Keith, Linkea 's vice president of marketing and strategy , plays a leading role at the intersection of marketing and technology.
The era of "Influencer 1.0" is coming to an end, and we are entering a new era... the era of Influencer 2.0. According to Statista (Paywall), let's take a look at the breakthroughs that could fuel a $16+ trillion global industry this year.
Rise of the creators
Over the past year, there has been a lot of debate in the industry about the difference between influencers and creators. The shortest explanation I can give is that a creator makes a living from the content they create, and an influencer makes a living from the influence they have on their audience. A creator can be someone who creates high-quality content, humorous content, or entertainment content that a brand can use on their channels. The agent can be a parent providing parenting advice or a healthcare professional teaching patients. The value of their brand lies in the impact their message has on the target audience. The creator may have influence, but this is not always the case.
In Influencer 2.0, I believe brands will be collaborating with more professional creators to create high-quality content that typically requires significant production resources to complete. When social media is more about entertainment than social interaction, the best content that is fully optimized for the channel will win. Creator content can be used outside of the creator's social walls, which brings us to the second pillar of Influencer 2.0...
Leave society
Influencer 1.0 partnered with influencers to create content for their channels and began using that content to pay. Influencer 2.0 is likely to tailor content created by influencers and creators to fit into the marketing ecosystem. These include connected TV, software display, out-of-home digital advertising, retail product detail pages (PDPs), retail media, and more. Authentic and relevant content is not only a staple of social media; Customers must be able to communicate across multiple channels. Influencers can help brands significantly increase awareness and equity, as well as increase sales.
Enable trading
As social platforms expand their commercial options—from Instagram Checkout to TikTok Shop to YouTube's affiliate marketing experiment—I predict the number of commercial content creators creating for brands will grow. DTC brands will create the ecosystem needed to fully purchase all digital content, while brands that sell through third-party sellers will ensure their content is supported in the cart.
Real-time shopping may also expand as brands look to develop the QVC model for the social era. If creators are interested in monetization beyond brand partnerships, many expect them to demand a piece of the pie for all the products they help sell on their stream. Experienced brands will want to forge deeper relationships with influencers and creatives beyond social content creation.
Improved partnership
Brands are starting to realize that influencers can be more valuable as product partners than social media creators. We saw it when Dunkin' Donuts teamed up with Charlie D'Amelio to add his namesake drink to their menu. Influencer 2.0 can empower brands that build close partnerships with influencers, where influencers integrate with exclusive product launches, provide valuable customer research to help develop innovative plans, and provide guidance on brands' broader creative and marketing strategies. Many brands hire creators to fully manage their social channels, either as full-time employees or as contracted consultants.
The influencer marketing industry is getting more and more complex and in the next phase you will see more and more brands using influencer content to improve performance in every aspect of the marketing organization. It’s no longer just impressions and interactions on social media; Now we also need to focus on using influencers to achieve significant growth in brand equity and sales. The next stage promises to be exciting, so buckle up.
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