As technology becomes more integrated into our everyday lives, so do the spokespeople who appear on the screen. In the age of technology, influencer marketing is at an all time high. Influencer marketing involves brands working with famous people, or someone with a lot of followers on social media. Influencer marketing takes place across several social media apps, including Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, and YouTube. Social media is the new way to brand yourself, whether it be your routine or a product, it is the fastest and cheapest way to reach the most amount of people.
With this past year coming to a close, we can take a look and see what the top seven influencer marketing trends were this year.
Nano-Influencers are Becoming Popular
There are five types of influencers; mega, macro, mid-tier micro, and nano. Mega influencers are social superstars with more than 1 million followers. Macro influencers have more than 500,000 followers but less than one million. Mid-tier influencers have more than 50,000 followers but less than 500,000. Micro influencers have more than 10,000 followers but less than 50,000. Finally, Nano influencers have less than 10,000 followers.
Mega influencers are only of value to big brands, and macro influencers usually have too much competition for most brands to work with them. Brands often find that nano influencers are often the best people to work with when advertising a specific niche. There has been a steady increase of brands having nano influencers advertise for them. Brands that need to balance authenticity and engagement have a tendency to reach out to micro influencers.
Brands Partnering Long Term
With influencer marketing on the rise, good influencers are likely to fill up their calendars with paid promotions. This is making brands shy away from short-term thinking. Locking in multiple marketing campaigns will also increase the brands loyalty to the influencer. Influencers, especially high profile ones, are more likely to work with a brand they have worked with in the past, than with someone new. This builds a relationship between the two, and often consumers will form a correlation with an influencer and a brand if done right. Many brand deals will stay with influencers for many years; if the revenue continues to increase as the influencer posts more and more of the product.
Instagram is the Top Platform
Instagram is considered the top platform because of its increasing popularity. It is also the site of choice for the younger generations. They have recently added many additional features, making it more user friendly. Instagram has also developed tools to make it easier to conduct influencer marketing on their platform. Instagram has also developed a shop tab on the home screen. The shop tab makes it easier for followers to connect to their favorite influencer’s brands. Instagram is one of the first social media apps to include a post to link service, this aids all three parties involved. The consumer, the brand, and the influencer all gain positive outcomes from this service.
Fight Against Fake Followers
“In the influencer economy, you’re paid in part for the size of your audience, which means that, if an influencer’s account is swarming with fake followers, brands are paying extra to reach people who don’t exist.”
Emma Grey Ellis, WIRED
Many brands refuse to work with influencers who have fake followers. These days, it is fairly easy to spot a fake follower account. If an influencer is caught with any fake followers, it devalues their social media presence. You can identify these followers by having absolutely absurd CPU usernames with zero followers or following. It has been an increasing problem especially the last two years and it is expected to continue. Influencers who have started scandals or been caught up in a scam will buy fake followers when real followers have lost interest. This way they lose their credibility and any chance to make a name for themselves with brand deals.
Increase in Video Importance
With fast speed Internet now available at everyone’s fingertips, all popular social media channels now offer video content. Influencers are leading the way with their vlogs and YouTube channels. Video has become so popular that it is projected to have an average of over two-thirds of Internet traffic by next year. Vlogging, video blogging, is where many brand deals happen, influencers will partner with brands to promote products they enjoy and use on a daily basis. An insight on these influencers lives will create a stronger relationship with their following, to ensure they see how their favorite stars are using certain products and lifestyle tendencies.
“Short-form video is the style of brief, instantly engaging video content that has become a nearly ubiquitous trend on nearly every platform, particularly as less curated “disappearing content” options like Instagram Stories have gained in popularity.”
Danielle Wiley, Forbes
Facebook is Falling
For the first time since Facebook took off, user numbers are declining as of this year. The declining numbers have been small but it has been consistent among all age groups. With all of these new platforms available, Facebook is not as fresh and new as it once was. This is making newer generations less likely to join. Facebook is the lesser of social media platforms, as generations continue to use social media, Facebook will fall off the edge eventually. Facebook’s presence seems to be for the older generation, and there are close to no influencer’s marketing any products on the site.
Emerging Influencer Marketing Channels
IGTV is Instagram’s version of YouTube and it is projected to really take off. It was bold of them to only allow vertical videos to be uploaded, because this could be considered not user friendly. Their reason for this is because that is how most people hold their phones. This also causes problems when uploading a video you made on multiple social media platforms, because other sites do allow horizontal videos. Instagram continues to make changes, now allowing longer videos to be uploaded. Newer platforms like TikTok and Twitch have started gaining users, and have a few established influencers. Their users are also projected to rise. These newer platforms are great for brands that want to tap into younger markets, as their user base is predominately under thirty.
It is important to keep up with social media and its trends. With all of these new and exciting things happening in influencer marketing, now is the best time to cash in on those advertising deals.
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