Sprout Social’s 2026 influencer marketing report found that 76% of marketers increased their influencer marketing budget compared to the previous year (54% by 1-10%, 22% by 11% or more) at a time when marketing budgets broadly are flat or shrinking. Only 5% of marketers reported any budget cut.
The Next Wave of Influence: AI Influencers, Employee Advocates and the Post-follower Era, Sprout Social, 2026 · n = 296 marketers (US/UK, surveyed March–April 2026)
What it means
The full distribution: 54% of marketers saw their budget grow 1-10%, 22% saw growth of 11% or more, 19% stayed flat, and only 5% saw any decrease (3% down 1-10%, 2% down 11% or more). That’s a lopsided distribution toward growth, and it’s happening while marketing departments overall are facing static or shrinking budgets, a sign influencer marketing is being treated as a protected, even prioritized, line item rather than a discretionary test-and-learn tactic.
Sprout Social frames this as evidence that influencer marketing has matured from an experimental tactic into a funded go-to-market framework. But growth isn’t unconditional: the same report finds that measuring ROI and benchmarking performance against competitors are among marketers’ top influencer marketing challenges, and leadership is applying real pressure to prove the spend is working.
In other words, budgets are growing today largely on the strength of influencer marketing’s track record and momentum, not because measurement problems have been solved. That creates real risk for continued growth if marketers can’t close the gap between rising investment and provable return.
Why it matters for B2B marketers
If you’re building the case for a bigger influencer budget next cycle, the base rate is on your side: most peers already got an increase. But don’t lead with that alone. Pair the budget ask with a concrete measurement plan, since the same report ties future budget growth explicitly to demonstrated ROI. A budget pitch backed by an attribution model will land better than one riding on “everyone else is spending more.”