While influencer marketing is still in its infancy, few channels have experienced such meteoric growth. In 2016, influencer marketing’s industry size was $1.6 billion. Now, entering 2022, that figure is projected to surpass $15 billion.
So, what does the future hold for this booming marketing medium?
Today, we’ll discuss some of the major trends in influencer marketing and how brands are adjusting their strategies to take full advantage this year.
Two Platforms Now Share the Throne
Prior to 2021, Instagram was the primary avenue for influencer marketing, especially for B2C brands. But then TikTok—the short-form content site—emerged as a force to be reckoned with, especially with the all-important 25 and under demographic. Its massive growth was fueled in part by COVID, which led to a 60% increase in digital media consumption.
Marketers quickly saw which way the wind was blowing and started shifting marketing spend toward this channel. According to Ismael El Qudsi, CEO of SocialPubli:
“At the beginning of 2021, only 9% of marketers were using the platform; by the time we conducted our mid-year influencer marketing survey, more than half of all marketing agencies polled said they intended to do a sponsored TikTok collaboration within the year.”
Today, as it stands, the most popular platforms for brand-influencer collaboration are:
- Instagram – 48%
- TikTok – 46%
- YouTube – 6%
The Rise of Micro-influencers
Few brands have the marketing budget to afford a mega influencer like Kim Kardashian who may charge anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000 for a single post. And even if you do have the budget, the ROI rarely justifies such a broad stroke appeal.
When it comes to influencers, there’s an inverse relationship between follower count and engagement rates. Because of that, many marketers are buying into the belief that bigger influencers aren’t necessarily better anymore, especially as consumers become increasingly inured to such overt and impersonal advertising.
Instead, a growing percentage of marketers are shifting their ad spend to micro-influencers who have 10,000 to 100,000 followers and provide the ideal combination of engagement and reach. These micro-influencers have worked hard to cultivate dedicated communities and forge real connections with loyal fans of their content creation. This allows for much more targeted and authentic messaging, with a more engaged audience and at a cheaper price.
Popular Influencer Niches
Currently, there are dozens of influencer niches, including:
- Lifestyle
- Fashion
- Beauty
- Modeling
- Comedy & Entertainment
- Music & Dance
- Travel
- Health & Fitness
- Art & Photography
- Food & Drink
- Sports
Naturally, brands seek to partner with an influencer whose audience aligns with their consumer personas and are likely to be primed and receptive to the product or service. Drilling down into these niches enables more targeted messaging. And when it comes to industries, beauty and fashion companies are the most likely to partner with influencers.
Semgeeks—Digital Marketing Agency, NJ
Influencer marketing is here to stay. It’s experienced year-over-year growth and doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.
For brands, it’s important that they utilize Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube—amongst other channels—and partner with the right influencers to get the most out of their marketing budget.
Do you want to begin an influencer campaign?
Semgeeks can help. In the past, we’ve worked with dozens of our clients to harness an influencer marketing strategy that generated significant ROI.
What would that look like? Let’s discuss.
Sources:
The Drum. Influencer Marketing Evolves. https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/04/08/influencer-marketing-evolves
Nielson. Staying PUT: Consumers Forced Indoors During Crisis Spend More Time On Media. https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2020/staying-put-consumers-forced-indoors-during-crisis-spend-more-time-on-media/
Forbes. The State of Influencer Marketing. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2022/01/14/the-state-of-influencer-marketing-top-insights-for-2022/?sh=14b8a1375c78
Collabstr. 2022 Influencer Marketing Report. https://www.collabstr.com/2022-influencer-marketing-report
