For three days in May, more than a dozen stars of Instagram, YouTube and TikTok convened in the coastal town of Todos Santos, Mexico, where they were treated to sunset dinners and spa sessions.
It’s the type of luxurious weekend that internet influencers have come to expect from the growing number of companies trying to capitalize of their online fame. But the event on Mexico’s Pacific Coast wasn’t run by one of the powerhouses of social media. It was hosted by Amazon.
Amazon is dipping its toe into the influencer marketing industry, which has skyrocketed from a roughly $1.7 billion market in 2016 to an estimated $13.8 billion in 2021, according to a study by the Influencer Marketing Hub. It’s expected to grow to $16.4 billion this year, which reflects the amount of money companies are spending on the increasingly popular marketing channel.
