5 Points To Keep In Mind For Influencer Marketing In 2021

• Author: Deepak
• |
• Updated Date : May 15, 2023

Influencer marketing in 2021 is proving to be the closest form of marketing to tap into consumer psychology. It has shown its potential to mold and nurture a consumer’s mind. With the growing need for endorsements and ever-so-growing markets, it’s clear that influencer marketing is here to stay.

Before we look into the future of influencer marketing and its 5 crucial prerequisites for influencer marketing in 2021, we need to understand ‘influencers’. Influencers on social media are people who have created a loyal fan following for themselves through content they post on various online channels. Marketers use influencers to tap into their loyal following and endorse their products or services. Influencer marketing has made a mark in many sectors of business. From fashion influencers to e-commerce influencers, marketing strategies have been devised so that companies can get the most out of the followers of these influencers. Fundamentally, marketers must mold their business needs parallel to the influencer marketing trends in 2021.

When companies or brands invest in influencer marketing they expect to drive awareness and sales for their respective products. If you are uncertain about the type of influencer to choose for your brand to achieve this, we have compiled crucial points to keep in mind when looking at influencer marketing in 2021.

• Target audience – When a brand chooses an influencer for their campaign, they must do so keeping in mind their TG. They must pick an influencer with a following which would resonate with the brand’s TG or possess the brand’s TG. The influencer you pick must also be aware of the social influencer marketing trends that are prominent today. When there is a disconnect between the chosen influencer and the brand, there will never be synergy. Influencer marketing in 2021 is clearly competitive and to be even minutely relevant, one must master an ideal target audience.

 

• Quality content– When you’re looking to finalize on an influencer, reviewing the content they put out is pivotal. Social influencer marketing trends keep changing with time and the content that your chosen influencer must put out must be in line with them. The quality of the content they put out will be directly proportional to your product or service. If the content to endorse the product is not up to the mark then the perception of the product automatically becomes poor. To get the desired ‘relevant’ reach, content should be reviewed for quality. 

 

• Engagement Rate – Engagement is the most common metric used for measuring influencer marketing success. It is the sum total of the likes, comments, shares divided by the total number of followers of the influencer. This helps the brand understand or rather approximate the potential reach of their content. Social media platforms have played their part to impose bans on third-party services that peddle fake followers and inauthentic engagement. This hinders the performance of the campaign planned out for endorsement. Influencer marketing in 2021 is no gimmick. There aren’t any shortcuts to having an influencer campaign that delivers what you need.

 

• Platform – Influencer marketing rose to fame after the infamous app Tik-Tok blew up. The use of TikTok had become one of the biggest social influencer marketing trends at the time and having the right influencer for your brand on that platform would have immensely helped. Many content creators got branded as ‘influencers’ and this started a whole new verticle of marketing. When a brand is zeroing in on a platform, it must have an understanding of which platform will create the maximum amount of reach, which in turn becomes a purchase. A few of the most popular platforms as of now are Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. The brand needs to figure out the platform which would resonate the most with its users.

 

• Crystal clear objective – Before a brand begins with their influencer marketing campaign, they need to zero down on their objective and what they want to achieve from it. It is very important to stick to the influencer marketing trend. Broadly the objectives or rather the goals are of 2 categories.

                      1.Brand awareness 

                     2.Direct response

Brand awareness is the most popular influencer marketing campaign objective. A great way to measure brand awareness is by measuring metrics that are directly correlated with it. Metrics that you can track are likes, impressions, mentions, comments, traffic, and reach. 

Direct response is more of a conversion-based campaign objective. The metrics to look into for these kinds of campaigns are specific actions, such as clicks, sales, conversions, leads, downloads, and subscribers. There are also integrated campaigns that drive engagement as well as urge conversions. These campaigns are solely dependent on the influencer the brand chooses for the campaign. 

Another important point to keep in mind apart from the ongoing influencer marketing trends in 2021, is to have a systematic reconcile. Identifying the KPIs is as important as the campaign itself. This will give a clear-cut idea of the way forward and how to channel each campaign. This added with a basic hygiene check, you’ve got yourself a solid influencer marketing campaign.

As mentioned earlier, Influencer marketing is here to stay. There are countless innovations that we come to know in this space day in and day out. Today’s influencer marketing trends might be way different from tomorrow’s but being timely on this ever so changing bandwagon is crucial. There have been many successful influencer campaigns carried out by highly motivated influencers and brands, TATA Cliq’s  #MallAtACLiQ is one such example of a campaign that leveraged influencer marketing to its potential.