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Influencer marketing is becoming more popular as a marketing strategy. According to a survey of more than 1,200 global marketers conducted by HubSpot, 89% of marketers who are currently using influencer marketing plan to maintain or increase their investment in 2023.
But first of all, what is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is a combination of old and new marketing techniques. It incorporates the concept of celebrity endorsement into a modern content-driven marketing campaign. The main differentiator in influencer marketing is that the campaign results in collaborations between brands and influencers.
However, influencer marketing is not limited to celebrities. Instead, it focuses on influencers, many of whom would never consider themselves famous in a traditional sense. In a nutshell, an influencer is someone who has the ability to influence the purchasing decisions of others due to his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his or her target audience.
It is also important to remember that most influencers have worked hard to build a loyal and enthusiastic following. It is not by chance that these people prefer to follow influencers rather than brands. The audience is less interested in your brand. They are only interested in the opinions of influencers.
Who are they? Have you followed any influencers on your Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn?
A popular fashion photographer on Instagram, a well-read cybersecurity blogger who tweets, or a respected marketing executive on LinkedIn can all be considered influencers. There are influential people in every industry. You just have to look for them. They may have only 10,000 followers, or even fewer in some cases. Nonetheless, they will have established a reputation as experts in their field. They are the go-to people for answering people's questions.
Influencer marketing is on the rise: by 2021, influencer marketing spending will have increased by 42% to $13.8 billion. It is expected to reach $15 billion by the end of 2022. Of course, rapid growth implies rapid change.
While none of us can predict the best-practice strategies for 2023 with absolute certainty, it's safe to say that influencer marketing will remain at the forefront of brand marketing discussions.
So, are you ready to invest in influencer marketing in 2023? If you ask us, it is a BIG YES!
Here are 4 influencer marketing trends to keep an eye on in 2023!
1. Online Store Content
It appears to happen almost every day, particularly on Facebook, Instagram, and the new TikTok trend, where people tend to live shop by watching the influencers' live streams and locking the item in the comments. We must recognise that the bottom line is that live shopping has not taken off as expected.
Surprisingly, our consumers have now embraced livestream e-commerce in the same way that China has embraced this QVC-style trend. That is not to say that live shopping events will not be a worthwhile investment for some forward-thinking brands in 2023, but we believe that influencer-shared shoppable content will outperform live commerce.
Shoppable content, whether on a high-engagement platform like TikTok or integrated into a brand's owned channels, will help brands reach audiences at the right time and place in 2023. Influencers provide the benefit of a seamless checkout experience by providing a complete customer journey in a single post.
2. Search Has Gone Social
In 2022, it was revealed that younger users are "now frequently turning to apps like Instagram and TikTok for discovery purposes instead of Google Search or Maps." In fact, 40% of Gen Z users prefer TikTok and Instagram for search over Google.
A TikTok search is likely to yield results that are personalised and relevant to the person searching, such as music, live events, and people. Unlike Google, TikTok’s search results can be filtered based on likes and views.
Brands should consider ‘search content’ when developing their social strategies, especially for topics such as travel, beauty, restaurants, and recipes. A good TikTok campaign can help boost brand-related search results.
3. The Super App's Potential Rise
The so-called "super app" is a mobile app that offers a variety of services, including payment and financial transaction processing. The concept of the super app first gained traction in China with WeChat, and social platforms in the United States have been racing to offer more and more solutions that keep users in the app no matter what they're doing.
Every platform is competing to stay at the forefront of the attention economy, which includes incorporating payment integration and other features. Whether it's TikTok, Meta, or Elon Musk's enigmatic "X," 2023 could be the year of the super app.
Or, more likely, it will be the year of a few different platforms competing with the ever offerings to become indispensable to users. Rather than betting on a single platform becoming the de facto one-stop shop in 2023, brands would be wise to be prepared to take advantage of new features designed to improve the in-app experience.
4. YouTube Shorts
YouTube's evolving venture into short video content is well worth exploring for brands willing to experiment. While TikTok currently dominates the cultural conversation about short-form video, Google has been focusing on expanding Shorts to compete. Google launched a $100 million Shorts creator fund in 2021, which will be distributed over two years, and Shorts will be eligible for monetization in the coming months (creators will keep 45% of viewership revenue).
YouTube has some advantages over its short-video competitors, one of which is that TikTok continues to raise security and privacy concerns. Better revenue pathways for creators could be the deciding factor in re-establishing YouTube as the leader in Shorts.
Interested to boost your sales via influencer marketing, don’t worry because we can help you with that? Contact our dedicated team at Asia Digital Media MY for consultation - tap link to know more.
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