Brands to invest in influencer marketing despite economic slowdown, HypeAuditor finds
The evolution of the influencer marketing industry and the economy
HypeAuditor found that despite the economic slowdown and reviewed marketing budgets, brands are still expected to continue to invest in influencer marketing.
While overall marketing budgets may be revised downward, brands are likely to invest more in their partnerships with influencers to reduce their overall marketing costs. The reason is that influencer content is the cheapest form of branded content.
As a result of this shift in priorities and this greater focus on influencer marketing, HypeAuditor expects that brands will increasingly move their activities with influencers in-house.
Instead of focusing solely on one-off sponsored posts, as this has often been the case over the years, marketers will be encouraged to put their influencer marketing strategy at the centre of their overall objectives. There are multiple reasons for this but essentially it comes down to ensuring the success of influencer marketing campaigns.
The future of influencers and why Gaming Influencers are gaining momentum
Gaming influencers are a rapidly growing segment of influencers, globally, with a large audience on most social media platforms. They can range from skilled players who stream their gameplaying to millions of fans to professional video game players who compete in the up-and-coming esports space.
Gaming influencers are more accessible than they may seem at first glance. Their fans not only follow them for their high-level video game skills, but also for the tight-knit sense of community they have built both with the influencer and fellow fans.
One example is Markiplier, a gaming influencer who has racked up almost 30 million followers. Markiplier’s popularity results from his funny commentary while playing horror video games, keeping his large audience entertained.
Marketers will increasingly prioritise partnerships with Gaming influencers, even if no obvious direct ties to the gaming community exist. While the gamers’ main platform might be Twitch or similar streaming service, they often have a following on other social media platforms, such as Instagram.
The platforms that will matter the most to brands and what it means in terms of content
Two platforms remain the leading ones for brands when it comes to influencer marketing: Instagram and TikTok. Instagram’s reputation remains undisputed when it comes to influencer marketing. It continues to offer brands the most potential for their influencer marketing strategy.
However, competition remains sharp with the ever-growing popularity of TikTok among the Generation Z. The reason for the platform’s continuing hype is the many opportunities for influencers and users to express themselves creatively.
Marketers have already understood, a long time ago, the potential of these two platforms to authentically connect with their target audiences. However, in the next year, they will increasingly adapt and diversify their marketing strategy to the specifics of these two platforms, to fully reap the benefits they offer.
The opportunities brought by live shopping and how brands can take advantage of it
Recently, live shopping has gained momentum, turning into a real asset for retailers thanks to the unique experience it provides to consumers.
Retailers will increasingly prioritise live shopping in the year ahead, however they will face the challenges of adapting to the likes of Instagram and TikTok to attract shoppers on these platforms for shopping, while also providing them with a great experience throughout their purchase journey.
TikTok and Instagram do provide good creation tools that retailers can rely on, but they also need to ensure an optimised integration with their own website.
Finally, companies will also need to make internal adjustments in terms of how they work transversally with their colleagues: sales teams will need to be even more integrated with marketing teams in order to ensure the success of their live shopping strategy.