Whether it's mommy bloggers, online tech gurus, Instagram fashion icons, or foodies on Facebook, social influencers are on the rise, and brands are responding in kind. A November 2016 survey by Linqia, a San Francisco-based provider of content marketing solutions, found that nearly half of marketers polled planned to increase their influencer marketing budget this year.
In many ways, social influencers are taking over a role once considered the domain of lifestyle magazines. "It used to be magazine editors [making all the style choices and product recommendations], but now it's the Instagram influencers and bloggers," says Erin Dress, head of...