[Infographic + Video] Virtual Views: Key Trends Impacting Influencer Marketing Between Now and 2025

CreatorIQ recently published a 2025 Trends Report detailing influencer marketing trends that emerged in 2020 and how they will impact 2021 strategies, as well as expected developments in influencer marketing in years to come. We discussed these trends in a webinar last week featuring report contributors from leading agencies.

Here are 7 big takeaways from the virtual panel, and if you would like to view the full discussion, the video is available at the bottom of the page.

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Panel Recording: The Key Trends Impacting Influencer Marketing Between Now and 2025

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If you would like to read or share the key takeaways, here is the plain text:

1. Gen Z

With major limitations on travel and gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, brands had to get scrappy with how they allocate budgets towards creating content, giving way to the rise of Gen Z influencers and their unrivaled creativity. Younger influencers started to use TikTok to create engaging, authentic content with limited resources from their own rooms, backyards, and driveways. Gen Z audiences have come to expect this kind of raw and real content not only from their favorite TikTokers but also from brands.

2. Paid Media

Gone are the days when influencer marketing was used as a tool for mere brand awareness and reach. With social media platforms introducing more and more tools to help marketers spend their paid media budgets, influencer content became the newest tool in that arsenal. Pairing influencer content with paid media strategies allows marketers to tap into advanced targeting and measurement, tracking conversion, building lookalike audiences, and optimizing content strategy via AB testing.

Tools like Creator Promote can help to simplify the influencer whitelisting process and unlock the capability to utilize paid media strategies to scale influencer marketing and get the most out of creator content.

3. E-Commerce

Affiliate tracking and first-party sales have become more prominent across social media in recent years and we expect it to make an impact on influencer strategies in the next several years, as well. Marketers still grapple with paying creators for conversions and influencers, so far, have not been incentivized by platforms to get into the e-commerce space. Both of these limitations are expected to be resolved and optimized by 2025.

4. Adoption by more verticals

According to Social Studies’ founder and CEO Brandon Perlman, only about 20% of companies use influencer marketing, and out of those, only 1% do it effectively. In the coming years, we can expect more companies outside of the traditional influencer marketing verticals (beauty, fashion, and travel) like pharma, insurance, tech, and the financial services space to adopt influencer marketing as it continues to prove its value on the bottom line across industries.

5. Influencers to permeate beyond social media

While Gen Z has become the raison d'etre for many brands for investing in influencer marketing, the value of the older consumers in the boomer and X generations is nothing to scoff at. Not only are older consumers increasingly entering social media platforms previously used primarily by younger consumers - like Snapchat and TikTok - they are also still extensively using traditional media like TV and magazines. We expect to see influencer marketing permeate into those media, as well, to capture the interest of these valuable consumers.

6. Long-term influencer relationships

In 2020, both brands and influencers learned the value of long-term partnerships. The influencers that had established relationships with brands had an easier time getting work as they began to lose opportunities for new partnerships. Brands that had a roster of tried-and-true creators to work with could rely on old-fashioned brand ambassadorships as influencers became willing to go the extra mile. This trend is expected to continue, as the value of influencer marketing continues to grow and authentic brand ambassadorships and endorsements become key.

7. Political content and an element of authenticity

One of the most important learnings to emerge from 2020 is the value of social media in creating and amplifying social justice movements and political campaigns. Younger influencers have become increasingly outspoken about the causes they care about. They will expect brands to follow suit and take a stance. In the coming years, we expect to see truly influence-driven election cycles and social justice movements, and brands will have to pay attention to the moment and use their voices - and budgets - with authenticity.

For more information on how CreatorIQ can help optimize and streamline your influencer marketing efforts in the gaming industry, reach out to sales@creatoriq.com.

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