Stay ahead of the curve and the exciting developments to look out for in the New Year
In the last two years, influencer marketing has proved to be a sustainable and pandemic-proof form of marketing. With digital and social media consumption increasing, content creators have been a vital marketing tool brands have used to fight to keep audience's attention. The reliance on influencers has seen experts predict the industry could grow between an astounding $10 billion to $13.8 billion in 2022, double the value of pre-pandemic times.
The industry continues to innovate year on year, showing no signs of slowing down. To help you stay ahead of the curve, here are six Influencer Marketing trends you should have on your radar in 2022.
1. Augmented Reality
The announcement of the Metaverse is confirmation that the big player's ambitions for the future of social media is to shift towards the virtual world. Despite backlash that this will make the world more antisocial, judging by the boom in virtual influencers (500 created in the last year), adoption of digital gifting, digital, fashion, virtual events, etc., it looks like as an industry, we're closer and more open to virtual life more than we care to admit.
2. Content Paywalls and Subscriptions
The success of subscription models will establish itself in the influencer economy. Many creatives have been testing this over the years through Patron schemes and sites such as Only Fans. As pay to play becomes widely accepted in society, we expect more creatives to make this part of their business strategy by serving privatised content behind paywalls.
3. Creator Funds
The fast growth of the Creator economy has meant creatives are no longer solely reliant on sponsored posts and social platforms. This, combined with fierce competition between social networks, has forced platforms to incentivise creatives to stay active. As a result, we expect to see more funding and developments of monetisation schemes as the Social giants battle it out to keep influencers and the audiences who migrate with them engaged.
4. Social Shopping Boom
As shopping became more virtual during the pandemic, social media platforms became an increasingly popular shopping outlet. This has seen the biggest growth for younger consumers who are now significantly more likely to shop on social media platforms, which helped propel Instagram as one of the leading social eCommerce outlets. We expect to see more platforms integrate social eCommerce into tap into the vast revenue opportunities.
5. Influencers Integrated Deeper Into the Corporate World
The brand /creator relationship is due to become more sophisticated and professionally entwined.
Following high-profile appointments of Influencers as creative Directors over the last month, we can expect brands to introduce influencers in head office roles, to tap into their multifaceted expertise.
6. Short-Form Video Content
Today, most social media sites can be viewed as video first platforms as a demand for more creative, entertaining, snappy and high impact content has increased video consumption.
As video performs better and receives higher engagements than static posts, this will surely dominate in 2022.
Whether you're new to Influencer Marketing or want to refresh your existing strategy, get in touch to learn how we can help you create engaging advocacy campaigns and connect with diverse creatives.
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