How often do you hit the skip ads button when watching YouTube? Or maybe you don’t notice because you’re subscribed to YouTube Premium? The point is people are willing to pay for ad-free experiences precisely because they don’t like ads.
This is where your “infuencer friends” come into the picture. People wish to learn about products and services through the people they know, admire, and trust. Someone who feels close to you, almost like family. So if you’re a brand contemplating, “How do I become friends with influencers?” this entire post is for you.
Influencer friends is another term for social media users with a large following. Their interests include health and wellness, fitness, fashion, parenting, photography, and celebrity. Before the dawn of social media, companies relied heavily on traditional mediums such as print and broadcast. This forces you to talk to your consumers and be the interrupter. But social media changed all that. Now brands have the chance to become part of the consumer dialogue.
Influencer Marketing Trends to Watch Out for In 2023
How does one determine who is an influencer person? So many things have changed for the creator economy in the past decade, and it’s important to keep up-to-date with the latest influencer marketing trends this 2023. It is now a question of whether or not companies should consider influencer marketing during fiscal planning. Today it is an essential part of a brand’s budget. In 2016, the influencer industry had a valuation of about $1 billion and is projected to be worth $80 billion come 2028. So here are some top trends to look forward to this year.
Influencer Style Variations
Who is an example of an influencer? Gone are the days when only celebrities or top models could excel in big niches. Now ordinary people who influence their community and their audience can be influencers. Brands are scouring for people like this and will position them into various niches that everyday folk can relate to.
More Platforms are Included
How do you call someone an influencer? Back in the day, influencers were Instagram-specific. But now they are also blowing up on YouTube shorts and are coming up with long-form videos. Then there are the TikTokers, Facebook, Twitch, and Instagram influencers. And we’re talking about more than just people with hundreds of thousands or millions of followers on these platforms.
The same goes for micro and nanoinfluencers stealing the show while streaming on smaller platforms. These people work with brands they are passionate about. So don’t just wait for these brands to reach out when you can pitch to brands yourself. Just make sure you have something great and unique to offer.
Transparency
Do you know some Hollywood actors who are so good yet underrated? The same goes for influencers, who can be so good yet underrated and underrepresented. But all that is about to change this year because they will enjoy more spotlight, campaigns, and a more significant chunk of the pie. This means the pay gap among various creator types will decrease as transparency increases.
For instance, influencers are more open about sharing how much they get on TikTok. However, this can be a double-edged sword, so the creator community must also be careful. It’s a time when people can simply post their profile or contact information online. That said, you have to make sure everything looks professional and authentic. And to ensure you have terrific and consistent content followers can look forward to, get the help of the social media management software that can do the legwork for you. Learn more in our Lately review.
Transition From Creator to Brand
Some creators get millions of views per video, which is good but can be difficult simultaneously. This means they will have to narrow down the pool of brands they can work with if they charge $20,000 a pop, for instance. Not all brands can pay that amount. So eventually, they will need to work with a very select number of brands and eventually transition to developing their own product or brand.
When you hit the mark where you already have a massive reach, you need to work with specific brands to get paid what you are truly worth as a creator. In the past, you could give creators free stuff in exchange for their time, talent, unique content, and massive reach, but not anymore. They know they deserve to be paid more because so much goes work goes into every quality post that gets so many views, engagement, and, ultimately, conversions.
Whitelisting
Smart brands will work with fewer influencers and create deeper, quality relationships with individuals who can deliver solid results. Then they are going to scale with them via whitelisting. This means when a brand pays an influencer and runs ads through them; the ad will come from the influencer’s account, not the brand’s.
For example, if you’re scrolling through Instagram, you may see your favorite influencer with a sponsor, but it’s actually coming from the brand. The influencers who get paid the most create content for their brand partners that go beyond simple posting. We are talking about the brand’s content on the influencer’s page, sponsored lives, podcasts, speaking engagements, shopping hauls, etc.
More Influencer Packages
Finally, influencers will develop more packages to suit the brand’s needs. It can be an IG live, a YouTube or a TikTok video, or a combination of all these things. Of course, it will be much more expensive, but only because it requires more work and is focused on developing quality and long-lasting influencer-brand relationships. And to make life easier during your brand-creator collaboration, utilize the perfect social media management platform to suit your needs and budget. Learn more from our Postify review.
Competition is so fierce that you can’t pay an influencer for one video and expect magical results, conversions, and a skyrocket in sales. It’s not enough, and you must work with influencers for long periods. Influencers are now being utilized to help brands produce more content, grow their email list, act as their ambassador, and so on.
On Being An Instagram Influencer
Next stop, we focus on one of the pioneer platforms in influencer marketing- Instagram.
Despite what some people may think, being a successful Instagram influencer is not as easy and glamorous as it seems. It requires a lot of work, research, countless takes, and fantastic editing skills to create an IG post that works. Does this mean it’s too late for you to join the Instagram Influencer bandwagon in 2023? Of course, not! But it would be great to be armed with the following tips before starting your influencer journey.
Copycats Abound
Think about some of the most famous influencers on Instagram. Even if many people are aware of this reality, some still get seriously shocked and upset when it happens to them. Your content can be stolen, especially if you succeed in your IG posts or reels. Some can be so heartless as to steal someone’s entire rebranding- from their graphics, colors, quotes, and templates. Others will steal your methods or things that you teach and copy you word for word without batting an eyelash. They would claim it as their own and give the original owner zero credit.
Everyone knows there’s a big difference between getting inspiration from content to stealing them entirely. The thing is, you have to walk the talk. If you’re talking about transparency and giving credit where credit is due, you have to be willing to divulge your resources, coaches, and sources of information. Then try to find a way to do things better and more efficiently, don’t just copy and paste without permission or tags. Remember that it takes a tremendous amount of effort to come up with such content. So give credit to creators and learn how to copyright your stuff, especially on Instagram.
Create Multiple Income Streams
Maintain multiple income streams, and never consider Instagram your sole business. Yes, the day may come when you can look at being an Instagram influencer as a big asset but do not make the mistake of turning it into your only source of income. Many newcomers think that when they reach that coveted influencer status, they are “set for life”; sadly, they’re not. So the key is mastering one source of income before moving on to the next until you have multiple income streams.
Set Boundaries
It is indeed important for you to stay genuine and authentic to yourself, primarily if you are representing a brand. After all, people hate phonies, and you will get found out sooner or later. But you are not obliged to become one of those “best friend influencers”. However, you also need to set some boundaries so that your persona as an Instagram influencer won’t eat up your personal life. You see, as you grow, people will expect you to use your platform to take a stand, voice your opinion, take a stand, or choose a side and “use your platform for good”.
The thing is, damn if you do, damn if you don’t. Because some people believe you should veer away from hot topics or conversations and never force your views onto your followers. So before you even grow and make it big as an influencer, it’s up to you to set boundaries so things don’t get too personal.
Pleasing Them Destroys You
When you become an influencer, it’s hard not to meet people’s expectations. You don’t want to disappoint your followers, so try doing what they want. Before you know it, you’re now a wind-up doll. They can turn the key, and you will tell them what they want to hear. Do not fall into this trap. Run your personal brand as you want to because it’s your body, your face, and your reputation at stake. So you have the right to choose what you’re comfortable doing, saying, or representing.
How to Safely Navigate the Influencer Marketing Bubble
We’ve all heard of spectacular marketing strategies that launched colossal businesses virtually overnight. However, the risk is incredibly high. The actual cost of influencer marketing is negligible compared to the bigger problem that some online celebrities have to deal with.
Some influencers are losing people’s trust, and the sad part is that they do not realize it and don’t even care or comprehend the bigger picture. As long as a brand can pay them, they have no problem giving their recommendation. It doesn’t matter if they will promote a pump-and-dump scheme and other shady offerings.
A lot of their viewers are very young and impressionable. Sadly, many scandals surround some influencers who were caught advertising to kids, like failed music festivals and pumping and dumping failed crypto projects. The thing is, these kids aren’t dumb, they can see through you, and they know if you’re just saying things to make big bucks.
Influencer Friends: Are They Still Around?
It’s hard to say, but so many things have changed since ten years ago. Over the course of their careers, influencers began eroding the trust their followers lovingly gave them years back. In 2014 when top influencers were talking about a product in their modest apartment, it felt like they were talking to a peer or influencer friends. But now that they’re dancing around in their mansions, they can’t help but give the impression that they’re nothing but a celebrity sponsor. People can’t relate to them because they fail to genuinely recommend the products they’re endorsing because, let’s face it, they don’t need or use them at all.
Influencers are not your friends. What brands are now realizing is that social media influencers are much riskier than traditional celebrities. The latter appear in carefully planned settings wherein their managers guarantee they don’t say or do anything out of line. If ever they do, it’s edited out before they are released to the public.
But many influencers do the exact opposite. A lot of things they are doing are live, which is far more dangerous. If brands and influencers want to keep this a lucrative industry, they must do so soundly and responsibly. There’s nothing wrong with giving people relatable advice about certain products and services, as long as what they say is 100% true and does not mislead the people. For more tips and tricks on how to succeed as an influencer in 2023, check out our post, “How to Become an Influencer: 5 Easy Steps.”
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