There was a sudden downfall in the popularity of Instagram influencer marketing in 2022. But brands still have an opportunity to build awareness and engagement by collaborating with mega and micro-influencers. The mega influencers generated the highest engagement, on the other hand, micro and nano influencers grew in count, indicating that brands realize their potential to build trust with the audience. 

This Instagram trend report will take you through the details of the state of influencer marketing in the USA in 2022, the emerging influencer categories, the most active audience on the platform, the engagement rates, and the number of influencer posts. 

‍

Table of Content

1. Influencer Demographics
2. Number of Influencers by Follower Count
3. Influencer Engagement Rates
4. Influencer Posts: 2021 Vs. 2022
5. Top Mentioned Brands 

‍

1. Influencer Demographics
‍

In the USA, females dominate the platform by making up 52.7% of the audience, followed by 46.41% of males. Among them, 40.11% of Gen Zers aged 19-25 years use Instagram the most. The Millennials aged 26-32 years come at a close second, accounting for 32.17% of the user base. Around 15.56% of the audience are aged between 33 and 46+ years. 

‍

2. Number of Influencers by Follower Count
‍

Micro-influencers are the fastest-growing creator category in the USA, counting up to 124k on the platform, followed by nano-influencers with 5k to 10k followers, making up 17.72% of the total influencers on Instagram. The number declines further as we move up the follower count. There are a significant number of mid-tier, macro, and mega influencers on the platform. The data shows that they’re still an influential voice in the USA. The popularity of micro and nano influencers, however, is increasing at a fast pace. 

‍

3. Influencer Engagement Rates
‍

In 2022, mega-influencers with over 1 million followers generated the highest engagement rate (8.46%) on Instagram. Nano-influencers (5k-10k followers) create an engagement rate of 4.95%, followed by micro-influencers creating a 3.58% rate. Mid-tier (50k-100k followers) and macro influencers (100k-250k followers) on the other hand generated similar engagements. Although the micro and nano influencers are higher in number, the celebrities generated the highest engagement, indicating that people still listen to them and follow their content. 

‍

4. Influencer Posts: 2021 Vs. 2022
‍

‍
Instagram influencer marketing in the USA witnessed a slump in the number of sponsored posts published by influencers in 2022. While there were more than 350k influencer posts in 2021, the number decreased by 32.80%. 

‍Read our full global report to understand how Meta competes with YouTube and TikTok for popularity. 

5. Top-Mentioned Brands 

Leading USA brands Shein.com, Sephora, Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Adore Me were the top-mentioned companies on Instagram in 2022, which means that the influencer marketing efforts of these brands are winning in engaging the audience. 

‍Want to run successful influencer campaigns in 2023? Try the affable.ai automation tool to scale your end-to-end campaigns. Get a free trial! 

‍