Influencer marketing continues to be a key tool for successful communication and building a relationship between brands and consumers in the online space. Marketing research shows that in 2023, 63% of companies budgeted specifically for influencer marketing when building their marketing strategies (compared to 55% in 2020).
The continuous development of social platforms and changes in consumer behavior and preferences undoubtedly contribute to the fact that influencer marketing faces a number of opportunities, but also challenges. It is essential for brands to keep an eye on upcoming trends to effectively adapt them into their marketing strategies.
In this article, we'll take a look at which trends will dominate the world of influencer marketing in 2024.
- Growing Influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI technologies are improving, allowing for increasingly targeted and effective marketing campaigns and strategies to be created. In 2024, artificial intelligence is expected to play a significant role in analyzing data, predicting user behavior and creating content on social media. AI technologies are capable of identifying patterns and trends according to predefined parameters. This allows the creation of more personalized and impactful campaigns. Studies now show that over 70% of marketing agencies worldwide are using AI in their processes of working with customers and influencers.
Social platforms are also realizing the impact of artificial intelligence - YouTube recently added AI Tools that aim to "democratize creativity" and make it easier to perform certain activities, and TikTok has had the option for content creators to classify their content as "supported/generated by AI”.
- The "virtual" influencers
Some brands even decide to completely replace classic influencers with virtual ones, but this is still a test. And if you are coming across the term "virtual influencer" for the first time, we will explain in a few words exactly what this means and how it differs from the classic influencer. Virtual influencers are digital images that have been created using computer graphics software and are given fully human qualities and emotions. They have their own social networks where they show their daily life, interests, hobbies, and even difficulties and emotional journeys they go through. Virtual influencers represent and promote different brands, just like traditional influencers, through different formats. Their images are created so that they are no different from a real person when it comes to online presence. Examples of virtual influencers with millions of followers on social networks are Lu do Magalu, Lil Miquela, Barbie, Bermuda.
The number of virtual influencers will inevitably increase, with the development of technology and artificial intelligence, as well as the emergence of more and more digital studios and startup businesses focused on creating such images. This approach certainly has a number of advantages - since these types of influencers are generated with the help of software and are not real people, it is quite possible to constantly create content for their profiles, and they are always active on social networks, without adversely affecting their physical and mental health. Virtual influencers can promote absolutely any brand in all possible ways, do not create problems for their creators and are completely under their control. The very fact that they are not real people, but nevertheless share their daily lives with their followers, tell stories and express their emotions, makes them even more interesting and attractive to social network users who follow them and engage with their content.
Despite the numerous advantages of working with virtual influencers, it is important to note that with development, it will be increasingly more difficult to distinguish the real from the fake, reality from fiction. There is a danger that consumer trust in brands will significantly decrease if products and services are increasingly advertised by computer-generated images rather than real people. No matter how innovative, unconventional and exciting the technology for creating virtual influencers is, the personalized attitude, the creative thinking of the personality and the ease in human behavior help us, the users, to build trust and stable relationships with the "classic" influencers, and respectively and with the brands they display on their social media profiles. Despite the tangible presence of AI technologies in the world of marketing, a personal approach remains the key to achieving optimal results when creating marketing strategies and campaigns.
- Generation X enters TikTok
TikTok continues to expand its reach, and in 2024 it is expected that more and more representatives of Generation X (44-59 years old) will not only become users of the platform, but also publish content on it. This generation is increasingly engaging with videos posted on TikTok, but so far only about 5% of brands are using influencer marketing as an approach to specifically target users between the ages of 44-59. This makes it possible in 2024 to pay much more attention to influencer marketing on TikTok created by and for Generation X.
It has been noticed that Generation X is often overlooked and even forgotten when it comes to social media activities. A recent survey found that 92% of Gen X are active on social media, and 28% of them are TikTok users. It is expected that in 2024, brands will pay more attention to Generation X, especially when building marketing campaigns that include influencer marketing.
Brands whose core value is building trust among consumers will be profitable among Gen X. Тhis generation is loyal to a few brands that they know, trust, and use regularly in their daily lives. Gen Xers engage on social media with influencers and celebrities who are their age because they believe they can be trusted to recommend brands and products. In addition, Gen Xers who create content for social networks often focus on a specific niche and topic, an approach that is considered more personalized and authentic to the audience, and through which stronger connections are built between the brand, the influencer and the user.
A few examples of influencers in our country who are representatives of Generation X and have a loyal and engaged audience that keeps growing are Mira Dobreva, Geri Baeva, Lyudmila Slokoski.
- Even more UGC
UGC-generated content is a trend that will gain even more speed and popularity in 2024. User Generated Content is content that is created and shared online by users who do not have a strong presence and a large following on social media. The content that these users post is organic and natural-looking, and through it they share their honest opinion about a product or brand.
This type of content is characterized by authenticity and credibility, since the people who create it are unknown to the mass audience, and therefore rely on their opinion about the brand or product, rather than popularity and recognition on social media.
The use of User Generated Content is expected to increase significantly in 2024, thanks to a number of its benefits, some of which are:
- Building trust with the audience
- Suitable for implementation by both small and large businesses
- Low implementation cost
- Increase in organic website traffic and SEO
The most common formats for UGC-generated content are:
- Videos on IG Reels/TikTok
- Photos on social media (IG Story, IG Post, Fb Post)
- Reviews (ratings and opinions) on websites and social networks
- Blog articles
More and more brands will continue to use this type of content to build stronger connections, trust and loyalty with their users. More UGC Creators are expected to appear on social platforms in 2024, so we will see a significant amount of this type of content.
- Using different platforms
The trend in 2024 will be to publish content on several social networks, not just one. The idea is for content creators to have one main platform on which to focus the most, and the others to be ancillary, to publish similar content on them, but adapt it to the requirements of the respective platform (for example, a YouTube video can be published in the form of short videos with the most interesting moments such as Instagram Reel or TikTok Video).
It is essential for content creators and influencers to know the specifics of each social platform so that they have the peace of mind and security that even if one of them goes down, it will not significantly affect their online presence and that they will continue to publish content on other social networks.
In the online space, it is often discussed that there is a potential danger of platforms such as TikTok being removed due to a number of regulations and restrictions in different countries. But even if that happens, the short video format has become such a staple and favorite among social media users that it's unlikely to be the end of it if TikTok shuts down. The rest of the social networks also provide a wide selection of short video formats (IG Stories, IG Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat Stories) that users and content creators can target. Moreover, with the development of technology and artificial intelligence, a whole new platform focused on short video content could be created in a negative time, and it could be even better developed, and provide more features and opportunities for users and content creators.
These were a few of the most interesting trends in influencer marketing that we will witness in 2024. We hope they were interesting and useful for you. On our site you can also see what the trends in influencer marketing have been in the past 3 years.