Trends in Influencer Marketing in 2021 from MMI Agency

1. 9 TRENDS IN INFLUENCER
9 TRENDS IN INFLUENCER
MARKETING FOR 2021
MARKETING FOR 2021
Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool for brands to break through to reach consumers with
highly relevant content from influencers they know and trust. In 2021, due to the changing consumer
behavior through the covid-19 pandemic, influencer marketing poses more opportunity than ever for
brands to reach customers in their own homes, particularly as:
The average internet user now
spends 6 hours and 43 minutes
online each day
Roughly half of the 3.7 hours that
people spend using mobile phones
each day is spent using social and
communications apps
It comes as no surprise that 63% of marketers intend to increase their influencer marketing budget in the next year, and the
influencer marketing global market is expected to grow from $6.0 billion in 2020 to $24.1 billion by 2025. We’ve compiled
our take on the top influencer marketing trends we’re seeing in 2021 and how these can inform your 2021 marketing strategy
to maximize business value.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
ACCESSIBILITY
Diversity and inclusion are even more of a focus for brands and consumers in
2021, particularly with the visibility of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020
and the ongoing dialogue around racial equality in America. But, it will not just be
about having a diverse range of influencers to work with, rather the goal should
be to build diversity and inclusion into all aspects of your business to create
effective change and underscore your brand’s values.
MMI believes strongly in utilizing a diverse array of voices to connect to
consumers, including ensuring that BIPOC, LGBTQ+, size-diverse, disabled, deaf
and hearing-impaired creators are integral to influencer marketing campaigns
and paid equitably. Bringing more voices and viewpoints to the table leads to
increased creativity and work that resonates more significantly with consumers.
Around 15% of the world’s population lives with a disability. Whether pitching
influencers or drafting influencer briefs, it is important to ensure that every aspect
of the user experience can be experienced. This might involve asking influencers
you partner with to include captions on all video content, thus making it more
accessible. Furthermore, 85% of videos on Facebook is watched without sound,
so making your content digestible without audio is the first and easiest step you
can take.
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2. 9 TRENDS IN INFLUENCER MARKETING FOR 2021 2 of 3
AUTHENTICITY AND #NOFILTER
VETTING INFLUENCERS WITH
MORE THAN STANDARD METRICS
It is no secret that a clean and polished Instagram feed will garner engagement,
but a growing trend that began to surface in 2020 is the #NoFilter look, where
little to minimal edit is added to photos. It is important as a brand that the
product look real and authentic when partnering with an influencer. For a beauty
brand, this might mean including in your influencer brief not to use filters when
showcasing a product. Consumers relate to the realness of influencers who show
their authentic, vulnerable side.
61% of marketers consider finding relevant influencers for a campaign difficult. Often, brands come to us wanting to partner
with influencers who have huge followings or likes on their posts. But in 2021, we will start to see brands wanting to partner
with influencers based on more than their follower size.
An important aspect of the social media algorithm is real engagement. Platforms are savvy enough to weed out bot
interactions and, therefore, when vetting influencers, it is key to differentiate the influencers with real engagement. This
does not just refer to likes, but also comments. And the quality of comments will matter as well. While any comment length
will count as an engagement, comments are an important engagement indicator for the Instagram algorithm, so with this
in mind, it is a good idea to look for influencers who reply to their comments on a regular basis.
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THE CONTINUED RELEVANCE
OF MICRO- AND NANO-TIER
INFLUENCERS
INFLUENCERS AS BRAND
AMBASSADORS
Micro- and nano-tier influencers (20,000-200,000 followers) will continue to be
on the rise in working with brands in 2021. Often, we see micro- and nano-tier
influencers with higher engagement rates than mid- and macro-tier influencers,
because their followers see them as true friends they trust vs. a “celebrity.” It
will be important to partner with micro- and nano-tier influencers who align with
the brand’s target audience, values and goals since their audiences tend to be
closely engaged.
Repetition is king in marketing, as it often takes six to eight touches to make a
sale. In 2021, we expect to see brands begin to realize this same theory applies
to influencer marketing. One-off influencer posts or stories aren’t enough to
bring results for most brands unless you have a brand name that is already well-
established. We will start to see brands offering longer-term partnerships, or
brand ambassadorships, with influencers to get the brand’s message in front of
the influencers’ audiences multiple times per year rather than just once.
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3. 9 TRENDS IN INFLUENCER MARKETING FOR 2021 3 of 3
CAPTIONS AND EDUCATIONAL POSTS
SOCIAL SHOPPING
WILL BE THE NORM
SHIFT TO PERFORMANCE
METRICS
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Building on the quality of influencer engagement, we expect to see influencers incorporate longer captions and, therefore,
provide more educational posts when sharing branded content. Captions with 100 words perform strongest, and it makes
sense that longer captions drive engagement because it gives the audience more to relate to and interact with. These
educational posts will help ensure branded content remains authentic.
There are a number of ways influencers can create educational content beyond the typical Instagram posts and stories.
Instagram carousel posts are the perfect tool for easily shareable and educational content, as text can be included in both
the caption and text of the carousel images. And with likes disappearing, we might start to see shareable and saveable
content becoming even more important in 2021. Instagram Guides is another alternative and new way to share and consume
content on Instagram. Originally exclusive to a small group of health and wellness advocates and creators, it’s now available
to everyone. The opportunities for Instagram Guides are endless for beauty-, health- and even technology-focused creators
to create guides on their niche topics.
When partnering with influencers, the question brands have most is how they can
make the posts shoppable or link back to brand-owned pages. With Instagram
Reel, Instagram Live and TikTok all making shoppable updates in 2020, we can
expect to see social shopping on these top social media platforms begin to take
the lead. For brands with Instagram Checkout enabled, users in the U.S. will
be able to buy products without even leaving the Instagram app. Additionally,
creators will now be able to tag products from partner brands in Reels — building
on Instagram’s existing Shopping from Creators offering.
Instagram has also introduced new branded content tools for Reels, so creators
can add a branded content label to show when they are working in partnership
with a business or brand.
With the influencer market growing more and more saturated,
brands are becoming more selective and smarter. Even among
awareness-based campaigns, brands truly want to see clicks back
to their owned properties and other performance-based metrics.
Brands will continue to expect that their marketing dollars will
translate into sales numbers. In 2021, we may start to see brands
inquiring more about click-through rates in influencers’ media kits.
While this concept of performance-based influencer marketing is
new, and influencers traditionally fall into more of the awareness
category, influencers may have no option but to cater to what
brands are expecting to see in their metrics.
Email us at letstalk@mmiagency.com
Influencer marketing remains a powerful
tool in 2021 for brands to authentically
connect with consumers through the
trusted voices of the creators who
resonate most with them. If you’d like
more information on how MMI Agency
can help your brand build engagement
and drive sales through influencer
marketing, we’d love to start
a conversation!
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