AL NATIONViral Nation’s Influencer Predictions for 2023 O1 In social, video content is king 0 2. Greater emphasis on diversity and representation 0 3 Live shopping is set to shake up e-commerce OA. Bise of a new influencer: the employee advocate 0 5 UGC to take the main stage 0 6 New features to reach new audiences 0 ad It's not your typical employee 0 8 TikTok is the newest search engine 0 9 Putting web3 into perspective 1 0 Rise of the B2B influencerIntroduction Influencer marketing is the hottest word in the digital marketing world right now. According to eMarketer’s “Influencer Marketing’ report, almost 75% of marketers are leveraging influencer marketing this year and we will see that number jump to a whopping 88.7% by 2026. More and more brands are leveraging influencer marketing and social media marketing in their go-to-market strategies. This insurgence is likely why the industry is expected to grow to $16.4 billion by the end of 2022. Brands are relying on influencers to build trust with followers, increase brand awareness, while adding value to their content strategy and reaching a desired target audience. Social media has been one of the most impactful technological inventions of this generation and whether you love it or hate it, influencers play a huge role within the consumer journey and specifically in the final decision making process Deloitte conducted a consumer survey, where 70% of people admit they will trust a recommendation from someone they don't even know and 40% of people noting they rely on social media to browse products, read recommendations and find any deals or promotions. This gives brands a unique opportunity to collaborate with influencers and reap all the benefits that come with building these relationships, which can far exceed the sale itself. Check out some of the biggest predictions in the influencer marketing industry to stay on trend and maximize your business’ revenue and potential. 3Viral Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Roport In social, video content is king People. Love. Watching. Videos. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram Reels, Instagram Stories, Instagram Video, and TikTok featured videos are just some of the ways people hit their video quota of the day. According to eMarketer's “Influencer Marketing” report, video platforms have been on a steady incline for the past year or so and will continue to prevail through to 2026. A rise in creator video and live streaming, paired with the greater availability of social video content ‘on people's television screens, present marketers with the opportunity to reach video consumers in many different ways. Why are people obsessed with watching videos? Consumers want to rec nt, quick way that allows them to engage with their favourite influencer. This has led to the social media dominance of TikTok videos, Instagram Reels and Youtube Shorts. 96% OF GEN Z generation prefer watching videos that are under 4 minutes long, with 94% of millennials and 86% of Gen X preferring the same. e information in a conve:‘Viral Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Tends Report What does the future hold for video powerhouses? TikTok will see a 10% increase in being an influencers go-to-video platform between now and 2026, while Youtube will see a 5% increase in marketers choosing to use this platform for influencer marketing. Video podcasts will continue to gain more popularity as people become interested in watching guests be interviewed and viewing more behind-the-scenes content to connect with the influencer or podcast host. Video ad spending will increase from $76.20 billion in 2022 to $125.57 billion in 2026, really emphasizing the importance of focusing on video content to advertise and engage with your audience. Keep videos short and engaging, but make sure to truly understand the appropriate length of video time based on what platform you are posting to, in order to appeal to that audience. Timing not only differs based on social media platforms, but based on target demographics as well. It's important to have a deep understanding of your target audience and what they are looking for from their video content. 05Vira Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report Va Greater emphasis on diversity and representation Every business has put a large emphasis on diversity and representation within their company, making influencer marketing no exception. How can businesses ensure their influencer marketing space is equally representative of all genders, races, sexualities, body types and ‘opinions? More so than ever, people want to support brands that believe in diversity and inclusion, while also speaking up for social injustice whenever possible. In a survey that examined consumers’ attitudes towards businesses and how they think about diversity and social injustice, it found that 42% of respondents said they have started or stopped using a brand because of their viewpoint or response to such situations. Further to that, 48% of marketers say in order for brands to be culturally relevant on social media, they need to align with challenges that they feel they can have an impact on. Brands who embrace their power and use it for good are ones that consumers feel that they can support and align with because it's a reflec n of their own values.Viral Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report According to Sprout Social, 71% OF CONSUMER say it’s important for brands to raise awareness and take a stand on social issues. When brands take a stand, consumers stand with them. It comes at no surprise that the Gen Z and Millennial generation spend the most amount of time consuming media per day, when compared to other generations. Individuals ages 18-36 spend an average of 17.8 hours a day with different types of media. A massive amount of consumption with a lot of media hours that are overlapping, like when people scroll Facebook while watching TV and texting their friends. Consumers are more understanding of the power they hold. Consequently, the purpose of a brand or individual has evolved from one of offering a solution, service or product to one of building a trusted relationship - one of authenticity, one of true connection, one that gives back, one that listens AND reacts. Ultimately, your audience needs to see themselves in your brand, In addition to this, we have seen the rise in a concept of “cancel culture”, where companies or individuals can be ostracized based on various political, environmental, racial issues and more. This new world and the future on social media is one where we bring meaning, personalization and people back to the forefront. Having a voice about social causes that are important to you is equally as important to your audience and is a great opportunity to continue to build purpose into your organization. Think about inclusivity from the very start of your strategy and how you can partner with influencers and create mandates or requirements at various levels of the process to ensure that roles and expectations are clear. This can help drive the narrative of many different backgrounds and can tell many different stories. oViral Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report More niche industries, brands or products will have a smaller talent pool to pull from when collaborating with influencers. However, there are other ways to grow and expand. Oftentimes, the best partnerships are those that are unexpected and unique, for example. If you want a diverse audience, why doesn't the same apply for influencers that represent your brand? It’s important to make sure measures taken by your brand to stand up for social injustice are genuine and authentic. 08Vira Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report x Live shopping is set to shake up e-commerce Retail has greatly transformed over the last few years, as more commerce moves online and influencers play a growing role in driving product affinity. In Asia, live stream commerce, or live shopping, is revealing massive revenue opportunities, and that trend is extending to other regions. As you've probably noticed, Instagram and Instagram live have already integrated live shopping into their platform. Walmart relies on TikTok to host their live-stream shopping events, while other notable companies are hopping on the bandwagon According to eMarketer, shoppable images and videos are the lea purchase. How exactly did live stream shopping become so popular? Because it simulates the real in person shopping experience. From the comfort of their own home, consumers can view products and product details, see how the product works and understand the brand and stories behind creating the product. g type of content when it comes to adults actually making a Leaning into the concept of exclusivity, limited time launches or sales can generate excitement and add a sense of urgency to purchasing decisions. Humans can't resist the limited-time offer and live shopping capitalizes on that fundamental trait. Having an interactive live stream component to ecommerce also helps instill buyer confidence, as shoppers can better view goods and understand what they're purchasing. Being able to interact with the stream host further strengthens that confidence, while also building brand affinity by fostering community.Vira Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report Rise of a new influencer: the employee advocate Ion TikTok Have you ever heard of the Ikea employee who went after posting the most ridiculous FAQ's by customers? How about the Dollar General employee who got 1.8 million viewers on TikTok after posting the challenges of being a retail store manager? These are just a few examples of what generating organic engagement can do for an employee and the company they work for. Employee influencer programs have slid under the radar for so long and are finally being given the spotlight they deserve. What exactly is an employee influencer program? A program usually put forward by the marketing or PR department that attempts to turn employees into small-scale influencers that rewards them for posting content on behalf of the business.Viral Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report It can be as simple as having your employees like, comment, share or repost a social media post or having them develop custom content on your behalf. This content can be developed to promote products, highlight company successes and engage with its consumers. It humanizes the brand and gives customers the authentic content they actually want to engage with. A win-win situation! There is also something to be said about the relationship and credibility that is built through the employee advocate. Sharing relevant company information and a point of view that consumers usually don’t have access to, creates that meaningful, trustworthy relationship that all consumers and business owners strive to gain. Not only does this support a company and their products, it can also improve employee retention and showcase the culture of a company. This is a perfect way of giving your employees a voice and having them be rewarded for their contributions.Viral Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report UGC to take the main stage What is a UGC creator? User-generated content creators are paid to make posts about products that are then distributed across the actual brand's marketing channels. Unlike influencers where they post content on their personal page, UGC creators give the content to the brand they are collaborating with, who then receive all rights to redistribute the content as they see fit N SHORT TERM influencers get paid to create content and distribute, while UGC creators get paid to only create content. Why exactly are we predicting they will take the main stage? Firstly, these creators are viewed as more relatable to consumers in a time where people are showing less interest in the perfectly curated photo or video. When the University of Southern California interviewed 600 US adults to compare UGC ads to traditional ads, the results were astonishing. Participants said that user-generated ads were more memorable, unique, authentic, and engaging. Participants also noted that ads featuring UGC have 73% more positive comments on social media platforms when compared to traditional ads. Consumers respond much higher to seeing ads that incorporate stories of real people in their real life and can relate to them. You simply cannot beat these candid moments that are captured by everyday people. Nothing beats being real.Virat Nation's 2023 ftaéncer Marketing & Trends Report Secondly, they creafe the most trustworthy content possible. Authenticity = trust. Consumers get to see the brand through the lens of a happy customer that uses the product, and not a top celebrity that is paid an enormous amount of money to promote it. It gives consumers a more personalized shopping experience when they are able to see how everyday people use their products. All this leads to the fact that UGC increases sales by simplifying the purchasing process because they are more relatable and trustworthy, giving consumers the real, unedited version of your products According to a survey conducted by Insider Intelligence, 61% of consumers say that retailers can reduce returns by adding more post- purchase content. UGC can be the most effective and lasting way to cut back on purchase returns because shoppers have an accurate sense of what the product looks lik real life, in addition to all their functions/features. Brands can increase conversations and influence purchasing decisions by proving their product is worthy of buying. It's worth looking into both UGC creators and influencers to represent your brand and diversify your marketing strategy. Given that consumers are Oma dae to view UGC as authentic compared to content perfectly staged by brands, now is the time to invest in a social marketing strategy that emphasizes being authentic. In addition, develop a proper strategy that allows your brand to manage the UGC creator and get involved with their consumers. It’s a way for brands to control their own narrative of what people think of your brand and combat any bad press.Viral Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report New features to reach new audiences In order to keep making more money, social platforms continue to release editing features or tools that keep influencers engaged and wanting to use their platform to promote their brand. Instagram launched “Collabs” where an influencer can share a post to their personal page and the brand page. They also added “Add Yours” stickers, a way to create public threads in stories, in hopes of boosting story engagement and driving direct traffic to a brand's main page TikTok is releasing a number of new features that will bring additional value to their platform and enrich a user's experience. One of the most notable features is a subscriber only sec! users to subscribe to influencer’s pages in order to build a more non content forcing personal relationship with them YouTube released a sticker prompt feature (similar to Instagram’s) that allows consumers to directly interact with the influencer posting the video. It will allow the influencer to respond to the question/comment submitted in the comments section by reposting it to their video uVira Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report In addition to new features, there’s a new social media app on the rise! BeReal focuses on real, authentic connections with an unedited view on posts to help people move away from their perfectly curated feeds and connect on a more personal level. Users are prompted at different times throughout the day to share a photo of what they are up to within a two minute time frame. The time limit restricts your ability to stage and edit your post, to really emphasize the importance of being real. BeReal has already captured the attention of brands like Chipotle and Pacsun, who have started experimenting with the platform themselves. Instagram is trying to compete with BeReal by releasing “Candid Challenges”, where users take unedited photos that are automatically added to their Instagram story. Unlike BeReal, this isn't Instagram’s only purpose and many people think Candid Challenges will get lost amongst others posts and ads, and never really take off. Think about creating relatable themes the everyday person can get involved in. ARIN engaging BTS photos on Instagram’s “Add Yours” sticker or using specific hashtag challenges to gain brand awareness are easy ways to get people involved and talking about your brand. People love sharing personal stories or photos and won't hesitate to participate in a challenge they feel connected to.‘Viral Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Tends Report It’s not your typical employee Brands are increasingly looking to sign partnerships with influencers that have normal “day jobs", or another role that doesn’t involve having a large following on social media. Although these influencers bring with them the cache of their 9-6 job, they also bring a highly influential audience. There’s something more relatable about a person sharing content because they are passionate about it versus the perfectly curated influencer. Someone who has a separate career to focus on creates content that isn’t as manufactured and they tend to be more engaged with their followers. Consumers want to feel understood and seen, so having y many other brands don’t exhibit. In turn, it allows for these influencers to connect with your customer base on a deeper level. someone like that represent your brand shows a level of authen|Vira Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report An influencer with a day job can be a nice refreshing addition to someone's feed that is already full of cookie-cutter posts that lack individuality. They usually are a more genuine group of people, who have less time in their day to edit posts, and really lean in to what their audience wants to see - authenticity. There are a couple things to keep in mind when incorporating an Influencer with a career into your strategy. They might demand a higher compensation because time is money and they don't have much of that! It could end up being more expensive to hire this type of influencer who is more relatable to your audience than one without a 9-5 job, so you need to decide if it’s worth it. They are also more likely to be selective about the partnerships they accept because they have additional priorities, forcing them to pick and choose which companies they want to work with. Brands they are passionate about or products they use themselves are often the way to go for these influencers because it won't seem like an additional job for them. For example, if an intluencer enjoys working out daily, they will be more inclined to share their workout leo online and partner with a brand in the healthy lifestyle space instead of something they don't typically do Regardless of what the subject matter is, their content automatically has a more genuine, real feel to it because loyal followers know their back story. It reinforces the “If they can do it or use this product, | can too” mentality all influencers strive for. uvVira Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Roport TikTok is the newest search engine TikTok has emerged as a platform that provides users with some of the best features of other social media platforms in a one stop shop: By implementing Google's deep search capabilities, YouTube's videos, and Instagram's feed layout and algorithm, TikTok has really put itself at the forefront of social media apps. So much so that it has started to become a more popular search engine tool than Google. After conducting a survey of users from age 18 to 24, the Senior Vice President of Google Search noted that almost o OF USERS in this age group rely on TikTok or Instagram to find a new place for lunch or a product recommendation, instead of Google Maps or Google Search. Recipe ideas, travel recommendations, shorter how-to videos, and restaurants are the most common topics TikTok users are interested in when they use the search feature As TikTok continues to grow and more content is added to the platform, users have come to rely on the search feature more than ever. The convenience aspect to using TikTok as a search engine, paired with the growing amount of content, really gives brands the opportunity to create a strong social media marketing strategy that leverages these unique benefits.Viral Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report Given a chance to study what users are searching for allows you to put out content or experiences that surround those keywords. Having a strong SEO strategy allows you to hone in on which keywords you want to build content around, will become crucial to success. Take advantage of tagging your content to make it easily findable for a wide array of users, while also leveraging influencers to create this specific content to get your brand noticed on the platform. Don’t forget users love hearing their favorite influencers opinions and iews in a format that is more visually appealing and to the point and be sure to leverage keywords in those pieces of content. re) »Vira Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report Putting web3 into perspective Bloomberg analysts predict the metaverse market will be worth nearly $800 billion by the end of 2024. As the metaverse continues to grow, marketers need to understand how it works and how they can use this to engage with consumers. Web3 is a new terrain for both brands and consumers and it is key to remember that you need to keep things as nal brands to connect with their simple as possible. This allows tradi current audience, while not pushing away the existing crypto. enthusiasts that they hope to attract. Keeping this in mind, most brands should invest in education-first marketing plans.Viral Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report Many traditional brands make the assumption that their current customer base will do their own research and in reality, most won't. Brands should concentrate on filling up their landing pages and social media feeds with fun and engaging educational guides leading up to, and coinciding with a Web8 product launch. This is probably what is lacking the most in this space - a more seamless onramp of education. Instead of tr technology and how it will greatly impact the world, focus on user g to educate consumers about the actual experience to get yourself started. If people can see themselves using the technology and actually understand how to use it, a “learn as you go” mentality will take over and consumers will be more likely to want to try to become an expert. It’s less intimidating The evolution of Web 3.0 gives you a chance to create your own world and control the environment that everyone sees. This paired with 67% of marketers anticipating investing at least a quarter of their budgets into a metaverse/AR/VR social strategy poses a unique opportunity for brands. More brands will leverage metaverse technology to host meetings, events and better experiences of all communications. As tech continues to expand, and assuming it continues at this quick rate, it will become cheaper to purchase and way more accessible for everyone. Eventually, everyone will have access to a VR headset and this will become the new normal. Collaborating with an influencer can help benefit your brand, as consumers prefer to hear from them versus celebrities. They can teach your audience ways to use their headset and dive deeper into the features to get the community talking about the product. Brands need to think about how to provide their audience Web3, instill trust and security through education, and amplify their h a new value through marketing efforts through a mix of experiential marketing and earned media publications.Vira Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Roport Rise of the B2B influencer Businesses are finding their digitally focused go-to-market efforts to be more effective than previous efforts prior to the pandemic, putting a continued emphasis on digital engagement and experience. B2B influencer marketing was set to generate $11.7 BILLIO in revenue by the end of 2022, with more than 38% of B2B companies currently exploring influencer marketing as a new lead-generation avenue. Demographic influence will play an increasingly important role in adoption of B28 influencer marketing. Within the next decade, more of the Millennial and Gen Z population will enter middle and top-level management roles within organizations, and their buying behaviors will drive business decisions in 82B influencer marketing strategies. Brands should really focus on B2P marketing - business to people. Always remember that you aren't marketing towards a job title, but an actual person. Marketing towards people in certain industries and specific positions that are still wanting to be educated, entertained and excited by your content. Keeping this in mind and using it as a catalyst will help to drive faster awareness and an overall quicker consideration to purchase.Viral Nation's 2023 Influencer Marketing & Trends Report This can be done through employee advocacy or demonstrating your company culture through entertaining videos. Whatever it might be, authentic content will always drive strong engagement and connection with your brand and its audience. More brands will start to take advantage of documenting in person events to provide that social experience for individuals. The conversation no longer only surrounds how do I get enough people to show up to the event, but also includes: how do | get the content and event experience stretched out as much as possible through social media channels? Promoting the event, guest speakers, prizes and behind-the-scenes content on event day are some ideas that creators can lean into. Brands are able to elevate experiential marketing to social experiential by digitizing what is happening at the event to expand their reach, even after the event is finished. CONTENT will still be king, experiences are everything and the role of influence in digital channels will become even more important. Final Words Social media has been one of the most impactful technological inventions of this generation and influencers play a huge role ina customer's decision making process. Brands have a unique opportunity to collaborate with influencers and reap all the benefits that come with building these relationships. These top predictions in the influencer marketing industry will help you to stay on trend and maximize your business’ revenue and potential