Influencer marketing is not a new phenomenon, but it is constantly evolving and adapting to the changing needs and preferences of consumers, brands, and influencers. In 2024, influencer marketing will undergo a transformation, with an emphasis on authenticity, long-term partnerships, and micro-influencers. Here are some of the key trends that will shape influencer marketing in 2024 and how you can leverage them to grow your brand and reach your target audience.
AI Will Increasingly Integrate into Influencer Marketing
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already playing a significant role in influencer marketing, from helping brands find the right influencers, to optimizing campaigns, to measuring results. In 2024, AI will become even more integrated into influencer marketing, enabling brands and influencers to create more personalized, relevant, and engaging content for their audiences.
One of the ways AI will enhance influencer marketing is by providing signal liquidity¹, which is the ability to access and analyze data from multiple sources and platforms. This will allow brands and influencers to understand their audiences better, segment them based on their interests, behaviors, and preferences, and deliver tailored content that resonates with them.
Another way AI will improve influencer marketing is by generating creative content² that can complement or supplement human-generated content. For example, AI can create captions, hashtags, keywords, images, videos, or even entire blog posts based on the input of the influencer or the brand. This can save time and resources for both parties, as well as increase the quality and quantity of content.
AI can also help with influencer identification³, which is the process of finding and selecting the most suitable influencers for a brand’s campaign. AI can analyze various factors such as relevance, reach, engagement, sentiment, credibility, and performance of potential influencers and rank them according to their fit with the brand’s goals and values. This can help brands find the best influencers for their niche and budget.
A Greater Emphasis on Following Preferred Creators Across Multiple Platforms
In 2024, consumers will not be loyal to one single platform or channel, but rather follow their favorite creators across multiple platforms. This means that influencers will need to diversify their content and presence across different social media networks, such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, Twitch, Clubhouse, etc.
This trend will also create more opportunities for brands to collaborate with influencers on cross-platform campaigns that can reach a wider and more diverse audience. For example, a brand can partner with an influencer who has a large following on TikTok to create short-form video content that showcases their product or service. The influencer can then direct their followers to their Instagram or YouTube account where they can find more long-form content that provides more information or reviews about the brand.
By following preferred creators across multiple platforms, consumers can get more value and variety from their content consumption. They can also interact with them on different levels and formats, such as liking, commenting, sharing, subscribing, joining live streams or chats, etc. This can increase the trust and loyalty between consumers and influencers, as well as between consumers and brands.
Influencers Will Become Key to Many Affiliate Programs
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing where a brand pays a commission to an affiliate (usually an influencer) for generating sales or leads through their referral link. Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular and effective ways for brands to work with influencers because it is mutually beneficial for both parties. The brand only pays for results (sales or leads), while the influencer earns passive income from promoting products or services they love.
In 2024, influencers will become key to many affiliate programs because they have the power to influence consumer behavior and drive conversions. According to a survey by Influencer Marketing Hub⁴, 57% of consumers said they are more likely to buy something recommended by an influencer than by a traditional advertisement. Moreover, influencers can provide authentic reviews and testimonials that can persuade potential customers to trust the brand and make a purchase.
To succeed in affiliate marketing in 2024, brands and influencers will need to focus on creating high-quality content that showcases the benefits and features of the product or service they are promoting. They will also need to provide clear disclosure that they are using an affiliate link and follow the guidelines set by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or other relevant authorities. Additionally,
they will need to use smart tools that can track and measure the performance of their affiliate campaigns and optimize them accordingly.
Live Shopping Will Continue to Play a Greater Role in Influencer Campaigns
Live shopping is a form of e-commerce where consumers can watch live video streams of influencers showcasing products or services and purchase them directly from the stream. Live shopping combines the elements of entertainment, education, and social interaction, creating a fun and engaging shopping experience for consumers.
Live shopping is not a new concept, as it has been popular in China for years. However, it is gaining traction in other markets, especially in the US, where platforms such as Amazon Live, Facebook Live Shopping, Instagram Live Shopping, and TikTok Live Shopping have launched or expanded their features. According to Coresight Research, the US live shopping market is expected to reach $11 billion in 2021 and $25 billion by 2023.
In 2024, live shopping will continue to play a greater role in influencer campaigns because it can offer many benefits for both brands and influencers. For brands, live shopping can help them increase their sales, awareness, and loyalty by showcasing their products or services in real-time, answering questions, providing demonstrations, offering discounts or incentives, and creating a sense of urgency and scarcity. For influencers, live shopping can help them increase their income, engagement, and credibility by providing value-added content, interacting with their audience, building trust and rapport, and generating feedback and reviews.
To succeed in live shopping in 2024, brands and influencers will need to focus on creating entertaining and informative content that can capture and retain the attention of the viewers. They will also need to provide clear calls to action that can guide the viewers to make a purchase or take another desired action. Furthermore, they will need to use reliable and user-friendly platforms that can support live shopping features such as product links, checkout options, chat functions, etc.
A Greater Emphasis on Diversity and Representation in Influencer Marketing
Diversity and representation are important topics in today’s society, especially in the wake of the social justice movements that have taken place in the past few years. Consumers are becoming more aware and conscious of the issues of racism, discrimination, inequality, and injustice that affect various groups of people based on their race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, ability, religion, etc. They are also demanding more diversity and representation from the brands they support and the influencers they follow.
In 2024, diversity and representation will become even more important in influencer marketing because they can help brands and influencers connect with their audiences on a deeper level. By working with diverse and representative influencers, brands can show that they care about the issues that matter to their customers and that they respect and celebrate their differences. By being diverse and representative themselves, influencers can show that they are authentic and relatable to their followers and that they can inspire and empower them to embrace their identities.
To succeed in diversity and representation in influencer marketing in 2024,brands and influencers will need to focus on creating inclusive and respectful content that can showcase the stories, perspectives, and experiences of different groups of people. They will also need to avoid tokenism or stereotyping, which are practices that reduce people to their superficial characteristics or attributes without acknowledging their individuality or complexity. Additionally, they will need to use feedback from their audiences or experts to improve their content and ensure that they are not causing any harm or offense.
Influencer marketing is a dynamic and exciting field that is constantly changing and evolving. In 2024, influencer marketing will undergo a transformation, with an emphasis on authenticity, long-term partnerships, and micro-influencers. To succeed in influencer marketing in 2024, brands and influencers will need to leverage the key trends that will shape the industry, such as AI, cross-platform campaigns, affiliate marketing, live shopping, and diversity and representation. By doing so, they can create more value for their audiences, grow their brand awareness and loyalty, and increase their revenue and profitability.
Sources: (1) 16 Influencer Marketing Trends That Will Shape 2024. https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-trends/. (2) Delivering ‘niche at scale’: A look at influencer marketing trends. https://econsultancy.com/influencer-marketing-trends-2024/. (3) Unveiling the Future: 10 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch Out for 2024. https://medium.com/@kloudcrunch/unveiling-the-future-10-digital-marketing-trends-to-watch-out-for-2024-60245d56f5c6. (4) Eight Business Leaders Share Their Predictions For The Future Of …. https://www.forbes