#AryxeTalks: Influencer marketing as a growing part of the media mix

By Teodora Atanasova

Today we speak with Denitsa Germanova, a Digital Marketing Expert at Aryxe Group. She shares some of the trends in Influencer marketing, which will mark 2022.

How is influencer marketing changing in 2022? Which are the most distinguishable trends this year? 

Last year was marked by a slew of changes on social media, and the year before isn’t an exception to this either. And honestly, social media trends change constantly and consistently, thus challenging all who participate in them. Influencers are inevitably part of the participant group as well. There is one important shift in mindset that marked the past few years and it keeps gaining momentum: brands collaborating with influencers. This collaboration quickly became an integral part of a successful marketing strategy and it has also become the standard in social media marketing. Both 2020 and 2021 were years in which the platforms served almost as a testing ground for how all of this works.

The year 2022 to me almost seems like the year in which scaling and acceleration are going to take place. Brands came to a realization that working with influencers directly allows you to tap into their existing communities instead of struggling to find out and create new ones. Using the influencer`s trusted relationship with their audiences gives the brands almost like a shortcut to new, potential clients. I’m pretty confident that most of the trends in influencer marketing, which were relevant throughout 2021, will keep their relevance in 2022. We are still talking about focusing more on micro and nano influencers, niche content creators. Long-term collaboration instead of one-off projects is also a trend, which shall keep a steady pace in 2022. Since we are talking about changes and expected trends in 2022, I would like to outline three trends, which I find the most exciting and the most distinguishable:

• Live Shopping is becoming a greater part of Influencer Campaigns – Influencers and other key thought leaders promote products to their communities on their favorite social platforms, using live video and interactive content. Amazon, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram have all developed Livestream shopping tools. I am thrilled to see how content creators will extend and develop their creativity with live shopping tools.

• This year is going to be an educational period for influencer marketers to figure out not only live shopping but to start actively entering the NFT and virtual spaces, which“require a rapid learning curve”. In 2022 influencers will be experimenting with NFTs – brands and influencers are collaborating more with different NFT collectibles.

• Tech Developments are expected to play a big role in Influencer Marketing – brands are increasingly adopting AI and machine learning, and they will need to integrate it into their influencer marketing approach. They can leverage tech to identify new trends and strengthen collaborations with influencers.

Can influencers be relevant for any campaign?

One of the business marketing basics is that you can’t sell everything to anyone. This also applies to influencer marketing – not anyone can sell everything. The key is to find the right influencers for your business. It’s essential for brands to only collaborate with influencers where there is an alignment of values, principles, and audience. But this doesn’t mean a content creator is always the right decision for any campaign.

Influencer marketing isn’t the miracle cure for all businesses and strategies, brands can’t just do a one-off influencer marketing campaign and expect results. Influencer marketing is an integral part of a smart marketing ecosystem. Brands have to be also very careful with overdoing influencer marketing. А successful collaboration is natural and seamless. Brands should be more focused on a long-term collaboration with only a few influencers, who have the most relevant audiences for the business.

How to find the best possible influencer that will help your campaign?

Influencer marketing is the fastest-growing pillar of the digital marketing mix. Influencer marketing could be a wasted investment for brands if they don’t choose wisely. Taking the right decision is actually a mix of analytics, strategy, and empathy. Identifying the target audience is the core – what type of information your audience wants to see and interact with. Following the 2022 trends, brands should focus more on niche influencers who already have a strong trust relationship with their audience. This is all a brand needs to successfully move the needle and sell its products. The right influencer can be a game-changer for the company. Social media influencer campaigns can provide a huge lift for a brand if it is targeted in scope, measurement, and expectations.

How could new digital media products (such as Metaverse) affect influencers’ content?

The question today isn’t whether the Metaverse is coming or not, the question is whether companies and creators have a plan on how to be a part of the new era of the internet. And not only Metaverse, but we should also mention new platforms (such as Social Club in 2021, where the focus is put on the voice content), new products such as NFTs, etc. Similar products and platforms are shaping the future of businesses. Given that Metaverse could be a real game-changer, it will certainly change the landscape of social media. For instance, we could see an increase in available data, which has greater precision and value.

Brands will have to create their digital twins and follow or dictate the new trends in the Metaverse. Some of them have already begun working on this and influencers will need to think about creating their avatars and working with brands in the Metaverse. Creators are provided with a whole new aspect of interaction and communication, not only with their fans but also with their fellow influencer peers. It’s going to be the playground that has no limits at this point and allows all players, influencers, or businesses, to be innovators and creative geniuses.

We keep hearing more about nano influencers. How impactful can they be for a campaign?

One of the biggest advantages of micro and nano influencers is that a greater proportion of their audiences are highly engaged than those of influencers with larger audiences. Such partnerships are driving better results than partnering with influencers with a larger follower base. Nano influencers have between 1,000 – 5,000 followers and they are bringing one of the highest engagement rates on Facebook and Instagram. On TikTok, influencers with over 1 million followers had the highest engagement rates in 2021.

What can you tell us about influencer whitelisting and its impact on the brand?

This type of collaboration between influencers and brands allows brands to run paid ads through the influencer’s account. This means that the content creator is running ads on behalf of the brand. This is a unique way for the brand to use the influencer’s identity and create and deliver an authentic message because the influencers normally have trust within their audiences and can convert at a better conversion rate. This is a win-win situation where the brand profits from the influencer’s identity, but also the influencer can capitalize from the brand’s investments – a chance to capture a wider audience and to expand the reach. Brands are more and more liking this collaboration way because results are much more tangible. In 2022 there will be significant growth of this kind of partnership between brands and influencers.