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In the past decade, influencer marketing has taken everyone by surprise! When all the other traditional marketing channels have to deal with the brunt of economic pressures and the covid-19 lockdown, influencer marketing shifted the entire marketing scene to social media marketing.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is the process by which brands leverage well-known figures who have influence over their target markets to promote their brands. To further simplify – influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing that uses endorsements and product mentions from influencers. An influencer is someone who can influence others via their dedicated social following.

Traditionally, influencer marketing was restricted to celebrities and sports personalities with their dedicated fan following. Now, influencers are viewed as content creators with trusted content and social media following in their respective niche. In 2020, when everything turned turtle influencer marketing, and blogging has seen a growth of niche-based experts coming to the rescue with their trusted recommendations and content creation.

The recent growth of lifestyle bloggers and influencers also paves down a new career choice for many aspirants. Lifestyle blogging and influence marketing has not only challenged the traditional marketing strategies but also opened up space for work-from-home or freelancer content creators.

Key Influencer Marketing Trends to watch for in 2021 & 2022

As a blogger myself, I have seen this domain grow up close and personally. When I started blogging around five years ago, it was still not considered as a full-time career option. But, today owning an active website and a trusted social-media base is as same as having a trump card to win a lottery.

Having said that, building content isn’t that easy. It is a full-time job with the right inflow of creative juices, equipment investment, time, and dedication. These five years as a lifestyle blogger and social media influencer have won me many awards, recognition, and listed me in the Top Lifestyle Blogs lists with pure dedication and hard work.

1. Content – Genuine and ‘No-Edit’ Edit

The rise of genuine and life-based content has been the rule of thumb for influencer marketing and blogging. The past few years have seen a growth of influencers across the globe who create genuine or unique content that connects them with their audiences instantly.

Today, people want to see what is real and unedited! Influencers and bloggers focusing on real-life challenges, situations, and recommendations are everyone’s favorites. ‘No-Edit’ edit will be the way forward with content on the blog or social media in 2021-22. Slowly the prim-and-proper feed days will die out, and viewers will ask for non-edited content from the bloggers.

2. Video-based content – Not going anywhere

I have seen a shift from long-format content building to video content in my blogging career. Short-video content is loved and enjoyed by everyone. TikTok has become everyone’s favorite overnight and also transformed the lives of many content creators. The trends on TikTok are major marketing game-changers these days. The Cell Phone Deal 21 Essential TikTok stats marketers need to know in 2022 states the upwards trends of short-form video content. Influencers are loved and followed for their video content and the kind of relationship they build with the audience.

Video content is and will be the King, no matter what the platform is. Instagram reels, TikTok, or any other short-video-based platform. Make-up tutorials, hilarious videos, dance videos, cooking snippets, and DIY videos are the most consumed content today.

3. New Influencers on the block

The rise and growth of nano and micro-influencers as a preferred choice over celebrity influencers. Celebrities have and will always draw attention, but their recommendations often look and appeal more like advertorials. Brands want attention with the right alignment, awareness, and creativity, that comes from content creators and micro-influencers.

Nano influencers with just a few thousand followers to celebrity influencers with millions. According to a 2019 report from Later and Fohr, micro-influencers, particularly those with fewer than 25,000 followers, have the highest engagement rates at around 7%.

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Bloggers with the right informative and educative content in their niche are preferred any day over a random google search result. Micro-influencers and bloggers bring value, content, trusted audience, and budget-friendly options to the table.

4. New Social Media Platforms

New consumer-engaging social media platforms will keep up with the upward trends in influencer marketing. In 2020, TikTok had a blast of a performance, untouched by the pandemic that swept the world and kept people locked with little to do. But when TikTok was banned in India, other social media platforms found an opportunity and grabbed the attention.

The invite-only, audio-based social app Clubhouse and Instagram’s answer to TikTok – Reels, Moj, MXTakatak, also jumped the bandwagon in 2020, and still continue to grow.

5. Long-Term Partnerships

As a blogger, I have always enjoyed and preferred long-term blogging partnerships instead of one-off projects/campaigns. Influencers build up the trust and attention of their audience with authenticity and it takes time to influence with just one association. In 2021-22 we will see long-term partnerships between influencers and brands for capitalizing on performance-based persuasion strategy.

Copyright

©Dipika Singh. This article is the property of the site’s author. Any unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links are used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Dipika Singh (Gleefulblogger). With the right and specific direction to the original content.