More than nine out of ten brands and industry professionals have come out to praise the use of influencers as part of their marketing strategy, showing just how important this growing area of the sector is becoming.

In fact, having influencers promote your business is so effective that it is thought the influence marketing industry is expected to exceed $9.7 billion (£7.5 billion) this year.

This is according to a new report from Influencer Marketing Hub and CreatorIQ, which also revealed two-thirds of the 4,000 companies that took part in the survey plan to boost their budgets in this area over the next 12 months.

The findings concluded: “One thing is very clear from these results. Influencer marketing is still a highly popular and effective form of marketing.”

It added: “Those who actively participate can clearly see the effectiveness of influencer marketing.”

The survey, published by Tube Filter, revealed 72 per cent of brands believe the quality of customers they acquire from this form of marketing is higher than other promotional techniques.

In addition to this, the return-on-investment (ROI) is also appealing, with some companies able to earn $18 for every $1 they spend on influencer marketing.

Social media is the best way to utilise promoters, with 90 per cent of influencer campaigns beig published on Instagram. In comparison, 40 per cent use their influencer marketing on Facebook, 45 per cent use Twitter, 20 per cent do so on YouTube and just ten per cent post their campaigns on Pinterest.

Brands are likely to start using nano-influencers more, who are social media users with 500 to 5,000 followers. This is because they are able to have higher levels of engagement, as the post feels more genuine and followers are more likely to trust their opinion.