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What Is The Future of Influencer Marketing?

Influencer Marketing
What Is The Future of Influencer Marketing?

There is no doubt that influencer marketing is one of main strategies brands are using to engage their target markets today. Influencers are able to bring a touch of personalization and authenticity to endorsing products as they share parts of their lives online.

Content on social media garners millions of engagements every day. The power of influencer marketing for brands cannot be underestimated. In fact, influencer marketing’s market value is at a record USD 16.4 billion in 2022. This number is expected to rise in the next five years.

What Will the Future of Influencer Marketing Look Like?

Social media advertising is not about to show a downtrend given the continuous popularity of social media. The number of social media users is expected to rise to 6 billion by 2027. With these growing numbers, we can reasonably expect that influencer marketing is here to stay for the foreseeable future. With the network infrastructures improving in developing countries and the growing number of affordable mobile phones on the market, the number of social media users will continue to grow. 

Let’s take a look at what to expect in the coming years.

Influencer Marketing Trends For 2023 and Beyond

Taking into consideration current trends, a realistic picture of the future of influencer marketing can be painted. As mentioned, the end of influencers is an unlikely scenario, and the impact of influencer marketing on consumer behavior will continue to get stronger. Here’s how:

The Rise of Micro and Nano Influencers

Micro and nano influencers may not have as many followers (1k to 50k), but their small cliques tend to be more engaged. This segment is where you can find niche markets, and these influencers are perfect for marketing niche products and services. 

For a long time, brands focused solely on follower counts when looking for influencers to collaborate with, but that is changing. Research is showing that working with smaller niche influencers can be just as effective for ROI while saving brands money.

Tapping Employees as Influencers

Employees’ positive perception about their company or its products looks credible because they have inside information. They carry a sense of believability, making them good brand ambassadors or in-house influencers that their company can utilize. Employee-driven content will likely continue to rise in popularity, so it is a good idea for companies to think about how they can use employees as influencers.

Companies can run a program that incentivizes employees who are able to bring in sales from their referrals or network. This is a win-win approach. Employees can influence their social media connections to add to the word-of-mouth hype, especially during events like product launches.

Some companies are already doing this, (ex. Wendy’s and Macy’s), and we can expect more companies to do the same in the coming years.

More Audio and Video Content

Podcasts and videos are already popular mediums used in influencer marketing, and their popularity is only growing. With the improvement of network infrastructure in many regions, improved bandwidths and 5G technology will steer people more towards this kind of content.

Across industries and influencer tiers, expect more reels and podcasts to be created and published. This means more visual creativity and more engaging advertising.

New Technologies, New Content Types

As digital technology continues to grow, more social apps and features will be popping up. In order to keep up, brands need to keep in touch with current trends and think about how to utilize them.

Recent digital phenomena such as CGI influencers and AI-driven platforms will also continue to take up influencer marketing space and become more mainstream.

The Rise of Advocacy Marketing

There has been a push recently for influencers to become more engaged with advocacy. As the push for inclusion and diversity continues, influencer marketing will become more and more intertwined with advocacy work.

Brands can take advantage of this by partnering with influencers to speak about a cause the brand and influencer both believe in. This makes the brand seem more credible and makes the audience feel more connected to whatever product the brand is offering.

How to Keep Up With Influencer Marketing

While influencer marketing is constantly changing, it is not going anywhere anytime soon. Brands must learn to utilize an influencer marketing strategy in order to have the best advantage in today’s competitive marketplace. With constantly changing trends, platforms and algorithms, social media and influencer marketing can be difficult for brands to keep up with. This is where social media marketing tools can help.

Lionize’s software solution helps you find tons of unique influencers in your niche without hours spent on tiresome searches. It also helps you contact and maintain relationships with these influencers over time. If you are ready to take the next step in your influencer marketing strategy, Book a Discovery Call with Lionize today. We are happy to answer any questions you may have.