Digital Marketing can be a fast-paced industry. With the development of new social networks and the ever-elusive social media algorithms, your brand needs to keep ahead of the curve. Here are the key trends that we’ve seen grow in the past months for Influencer Marketing.

 

1. A Move From Micro to Nano

The past year we’ve been seeing more and more brands turn to using micro-influencers over big-name power influencers. However, this year we’re seeing a trend to moving to even smaller Nano influencers.

But what would be the advantage of big brands using influencers with a small number of followers to advertise their products?

Well, the advantage of having a few thousand followers allows brands to target an incredibly niche audience. Many brands have seen more success with this approach, as rather than their carefully created campaigns going into the abyss and being lost amongst the sheer amount of followers, these influencers have a smaller, dedicated audience. We are seeing a short term shift to these smaller influencers to create new and loyal customer bases for brands.

 

2. Campaigns are now relationships

In the past Influencer Marketing involved one-off campaigns featuring products. However, this type of marketing didn’t work in the long run. Audiences saw that their favourite influencers weren’t genuinely invested in the brands they promoted, and so it didn’t build the loyal customer base that brands hope for.

However, we are currently seeing a trend shift to influencer partnerships and ambassadors. This includes influencers creating product lines within the brand or launching long term relationships that secure their loyalty to the brand. These seem to be working better than previous campaigns as audiences believe the campaigns, and see them as more than just advertising strategies, but genuine content creation that they want to be a part of.

 

3. An understanding that quantity doesn’t equal quality

Much like with the shift to using Nano Influencers brands are becoming more and more aware of fake followers. Most are refusing to work with influencers who don’t have a natural audience base.

Brands such as Unilever have announced that they will no longer do business with influencers with fake followers. Especially, ones they’ve bought themselves.

Brands are valuing different metrics as well when it comes to choosing influencers. Rather than just looking at potential reach, more and more brands are looking at cost-per-engagement. This allows them to see their potential ROI from the outset.