How has influencer marketing changed? – Past, present & future

Influencer Marketing Changes – The history of influencer marketing begins over 10 years ago when the first blogs were created. So the first influencers were bloggers and got their readers to buy things they used themselves. However, in recent years, influencer marketing has grown and changed a lot. Today, there are many different types of influencers who influence in different ways. For example, there are celebrities who often promote products or post on social media. Even “normal” people can now act as influencers and share their opinions about products.

Changes in Influencer Marketing

Over the years, influencer marketing has changed a lot. Primarily due to the increasing spread of social media and the associated reach that influencers have today. But the way companies use influencers has also changed.

In the past, influencers were often just a means to achieve greater reach for a brand. Today, however, many companies see influencers as a real added value for their marketing. Because influencers can not only achieve a large reach, but also be a trusted face for a brand.

This change is mainly due to the steady growth of the influencer market. According to a study by the consulting firm “Klear”.

the market for influencer marketing grew by around 32% annually until 2022.

The increasing demand for influencer services has also led to the professionalization of the industry. In recent years, more and more agencies and platforms have established themselves that support companies in their search for and use of influencers.

The way companies pay influencers has also changed in recent years. Many companies now pay not only per post or per follower, but also per engagement, such as likes or comments. This is mainly due to the increasing competition for attention. The greater the reach of an influencer, the higher the price.

All these changes show that influencer marketing is not a fad, but has become an established part of many companies’ marketing.

The future of influencer marketing

Influencer marketing has become one of the most important and effective advertising tools in recent years. It has become an integral part of digital marketing and many brands are realizing the benefits it offers. The future of influencer marketing lies with social media platforms, as they can help raise awareness of a brand, create engagement and generate more sales.

In the future, people will benefit from influencers in a variety of ways. Some examples are:

Micro Influencing

With the latest technologies, it will be possible to find out more about specific target groups, which will increase the chances of addressing target group specifics with appropriate influencer marketing. This means that brands can use micro influencers to create more targeted campaigns that cater to specific interest groups.

AI-powered influencer marketing

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already having a big impact on many areas of marketing and this will also apply to influencer marketing. AI can help compile more relevant information about specific target groups, making it easier to achieve company-specific campaign goals.

Video Influencing

Video content is one of the most popular content formats for social media channels. Moreover, videos are very effective in building reach and engagement. Therefore, video influencing will become increasingly important in the future to deliver more content to audiences and create more visually engaging content for brand names.

More sustainability

Sustainability is an increasingly important topic and companies need to understand and learn to follow a sustainable strategy in order to maintain their reputation as a trustworthy brand and to be able to succeed in the long term. Therefore, in the future it is very likely that companies will look for ethical standards and want to cooperate with influencers who can convey sustainable values to them.

Influencer Marketing: Conclusion

Influencer marketing has become a powerful tool to help companies build their brand. The relationship between companies and influencers has changed radically over the years: It is now necessary to build relationships of trust and design credible campaigns. Working with the right influencers can help inform more people about your product or service, generating more sales. All in all, it has become obvious that influencer marketing has changed a lot over the years – and it will certainly continue to change!

Criticism of influencer marketing

That’s how influencer marketing became as we know it today, and that’s probably how it will change in the years to come. Influencers reach thousands, if not millions, of people every day with their content. With that comes a huge responsibility.