Make way for a new generation of influencer

I know that I’m not the only person that goes onto social media and dreams to have everyone else’s wardrobe/possessions/life – not that I’m unhappy with my life, it’s just human nature to want. Social media is a great place to follow people who you are inspired by, this could be artists, writers, singers, movie stars – or just that friend of a friend who has great style! Nowadays, the face of the influence has changed somewhat, Instagrammers, Youtuber’s and Bloggers; leading the way for a new and diverse form of marketing.

Unsurprisingly, ‘influencer marketing’ is not uncommon; when asked whether they would buy a product that was recommended by non-celebrity blogger’s or vloggers, 30% of consumers said yes (Forbes, 2018). I think this could be due to them embodying an ‘every-man’ persona, these people are more relatable to than celebrities as they arguably live much simpler lives. It’s astounding how social media and the ability to practically follow people’s lives has shaped our new millennium.

When my husband (who’s a primary school teacher) asked his year 5 class what they wanted to be when they grew up, many of them said they wanted to be Youtubers – suffice to say he was not overly impressed. When we were young, children wanted to be firefighters, astronauts and the like; with this ‘new age’ are we limiting our children’s aspirations? Or allowing them the ability to become anything they want to be?

Nonetheless, its clear that Influencer marketing is predicted to become an integral part of the marketing strategy (Salim, 2018). In a sense, they are becoming a new generation of expert’s, with a more ‘shared’ approach. 

There’s a great post by Sprout Social (Jackson, 2018) which outlines the likely trends of influencer marketing for the coming year. The full post is available here, below is a quick breakdown of the main points:

1. New FTC Guidelines – this will mean more transparency for ‘paid posts’, Instagram (which is the most popular social network for influencer marketing) has a branded content option which makes the process easier.
2. Paid posts across social media platforms – at the moment, Instagram reigns over influencer marketing where almost 93% of influencers state is as their preferable network last year.
3. The use of influencer marketing tools – good for managing posts and socials media, essentially finding the best way to manage the workflow.
4. Measure ROI – obviously it’s paramount to make sure your posts are actually generating results.
5. Creation of useful content – basically, not ads. To be successful influencers, you have to sell yourself as an expert, as well as earing the trust of your followers.
6. More people to choose from – with a rise in influencer marketing, it’s not unsurprising that more people want to become influencers themselves; this also means low barriers to entry.
7. YouTube influencers – a whopping 70% of teenager subscribers on YouTube relate to the content they follow rather than that of the ‘traditional celebrity’, clearly there is a big market for influencers on this platform.
8. A closer relationship between influencer and brand – this will hopefully stop more transactional relationships, creating a more genuine approach toward the products.