The Future of Influencer Marketing Trends

As influencer marketing continues to become integral for brands and marketers, it’s important to keep on top of the trends and predict what the future will look like. Let’s dive into a few trends that we will likely be seeing in the next coming years.

LinkedIn Continues to Become a Necessary Asset

LinkedIn initially was to help people build their professional networks and connect with jobs to assist in success. While this is still one of the main reasons why people use the platform, it has slowly become much more for the professional world. People are looking to LinkedIn for professional opinions, discussions, news, strategies, and more. With the purpose of LinkedIn evolving into a more interactive and impactful platform, brands will have to begin to incorporate it into their strategy. 

Through industry insight posts, discussion boards, soft advertising, articles, and open discourse, brands can spotlight their values in a clear and accessible way. Along with connecting to audiences through Instagram and TikTok influencers, it’s important for brands to have representatives on LinkedIn as well. Adding LinkedIn to your strategy also requires a team with solid copywriting skills and an ability to display brand authenticity without relying on visuals. It’s a different game on LinkedIn and learning how your brand best resonates on the platform is only going to continue to become essential.

Forbes reports that 75% of B2B marketers are developing relationships with LinkedIn influencers. While this is aligned with marketers and brands investing exponentially more into influencer marketing, it’s not surprising that they are targeting LinkedIn with their strategy specifically. 

If you are a brand in the health and wellness space, it can be difficult to find your specific community to connect with. By using relevant hashtags and exploring related topics, it is easier than ever to find your space. Adding LinkedIn to your strategy, you’ll be able to grow brand awareness and connect with new clients or audiences. According to Foundation Inc., LinkedIn is responsible for 80% of B2B leads. Use this to your advantage and spend time creating a strong strategy.

CGI Influencers

With the rise of AI and advanced technology that creates immersive experiences and characters, it’s unsurprising that these new tools will contribute to influencer evolution. One example is the increasingly popular technology trend of computer-generated imagery (CGI) influencers, made in virtual reality. These CGI influencers are characters created by brands to represent the company online. The most well-known CGI influencer is Daisy made by Yoox who has done campaigns with Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada, and more. Since Daisy was one of the first CGI influencers, she’s made a name for herself and is desired by brands for their campaigns. As influencer marketing progresses, we’ll continue to see more influencers like Daisy.

One of the benefits of working with CGI influencers is that they are completely controllable so your brand doesn’t have to worry about the influencer going off message or affecting brand reputation. Additionally, these CGI influencers are very authentic and most people don’t realize they are computer-generated. In an article by IZEA, they cite a study that found that 42% of Gen Z and millennials have followed a CGI influencer without knowing it was computer-generated. 

While some CGI influencers are convincing in terms of authenticity, others aren’t which can affect an audience’s attitude about brand transparency. If you use CGI influencers, make sure to be clear about their purpose in your campaign so that audiences don’t feel deceived. One way to ensure authenticity with CGI influencers is to co-create with another influencer in a campaign as suggested in an article by Grin. It meshes the best of both worlds and will most likely become a future trend.

To learn more about CGI influencers, check out our article on the metaverse.

Influencers Becoming Entrepreneurs: Co-Creation

As influencers gain a positive reputation online for product recommendations, their followings will grow more and more until they are considered an expert in certain industries. The most logical next step in influencer evolution is for the influencer to create a product of their own within their specific niche and we’re already seeing many influencers taking this step. In an interview by Forbes, they state that influencers are entrepreneurs at their core, and we'll see them continue to find ways to evolve their businesses. 

While entrepreneurship is beneficial for the influencer, it’s less positive for brands as another competitor enters the market. One way to work together with influencers who are interested in creating their own products is through co-creation. Collaborating with them to make co-branded products is a great way for both parties to find success. A great example of co-creation is influencer Aimee Song collaborating with Revolve to create the Song of Style line. This was the first time the brand collaborated with an influencer in-house and it has already seen success. We’ll likely begin to see more and more over the next few years. 

Authenticity

Authenticity has been the trend for a while, but it will continue to be the most valued asset of influencer marketing. In a world with misinformation and increasing rates of general brand mistrust, consumers are valuing authenticity over almost everything else. Audiences are looking to influencers for feelings of authenticity and trust even outside of social media. Brands will have to start mixing traditional marketing tactics with influencer marketing like never before.

One example of a brand merging the two strategies is with a Gillette commercial that was released this year in collaboration with Joe and Frank Mele from TikTok. The theme of the commercial was blending old techniques with new ones, relating them back to the father-son duo. While the commercial hit the nail on the head with comparing evolving razor techniques, they also acknowledge the evolution of marketing by combining traditional commercials with influencers. 

Brands who embrace influencer marketing fully into their strategy are seeing enormous success because you’re not alienating anyone in your audience. By utilizing traditional commercial techniques, you’re reaching audiences who aren’t on social media and by adding in influencers, you’re drawing online followers to the commercial. Additionally, influencers make content surrounding the commercial because they’re excited to be part of traditional media. 

Combining marketing techniques to maintain authenticity will be seen in future trends so make sure to start brainstorming now.

Employees Becoming Influencers

Along with working with influencers, brands have had to make their own accounts on social media engaging and popular. Audiences want to know the inside scoop of the brand and they want to feel part of the brand community. This means that brands have to start dedicating a team to creating content for their own channels and potentially having an employee influencer.

An employee influencer as defined by EveryoneSocial, is someone within your organization that can positively impact the way external or internal audiences view, interact, or form opinions about your brand, product, or services. This is someone who is excited about working for the brand and wants to share brand values with other people. By appointing an employee influencer, audiences will have a specific face to associate with your brand and will make it feel like the brand is more authentic and human. 

As social media continues to grow, seeing employee influencers will likely be another part of influencer evolution. 

Navigating Future Trends

In the world of social media, it already feels like so much has happened within influencer marketing but with more people online everyday, the train of influencer evolution is still ramping up. To stay on top of future trends, keep checking in on our weekly blog or reach out for a consultation today.