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'Influencer marketing' could be worth $10 billion in just a few years, and a woman who pays Instagrammers and YouTubers for brands like Cosmo and Esquire knows why
Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
Brittany Hennessy, senior director of influencer strategy for Hearst digital brands, says influencers are an important tool for companies that advertise.
She says consumers look to influencers for trusted and peer-like recommendations, something they don't often get from traditional ads.
Influencer marketing is projected to be worth between $5 and $10 billion by 2020, according to Hennessy.
Whether you're aware of it or not, it's likely that most things you buy you probably came across on social media — just think about the last time you were scrolling through Instagram and saw a cool hotel, place to eat, piece of art, or article of clothing. It was probably posted by an influencer.
Companies are spending millions of dollars paying people with large social media followings to promote their brand, also known as influencer marketing, because consumers look to their peers for trusted recommendations, something they're not getting from traditional ads, according to Brittany Hennessy, senior director of influencer strategy and talent partnerships at Hearst Digital Media.
Hennessy scouts and manages influencers for brands including Cosmopolitan, Esquire, and Harper's Bazaar. She's also the author of "Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media."
"[Influencer marketing] is a business that's projected to be worth between $5 billion and $10 billion by 2020. That's an insane amount of money brands are spending. They're spending more than they've ever spent on influencer marketing and the number's only going to get bigger," Hennessy told Business Insider. ...
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