5 trends that will rule the influencer marketing space in 2021

The year 2020 was huge for influencers, and congruently for influencer marketing platforms as well. Prashant Sinha, Co-Founder & COO, Momspresso, takes a look at the trends that are poised to dominate the influencer marketing space in 2021.

A year of anomalies is coming to an end. A lot went wrong in 2020, but we’d be amiss to not look at the many opportunities that the year created as well. As the world stayed home, cut off from the usual avenues of entertainment, social media became one of the only reprieves. And, this boom in social media usage ushered in the era of influencers.

Don’t get me wrong, influencers were already all the rage before the pandemic outbreak. India alone is home to tens of thousands of influencers, with huge follower bases and hundreds of brand collaborations. However, 2020 has been the year where certain influencers grew from 100K to 1 million followers in just 2 months and others actually went from being Instagram influencers to Netflix stars!

Yes, this year was huge for influencers, and congruently for influencer marketing platforms as well. The influencer marketing space currently stands at a whopping $10 billion and is poised to grow by 250% to reach $25 billion in less than 5 years. On that promising note, here’s a look at the trends that are poised to dominate the influencer marketing space in the New Year.

The burgeoning budgets for influencer marketing

As more users display an affinity towards products and brands promoted by the influencers who they love, brands are beginning to understand that influencer marketing can be their greatest tool. As a result, experts say that brand spends on influencer marketing are slated to grow by 40% in 2021. More brands will choose influencer marketing to reach new customers and create positive word of mouth for their products.

The rise of micro-influencers

Micro-influencers, or those with under 10K followers, are currently seeing an uptick in popularity, especially with homegrown or small-scale brands who are just setting foot in India’s hyper-competitive market. These brands do not have a lot of funds to spend on larger influencers, but still want to reap the benefits of influencer marketing. Thus, they may be looking for influencers who are affordable, have a smaller yet very loyal following, and perhaps also cater to vernacular groups. This is the reason why we’re seeing the growth of regional language micro-influencers. Another point to consider here is that instead of getting one or two celeb influencers, brands are using similar monies to rope in multiple micro influencers – influencers who are everyday people using the brand to drive higher credibility and engagement. The year 2021 will also see new brands entering the influencer marketing fray, making it a promising year for micro-influencers.

The explosive growth of video content

Innumerable videos are added and consumed across social media platforms every single day. With new features supporting video creators like Facebook Short Videos and Instagram Reels, the TikTok-esque bite-sized clips have taken the social media scene by storm. Apart from this, live videos have also been a go-to for many creators and consumers in 2020. From cooking to crafts to exercise, live videos have informed, entertained, and created connections. 2021 will see more brands and influencers investing in videos and enriching the social media experience of users.

The increasingly long-term collaborations

Speaking of enriching experiences, brands and influencers can no longer derive long-term benefits from one-off partnerships for new products. Today’s hyper-aware consumers can very easily see through such campaigns that are created just to hard-sell a particular new product or service. In 2021, influencers and brands will need to forge long term connections and collaborations to create relatable and authentic content around products. Brands can also create a community of influencers that they turn to at every step in their marketing journey, instead of peppering their products across many influencers, consequently reducing the impact of their social media campaigns. Long term relationships with influencers can be used effectively at every stage of the modern purchase journey. Well-planned campaigns help brands to not only connect with potential customers, but also motivate them to engage with and contribute to the brand.

The growing focus on social responsibility

If there’s one takeaway from this year, it’s that even when we’re in isolation, we’re not alone. It is clearer than ever that the community that sustains a business, matters as much as the business itself. The perspective has, thus, shifted away from sales-focused content to meaningful, authentic, purposeful content. Brands and influencers are speaking out about the causes they stand for, and earning the trust of consumers during this challenging time.

Superficial content is a thing of the past, and campaigns with deeper meaning will rule the roost in 2021 too.

It is clear that influencer marketing is no longer a short-cut to gaining sales. Consumers are invested in the lives of influencers, relate to them in many ways, and trust them completely when it comes to brand recommendations. With this in mind, and a conscious approach to content creation, the influencer marketing community is looking at a highly lucrative 2021, and we believe that consumers, in turn, also have a lot to look forward to!