwhile, post more sponsored content since they are likely more budget-friendly. They’re a strategic choice for marketers looking to stretch their budgets—smaller influencers often have closer relationships with their audiences, leading to more authentic brand partnerships, higher engagement, and better conversion rates.”

Unsurprisingly, Emplifi found that sponsored-post frequency peaks during the months leading up to the holiday season. Also, there has been a slight year-over-year decrease in sponsored posts on Instagram, likely due to economic factors that have resulted in brands tightening their marketing budgets.

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As part of its report, Emplifi also analyzed influencer marketing trends by brand size. The report shows that smaller brands on Instagram tend to collaborate with at least three macro-influencers for every micro-influencer they leverage in order to increase exposure and brand visibility. Larger brands tend to have more partnerships with smaller influencers (Instagram influencers with 50,000 or fewer followers), working with as many as 10 micro-influencers for each macro-influencer they leverage. This approach enables larger brands to tap into niche audiences while still maintaining a broad reach across the platform.

“As the holiday season approaches, brands have a unique opportunity to optimize their influencer strategies by leveraging a mix of influencer sizes that can help extend their reach and improve engagement,” said Ganeshan. “To maximize impact, brands should combine larger influencers for wide exposure with smaller, niche influencers for deeper engagement and conversions. A balanced approach ensures brands don’t overlook any opportunity or rely too heavily on a single strategy”