Team AdfluenceGone are the days when influencer marketing was considered an unconventional tool of marketing. In 2018, many brands worked with influencers, big and small, to reach out to more people and increase their brand value.
Today, most brands consider influencer marketing an extension of marketing. And what you see as a result is an increasing number of social media posts and even campaigns featuring influencers. This once lesser-known marketing is going mainstream, and how!
With 2019 here, there will be bigger waves of change in the marketing landscape. So, brands should be aware of these influencer marketing trends that will be popular this year.
1. Videos & Their increasing importance
Have you scrolled through your social media feed and come across video upon video of makeup tutorials and home décor DIYs? This is a telling sign of the increasing popularity of videos among influencers and their enthusiasm is spilling onto social media.
For a long time, YouTube has been the go-to place for videos of all kinds, making it the perfect platform for influencers who wanted to do something other than static posts or articles. But today, almost every social media platform – Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter – has a video feature. Consequently, YouTube is no longer an exclusive space for videos and influencers have a much larger playing field at their disposal. You can be sure that more and more influencers will turn to social media platforms to post videos for higher reach and better engagement.
2. IGTV and Its Rising Popularity
Back in the day, Instagram only allowed short videos to be posted – nothing longer than a minute. But realizing the soaring popularity of videos, Instagram launched an exclusive video feature in June 2018 – IGTV.
Launched to compete against YouTube, this feature allowed people to post one-hour long videos. Predictably, it was a hit! Bloggers immediately hopped onto IGTV to post video tutorials and DIYs, and it’s only a matter of time before influencer marketing also hops onto the bandwagon. Perhaps, the only hindrance (if at all you think of it as one) is the requirement that only vertical videos be posted to IGTV. However, it is unlikely that this requirement will do any real damage considering that vertical videos are, in fact, a trend this year.
3. Long-term Relationships with the Influencers
In the early years of influencer marketing, brands would only collaborate with influencers for a single project, and then, they’d part ways. This form of relationship cost brands some of their best influencers. Now, the trend of short-term, one-time collaboration is changing. Brands are now more interested in cultivating long-term relationships with their influencers.
Why, you may wonder. Isn’t it better to have fresh talent that helps brands tap into a fresh base of customers? Brands have realised that working with the same influencer gives not only a sense of continuity but also builds more trust among consumers. The longer they work with the same influencer, the more genuine the relationship seems, showing that an influencer is genuinely interested in the brand and the products and services they’re offering.
But since the brands are switching to long term association, they also vet influencers more thoroughly. Not only do they ensure that the audience resonates with the brand, they also measure the influencer’s performance closely and keep adding the good ones to their pool for long term association.
4. Brands Look Beyond Followers
What the past year has taught brands and influencers alike is that having a huge number of followers doesn’t necessarily translate into a successful campaign. Brands now know better than to collaborate with an influencer solely on the basis of followers, because doing so would bring in less than remarkable results.
To give you an example, if you are a cosmetic brand, you would want to work with an influencer who’s operating within the beauty niche. But, looking beyond the followers and choosing someone who has real engagement on their website or social media accounts guarantees better results for brand, in addition to better ROI. Also, watch out for influencers who have worked with many random brands. The audience is smart and won’t easily trust someone who regularly keeps jumping ships. Brands should align themselves with influencers who share the same values. This ensures that the followers of the influencer will be more likely to trust them when they see how both the brand and the influencer share similar, if not same, core values.
5. #Sponsored hashtags are no more a turn-off
Once upon a time, consumers would scroll past any post that looked even remotely like an advertisement. Naturally, most influencers didn’t want to reveal their posts being ads or sponsored for the fear of losing the audience’s interest. But influencer marketing has slowly changed the feeling of disdain for sponsored content.
In the past year, brands have seen that using small influencers has worked well in their favour as the consumer no longer finds sponsored content a turnoff. Influencers now openly use hashtags such as #ad and #sponsored in their posts to reveal their collaboration with brands. Because of the trust the followers have in their influencer, they are more open to the ad and are more likely to try the products and services.
6. Influencers Operating on a Business Basis Will be a Norm
With the rise of influencer marketing, influencers have gained popularity and success. Understanding their success and the potential it holds for them, established influencers now build their personal brand and run their online activity like any regular business – equipped with a professional team and business accounts and the lot. So, brands should expect professional meetings and contracts in the coming. With influencers now running like any regular business, brands will have to start treating them as they would with any other business – complete with formal meetings and written and signed contracts. After all, it’s a serious business, and nobody is playing around.
With influencer marketing evolving and taking a new course in the year 2019, there’s a whole lot of possibilities to be explored. You should adapt to the changing times and evolving trends to keep your influencer aboard and your consumers happy. Remember, if your influencer suggests you try something new, don’t reject it outright. Weigh the pros and cons, take a few risks and who knows, it could become a new trend and you could end up breaking the Internet!
