Infleuncer marketing has boomed in recent years. But as brands and consumers get more savvy, what will the next decade hold? Adam Williams, CEO of Takumi, takes a look…
It was a tricky start to the new year for Instagram and the influencer marketing industry. In January, the release of two high profile documentaries around Fyre Festival whose organisers had used influencer marketing to dupe consumers, didn’t exactly get the year off to a great start – I don’t think I’ll ever get over that cheese sandwich!
With the spectre of Fyre Festival and celebrity warnings from the ASA hanging over the industry – there had never been more scrutiny on the legitimacy of influencers. But, as the industry evolves and matures, there remains plenty of reasons to be positive about the future of influencer marketing in 2020 and beyond.
End of an era for vanity metrics
In early iterations, social media platforms built-in what are now known as ‘vanity metrics’ – which lead marketers to measure success by follower count or amount of likes on a post.
But the landscape is shifting, and as social media moves towards curating more meaningful conversations in 2020, vanity metrics may be phased out. We’ve already seen this with Instagram trialling hiding likes worldwide and this trend can be expected to extend to other platforms like Facebook and TikTok.
If this trial becomes permanent, marketers will have to explore metrics that demonstrate deeper engagement and prioritise creativity. While this may sound like a drastic switch, measuring success via metrics like the number of direct messages an influence receives or the number of times their post is saved, forces marketers to make sure their content is as creative and shareable as possible which is only a good thing!
The rise of IGTV
Launched in June 2018, IGTV is Instagram’s native long-form video channel that sits within the app. Since video was first introduced to Instagram, viewing rates have continued to climb with 60% more views in 2018 than the previous year. With similar growth across other social media platforms, longer-form video is clearly one of the next big trends for influencer marketing.
At present, influencers can add affiliate links to featured brands on IGTV videos. However, we predict that IGTV will continue to see growth, particularly as monetisation options are rolled out alongside support for influencers. This could see in-app Checkout rolled out to IGTV, creating a frictionless m-commerce experience where consumers can complete purchase without exiting the video.
Building long term relationships
In 2020, we expect to see a shift towards exclusive collaborations with brands and influencers as they seek longer-term partnerships. For this to work, brands will have to relinquish some of the creative control and trust influencers to act as their own creative directors. Whilst this may sound like a risk for brands, influencers are increasingly demanding more control over the style and design of their content.
Our recent whitepaper research found that creative control is influencers’ no.1 priority when working with brands, yet this is proving difficult for UK marketers to come to concede. A third (36%) feel they should have complete control over the written captions and visual elements of an influencer’s post.
Giving more authority to influencers to decide their content could improve engagement rates. Consumers are savvier than ever, so long-term relationships with brands that allow influencers to fully explore their creativity will be well-received by followers and reinforce the authenticity of the collaboration.
Usage rights
Hand in hand with longer-term partnerships, 2020 will see an increase in influencers licensing their Instagram content for use across a brand’s above the line activity. As influencers venture into multi-channel offerings, we’ll likely witness influencers playing a key role in more holistic, integrated campaigns across a variety of mediums.
After all, influencers are increasingly using more professional equipment to ensure higher-spec quality content that can easily translate into other formats, such as billboards or video commercials – marketing elements where iPhone quality content wouldn’t suffice. For example, we supported on a campaign where the influencer used footage from drones to promote an automotive brand. This investment in better quality tech opens the door for monetising content beyond social media and allows brands and influencers to grow their partnership more easily by using a consistent spokesperson across channels.
If consumers see influencers they trust posting about products in paid-for campaign content, organically and out-of-home visuals, it re-enforces the idea that the influencer has a genuine affinity for the product and their brand endorsement can be trusted.
Brands like Adidas and Converse have already incorporated influencers into their wider marketing strategy to great effect. The latter’s One Star Hotel campaign in 2018 used both celebrity and influencer endorsement throughout its build-up and was heralded as one of the most successful campaigns of the year, gaining the brand 40,000 new Instagram followers and generating 226 million media impressions.
Looking to next year, brands and influencers will need to stop operating as two separate entities and start working more collaboratively. There needs to be more trust between the two parties, which will allow influencers to churn out more creative, authentic and unique content. If this happens then we can mark 2019 down as a tricky year and look to 2020 as the year it all changes.
By Adam Williams
CEO