Influencers have risen from fringe obscurities of the internet to the front and centre of the social media landscape. Today’s influencers/creators wield significant influence over their followers’ consumption and thought patterns.
With over 50% of all internet usage time being spent on social media, it has become a necessity to collaborate with influencers. However, remember that all that glitters is not gold! It is important to manage expectations and strategize as per your brand requirements. The rise of influencers has not been without its bane and several sub-standard products hawked by creators have resulted in a rising distrust of new products on social media. Selecting the right influencers to market for you can act as an extra layer of personalization, helping connect with your target audience and making the brand relatable.
Influencers can range from nano to micro to macro, often specializing in niche content buckets, providing a unique audience with each. Choosing influencers whose niche, audience, reliability, and geographical region align with your brand is essential. This process can be eased by partnering with a reliable influencer or integrated agency.
Having finally shed the tag of being a fad, Influencer marketing is set to go through several changes in the coming years. With the increasing popularity of short-form videos, TikTok, has emerged as a key platform for Influencer marketing, closely followed by Instagram. One-time deals are slowly getting phased out as brands are starting to look at long-term partnerships to create lasting connections. Brands might even opt for a CIO (Chief Influencing Officer) in the future. However, perhaps the biggest impact on influencer marketing has been through the rise of gen AI. Gen AI is revamping the influencer landscape in real-time by making several content production aspects accessible to all. Brands have even begun to use artificially generated Virtual Influencers (VI) curated to suit specific niches.
The social age is having its own oil boom and everyone wants a piece of it. Avoid haste and don’t forget to identify your destination in a hurry to board the train.
