Recent research has demonstrated the effectiveness of influencer marketing, with major brands such as Coca-Cola, Dior, and YSL incorporating this strategy into their overall marketing plans. And companies from everywhere in the world allocate separate parts from their marketing budgets specifically for influencer marketing initiatives, underscoring the importance of this trend in today's advertising landscape.
As more and more brands recognize the value of influencer marketing, it becomes more common and it takes a lower number of followers to be employed by brands.
This trend is not surprising, given the unique power that influencers possess. Their followers trust them and look up to their opinion, a fact that has been noted by the Digital Marketing Institute. Influencers essentially act as a product catalog, showcasing different items that may pique the interest of their audience. So, they are perceived as highly credible sources – it’s like you would ask your friends or family’s opinion. This makes their impact far more significant than that of a standard television commercial or traditional advertising. So, let’s see some of the trends that are growing in 2023.
Gen Z people are used to social media advertising. They basically grew up alongside it. So they are the ones that like to follow a trend and can spot a campaign ad from a distance. For that reason, being honest and showing that you are not perfect is slowly becoming the next trend among social media influencers. We expect genuine content to become the norm, with a clear purpose being communicated to followers.
Like for example the idea that by using someone’s “discount code” that person is offered the discounted sum from your product as a reward for convincing you to buy the product. Yes - That's called affiliate marketing and some people don’t know that influencers are doing exactly that because no one tells them that
And as this trend grows, influencers also need to be honest when it comes to paid partnerships. We know that their communities are powerful, so, not being totally honest can cause disruption. However, sec guidance requires the #ad or #sponsored tags to make it clearer moving forward.
Influencer marketing campaigns are becoming more inclusive due to the changes in consumers' preferences - racism, sexism, or any other reason people don’t see each other as equal will not get tolerated on social media.
Big brands are talking about body positivity, the empowerment of women around the world, prioritizing accessibility for all of us, and celebrating pride. Inclusivity is the new must-have for all your influencer marketing campaigns.
And, the focus will be on niches!
There is a market for everything, and finding the right one for you can be exactly what you need to make more relevant content. However, this works both ways. Influencers need to find their path so that the right audience will join.
Think about a beauty influencer that would make a campaign promoting the best TVs that were released this year, or about a tech guy that would talk about the best SPF cream on the market. This will only confuse the audience and the marketing campaign won’t be a success since it addresses the wrong audience.
Finding your niche might also be helpful when it comes to affiliate marketing. And this trend will also grow even more in 2023. Initially, affiliate marketing was the domain of bloggers, writers, and publishers. But, as the influencer marketing industry is getting bigger and stronger we see more products that are promoted by influencers. And, usually, they promote products that they use or trust, so that they don’t lose their audience. I mean, would you trust them again if they promoted products that were simply not worthy? And, they are aware of that too. So, they will try and promote only worthy products.
Brands will put more thought into influencer marketing and finding the best ones to represent their brand. Brand Ambassador and influencer content will be seen and used more often in the marketing campaign and on a brand's social media. And we expect the trend of micro-influencers to become mainstream in 2023. There is no reason for brands to keep on looking for the highest number of followers when bigger engagement rates are happening with Micro-influencers.
Their engagement rates are reliable, and it seems that their conversation rates are better than influencers with millions of followers. This makes sense, since micro audiences are more niche, being genuinely interested in what the respective influencer has to say.
And one thing is for certain - influencer marketing on social media is a trend in itself. The next period will see a further evolution of the strategies and partnerships that take place in the industry of social media marketing. And the power of influencer marketing might just become one of the most useful and rewarding initiatives deployed by brands worldwide - both for the brand as well as for the influencer and its followers.
