“People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic.”
That’s one of the famous quotes by Seth Godin which reveals about the new marketing age. When a consumer buys the products or services it helps a brand to grow relation with the customer, why they bought it gives an impression on stories & buying that particular product gives an overview of the magic happening at the time of the buying process.
2019 saw huge developments for the influencer marketing industry; from TikTok becoming the most popular platform of the year to Instagram removing likes, and with the rise of virtual influencers the digital transformation has accelerated to a whole new level. The magic of the marketing is going backwards. The modes & mediums are changing day by day to propagate the message by the brands.
The disastrous change in the field of Influencer Marketing has totally changed the perspective of traditional marketing. People who have built a large and engaged following on digital marketing channels are known as ‘influencers’, due to the fact that their followers idolise them and respect their opinions. They may have acquired a loyal following due to their lifestyle, their job or hobby, the clothes they wear or the stories they tell.
In the early days, it might have been enough for a brand to send an influencer one of their products as a gift, in return for them posting about it on their profile. But this changed with the rapid growth of the space, as influencers realised they could not only gain free products, but actually charge brands for grid real estate on their profile. The pool of influencers is vast and diverse, meaning almost any brand has the potential to utilise influencer marketing strategies for their industry and target potential customers because the online marketing has gone to even the distant places.
Influencer marketing allows brands to reach their target audience in a way that feels far more genuine than traditional advertising or other digital marketing strategy. For example, if you follow a travel blogger for their beautiful photos or funny captions, and they post about an airplane pillow that gave them the best night’s sleep on a long haul flight, you’re more inclined to remember the brand and buy it for your next holiday because you like and trust them. Makes sense, right?
In 2020, consumers will become much more conscious of a brand’s marketing plans. With thanks to the advancements, influencer marketing will benefit from increased insight into consumer behaviour and success rates. This will enable brands and creators alike to better understand their target audience, in order to generate super effective content.
How will this change in 2021 is a big question right now. As the market is growing at a fast paced marketing automation here is how the influencer marketing will change in the coming years.
Micro Influencers will grow at a fast pace in the upcoming years. For targeting the specific markets with high engagement rates in any social media platform, micro influencers are the most effective influencers to work. This means that when it comes to sparking genuine interest and intent to purchase, micro creators are the perfect option; being smaller means that people trust their opinion and see them as a more relatable figure. People will trust their opinion because of the genuinity amongst them all.
Meanwhile, macro creators are able to give brands coverage that micro creators cannot rival, ultimately creating huge conversations. Micro creators are great for targeting specific markets with highly engaged audiences. Meanwhile, macro creators are able to give brands coverage that micro creators cannot rival, ultimately creating huge conversations.
No Likes. Yes, New Metrics. Instagram hiding likes in an attempt to depressurize the platform for finding influencers while indicating that metrics will be important now more than ever. Social media marketers will definitely have to identify major key indicators that will help boost ROI in influencer marketing strategies.
Consumers still prefer to read all about their problems and goals online before making purchases. Content marketing of the future is going to marry influencer marketing a great deal. The futuristic style of influencer marketing appeals to all demographics from teenage kids to tech-savvy who have an unquenching thirst for virtual reality & automation. There are many platforms all around the arena of digital media. With so many platforms comes alot many influencers. This can then be divided into many such segments to push the advertising messages into the minds of people.
Video marketing has established itself as the premier form of content marketing in recent years. Almost 72% of people prefer to know about a service or product through video content instead of text content. In fact, podcasts have emerged as a fresher format of video content and are finally reaching the dizzying heights & even assisting brands to rank up on search engines that many predict will only soar in 2020.
Employees as Influencers
This can be a game changer for many organizations. When their team members or the colleagues are going to be in the field of podcasts, they can change the face of the organization in a different field. With the specializations of the different departments employees can come to be the next Gary Vee in the marketing industry. Many media websites like Verge, CNet, Fast Company, are already adopting this method to earn the customers and grab their time for an eye catching session with them. Encourage your own employees to become social media influencers, with this process they will help in growing the firm as well as themselves. No list of top 2020 trends for B2B influencer marketing is complete without the mention of this potent strategy. Using your own employees as your brand’s influencer.
With this technique your company or brand can forge bonds with employees that increase brand awareness among the people. The employees will have an ease in transition from integral to internal operations, including design, marketing, strategy, and content.
If your brand has only made modest use of influencer marketing this past year, it’s time for you to seriously consider upgrading your approach. Marketers that commit fully to campaigns featuring influencers enjoy higher sales and invaluable product feedback for the next iteration.