The Future of Influencer Marketing | by Amarachi Ilechukwu | Jan, 2023

There’s a lot of talk going on about the relevance of influencers in digital marketing, with some suggesting that its future is looking pretty bright. But let’s be real, it’s not just about influencers with millions of followers anymore. It’s now more about micro-influencers and user-generated content.

Gone are the days when influencer marketing was just about getting that one person with a million followers to post about your product. Now, businesses are realizing that influencers with smaller, more engaged audiences can be just as powerful. Plus, they’re way more affordable.

So, how did we get here?

Many trends are revolutionizing the world of influencer marketing, for businesses and individuals. Here, we’ll look at some of the recent trends in influencer marketing;

Micro-influencers

One of the biggest trends in influencer marketing is the rise of micro-influencers — individuals with smaller followings, typically under 10,000, but who have a highly engaged audience. They are typically seen as more authentic and relatable than their mega-influencer counterparts and are often more effective at driving conversions.

When contemplating a career in influencer marketing, you shouldn’t place so much emphasis on the number of followers you have, but rather on the level of engagement and interest they have in your content.

Networking

Most of the time it feels like all influencers know each other — the truth is, a lot of them do. This trend, like most on this list, works both ways, for businesses and influencers.

Influencers collaborate with each other to boost engagement and provide additional value to their clients. By working together, influencers can expand their reach and engage with a wider audience, sharing their knowledge, creativity, and expertise with one another, and developing new strategies and tactics to boost engagement.

On the other hand, through networks and agencies, businesses have valuable insights into influencer demographics and engagement data, making it easier for businesses to identify the right influencers to work with.

User-generated Content

Now, this is where it gets interesting. What really sets the future of influencer marketing apart is the rise of user-generated content. This type of content is created by customers or followers, rather than the influencer themselves.

Because consumers tend to trust normal people, more than they trust brands, user-generated content is the perfect way to showcase real people using and loving your product. This is seen as more authentic and trustworthy than traditional influencer content and can be a powerful tool for building brand loyalty and driving sales. Think of it like your mom sharing a picture of you on Facebook without your permission (but in a good way).

This trend is predicted to be the new wave of influencer marketing as it has recently gotten a ton of rave, and let’s be honest, is way more relatable and authentic than a staged photo shoot.

AI

Yeah yeah, a lot has been said about AI and many have suggested that it’s coming for all our jobs; still, when implemented strategically can open up a lot of opportunities for both companies and individuals.

Businesses can use AI or machine learning to analyse influencer data and identify the best influencers to work with, as well as automate influencer outreach and contract negotiations.

For influencers, AI can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you. Look at it like having a sidekick to help you with scheduling posts, analysing engagement data, and even coming up with captions for your posts. Plus, they help you identify your target audience preferences so you can create content that they’ll love.

So, to sum it up, the future of influencer marketing is looking a lot like a high school popularity contest, except instead of being voted “most likely to succeed,” influencers are voted “most likely to make us buy stuff”.

By focusing on authenticity and transparency, businesses and influencers can stay on top of these trends to create effective campaigns and achieve their goals.