Influencer Marketing

Top 10 Influencer Marketing Trends to Drive 5X Business

Social media platforms have emerged as the preferred method of exchange of information due to innovative technology and mass digitization.

As a result of this rapid development, marketers and advertisers are being encouraged to embrace more modern strategies and tactics that understand the new audience who consider influencers to be the new authorities in their fields of expertise.

Digital marketers want to reach new audiences online and stretch their budgets even further. To build authentic customer connections, many are turning to influencer marketing trends. 

Who is an Influencer?

Before diving into the magical abilities influencers possess to have become the foundation of modern marketing, it is probably best to understand who an influencer is.

Although influencers come in many forms, the term usually refers to a person who has an established online presence. In video, image, or blog form, they create content within a niche, attracting an audience to follow them.

People who follow content and conversations shared by an influencer become loyal ‘followers’ who trust and believe in the topics, discussions, and work that they share.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing refers to the use of social media to promote products by leveraging the endorsements and recommendations of influential people and content creators. 

By 2027, $370 million will be spent on influencer marketing. Brands rely on influencer trust to sell their products primarily, but not exclusively. 

If your business wants to prosper in today’s evolving market, influencer marketing trends will be your best bet if you want to shift away from traditional advertising and focus on influencers and affiliate marketing.

What are the Objectives of Influencer Marketing?

  • Enhance brand awareness and image

Is your product or service being launched? An excellent way to build brand awareness is through influencer marketing campaigns. 

  • Drive interactions and engagement

Currently, Facebook has been testing a new version of News Feed that separates posts from friends and pages that we follow, based on the algorithms of social media services.

  • Increase conversions

The AIDA model moves from Desire to Action with improving conversions. Because conversion depends on the context and the business goal, it is always context- and business-specific. 

  • Analyze customer data and gain insight

With social channels and multiple touchpoints, you can obtain real-time, always-up-to-date customer data. You can predict the future behaviour of your customers by analyzing their content and network. A customer’s interests outside your services will replace their purchase history on your website.

Recent Stats on Influencer Marketing

Currently, influencer marketing is one of the most popular forms of marketing, and for a good reason:

  • Influencer marketing is used by 9 out of 10 brands. It’s time to start exploring your influencer marketing options unless you want your company to fall behind. Whatever your industry is, there’s bound to be an influencer who can help you. In our experience, huge brands like Aliexpress, Nike, Farfetch, and many more are interested in working with platforms like Admitad Convert Social in order to attract new clientele. 
  • Earn an equivalent value of $18 for every $1 spent on media. Take advantage of influencer marketing if you want to increase brand awareness and sales or promote your brand in any way possible. 

Top 10 Influencer Marketing Trends

1. Influencers and brands partnering more often

With influencer marketing, brands are seeing the immense value and the quick reach they can achieve by partnering with influencers. The previous trend of authenticity among influencers is continuing. 

BigCommerce reports that influencer marketing budgets increased by 65% in 2020 as opposed to 39% in 2018. If brands have not yet tapped into influencer marketing, we predict more will do so, regardless of their size or stage of growth. 

2. Leveraging first-party data

Third-party data access is a challenge for marketers. Third-party cookies will be phased out by Google by 2023. According to Apple’s iOS 14.5 update, 62% of iPhone users are opting out of tracking their app usage. As a result, first-party data is becoming increasingly important for marketing purposes. 

Brands can identify new potential partnerships with influencers using first-party data. Consumer data is being analyzed by businesses to identify valuable customers to engage in loyalty programs, ambassador campaigns, affiliate programs, and influencer marketing deals. 

3. Increased diversity and representation

Diversity and inclusion have become increasingly important over the past few years. Marketing professionals today understand the importance of reflecting on their audience and making their content more relatable.

As influencer marketing campaigns spread to a wider range of influencers, 73% of sponsorships went to white influencers in 2015. 

4. Increasing influencer entrepreneurship

It is increasingly common for social media influencers to earn income beyond sponsored content. Through sites like Patreon or social tipping features, some influencers receive direct payments from fans.

Creative entrepreneurs are increasingly launching their product lines as influencers. Influencers can build and promote their brands to:

  • Gain a greater financial return
  • Complete control over the brand’s story
  • Engage their followers with something more personal
  • Extend their content and personality to develop a new income stream

As influencer relationships evolve, marketers will be able to initiate brand partnerships that can benefit both businesses by leveraging their influencer relationships.

We at Admitad ConvertSocial embrace influencer entrepreneurship in affiliate marketing and in our collaborations with bloggers. It is important to support each other and create together, not binding your influencer with strict guidelines. This is also why we don’t have any restrictions on the influencer content like many other affiliate platforms do.  

5. Advancement of nano- and micro-influencers

It is no longer necessary for influencers to have a high follower count to succeed. Nano-influencers have fewer than ten thousand followers, whereas micro-influencers have between ten thousand and fifty thousand followers. 

There have been micro- and nano-influencers for years, but their popularity continues to rise, and they are sought after by large and small brands alike. Recently Instagram has announced new algorithms that will support newbies. 

Also, affiliate marketing platforms like Admitad ConvertSocial is one of the tools that help support bloggers in the very beginning since it delegates all the work of searching for a partnership, organising the workflow and receiving the income. 

6. Authenticity on social media 

There was a time when social media was viewed as a carefully curated and altered version of reality. That’s no longer the case. Filters are being ditched by many influencers in favour of a more authentic approach.

The trend is not only a reaction to the vapid content that used to dominate the internet but also a reflection of people feeling more comfortable on social media and being more genuine. 

Social media users will often respond better to less polished, more authentic content as it is more likely to be trusted and accepted.

7. Building long-term relationships

Sponsored influencers want to establish long-term relationships with their sponsors. As the trend grows in importance, it is not new.

Building trust with your audience is easier when you partner with an influencer for more than one event or product launch. An influencer’s content that features your product repeatedly reinforces your message and increases purchase intent rather than just appearing once.

8. Popularity of user-generated content

When it comes to building trust with consumers, user-generated content is a great resource. Brands may share customer content online rather than hire influencers.

Most companies use user-generated content in their marketing efforts. In exchange for the use of their content, individuals typically ask for credit or payment, which raises questions about proper disclosure and compensation.

To avoid legal troubles when sharing user-generated content, pay attention to user-generated content regulations.

9. A greater focus on real, genuine content

Posting more authentic content has become increasingly popular on social media over the past few years. During the worst periods of the pandemic, people also looked to social media for connection to others, pushing this trend even faster. Influencers are also following this trend, posting more real, authentic content that’s less polished and has fewer polished elements. 

Authentic and successful influencer programs require credibility and trust, making posting authentic content an add-on incentive for influencers.

10. Social commerce integration

Businesses are responding to the increasing demand for online shopping by setting up eCommerce stores all over the internet. Social media influencers now work with more than half of brands that have e-commerce stores.

Similarly, social platforms are investing in native shopping tools for creators and brands, so social commerce is expected to grow in 2022. Shoppers do not even have to leave the platform to complete a purchase because many platforms offer seamlessly integrated stores.

What is the Requisite Number of Followers for an Influencer?

A large number of followers can be attracted to influencers. The average number of followers for micro-influencers is around 100,000, but most of them have less than 100,000 followers. 

Although they specialize in a specific field, they have a strong reputation. As well as interacting with their followers, they are usually active on social media. Influencers with a large following, if not more, can have hundreds of thousands of followers.

Key Takeaways

  • Influencer marketing strategies are becoming more popular due to their great success.
  • Influencers and brands are collaborating more effectively thanks to social media platforms’ tools.
  • A successful influencer campaign can be conducted on TikTok, which has become one of the most popular platforms.
  • Marketing content that is authentic, diverse, and inclusive is in high demand from consumers.
  • Entrepreneurial social media influencers are generating income outside of brand partnerships.

Wrapping Up

There are more tools available to marketers today than ever before. It can be helpful to view digital marketing through the lens of influencer marketing when deciding on the best strategy. 

When it comes to recruiting new channel partners and leveraging their organic advocate network to drive conversions, brands are putting authenticity first. 

Brands and social media platforms have recognized the value of creators as partners and are now taking the lead in funding and training the next generation of influencers. 

There is no doubt that influencer marketing is here to stay, and it is only going to grow in the future. It doesn’t matter what their goal is; eCommerce brands can benefit greatly from working with influencers. 

Your business can benefit from influencers by growing your following, making sales, or simply raising awareness. Today is the perfect day to begin developing your influencer marketing strategy

About author

Ksana Liapkova, Head of Admitad ConvertSocial. Ksana has been a speaker at world-class conferences on affiliate marketing and is in contact with more than 35,000 clients of Admitad ConvertSocial, involved in the blogging industry, which allows her to always be aware of the latest trends in the world of influencers. Before joining the Admitad team, Ksana had been working in affiliate marketing and content monetization for over 7 years, helping major brands launch their own solutions on travel services’ metasearch.
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