Influencer marketing was one of the hottest marketing buzzwords of last year – it sets trends, grows in strength and dynamically changes the advertising market landscape. Google Trends results, numerous studies and sales results themselves indicate that the “fashion” for influencer marketing will not pass, and the market value itself will definitely increase.
Influencer marketing has been an effective marketing strategy for years and shows no signs of slowing down. – says Magdalena Skibińska, Director of Efekt Digital, an agency specializing in communication and cooperation with influencers. In 2020, 46% of marketers maintained or increased their investments in influencer marketing. Global brands plan to invest even more in the coming year.
The latest report from Influencer Marketing Hub states that spending on influencer marketing increased by 46% in 2020, and as many as 63% of marketers want to increase their budget for advertising activities with influencers! The development of social platforms is dynamic, and trends change just as dynamically. What changes can we expect? What challenges await influencers in 2021?
Efekt Digital experts, based on the report, have prepared the 5 most important Influencer Marketing trends for 2021.
1. The growing role of nano-influencers and micro-influencers
1. The growing role of nano-influencers and micro-influencers
Instagram stars have grown into celebrities followed by millions of users. It is therefore no surprise that the profiles of leading influencers have become advertising carriers for well-known brands. However, the trend is reversing, and campaigns increasingly involve people running accounts with a much smaller reach. Nano-influencers and micro-influencers, as they are called, have communities of around 25,000 followers [according to later.com], and what sets them apart is significant community engagement.
Large brands are also paying attention to micro-influencers, as inviting them to cooperate gives them the opportunity to reach a specific target group with their message. Often, the activity of micro-influencers is not limited only to running social media accounts. They combine expert knowledge gained in a given field with promoting their services on social media.
“This is a trend that is particularly visible and will certainly gain in importance in 2021. Brands want to cooperate with creators who provide authentic content backed by authority in a given field. In 2020, for example, we carried out a campaign for which we invited girls who practice yoga. We are also looking for ambassadors, people who are sincerely devoted to the brand – they have been testing/using a given manufacturer's products for many years” – says Magdalena Skibińska from the agency Efekt Digital
Authenticity, knowledge, and an engaged audience = a recipe for success in 2021!
2. Long-term cooperation instead of one-off posts
2. Long-term cooperation instead of one-off posts
Brands' social media content increasingly focuses on authenticity and building long-term relationships with consumers. Such activities are dictated primarily by one factor – sales take time.
In 2021, we can therefore expect long-term cooperation based on providing users with carefully prepared and valuable content. At the same time, the role of brand ambassadors will increase.
3. A new type of content. Video will gain in importance
3. A new type of content. Video will gain in importance
The year 2020 brought several important lessons. One of them is – there is always room for new social platforms. However, TikTok owes its exceptional popularity not only to the coronavirus pandemic. From the beginning, the platform focused on promoting video content that engages the community. New formats, activities such as #HashtagChallenge, and finally celebrity accounts created on the platform have meant that the number of new users on TikTok is growing geometrically! TikTok has also shown other market players how important it is to give users the ability to create unique content or play with form.
mediarun.com/pl/digital/social-media/2020-pod-znakiem-tik…
For several years now, video content creation has been at the top of the list of marketing trends for the coming year, and in this list we cannot omit the importance of this format. Social media users love video! Video is shared more readily, captures attention, and this is evidenced, among other things, by the increase in the number of users watching video on social media. On Facebook alone, the number of users watching live video streams increased by 50% at the beginning of 2020! Video is currently not a format that can make you stand out – you simply have to create video content regularly!
The 5 most important influencer marketing trends for 2021
4. The growing importance of ‘social commerce’
4. The growing importance of ‘social commerce’
Brands are constantly looking for creative ways to reach potential buyers with their products. Moving part of sales to e-commerce or using new technologies has also influenced the search for new forms of promotion.
Social media have taken to heart the lessons of the global pandemic, making it easier for brands to create and strengthen content and for users to make purchases. In the coming years, we will observe the growing importance of shopping platforms in social media (e.g. Facebook Marketplace), as well as the inclusion of influencers in regular sales campaigns, also in the role of brand ambassadors.
5. Planning and settling campaigns
5. Planning and settling campaigns
The trend indicating that both brands and influencers will focus on long-term cooperation will bring another one – the role of influencer marketing based on results and the selection of people to cooperate with based on analyses of the EMV indicator will increase. The slow move away from purely image-building campaigns toward a specific sales result or number of clicks will pay off especially for marketers. Influencers, on the other hand, will face a different task – delivering campaign results and analyzing their outcomes.
In addition, paid ads, so far not used in combination with influencer-type marketing campaigns, may gain in importance. Directing paid messaging is attractive both for brands and for influencers themselves. Using precise algorithms, brands will be able to direct content created by cooperating creators to new target groups.
The year 2020 brought many changes in the perception of marketing communication, required unconventional thinking and the creation of new solutions. Did we predict the trends accurately? Which of them will become the most important? 2021 will certainly answer the questions posed and provide new solutions!
More information about selecting influencers and the EMV indicator can be found in our previous article, in which we analyze the TOP 10 Polish influencers and the maximum rates that result from this indicator.
mediarun.com/pl/digital/social-media/instagram-ile-zarabi…
Recommendations for Marketing, Communication and Public Relations Directors
- Update your Influencer Marketing communication strategy more often than once a year; the optimal solution is to update it at least every 6 months.
- Prepare an analysis of the influencers best matched to the profile of your current and future audience based on basic indicators such as age, gender, and interests.
- Create a database of the TOP 10 or TOP 20 – Mega Influencers, Medium Influencers, Micro Influencers and Nano Influencers based on the best possible fit and the EMV indicator.
- Commission a trial cooperation with several or all 4 selected groups of Mega, Medium, Micro or Nano influencers. The recommended minimum cooperation period in which you can see whether a given creator meets your assumptions and KPIs is at least 3 months.
- Choose 2-3 influencers with the highest EMV indicators from the selected 4 groups and offer them the role of ambassadors or permanent long-term cooperation, e.g. a 12-month collaboration.
- Collect data and perform analyses, and optimize campaigns cyclically; the recommended period is 3 months.
- Reserve 10% of your budget for new solutions and formats in order to check their effectiveness and build competitive advantage based on initiating new solutions using the “Learning by doing” strategy.
The article was created in cooperation with the agency Efekt Digital, specializing in preparing Influencer Marketing campaigns based on selecting people for cooperation through profile analysis and their EMV coefficient.
Summary
In 2021, influencer marketing is entering a new phase – brands are focusing on authenticity, long-term relationships and measurable results. Efekt Digital experts distinguish 5 key trends: the growing role of nano- and micro-influencers, cooperation based on constant presence instead of one-off posts, the dominance of video (driven among others by TikTok), the development of social commerce, and the growing importance of planning and settling campaigns based on the EMV indicator.
Interestingly, as many as 63% of marketers declare they will increase budgets for activities with influencers, and the 46% growth in spending in 2020 shows that this is not a passing fad, but a lasting direction in the development of marketing communication.
