The advancement of technology along with the shift from a single screen to multiple screens has transformed the way how people consume content. This shift to new platforms has embraced creators as trusted voices in their lives which contributes to the importance of influencer marketing.
The worth of influence marketing is more than $10 billion today and is expected to grow continuously in the upcoming years globally. Almost every brand is investing 20% of their marketing budget in influencer marketing as it was found to be a highly productive investment.
To have a sense of transparency, influencers use the hashtag ‘#ad’ on their posts while posting on social media platforms. This approach helps brands to understand how they can profit themselves with influencer marketing and consider it in the future as part of their media mix. Some of the key shifts that have occurred to evolve influencer marketing are:
High ROIs
Every company tries to reduce their expense of money, and because of this the sometimes the marketing initiatives get scrutinized.
All the brands have started to invest some percentage of their marketing funds in influencer marketing campaigns. And in return, they expect a high return on investment. Sometimes if their metric expectations aren’t met, they may often end the collaborations with influencers.
It is advised to the brands therefore to collaborate with those content creators where you don’t have to invest in much but they help you generate high returns. Depending on the reach the content creator has, you can ask them to post about your brand.
To obtain high ROI, trade is a good opportunity as it allows the influencer also to understand the product well and then share their experience with others.
Small but powerful
The influencers who have followers of less than 10,000 are known as nano-influencers or micro-influencers.
These types of influencers have been found to have more umber of engagement rates and a high amount of propensity to work for trade. And because of this many brands have increased their interest in them.
As the nano and micro-influencers are much more motivated, they are more trustworthy in terms of engagement (an engagement includes reactions to the post, number of comments, and shares on the post).
These types of influencers are not only a cost-effective option but also create authentic content.
Steady partnerships
Nowadays both the influencer as well as the brand are looking for partnerships that are mutually beneficial for the sides and can have a long-term option to join in as an ambassador to the brand.
Companies usually look for long-term relationships with the influencer as they result in being more effective and help the content creators to achieve stability, creating a win-win situation for both sides.
It not only helps the brand to market their products but also helps the creator to build their audience more and establish trust with them. Also, these partnerships provide a steady source of income to the influencers.
Audio and Video content
There used to be a time when people only used to create and interact with image-type content. But today there has been a major shift towards video and audio content.
Instead of only sponsored image content, influencers are focusing on video content like reels and IGTV, and audio content like podcasts to market the products of a brand.
And the major reason behind this is that the audience engagement has now increased more towards the audio and video content than the text and image content. In a survey, it was found that 67% of the people prefer video content more than text content. Similarly, podcasts have also started to gain popularity today among the Gen-Zs.
Social media has no signs of slowing down in the future and has the capability to influence each and everything that you could see, meet, or do next.
With this robust growth of social media, the influencer marketing industry will too continue to expand. And with this more opportunities for brands as well as influencers will be open to working mutually on beneficial partnerships.
If you are a brand and planning for influencer marketing for the first time, then some key points to keep in mind to pull off an effective influencer marketing campaign you can work on are
Relevance: select a relevant influencer for your brand to share the content. Make sure the type of audience that influencer has resembles your target business or industry audience.
Reach: it means the number of people you can reach with the help of the influencer’s follower base. It is an important point to consider as the reach of influencers will directly depend on the number of people who will see your brand.
Resonance: it is the potential level of engagement that could be created by the influencer relevant to your brand.
