Futurist and author of Megatrends John Naisbitt once said that the most reliable way to forecast the future is to try to understand the present.
Let us try to understand the nearest future of influencer marketing based on it’s present state.
Influencers have more and more opportunities to make money through creativity.
HypeAuditor's survey showed that despite the fact that paid promotion makes up a significant part of influencers' sources of income, other ways of earnings are starting to gain traction.
It is the logical development of an influencer brand. Influencers are ‘making more money and becoming more popular’.
We will see more books, more tv shows, more movies with influencers in 2022.
We see brands with ambassadorship programs flourish during these difficult times, as they are supported by true brand lovers and believers.
Building strong relationships with creators who will become brand advocates now will set up Brand’s sustainable success in the future.
When we talk about new categories we mean such categories as finfluencers, skinfluencers, pertfluencers, granfluencers.
Finfluencers, or financial influencers, it is a thriving online subculture. A huge spike in the amount of content on financial topics on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Twitter over the past 18 months has formed a new generation on finance and investing.
Young investors purchase cryptocurrencies and stocks - following the advice they got from social media accounts, lured in by promises to get rich quick.
Skinfluencers. Skincare has become a new passion for consumers during the quarantine, especially for those who discovered new products and ways of skincare in TikTok.The popularity of skincare is growing across all social platforms and brands are partnering with "skinfleuncers" to advertise their products.
Granfluencers. Baby boomers with Instagram and TikTok accounts are becoming more popular. Brands like Nike, Fashion Nova, Amazon collaborate with granfluencers to highlight inclusion, giving Baby Boomers that feeling of understanding that was missing from marketing for their generation.
Petfluencers. Animals help create the most versatile and loved content on social platforms: cat and dog-content.Compared to other categories of influencers, petfluencers are completely different. Pet content doesn’t include major political agenda, strong opinions or messages.
Rather than reflect the everyday problems that human creators talk about, petinfluencers create content that brings us all together through entertainment.
We have noticed a “blurring of lines” across influencer industries. For example, typical beauty influencers are not just posting about beauty – they venture into travel, lifestyle, food, sometimes fitness. Years ago, we used to see influencers remain in their lane. Now, we see the industries overlapping.
Previously social commerce was mainly focused on ads, platforms are beginning to provide new and innovative selling solutions that focus on making the customer journey easier for buyers.
For example, Instagram showed new shopping features which allow users to buy items without ever leaving the app. And Google announced its plans to turn YouTube into an e-commerce platform through its integration with Shopify.
Moving into 2022, brands should pay more attention to the social selling opportunities through Instagram posts, Reels, Stories, and more.
The major players are going all-in on adapting their platforms to drive first-party sales, and influencer marketers are well positioned to take advantage of these new conversion tools.
It is becoming very clear that virtual influencers will play a huge role from brands in view of their accessibility and unlimited creative freedom.
Recently, the NFT startup Dapper Labs, which is valued above $7.5 billion, made an acquisition of virtual influencer startup Brud
Brud is known for creating the most famous virtual influencer and singer Lil Miquela.
A new presentation by Mark Zuckerberg at the Connect event showed that Facebook will bet on virtual worlds and intend to invest a lot of resources in attracting programmers and creators who will make content for the metaverse.
Virtual influencers are better suited to the role of the first inhabitants of the metaverse than anyone else.
About author, Nick Baklanov:
Let us try to understand the nearest future of influencer marketing based on it’s present state.
Influencers will have more opportunities to monetize their audience
Influencers have more and more opportunities to make money through creativity.
HypeAuditor's survey showed that despite the fact that paid promotion makes up a significant part of influencers' sources of income, other ways of earnings are starting to gain traction.
It is the logical development of an influencer brand. Influencers are ‘making more money and becoming more popular’.
We will see more books, more tv shows, more movies with influencers in 2022.
Brand ambassadorships over one time deals
When influencers have more freedom to choose with whom to work Brands should find influencers who align with their values and build long term relationships with them.We see brands with ambassadorship programs flourish during these difficult times, as they are supported by true brand lovers and believers.
Building strong relationships with creators who will become brand advocates now will set up Brand’s sustainable success in the future.
New categories of influencers are emerging, while standard categories are losing boundaries
We see new categories of influencers are appearing and at the same time we see how standard good old categories are losing boundaries.When we talk about new categories we mean such categories as finfluencers, skinfluencers, pertfluencers, granfluencers.
Finfluencers, or financial influencers, it is a thriving online subculture. A huge spike in the amount of content on financial topics on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Twitter over the past 18 months has formed a new generation on finance and investing.
Young investors purchase cryptocurrencies and stocks - following the advice they got from social media accounts, lured in by promises to get rich quick.
Skinfluencers. Skincare has become a new passion for consumers during the quarantine, especially for those who discovered new products and ways of skincare in TikTok.The popularity of skincare is growing across all social platforms and brands are partnering with "skinfleuncers" to advertise their products.
Granfluencers. Baby boomers with Instagram and TikTok accounts are becoming more popular. Brands like Nike, Fashion Nova, Amazon collaborate with granfluencers to highlight inclusion, giving Baby Boomers that feeling of understanding that was missing from marketing for their generation.
Petfluencers. Animals help create the most versatile and loved content on social platforms: cat and dog-content.Compared to other categories of influencers, petfluencers are completely different. Pet content doesn’t include major political agenda, strong opinions or messages.
Rather than reflect the everyday problems that human creators talk about, petinfluencers create content that brings us all together through entertainment.
We have noticed a “blurring of lines” across influencer industries. For example, typical beauty influencers are not just posting about beauty – they venture into travel, lifestyle, food, sometimes fitness. Years ago, we used to see influencers remain in their lane. Now, we see the industries overlapping.
Rise of social ecommerce
Social platforms want to occupy a larger place in the purchase funnel of goods therefore, they strive to make shopping within the platform as easy as possible.Previously social commerce was mainly focused on ads, platforms are beginning to provide new and innovative selling solutions that focus on making the customer journey easier for buyers.
For example, Instagram showed new shopping features which allow users to buy items without ever leaving the app. And Google announced its plans to turn YouTube into an e-commerce platform through its integration with Shopify.
Moving into 2022, brands should pay more attention to the social selling opportunities through Instagram posts, Reels, Stories, and more.
The major players are going all-in on adapting their platforms to drive first-party sales, and influencer marketers are well positioned to take advantage of these new conversion tools.
Virtual Influencer are here to stay
Recently, we’ve seen the virtual influencer industry boom with the likes of Lil Miquela and Shudu experimenting with identity in innovative ways—breaking existing boundaries of branding.It is becoming very clear that virtual influencers will play a huge role from brands in view of their accessibility and unlimited creative freedom.
Recently, the NFT startup Dapper Labs, which is valued above $7.5 billion, made an acquisition of virtual influencer startup Brud
Brud is known for creating the most famous virtual influencer and singer Lil Miquela.
A new presentation by Mark Zuckerberg at the Connect event showed that Facebook will bet on virtual worlds and intend to invest a lot of resources in attracting programmers and creators who will make content for the metaverse.
Virtual influencers are better suited to the role of the first inhabitants of the metaverse than anyone else.
About author, Nick Baklanov:
Marketing and research specialist at HypeAuditor. Passionate about digital and influencer marketing. Likes to play with his son and master the possibilities of VR technology.