The Realms of Influencers in Marketing - 2023 edition

Newspapers, print magazines, journals, blogspot; there have been various mediums available in the content industry. In 2004 came Facebook and then, the rest was history.?

What started off as a communication platform, soon turned into a revolution of self-expression with more apps entering into the market every year. And soon these platforms gained popularity as a focal point of sharing details about one’s life and beyond. Content writers soon became digital creators for the obvious reason that their entire audience was available online and at a click of a button.?

Out of the total world population, 59% are active users on social media with an yearly growth of 10.2%. According to smart insights, the average daily time spent per user on social media is 2 hours and 32 minutes. The demand and supply equation between content and audiences is extremely disturbed. There is probably more content generated than the relative audience to consume that content. And these creators have better fan following than the likes of celebrities and famous personalities and better relative connection making them Influencers.?

In recent years, influencer marketing has become a crucial component of many brands' marketing strategies. One key element of this strategy is the use of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), who are social media influencers with a large following and the ability to impact their followers' purchasing decisions.

Here’re a few points to focus on when including KOLs and how to make your influencer marketing campaign more effective and edgy.?

1. Vernacular Content: Influencers gain popularity because they create better and long lasting connections with their audiences. This opens up a whole realm of vernacular content and choosing influencers that create content in their regional languages. A piece of content that is created in a language that is easily understood by audiences and is culturally relevant, attracts better engagement and has more chances of going viral than global content. Additionally, diversity and inclusion have become important issues for brands across all industries, and influencer marketing is no exception. Consumers want to see brands that are committed to diversity and inclusion, and they expect the influencers they follow to reflect these values.

2. Multi-platform Creators: Today’s audience attention span is continuously decreasing and they have multiple options to switch from one social platform to another within a fraction of second. Digital influencers gain a fan-following that is not dependent on the platform. They would follow their favourite influencers on every platform irrespective of the number of followers. Today’s audience want to connect with their favourite influencers and know about their daily lives which in-turn increases their level of influence. This opens up a vast opportunity to create ‘brand heroes’ or ambassadors that would promote the product/s on every platform.?

3. Affiliate Marketing: Promoting your brand using influencers to create brand awareness and for brand-positioning will continue to stay. However, influencers generated leads are gaining more popularity each year. There is a specific ROI attached to your campaigns that is measurable and can enhance brand growth. Along with that affiliate marketing can also generate data and insights which can further help brands in future campaigns.?

4. Micro and Nano Influencers: Influencers with massive fan following are a sure shot way to get maximum results in a campaign. However, the insights on any influencer-marketing campaign is defined more by the amount of engagement the campaign gets. Most social media marketing experts agree that a good engagement rate is between 1% to 5%. The more followers you have, the harder it is to achieve. For the same reason, influencers falling in the micro and nano categories will continue getting more popularity. Micro-influencers also tend to have a more specific audience, which can help brands reach a more targeted market. They are also more likely to have a deeper connection with their followers, which can result in more authentic brand endorsements.

5. Long-term Partnerships: Identifying the influencers that resonate with your brand’s value is important. Subsequently, those values resonate with the audiences as well making the brand move up on the marketing funnel from awareness to consideration. Creating long-term partnerships with the influencers that include regular content is the trending strategy which results in increased brand visibility.?

6. Niche Influencers: Niche influencers have adopted a thought-leadership methodology in creating content for a specific area of interest. This gives them an edge for a much segregated target audience which gives better results for any campaign. According to a survey by Influence.co, niche influencers with less than 50,000 followers have an average engagement rate of 8.8%, which is significantly higher than influencers with larger followings. Additionally, a survey by Rakuten Marketing found that 61% of consumers trust the opinion of niche influencers over celebrity influencers.

7. Employee Influencers: As per recent employer branding trends, employers tend to hire candidates who have the ability to grow as a KOL or can adapt to thought-leadership. A study by Hinge Marketing found that companies with a formal employee advocacy program generate 5x more web traffic and 25% more leads than companies without one. Year 2023 will see more Employee Influencers which would eventually lead to increased resonated brand values and connect with audiences.?

8. Virtual Influencers:? The digital world is ever changing and with its latest addition of metaverse, it’s going through a revolution. From products to currency, where everything is taking a virtual turn, the use of virtual influencers is slowly taking a pace. Currently with a lower engagement and connect rate, virtual influencers are still effective because they offer a unique and innovative way for brands to engage with their audience. Virtual influencers can be designed to fit a brand's specific aesthetic and values, and they can be used to promote products or services in a way that is engaging and visually appealing. For example, Lil Miquela, a popular virtual influencer, has worked with brands such as Calvin Klein, Prada, and Samsung.

In conclusion, optimising KOL and influencer marketing strategies is critical for brands to remain competitive in 2023. Micro-influencers, Niche influencers, authenticity, engagement rate and diversity and inclusion are a few emerging trends to deliver successful influencer marketing campaigns. Understanding these trends and incorporating them into a cohesive influencer marketing strategy can result in greater engagement rates and brand awareness, ultimately driving sales and growth for businesses.