Influencer Marketing Trends

We’ve all heard the influencer marketing tune, seen its trends sprout, and recognised its importance in the competitive marketing arena. But in this rapidly evolving social media landscape, it’s easy to get lost in the digital noise. The biggest challenge for most brands? Discovering what from the vast realm of influencer marketing is right for them, and then seamlessly integrating that with their existing digital marketing strategies.

We’ll Help You Find Your Feet 

Arora Online, AKA your digital marketing fairy godmother from the South, is here to assist. We’ll simplify the influencer marketing trend forecast for 2024 and offer valuable insights. These insights will help your brand navigate the implementation of these trends with a clearer sense of direction.

While the beauty and fashion sectors have long dominated this area of marketing,  a new era has emerged offering fresh opportunities to expand your digital horizon.

Influencers in finance, tech, business, health, food, and pharmaceuticals are expected to be in higher demand. Does your brand fall outside these industries? Fret not! There are ample opportunities available for your brand to capitalise on. 

The Game is Changing 

Instagram Broadcast Messages 

Meet the new kid on the Instagram block – she’s easy-going, interactive and slightly exclusive. 

Broadcast channels are a public, one-to-many messaging tool for creators to directly engage with their followers. Creators can use broadcast channels to share text, photo, video, voice notes, and polls with their followers to keep them up-to-date on the latest news and behind-the-scenes happenings. Then, followers can respond to posts and take part in polls. 

An influencer can launch a broadcast channel from their Instagram inbox. A one-time invitation to join the channel will be sent to their followers after they send their first broadcast channel message. Creators can also urge followers to subscribe as soon as the broadcast channel is available by using the “join channel” sticker in Stories or by pinning the channel link to their profile. 

You’re probably wondering how this can help your brand?

Here are strategic business use cases for Instagram broadcast channels: 

1. Event Coverage

Organising an industry event? You undoubtedly already have plans to post-event content to your brand’s feed and stories, sharing exclusive event coverage in a broadcast channel is a fantastic way to grow the channel organically. 

2. Curate resources that provide value

Looking for additional ways to add value to your audience? While it is possible to summarise curated resources in text, broadcast channels also provide you with the choice to include links. Links in broadcast channel messages are interactive, much like in DM’s, so viewers can tap to access them right away, too. The broadcast messages can then transfer followers to the desired web page making the user journey so much more seamless and exciting. 

3. Informal market research 

Do you intend to launch new products or service offerings in the future? Are you unsure which product your target audience would be most likely to buy? Polls are highly effective as a first step in conducting market research.

You may, for instance, partner with an influencer whose audience mirrors the brand’s target audience and have them ask their audience(s) what item or service the brand should add to the existing offerings. Alternatively, the influencer may present the audience with two options and ask them to select the one they would be more inclined to buy.

If you’re already preparing to release a new product or a feature update, think about incorporating broadcast channels into your launch plan. We recommend partnering with influencers to use their broadcast channels for the entire launch process, from the teaser to the announcement. In this way, the brand is likely to have a higher chance of creating buzz and cultivating genuine interest among followers. 

Short-Form Videos Will Dominate 

You’re probably thinking “Well, what’s new there?” but wait, there’s more. Walk with me. 

We obviously can’t deny the influence that short-form video content has had on the social media ecosystem. TikTok has risen to fame among short-form video social apps since its introduction in 2017. The app immediately became the darling of Gen Z, with over a billion global users. 

However, it no longer has a monopoly in the short-form video business. Meta recognised the medium’s potential and developed Instagram Reels, while Snapchat added Spotlight and YouTube offered YouTube Shorts. Although static images are still a good option for brands to keep the feed diverse and to share more bite-sized content, the truth is they’re like the neglected middle child right now. Audiences have fallen in love – nearly as hard as Romeo and Juliet – with watching videos because the information they offer is simple to comprehend, remember, and recall, regardless of the topic. 

However this does not mean a brand will automatically win at creating successful influencer marketing campaigns by merely slapping on the video content approach, it will require strategic effort. Here’s how to win at video format content in influencer marketing campaigns: 

1. Humanise the marketing message using storytelling. 
2. Guide the influencer’s content creation process to implement video-optimization techniques.
3. Your prospective customers want to know if it’s worthwhile for them to spend their time and money on your brand. You can build consumer trust and create a stronger connection by adding video testimonials from reputable influencers who would discuss how your product or service has improved their life.

Rumor (read fact) has it that social video content has also become a new form of SEO. 

Websites containing video content are now being given more priority by Google’s algorithms as this content is indexed in relation to consumers’ internet searches. According to studies, users spend more than twice as much time on pages with videos than those without. Video helps with SEO in two ways: useful video excerpts are ranked by Google to appear in search results, and having video embedded on your website typically keeps visitors on your site for longer, helping the site’s engagement score which then also positively impacts SEO. 

One of the secrets to incorporating video into your SEO strategy is to take the time to create excellent content with a specific objective in mind. We love a good miracle success story but the truth is, video by itself won’t always be your website’s saving grace.

Here’s how it rolls: Increased visibility of a website through video content increases search engine rankings, which in turn encourages more people to click on the website link. However, poor quality on-page content will make them leave a website at the drop of a hat. It is vital to always remember that website content still needs to satisfy the audience’s intent. 

Every good fairy godmother sprinkles gems of wisdom, here’s ours for you: video SEO is still relatively new making this the perfect time to get started on it.

Influencers Integrating With Affiliate Marketing 

Influencer marketing and affiliate marketing were often thought of as two distinct practices. Typically, affiliates collaborate with a business to market products and services in return for commission. Influencers usually receive flat-rate fees and concentrate on longer-term KPIs. However, since social media platforms like Instagram are increasingly integrating with eCommerce and expanding beyond simple “awareness” campaigns to really drive sales, the distinction between affiliates and influencer marketing is getting more faint.   

Influencers are now promoting products or services to their followers which they truly trust and use.  And brands? They are discovering that influencers can be true long-term champions of their products or services. Influencers are now a powerful tool for guiding social media audiences through the entire sales funnel, from awareness to consideration to eventual purchase. Wondering why? Well, it’s just because they have credibility, impact that can be measured, and significant, persuasive sway over their audiences. 

This is your cue to begin thinking beyond the conventional boundaries of what we have always known influencer marketing to be. 

Authenticity in Influencer Marketing 

There has been a strong pull for “authentic” social content in recent years, and this has also become a fundamental component in the success of effective influencer marketing campaigns. This has not only forced influencers to be cautious about the content they create for brands in order to ensure that what they promote will resonate with their audiences. The strong pull for authentic content and collaborations has also become a key building block in creating mutually beneficial long-term partnerships between brands and content creators which in turn generates an even greater sense of authenticity and assists brands with maintaining the trust factor with their audiences. Weird psychology, we know, but think of it in this way – authenticity gives long-term partnerships the X factor and long-term partnerships return the favour by deepening the sense of authenticity. Authenticity + long-term partnerships = deepened brand credibility, long-term value, the greater probability of ROI, sustained brand awareness, maximized reach, and enhanced campaign effectiveness. 

News flash – sponsored posts aren’t and never have been the real issue. What makes sponsored content authentic is a genuine sense of passion for the brand and product being discussed. Audiences expect deeper connections with the influencers they follow, as well as content that provides them with real value.

Instead of using the typical sponsored post route, options like product Q&As and social media story “conversations” are a great way to showcase the value of a product or service, and prove the authenticity of the partnership which in turn fosters trust with the audience, and successfully delivers information about the product or service in a more digestible and less hard sell approach. Authenticity is your brand’s ‘secret sauce.’ 

TikTok Shopify Integration

In addition to being a powerful product discovery and recommendation tool, a search engine, and a place to get inspiration and new information, TikTok has evolved into a place where companies can reach out to customers directly. TikTok Shop is an e-commerce platform integrated in the app which was designed for affiliates, creators, and sellers. It makes it possible for business account holders on TikTok to sell directly on the app to eliminate a small but crucial extra step out of the social media sales funnel to convert TikTok audiences into customers. This allows for products to be organically incorporated by brands into entertainment and educational videos. 

Are you ineligible for a TikTok Shop? If yes, this one’s for you!

You can still access and take advantage of the shopping functionality through specific integrations, like the TikTok app for Shopify. Shopify has powerful features that enable you to quickly and easily construct TikTok in-feed advertisements to share your brand’s story with a wider, more targeted audience. It also helps you manage all Shopify orders, returns, and payments while generating revenue on TikTok. Additionally, TikTok gives you control over the data collection and sharing procedures between your Shopify store and TikTok. Getting started with this short-form video app as an e-commerce brand has never been simpler. Don’t be caught sleeping on an opportunity to leverage this Shopify and TikTok platform integration to grow your online sales.

A Gentle Reminder

Newness is typically the hallmark of trends and they are usually as fleeting as fashion. Our goal however is to provide you with trends that we predict will have far greater staying power than a TikTok dance challenge. 

We hope that you incorporate these trends into your thinking about influencer marketing, in order to future-proof your digital strategy. And if you have any questions, are looking for an influencer marketing partner, or would like a consultation: drop the influencer marketing experts a line – we are here to light your digital path. 

Written by Kamohelo Vezi