What’s Driving Influencer Marketing In 2023?

Influencer marketing continues to sweep the world by storm. It has grown to be a whopping $21.1 billion industry in 2023. Brands are becoming more aware of the ability of influencers and content creators to forge genuine connections with their target customers.

 According to a study, 97 per cent of Gen Z consider social media to be their favourite source for shopping inspiration. Companies or brands understand that Gen Z consumes material at an extraordinarily fast rate. Thus, these firms seek out influencers to reach out to their customers.

*Rise of Micro & Nano Influencers

Consumers now look for more personal, authentic and relevant content. As a result, marketers concentrate on roping in nano and micro influencers. These smaller influencers connect and engage with their community as one would do with one's family, some even posting on a daily basis. This enables them to have a considerable influencing power over their followers. Customers rely on these influencers for their product reviews, knowledge and even transparency.

Mae Karwowski, CEO and founder of Influencer marketing agency feels that micro influencers and nano influencers have a specific talent or narrative which excites their followers. Till a few years back, brands would only work with celebrities and big names but Mae feels that has definitely changed now. The delivery of more authentic and personal content by these micro and nano influencers to their followers is an important factor for their popularity.

More than 70 per cent of marketers are of the opinion that the quality of traffic and customers generated through influencer marketing is superior to that of other sources.

*How to Make Influencers Marketing Work for Your Brand?

Foremost, finding the right influencer is imperative for your brand or company's success. They should occupy the same space as your target customers. For example, if you are into selling art and paintings but employ an influencer that has food or clothes as their forte, then it is unlikely that you would get the results that you are looking for. The influencer needs to complement what your brand is about and thereby direct it to your target audience.

The next point is to be seen as much as possible on different social media platforms. Influencers found Instagram to be highly effective in engaging with their audiences, followed by Facebook and Twitter.

Brands can come to life through influencers. They can create an experience around your brand. The audience would then learn and understand about the brand with more positivity. And be willing to purchase it.

Allowing influencers to create unique content about your brand is also important. If you wish to control everything that the influencer has to say, then it would lose its credibility. The audience might not respond well to that content as they may find it to be sponsored and not interesting enough.

*The Indian Influencer Market Status

The influencers marketing sector in India was estimated to be worth over 12 billion Indian rupees in 2022. It is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 25 per cent over the subsequent five years. By 2026, its market value is projected to reach 28 billion Indian rupees.