With all of the rising buzz around the word ‘Influencer’, there’s not a single age-group that has not come across this word. May it Baby Boomers (ages 57 – 66), Millennials (ages 25 – 40), or Gen-Z (ages 9 – 24) – everyone is talking about them.
This word is now an industry of its own, so much so that PR is now a mix of traditional PR as well as Influencer Marketing (as a service provider). But how effective is Influencer Marketing really, and what are some of the key Influencer trends of note?
First off, this industry is set to reach $13.8 Billion in terms of economic spend in 2021.
Secondly, the care of the brand’s reputation is essentially in their keeping. A brand must be sure the Influencer’s content aligns with the brands’ overall image. Thus, Influencers act as story-tellers, more so – story-spreaders, and even reputation-builders sometimes. This is where you can see PR merge into the Influencer Marketing industry.
Fun Fact: On Instagram, industry experts suggest a price point of $1,000 per 100,000 followers. This price should be adjusted further depending on the reach and relevance of the Influencer. On YouTube, a price point of $100 per 1,000 views is a standard. The beauty of Influencer Marketing is that anyone can become an Influencer, and businesses has a plethora to choose and pick which one they want to work with. This allows them to reach large target audiences, notes Forbes.
Let’s hear from Fatima Shaikh from Radix Media MENA – on what their experience with Influencer Marketing has been, as we ask her 5 simple questions.
Q: Why are Influencers are important today?
A: “Influencer Marketing exploded in 2009 and since then it has only grown stronger, overtaking some of the established media touchpoints. If influencers were earlier used to drive awareness and consideration, they now play a crucial role in driving the bottom funnel – purchase/loyalty/advocacy & repurchase. They have helped brands shorten the purchase journey which shows you the importance of Influencer Marketing.“
Q: In what way is Influencer Marketing better than Traditional Marketing?
A: “Traditional Marketing offers passive communication with potential consumers whereas Influencer Marketing offers active conversation with customers. It would take brands years to establish credibility through traditional marketing, however through Influencer Marketing, it enables brands to talk directly to the consumer, position their brand and have them transit from awareness to purchase in minutes.”
Q: How has Influencer Marketing performed in 2021?
A: “Influencer Marketing has grown exponentially across all social platforms, markets and categories. The growth of Influencer marketing is directly proportionate to the evolution of social media platforms. All the new updates/changes on Social Platforms are driven and created for the influencers. Brands across B2B and B2C categories are now experimenting and open to long term collaborations unlike the past when only limited budgets were assigned.”
Q: Is there anything new/ or a fascinating change you’ve noticed in this industry as of 2021?
A: “Tiktok, Metaverse, NFT’s and cryptocurrency going mainstream….should I say more😊”
Q: What trends do you anticipate rising in 2022 – under Influencer Marketing and media in general?
A: “With Influencer Marketing, its time for regulation. Influencers will need to understand the importance of data and KPI’s. Influencer fees to be driven by performance and not perception. Overall media trends will circle around Data/Gaming/Metaverse and Performance Marketing.”
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