Investing in marketing is a strategic decision that encourages growth and sustainability in organizations. However, approaches to marketing have undergone drastic changes due to the increased use of social media and the emergence of influencers. Zniva, Weitzl, and Lindmoser define influencers as people, varying from celebrities and advocates to professionals and non-professional peers, who interact with a given target audience and stimulate online engagement and sales for a product, service, or brand on their social media platforms (1488). Influencers have transformed marketing by acting as salespeople in the vast digital space and making their social media platforms a storefront. The novelty of the use of influencers in marketing has prompted significant questions on how they transform their social media reels into sales in the retail sector. Influencers are able to convert reels into retail sales through enhanced awareness because of increased targeted audiences, providing consumers with authentic reactions, increasing customer engagement, and earning higher trust due to social proof from the influencers.
The influencer marketing sector has grown significantly into a multi-billion dollar approach to marketing. According to Peterson, the influencer marketing market share has grown from $9.7 billion in 2020 to $15.2 billion in 2022, $17.4 billion in 2023, $19.8 billion in 2024, and $22.2 billion in 2025, as shown in Image 1.
Image 1: Influencer Marketing Market Size between 2020 and 2025 (Peterson)
The growth in the market share of influencer marketing indicates the impact of influencers on attracting companies’ sales. Additional statistics indicate that influencer marketing is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.9% to an expected $87.87 billion valuation by 2029; see Image 2 (The Business Research Company). These statistics indicate that the value of influencer marketing is transforming the styles of marketing across industries. 
Image 2: Influencer Marketing Platform Global Market Report 2025 (The Business Research Company)
Additionally, influencers can be classified into five tiers depending on their number of followers, which translates to different levels of influence. As shown in Image 3, Nano influencers are at the bottom of the tier because they have the smallest number of followers, between 1,000 and 10,000. They tend to have highly engaged followers, are low-cost, and have better access to niche-specific demographics (The Influencers). 
Image 3: Influencer Tier (The Influencer)
The second tier comprises micro-influencers with 10,000 to 50,000 followers and also offers low-cost marketing, access to niche communities, and higher engagement from audiences. Mid-tier influencers have between 50,000 and 500,000 followers and provide a diverse, well-segmented, and loyal audience. They have experience working with brands but cost more than lower-tier influencers. Macro influencers boast a following between 500,000 and 1,000,000 followers, which allows access to a broader yet specific demographic of consumers, with the influencers having more experience working with organizations and being highly recognizable figures in a given niche (The Influencers). Macro influencers, however, are expensive. Mega or celebrity influencers have more than 1 million followers and possess advantages such as the ability to create fast excitement over a brand, massive reach, and broader appeal due to having access to multiple demographics. These influencers have varying conversion rates from their reels to sales. As shown in Image 4, the conversion rate is 1.3% for nano influencers, 1.2% for macro influencers, 1.1% for lower mid-tier influencers, 0.7% for upper mid-tier influencers, 1.3% for macro influencers, and 0.7% for mega influencers (Brzezicki). 
Image 4: Conversion Rate (Brzezicki)
One major way that influencers convert reels to retail sales is through increased access to targeted audiences. Campbell and Farrell opine that influencers allow companies to access specific niches by maximizing the followers’ loyalty to the influencer, which encourages brands to build stronger relationships with consumers because the influencers share tailored content (2). The influencers are able to present a story about your brand through carefully crafted content, which, according to Seth Godin, translates to sales because “people do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic” (Digital Marketing Trendz). The tiers and conversion rates of influencers reflect precision in access to targeted audiences. Okonkwo and Namkoisse explain that Nano influencers enjoy a hyper-localized reach, micro-influencers have a niche-specific reach, and celebrities have a broad and extensive reach (82). Influencers are guaranteed to provide companies with a targeted reach to preferred niches, which, when paired with increased engagement due to a higher probability of interest among followers, translates to increased awareness and visibility to potential customers.
Secondly, influencers secure sales from reels by promoting authenticity through their content. According to the self-determination theory, authenticity significantly influences a consumer’s interest in a product or motivation to purchase because it interprets the influencer’s observable behavior to develop a perception of the company in question (Zniva et al. 1490). Influencers use varying approaches to achieve authentic advertising depending on their understanding of their audiences. According to Okonkwo and Namkoisse, influencers can share sponsored content, creative product placements in their social media posts, and influencer-created content on a given product or service (82). These approaches offer influencers the ability to share relatable content on a product by placing it in their daily lives, which allows the audiences to recognize and understand how they can authentically fit the marketed product into their lives. This relatability and authentic interaction with a product or service increases motivation to purchase, which, when paired with access to a targeted audience, increases sales and loyalty for a company.
Influencers also increase conversion from marketing efforts into sales by increasing consumer engagement with a given product or service. Qazzafi highlights that different factors influence consumer purchase decisions, including personal factors such as age, psychological factors such as learning, motivation, and perception, social factors, and economic factors (1205-1207). Influencer marketing is related to psychological factors as it provides target consumers with adequate opportunities to interact with a company’s brand, its products or services, as well as with influence factors such as motivation, perception, learning, and memory. Potential consumers can always rely on engaging the influencer to gain more information about the brand, as reflected by the research by Zhang on 25 participants, which revealed that 14 of the participants stated influencer marketing is better at informing. In contrast, only 10 of the participants stated that traditional marketing methods are effective, as seen in Image 5 (3). Influencers provide the audiences with access to information on the product or service through their specific and relatable content. Influencers also provide customers with further access to information through their comment sections, Q&A sessions, and polls. Scott Cook highlights the power of engagement through influencers with the statement, “a brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is — it is what consumers tell each other it is” (Digital Marketing Trendz). These engagement options foster a sense of belonging, community, and relatability, which motivate consumers to make purchases and, thus, generate sales for the company.
Image 5: Information Sharing Efficacy for Traditional vs Influencer Marketing (Zhang)
Better social proof of the product or service is also a factor that allows influencers to transform reels into retail sales by building the audience’s awareness and trust. As Abdul Talib and Mat Saat outline, social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people translate the behavior presented by others as correct and suitable for following, which is more evident in social media platforms where a survey noted that 70% of users value online consumer reviews as the second most reliable source of information, highlighting the relationship between social proof and community (3). Influencers achieve a sense of community based on their already existing followers sharing certain interests. Zhang emphasizes that Instagram is perceived as the most trustworthy social media platform where influencers offer trustworthy information on products or services, which establishes the cognitive stage of purchasing behavior where the business becomes attractive to target consumers (2). Influencers offer a sense of community based on their platforms, connecting different consumers who can interact with each other to share their concerns, reactions, first-time interactions, and other details that assert psychological connections between the influencer, the product or service, and the followers. The social proof from the reviews of the influencer also adds to the social proof offered to consumers, with the targeted audience using their trust in their influencer to encourage purchasing decisions. The efficacy of social proof from the influencer in building trust in a company is reflected in the statistics that every $1 invested in influencer marketing yields $5-6 in return on investments from sales. In contrast, short-form influencer videos offer up to 10% return on investments, which indicates that influencer marketing outperforms other digital channels (Zheng). An added advantage to companies because of the social proof provided by influencers is increased loyalty to the brand because of the sense of community attached to the product or service that promotes continuous purchase intention, which secures sustainable retail sales for the business.
Influencer marketing is redefining the marketing landscape by using their following to attract retail sales for companies. Influencers transform their reels into sales based on their ability to offer companies targeted reach to specific niches and consumers guaranteed to value and engage with the product or service. The influencers also provide their followers with authenticity through relatable content on how a product or service can be applied to their lives, which encourages purchases. Additionally, influencers transform their reels into retail purchases by providing social proof through their interactions with a brand that followers translate as essential, encouraging sales because of the need to align with the sense of belonging and community through the influencer’s recommendations of a product or service. Also, influencers transform their videos and posts into sales by increasing consumer engagement with a given brand based on options such as comment sections and Q&A sessions that allow consumers to gain more information about a product. These approaches by influencers attract sales because they foster a sense of community, increase motivation to purchase, assert trustworthiness, and enhance consumer engagement.
Works Cited
Abdul Talib, Yurita Y., and Rafeah Mat Saat. “Social proof in social media shopping: An experimental design research.” SHS Web of Conferences, vol. 34, 2017, pp. 1-6, DOI: 10.1051/shsconf/20173402005.
Brzezicki, Andrew. “10 Key Instagram Metrics You Should Use in 2023.” Bazaarvoice, 23 Sept. 2023, www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/key-instagram-metrics/.
The Business Research Company. “Influencer Marketing Platform Market Trends Analysis Report 2025.” Global Market Research Reports & Consulting | The Business Research Company, 2025, www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/influencer-marketing-platform-global-market-report.
Digital Marketing Trendz. “Top inspiring influencer marketing quotes in 2021.” Medium, 28 Feb. 2021, dmtrendz.medium.com/top-inspiring-influencer-marketing-quotes-in-2021-63aa2d367857.
Campbell, Colin, and Justine R. Farrell. “More than meets the eye: The functional components underlying influencer marketing.” Business Horizons, vol. 63, no. 4, 2020, pp. 469-479.
The Influencers. “Influencer Tiers: 5 X Influencer Marketing Tiers You Need To Know.” Flat Rate Influencer Marketing Agency, 17 Nov. 2023, www.theinfluencers.com.au/articles/influencer-marketing-tiers-explained.
Okonkwo, Ifeanyi, and Emmanuel Namkoisse. “The Role of Influencer Marketing in Building Authentic Brand Relationships Online.” Journal of Digital Marketing and Communication, vol. 3, no. 2, 2023, pp. 81-90.
Petersen, Rob. “6 Actionable Strategies to Track Your Influencer Campaigns ROI.” BarnRaisers, LLC, 26 Nov. 2024, barnraisersllc.com/2023/06/15/track-your-influencer-campaigns/.
Qazzafi, Sheikh. “Factor affecting consumer buying behavior: A conceptual study.” International Journal for Scientific Research & Development , vol. 8, no. 2, 2020, pp. 1205-1208.
Zhang, Langhua. “Compared with traditional marketing, how influencer marketing affect costumers’ purchasing behaviors in the clothing retailing industry.” Financial Engineering and Risk Management, vol. 6, no. 3, 2023, pp. 1-6, DOI: 10.23977/ferm.2023.060301.
Zheng, Charissa. “38+ Influencer Marketing Statistics: The Game-Changer in 2024.” Firework | Video Commerce | Redefine Commerce, 26 2025, firework.com/blog/influencer-marketing-statistics?utm_.
Zniva, Robert, et al. “Be constantly different! How to manage influencer authenticity.” ” Electronic Commerce Research, vol. 23, no. 3, 2023, pp. 1485-1514, doi.org/10.1007/s10660-022-09653-6.