The advent of social media has blocked the reach of traditional media toward millennials. As of 2017, 84% of millennials showed no interest or trust toward traditional marketing and adverts. According to the Pew Research Center, different social media platforms currently have users belonging to varying demographics. Young adults or you can say the ones that belong to Generation Z, prefer Snapchat and Instagram over Facebook. Yet 68% of U.S adults actively use Facebook.
The aforementioned stats highlight that social media users do not only resort to social platforms for communicating with other users. Instead, the application of social media itself has encompassed online socializing, entertainment, marketing, and even the spectrum of sales.
Soon the concept of influencer marketing emerged. Social media to generate revenue? Many businesses thought it was unlikely but now they are becoming well aware of the importance of social media for marketing purposes.
The main question is for how long influencer marketing will prolong its purpose. The latest changes in social media and influencer marketing have helped clear many of the confusions brand owners had. For that reason, here are some growing marketing trends where online influencers are adamantly helping businesses gain visibility and credibility across social media.
Influencer networks are budding
Individually finding each influencer to collaborate only consumes the time of marketers. Influencers themselves are connected to different brands worldwide as well as with other similar influencers. They are aware of the brand niches affiliate with and what products/services to endorse. The only prerequisite for a brand to choose an influencer is for them to have a visible follower and social presence. Your chosen influencer should have previously marketed content relevant to your brand niche as well.
Suppose, you own a fitness supplement product and you want to market it to the appropriate audiences. You are short on budget or unsure about investing in a paid marketing campaign. The best way is to reach out to social influencers belonging to the fitness, sports or lifestyle niches and sponsor them for a collaboration. This approach will allow you to grow your influencer network and your campaign will gain visibility across individuals belonging to different demographics and possessing varying interests.
Upsurge in micro-influencers
Another great viewpoint on influencer marketing is earning brand loyalty through emerging influencers. Social media profiles having fewer followers as compared to the ones exceeding millions are easier to approach. So why waste time running after renowned social media profiles when you can choose one who is eager to maintain a loyal and stable relationship with your brand? The influencer will be responsible to drive befitting traffic toward their social profile and leading that traffic to your brand.
These individuals are known as micro-influencers. Some marketing campaigns with micro-influencers have generated exemplary results. So, brands should not hesitate from opting for this tactic since it would not have anything to lose monetarily. Marketing campaigns have become easier to execute since such influencers charge a fair amount for their sponsored content.
People have mixed reviews about whether influencer marketing is unethical or not. For the very same reason, the guidelines of social media platforms are frequently updated. Social platforms must update their guidelines and policies since people around the world, having different mindsets, are present online.
Not every individual would pay heed to follow the given guidelines. That is why the only solution is to make them stricter than they used to be. If any unfair practice is observed that results in a guideline violation then it is bad for the credibility of both the brand and the influencer.
If a certain influencer has been paid to post a paid review then platforms such as Instagram have made it mandatory for the influencer to mention in their posts if the review is sponsored or not. This helps in enforcing authenticity and allows influencers and brand owners to earn the trust of their potential followers.
Creative thinking is the key to success
While thinking out of the box might not be a literal marketing trend yet it allows marketers to continually come up with unique campaign ideas. The best part about influencer marketing is that brand owners do not have to be content creators themselves. The influencer they affiliate with is also responsible for brainstorming new ideas and suggesting some of the idea campaigns solely resulted from the joint efforts of social media influencers.
One example of an innovative influencer marketing campaign is the collaboration of Boxed Water with the National Forest Foundation. The business and product values of Boxed Water is to sell water. Yet they deemed collaborating with a forest foundation important for obvious reasons. The campaign advocated the importance of going green and saving forestry. Every Instagram post with the hashtag ‘Retree’, Boxed Water vouched to plant two trees.
This helped them gain their brand value and the customer loyalty they wanted since over 500k trees have been planted through a small initiative so far. If you believe a similar campaign would help your brand presence, then endlessly browse through existing campaigns until you get the right inspiration. Make sure your internet connection does not hinder our research endeavors. The internet offered in spectrum deals will help you eliminate the possibility of such hurdles for good.
Is that all about the future of influencer marketing?
It does not only have to be about influencer marketing. Trends and techniques in marketing emerge and fade out. In this era of constant digitalization, you have to be innovative in putting forward new marketing techniques. Some of the aforementioned trends might sound promising for now but possibly cannot bear favorable results always.
The future of influencer marketing is surely vast yet it will be a bumpy ride toward success. However, do not be disheartened. It is all about how you adapt to the ever-changing trends.
