Influencer marketing trends in 2019

Tue 1 Dec 2020

Influencer marketing has been expanding at a rapid rate over the past few years. With ad spend poised to reach between $5 billion and $10 billion in 2022, businesses are increasingly catching on to the benefits of using influencers in their campaigns. Here are some predictions for this year’s influencer marketing trends.

Micro-influencers will play a major role

The key to successful marketing is authenticity – consumers will accept product recommendations from people they trust. Celebrities and bigger social media influencers can seem unapproachable and are less likely to engage with their followers, but micro-influencers – those with 1,000 – 10,000 followers – are usually very knowledgeable about their area of expertise, offer a high level of engagement with their community, and are more affordable for companies to use as brand ambassadors.

Instagram will continue to dominate influencer marketing

In contrast to the many issues faced by parent company Facebook in 2018, Instagram is thriving. It has a billion monthly active users and offers consistent innovations such as IGTV, Instagram Stories, and Instagram Live that continue to boost its popularity. As a social media platform Instagram is ideal for influencer marketing – statuses are predominantly visual, which is perfect for showcasing products; the majority of users are from younger generations who often buy products through the app; hashtags help to generate huge reach for influencer posts; and users follow and engage with brands to a far greater extent than on other social media platforms.

Transparent advertising will play a key role

After years of trying to disguise sponsored posts and warnings from regulatory bodies such as the Federal Trade Commission, brand managers have been surprised to discover that transparent advertising does not negatively impact influencer marketing. Consumers are more willing to trust sponsored posts from influencers who they deem to be authentic, knowledgeable, and reliable than they are traditional advertisements. However, influencer campaigns that come off as fake or half-hearted fall flat and generate a social media backlash.

Video content will grow in importance

With slow connections and low bandwidth increasingly becoming a thing of the past, video is dominating the Internet. Cisco predicts that 82% of all Internet traffic will be video content by 2022 – up from 75% in 2017. With advertisers receiving an average of $5.20 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing and consumers retaining 95% of a video message compared with just 10% of a message that is read, the combination of video content and influencer marketing is a powerful media strategy.

If you’re considering a career in advertising or marketing, an MA in Advertising Strategy and Planning from Falmouth Flexible can provide you with key insights into the creative and strategic processes of successful brands and the skills you need to work for them. 

 

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