In the world of social media advertising, Influencer Marketing is the simmering norm. The more the social media platforms, the more the influencers. Whether our discussion encircles Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or even Facebook, influencers seem to be omnipresent. Defining an influencer is a tad tricky, but if one doesn’t flesh out the nuances, then the aforementioned person is a platform user who possesses a hefty following.
An influencer tends to be fluent in some vocation or the other, thereby accounting for his/her mammoth followers – however, do bear in mind that influencers can promote anything and everything –they are nothing short of being universal brand ambassadors.
Influencers, mostly are as good as conventional marketers – and both stand the chances of learning something substantial from one another. For influencers, the learning process encircles marketing nuances while for marketers, it involves embracing the fact that the world has changed drastically and being online is synonymous with being on the pedestal – and that sells.
With masses flocking nearly all social media platforms in sight, and brands taking this movement into account – the influencer marketing industry is on a roll. If abundant stats that compound to compact reports are to be believed, then the influencer market is set to soar from being an 8 billion dollar industry to a 15 billion dollar industry by 2022. Regardless of the 2020 pandemic, the progress of influencer marketing holds its grounds.
From A to Z, everyone is familiar with influencers these days. In order to catalyse the growth of their respective clients, performance marketing agencies favour influencer marketing for it acts like stepping on the gas on an empty road. There is no stopping. Like every industry, influencer marketing is riddled with aspects that one needs to thoroughly understand before being associated with it in any manner whatsoever. Therefore, in order to ease any doubts or queries that you have, we have compiled a list of the most important influencer marketing trends that are set to dominate 2020. Let’s delve in, shall we?
The ‘I’ Word
While the world recognizes them as influencers, and we, ourselves have used the word ‘influencer’ in this very blog one-time too many, it’s highly recommended that we understand that the social media tribe in question, recognizes themselves as ‘creators’. Branding the word ‘influencer’ as negative terminology, ‘creators’ have banished the term ‘influencer’ for good, owing to their dislike for the same. TikTok too calls its stars as ‘creators’, thereby strengthening the stance as a whole.
Competition’s Heating up
The days when competition used to brew are gone. At the moment, it’s heating up – and ‘creators’ are facing the heat. In the early days, creators used to monetize their influence via paid partnerships – however, with time, they are trying to discover ways to be paid directly for their work. Fans can send their favourite TikTok stars Virtual Gifts – that the latter can encash. Creators on both Instagram and YouTube, not only rely on sponsorship, but also use the respective platform to sell their own merchandise. Owing to the fact that more and more brands are relying on ‘creators’ to market their products, TikTok and Facebook have cashed in on the same, with the former paving way for ‘Creator Marketplace’ and the latter launching its Brand Collabs Manager.
Micro and Macro
Hierarchal levels are omnipresent in the influencer world; however, their presence reflects quite a different functioning altogether. Influencers can be classified as mega, micro, micro-micro, and nano, and while one may come to the conclusion that macro-influencers must be the choice of the masses, they would be surprised to know that it’s micro-influencers who tend to lead the race. Also, nano-influencers who bear less than 1000 followers dominate Mega-influencers who have more than 100,000 followers because of the former churn out a seven-times higher engagement rate than the latter. Cheap and rewarding sells like hot cake!
Content that’s garnished with an influencer’s presence tends to garner instant engagement. That’s the sole reason why brands and digital marketing agencies are nothing but gaga over individuals who have a fan following across innumerable social media platforms. The clock is ticking and it’s high time that marketing aficionados should stop considering influencer marketing but rather start implementing it, in order to embrace exceptional results.
