Influencer's marketing seems to be the latest buzzword in marketing. Let's decode further about influencer marketing.
Since the start of the industrial revolution, production of goods and commodities has been vastly greater than demand.
1900's Marketing started with word of mouth and handwritten reviews about the product. Then the impact of TV and Radio helped marketers spread awareness around the brand.
Then the internet era started around the 1990s. When the internet was in its cradle, a popular marketing strategy was Spam. What you have heard is true. Spamming was an effective marketing strategy to have global reach.
But nowadays Spamming is determined to have great User Experience. Thanks to the various Search Engine Algorithms.
2010 started a new era in marketing called social media. Everyone started using smartphones. The power of journalism has changed from big corporations like New York Times, CNBC and other such corporations to every Tom, Dick, and Harry.
Each Google Update punishes promotions and Spam content. Only valuable content is ranked higher on websites.
Also, web usage from mobile surpassed web usage from 2017, and the rise of 4G has led to the new world of influencer marketing.
Famed Director Christopher Nolan often creates masterpieces. One of the famed Masterpieces is Inception. In that movie, protagonist Leonardo Di Caprio accepts the job of planting an idea into a person's subconscious mind...
Interestingly, influencers are do the same professionally....
Influencer marketing doesn't just involve celebrities. Instead, it revolves around influencers, takes the idea of celebrity endorsements, and places it into a modern-day content driven marketing campaign.
The impact of influencer marketing is very large. YouTube has paid around 6800 crores for Indian Content Creators alone. It is estimated to be a $16.4 Bn dollar industry by the end of 2022.
When someone says start-up, you will imagine someone working hard in a small office cubicle. Angel investors and Venture Capitalists pumping their hard-earned money to find the solution for the people's problem that has not been addressed before.
When someone says content creator, you will imagine people doing what they love, engaging with the community.
But we rarely correlate both things. Nowadays, Creator Economy is so exploding that creators who transform into start-up founders in the later phases of their lives.
Mr Beast is the best example of a creator turned founder. If you are not aware of it, Mr Beast is a YouTube channel founded by Jimmy Donaldson, who has 94 M subscribers. After he is gaining popularity, he started many companies like Mr Beast Burger and Feastables.
He turned into an investor for a Tech Start-up called Backbone. It is very exciting. As of 2022, around 40 people seem to be working in companies founded by him.
This is the power of the creator economy...
Also, brands can hire influencers to promote their content in a more organic way instead of paid marketing campaigns.
Since influencers have so much face value associated with them, they cannot promote any Brands without checking the credibility of the brand.
Here comes the need for Influencers' Marketing Platform like Grin, PickmyAd, Tagger, Tracckr, Mavrck etc., which help to make background verification and negotiation with influencers, giving a rough estimate of market value to the brands.
In simple words, these kinds of platforms act as an aggregator between influencers and brands.
Nowadays, people love video content more than any other form of content. 70% of creators prefer Instagram as their preferred content platform.
And marketing will always keep evolving, and with the advent of the metaverse, the sky is the limit for the creator's economy. Creators will help brands to provide great user experiences tempting them to make a next purchase making a win-win situation for the trio of Influencers, brands, and customers.
About the Author
Karthikraja is a branding consultant who helps in improving Customer Experience for various brands.