This year, nearly 70 percent of brands with 100 or more employees expect to partner with influencers for paid and unpaid campaigns, according to eMarketer. That’s a curious stat when you measure it against the tens of millions of people who have taken deliberate steps to make sure they’re not exposed to ads through ad blockers that are so sophisticated, they even help you skip pre-roll YouTube ads altogether. If people hate ads so much, why do they love influencers? Why does influencer marketing even work on smart consumers?