Does Influencer Marketing Brings More Quality Audience ?
Nothing ever is truer than that statement. This is the era where your social presence is your identity. And it is the same with businesses and brands. Routine old...
The past two years have changed the marketing landscape considerably.
Consumers spending more time online, Content Creation to highlight a brand became mainstream, and Brands searched for more cost-effective ways to reach their audience.
All these changes brought the spotlight to Influencer Marketing and made brands consider it in their strategies
It's an emerging form, and a lot of changes happen every day, every year.
In this blog, we share 7 Influencer Marketing Trends of 2023 to help you prepare for these shifts beforehand.
Influencers will be All About their Niche
“67% of influencers believe that their niche expertise is what sets them apart from other influencers.
”~Influencer.co
We can see a change in how influencers want to position their brand. They no longer want to be a Jack that knows everything about a category but a master of a highly-targeted niche.
Doing so enables them to stand out in their category and be sought-after by brands.
For example, you chose to be a "Food" Blogger.
It will be difficult for you to build your value proposition and push away the fierce competition.
However, when you drill it down to a "Vegan Food Blogger", it becomes easy for you to define your target audience and differentiate yourself.
Nano and Micro-Influencers will be in the Spotlight
“78% of marketers said that working with micro-influencers is an effective way to achieve their marketing goals.”
~ Hype Auditor
Brands that use influencer marketing have given up on the thought of "The bigger the audience, the better the influencer."
They have concluded that what matters is -
Their content quality, audience engagement, and affinity.
What does the influencer do to encourage their audience to stay and engage?
Hence, we will see more micro- and nano-influencers in a brand's influencer mix as they are deeply connected to their followers and niche.
Brands can use an influencer marketing platform to find all sorts of influencers to create the mix that brings them reach, recognition, and ROI.
Your Buyers will Become your Brand Ambassadors
“90% of consumers say that user-generated content influences their buying decisions.”
~ Social Media Today
Two changes in the consumer's behaviour today have made the content your buyers create the most authentic and influential form for your brand.
1) Everyone today loves sharing their experiences and thoughts with others through content.
People willingly help their favourite brands by spreading the good word about them and referring them.
2) People trust a word from people they know or people who had a positive experience with a brand or product more than branded content.
Hence, brands will work to delight their customers and win good word from them as part of their influencer marketing strategy.
It'll enable brands to reach, resonate with, and convert a varied audience.
Employee Engagement Programs will become a Must
“Employee-shared content receives 8x more engagement than content shared through brand channels.”
~ Bambu.
Employees are similar to your buyers in their willingness to contribute to a brand’s growth and goodwill.
Employees can delight your brand's target consumers in many possible ways.
They can show people the efforts behind every brand initiative (supply chain, communication) and share their stories and expertise.
Their efforts can enable your brand to connect emotionally with the buyers and build strong affinity and relationships.
For example, I work at Starbucks as a barista.
I post videos and share how we put extra care into our coffees, how we greet people and serve them, and the bonds we have built with our regulars.
You can imagine how my videos will help Starbucks build good brand perception and consideration.
Hence, employee engagement programs will continue to be a part of many brands' influencer marketing.
Live Shopping Feature will be a Top Choice
“79% of consumers say that live shopping makes them feel more connected to a brand.”
~ Bambuser
The Live Shopping feature will enable brands to enhance their experience, engage with their audience, and convert them.
Influencers, who think highly of this feature, can use it to convince the audience to try out a brand and purchase from them or share a brand's story.
A brand should focus on the live shopping feature in their influencer marketing strategy will draw more attention, engagement, and sales to them.
Long-Term Influencer Relationships will be the Ultimate Strategy
“Long-term influencer partnerships can result in 16% more engagement than short-term partnerships.”
~ Traackr
Brands work to build lasting customer relationships to enjoy increased lifetime value, loyalty, and referrals.
The same should be (and will be) the case with influencers.
Influencers and brands will both look out for valuable partnerships than a one-off campaign collaboration.
Influencers can help and work with brands in product packaging, communication, and more areas.
An Influencer Marketing Platform can enable brands to manage their influencer relationships in 50% less time.
Virtual Influencers will Be in the Influencer Mix
"47% of marketers plan to increase their use of virtual influencers in the next year."
They have a good reason for doing so.
There are three reasons brands should consider virtual influencers for their influencer marketing:
1) Gen Z and Millennials want to follow and hear from virtual influencers.
2) They can easily blend in with a brand's personality, style, and values.
3) They are 30% less expensive to work with than human influencers.
Hence, brands should consider bringing virtual influencers into their mix along with macro, micro, and nano-influencers.
Brands can either build one for them (such as Prada's Candy) or work with ones made by digital and PR agencies (such as Lil Miquela, managed by the PR firm Huxley).
—
There's no saying which direction influencer marketing might take turns in the coming years, but we know it'll be upward.
Hence, what your brand can do to move forward and grow with it is to learn about these emerging trends and figure out how they can help you.
Starbuzz is an Influencer Marketing Platform for Brands that helps them save 50% of their influencer marketing time and efforts - all for FREE!
