It wasn’t long back when people had no idea what influencer marketing meant. Currently, around 93% of marketers use influencer marketing to promote their brand. Influencer marketing is a mix of new as well as old marketing tools. It is a process that promotes service, product, brand, or website through the influence and reach of influential individuals.
Here are the top 7 Influencer Marketing Trends you should follow in 2021.
There might have been a few hiccups in the initial stages, but now it has become a crucial part of the marketing mix. As per reports, it is most likely to become an industry worth $5-$10 billion by 2020. In this article, we will explore the significant trends in the influencer marketing sector that we believe will have a massive impact in the year 2020.
In the last few years, there has been a considerable shift in the kind of content that the influencers are creating. Earlier it was mostly into sponsored posts, but now it has moved towards videos. According to Wyzowl, about 72% of people would prefer to get to know about a service or a product through videos instead of text. Along with Instagram, TikTok will still see a huge rise as a major influencer platform. The X and Z generations are choosing platforms such as Vibe and TikTok to express themselves, their talent, or record things/events that they seem to find interesting. The other aspect that attracts them is revenue generation through these videos, along with increasing fame in their respective areas or towns.
The upsurge of these regional influencers has opened a vast world of opportunities. This is especially beneficial to the regional brands that can utilize the popularity of these influencers and market their products. It is also significant from the perspective that the marketers who cannot afford the big ones can take help from the local influencers.
Podcasts have been around for a while, but it is now that it is slowly making a stronghold in the industry. As per reports by musicoomph, there are more than 29 million podcast episodes and 700,000 active podcasts.
The demand is for engaging content as well as videos and podcasts feature at the top of the list. Brands have already understood the importance of partnerships with influencers and have started leveraging the benefits.
These platforms have the potential to attract a mass audience. It also ensures that brands can reach huge masses via a trustworthy influencer as compared to a corporate brand. The arrival of advanced technology will enable the influencers to use them in innovative ways. It will bring in the wave of change in the world of influencer marketing.
The use of iPods, smartphones, and other technologies will witness the growth of newer avenues and one of them being influencers in the field of the podcast.
A lot of brands are involved in in-depth research to understand the relationship the influencer shares with his/her audience, along with figuring out what kind of content works.
Brands have understood that it isn’t about being associated with a popular influencer but rather choosing someone closer to the brand values. They are quite clear regarding their expectations from the marketing campaigns. As we go on researching, one will be in a better position to understand the world of influencer marketing from the core. This year, it would be about getting real instead of giving them a picture of perfection. The influencers are more into giving the audience a peek into the real rather than a fake world.
Source: relevance.com
This year more and more brands will switch to AI and AR. This technology is a great medium to reach the right influencers and makes the entire process easy. It facilitates in identifying influencers who have higher chances of getting a positive ROI, have more genuine followers, and better engagement. Through AI and AR, influencers are more likely to curate tech-savvy and exciting content, which is loved by their followers. A lot of brands have used AR/AI-enabled videos during their concerts and launches.
This year the spotlight would be on the micro-influencers. Let’s understand them a little better. Micro-influencers are influencers who have a following between 2000 to 50,000 on a particular social media platform. Brands will be collaborating with micro-influencers rather than celebrities or big influencers. They can be renowned celebrities, but that’s neither the norm nor the determining aspect. Influencer marketing, unlike corporate advertising, is about being authentic. It is all about relying on real people to spread the message of the brand. Brands look for influencers, study their interests, platforms that they are on, and then communicate their brand message.
Source: talkinginfluence.com
The workforce has gone through a sea change. It is a complete change from what it was in the past. People are learning new techniques, digital skills, and venturing into entrepreneurship. Presently, companies are encouraging their employees to turn into social media influencers. The aim is to nurture their own talent rather than an outsider. This process has immense benefits. It helps build trust when an employee talks about their own brand. As part of the team, they are quite aware of the ongoings and everything related to the brand.
Initially, brands chose influencers based on each campaign. This meant that it was a short-term relationship. At times, brands do return to the same influencers. However, as the industry keeps growing, brands have realized the benefits of long-term bonding.
The reason these campaigns work is all thanks to the fact that people relate to these influencers, they find them more authentic and connect with them. It helps the brands save expense, effort, and time looking for a new influencer again and again. Since a lot of homework goes into finding the right influencer who matches the wavelength of the brand values, there should hardly be any reason to look for someone else for a new campaign.
Eventually, to get the best out of influencer marketing, it’s vital to associate with someone who understands and matches what your brand stands for. Someone who has the caliber to influence his/her followers rather than a star with a huge follower count. Look around and see the way other brands are using influencer marketing. Try and see if it is beneficial for your brand or not. Unless you try, you might never know. Keep your search on and look for the influencer who can become the voice of your brand. We hope you enjoyed reading this blog and keep following us to read more such interesting blogs.
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