The Next Steps in Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing has never been as relevant as it is now, in 2020.

Many brands highlight marketing campaigns using influencers, who are becoming more and more professional, and the media reviews its priorities to make space for this topic.

Reech, the leading brand in influencer marketing, analyzed 2019 to draw up the main points that will define the market in 2020:

“This area is fascinating because the knowledge, mechanisms, and know-how remain opaque for communication professionals and retailers.
And for a good reason — this way of marketing is as recent as it is ever-changing. Indeed, social networks appear and disappear in a relative instant, and other media review their functionality frequently.

Transparency rules are being tightened to help users see more clearly between personal and sponsored content.

Finally, more and more people, who are involved in this field, talk about influencers without actually meaning the same thing. In short: 2020 will definitely be full of talk and discussions about this kind of advertising,” comments Guillaume Doki-Thonon, CEO and co-founder of Reech.

1 - The Convergence of Influence

Marketing and Social Media

While the profession of a social media personality is to entertain communities, marketers create the opportunities for these professions to exist — the blending of activities is starting to be seen, especially with what is called a content studio.

For brands, it is about entrusting the production of social network content to those who know the internet best — so-called influencers.

To go into more detail of this convergence, some brands put influencers in charge of managing the company’s social media accounts: from the editorial responsibilities to interactions with the audience. Community managers at So Shape are, for example, fitness bloggers.

Rising Stars of Social Media

This year it has become apparent — TikTok will be at the forefront of the influence scene.

If brands have been reluctant to run campaigns on this platform till recently, the move of many creators from other platforms to TikTok was a game-changer.

Among the emerging networks, Pinterest is gaining ground. The creativity and efficiency of this platform, in terms of social shopping, will make it a factor to reckon with in 2020.

In general, the networks facilitating this social shopping will gain momentum. Networks, like Instagram Shopping, 21 Buttons, Depop, and Vinted.

I Think, Therefore I Post

2020 will make it even clearer — the content will become more meaningful.

While they have entertained us for more than ten years, social networks are becoming platforms for convictions. People are looking for intelligent content, and the success of the podcast is the perfect example.

As a result of this trend, Internet users will be much more careful and attentive to the behavior of brands and the way they position themselves. The anti-greenwashing campaign is an example of this trend. This protest against the fake eco-friendly positions of businesses grew out of peoples’ exhaustion of big corporations using vital issues as selling points.

Influencers and Ambassadors

We will see more lasting partnerships between brands and influencers and less one-shot campaigns. The objective is to promote a product or service throughout a long period of time to feed the message continuously.

The advantage of the long-term campaign is repeating the pitch over and over again without the risk of tiring the audience because the content is different every time. This seems like a better idea than the repetition used in classic advertising.

It is also creatively stimulating for influencers who have more room for maneuvering, which makes it all the more attractive to them.

Sponsorships

Today, an influencer is a creator and distributor of content. While it is impossible to know the exact cost of each of these two activities, it is obvious that the more you spread the content, the more you capitalize on its creation.

Sponsoring is an already established trend in the US. Listen to some podcasts made by comedians — they always start with an ad that promotes stuff, like kids’ toys, for example, best bike for 4 year old. It helps to increase awareness of the products and services through entertaining content. Although sponsoring the content of the influencer raises the question of social media and influence marketing collaboration.

KPIs of Influence Marketing

We already know how to measure the KPIs of influencer marketing campaigns. In 2020, it would be smart to focus on the ability to assess the qualitative impact of an influence campaign.

It will be a question of determining if a post is successful because it was produced by an influencer or because of the product or service that was put forward.