Influencer Marketing – 2021
Trends in Influencer Marketing for 2021
Don’t let this opportunity pass. Utilize influencers to push your brand, your product, your service. Even if it costs you something, it can be worth it. We have compiled these articles to assist you in your research on the powers of influencer marketing.
[1]If you want to know what influencer marketing trends 2021 will bring your way, you’ve come to the right place. Influencer marketing is already big, and it’s only going to get bigger. Every year brings about new social media platforms, new types of content, and new ways brands can engage with their potential customers. The best influencers stay on top of the trends to offer brands what they need to shine. With the social media landscape changing so quickly, it’s important that influencers quickly leverage the hottest influencer marketing trends to develop their authority and expertise, making themselves more attractive to brands. For their part, brands will want to jump on these influencer marketing trends to expand their audience, generate new leads, and earn more revenue.
After a year like 2020, in which brands found themselves scrambling to update their marketing and advertising campaigns to resonate with an audience that was suddenly stuck at home, 2021 offers tons of promise. Not only have businesses learned that they could operate virtually, but more and more consumers have turned to the internet to meet their eCommerce needs. And, since several traditional marketing methods were incompatible with the effects of a global pandemic, brands sought content creators and influencers who are adept at creating reactive content. So, while the IPA reported a 20% decline across advertising, influencers enjoyed a 46% increase. That’s huge. And it’s why influencers have seen the spotlight on them grow brighter.
So, let’s dive into the 2021 influencer marketing trends you can trust to keep business booming throughout the year.
Micro and Nano Influencers Will Get More Love
There are different influencers, from nano influencers with just a few thousand followers to celebrity influencers with millions. According to a 2019 report from Later and Fohr, micro-influencers, particularly those with fewer than 25,000 followers, have the highest engagement rates at around 7%. Considering that engagement rates on Instagram have been declining, influencers with an engaged following are getting a closer look from businesses, even with fewer followers. By focusing on nano and micro-influencers, brands will be able to stretch their influencer marketing budgets while still working with deeply connected influencers to their audiences. In addition, influencers will benefit from partnerships with an increasing number of brands.
[2]What Is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a way brands can promote their products through endorsements or recommendations from influencers and content creators on the internet. Social media and blogs are home to most influencers, although other creators like podcast hosts can also fit the bill. Influencer marketing is a part of brand awareness campaigns, but it can also result in plenty of conversions and sales.
While influencer marketing began back in 2006, it has changed a lot over the past 15 years. Facebook and Twitter were just getting started, but Instagram wouldn’t join the social media landscape until 2010. When influencers began, they were primarily bloggers who shared stories about their lives and promoted products they used each day.
It’s a paradox, but while influencer marketing hasn’t changed that much, it’s vastly different in several ways. First, influencers are still sharing stories about their lives and promoting products they use each day. Now, though, many people are career influencers earning a living through brand sponsorships. When it began, any money a blogger made through a partnership was nice side cash, but certainly not enough to be considered full-time income.
Influencers today also have so many more options than the original influencers did. There are countless social media platforms to choose from, and there are so many kinds of content they can create. For those who like video platforms, YouTube or TikTok are excellent options. Those who want to share long-form written posts can benefit from traditional blogging or even Facebook. Finally, influencers who want a little of everything can turn to Instagram. While Clubhouse is still a new platform, it probably won’t be long until influencers find a way to turn that into a spot for their promotions, too.
Influencer Marketing By The Numbers
Influencer marketing is a trendy marketing tool right now, and for a good reason:
Nine out of 10 brands are using some form of influencer marketing.
Unless you want your company to be left behind, it’s time to start exploring your options for influencer marketing. No matter what industry you’re in, there’s sure to be at least one influencer who fits your needs. And don’t be worried if you can only find smaller influencers in your niche because:
Influencers with 1,000-5,000 followers can have higher engagement rates.
It might sound impressive to want to work with someone who has hundreds of thousands of followers but don’t get caught up in the excitement around numbers that don’t really matter. Instead, look for influencers who have active, engaged followings. Influencers with bigger followings tend to have an engagement rate of around 3.6%. Those with 1,000-5,000 followers have an 8.8% engagement rate. That 5% difference means that people are more likely to take any action related to the post about your product. Working with smaller influencers can make you confident that your target audience will actually engage with your sponsored posts.
Generate an equivalent earned media value of $18 per $1 spent.
If you’re looking to grow your brand awareness, increase sales, or really get your brand’s name out into the world in any way possible, you need to be taking advantage of influencer marketing. You don’t see a media value like this with other marketing tactics. The most important thing, though, is to approach influencer marketing strategically, so you do it correctly. Generating this kind of earned media equivalence only happens if you’re working with the right influencers in the right niche.
Influencer Marketing Trends for 2021
1. Micro and Nano Influencers
Many brands choose to look for micro or nano influencers with who they can collaborate. These influencers have thousands or even hundreds of thousands of followers but have not reached one million. Despite this, these types of profiles often have a higher engagement rate than those exceeding one million followers. This ends up being much more beneficial for a company because a higher level of engagement means a more effective collaboration.
2. Long-Term Collaborations
If the first campaign is a success, brands usually prefer a long-term collaboration to a one-off. With this type of deal, influencers and brands can build a strong partnership as the influencer gains a better understanding of what the brand is offering and how best to present it, and the brand sees that it can trust the influencer to create quality content for them.
3. Video Content Will Continue to Grow
TikTok burst onto the scene in 2020 with 700 million monthly active users, and it is expected to continue growing (along with video content in general) in 2021. This means that influencers who publish great videos will be sought after, in addition to those who have cultivated their own niche. In other words, if you want to advertise a sports product, you will look for an influencer specialized in sports and fitness to reach your audience. However, if this person can produce good videos, they will be a more useful collaborator than an influencer who only posts photos and texts.
4. Performance-Based Offers
Performance-based offers will likely appear later this year. In other words, companies could require a minimum number of clicks, sales or other results for the influencer to receive compensation.
5. Authenticity
Although new types of content will be sought, authenticity is still essential. This means creating content that is not only engaging but also credible and sincere. Of course, an influencer will need to talk about the advantages of using a certain product or service but, at the same time, it’s ok for them to occasionally comment on things they didn’t like about it so that the public sees this as something real and not purely as an advertisement. Of course, it should always be specified that despite possible disadvantages, the product is still great.
6. Employee Advocacy
Another trend in 2021 is having employees create content for social networks. In this case, the brand or company could use part of its team for advertising its products or services. The effectiveness of this strategy remains to be seen since not all workers will have a high enough number of followers for their material to translate into benefits for the company. However, it’s worth seeing how some popular brands are doing this and keeping an eye on the results.
In conclusion, influencer partnerships are a growing marketing trend. Even some small and medium-sized companies have made profits after collaborating with an influencer. Moreover, as we have already mentioned, it is a quick, simple, and above all, very economical strategy since many influencers receive payment in the form of products or discounts.
Conclusion:
Either find an influencer or become one. Influencer marketing is a powerful tool. Get using it today!
Article compiled by hughesagency.ca
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