Influencer Marketing in 2021
2020 has been one hell of a year for many businesses.
Thankfully, a new year presents new opportunities to reinvigorate your social media strategy and find ways to improve your results.
One area that you might be looking at a bit more closely is your Influencer Marketing strategy. Getting across the recent social media platform innovations is a great way to access new opportunities for working with influential content creators.
Here we look at three of the biggest recent social media algorithm developments and consider their possible applications to influencer marketing in 2021:
TikTok
As a relatively new app, TikTok has thrived in short-form video content. The app hits the sweet spot between Vine and YouTube, allowing users 60seconds per upload, perfect for the short attention span of gen Z, who make up 41% of users (Ages 16-24).
When it comes to influencer marketing, TikTok presents some awesome possibilities for brands. Earlier this month TikTok allowed some of its largest creators’ early access to longer-form content, extending the time limit to 3 minutes.
What this means for brands is greater time on screen, longer than most of the other applications at present.
We can see this being fantastic for the fashion and beauty industries, for example, who could thrive with 3minute makeup tutorials, or behind the scenes getting ready instructionals.
In short, working with a TikTok content creator could open up new markets and content creation opportunities for your brand!
Instagram Shop
It shouldn’t come as a surprise when we confirm that Instagram is the third most popular social media app after Facebook and YouTube. As the home of the influencer, many users turn to their favourite online personality for fashion, beauty, and lifestyle advice. Thus, creating a great opportunity for brands to get in front of new audiences.
Just recently Instagram announced that it would allow Shoppable links on IGTV and Reels. These new features allow a fully immersive shopping experience without ever leaving the platform. In time influencers will be able to link products directly to a business’ storefront streamlining the purchase process.
How does this help you? Well, the research shows that:
130 million users tap on shopping posts every month
62% of users say they are more interested in a brand after seeing it in their stories
200 million users visit one business profile per day
49% of users rely on influencer recommendations with 40% purchasing a product
The ability for influencers to link directly to their product recommendations ensures that within seconds of seeing a post consumers can be purchasing your product. If implemented correctly into your marketing strategy it will have a positive impact on sales numbers. To maximise effectiveness, ensure the influencers your working with link ALL products to your shop front, don’t just settle for being tagged!
Instagram Reels
Instagram Reels (or ‘Reels’ as it has become known) is the most recent addition to Instagram and their (rather competitive) response to TikTok. Reels gives creators the opportunity to produce entertaining 15-second clips that are shared to the Explore page rather than their newsfeed, giving organic reach like we haven’t seen for a LONG, long time!
See, Reels content is favoured by the Instagram algorithm so early adopters are rewarded with significantly higher organic reach. Also, we know that video content has higher engagement, has an 80% increase in conversions, and grows revenue 19% faster than images. Combine this with the benefits of influencer marketing and you have a winner.
Working with an influencer who is using Instagram Reels will expand your brand reach in new ways and open up sales pathways with new markets. We are also excited with where e-commerce integrations will go here, with Instagram announcing that it will allow content creators to tag product. So much more to come! #WatchThisSpace.
Where to from here?
We know that a lot of people have reservations about influencer marketing. Whether that’s due to a bad experience, or bad press. And yet the results show that 67% of SMEs who have used influencer marketing have seen results.
If / when you’re ready to give it a go, putting in place a robust influencer marketing strategy that factors in the algorithm shifts and e-commerce opportunities is the place to start. Get in touch and let’s have a conversation about your goals, and how we can help in this area of your social media strategy!