The Trends that will impact Influencer Marketing in 2022 and beyond!
by Startacus Admin
Our chat with Fran Morelli, the co-founder of VAVA Influence, on the Influencer Market itself and the trends that will impact it during 2022 and the foreseeable!
VAVA Influence is an Influencer Marketing Agency – the first of its kind in Northern Ireland - founded in May 2020 by Francesca Morelli and Chloe Henning. VAVA Influence have worked with over 40 clients, over 1000 bloggers, and with Digital and Social Media Marketing Agencies across the North and South of Ireland. They boast an expansive network of influencers throughout the UK and Ireland across a variety of genres.
As the co-founder of VAVA Influence, we felt that Fran Morelli was therefore the ideal person to give us an insight into how the Influencer Market has grown over the past two years and the impact that new and emerging trends are likley to have on the sector, both this year and beyond. Fran does not only have extensive experience with her own company and brand; she is also an Enterprise Support Officer at Queen’s University Belfast where she supports students wishing to start their own business or develop their entrepreneurial skills.
So Fran, what new social media or marketing trends do you predict will impact the influencer market during 2022 and beyond?
1. TikTok being the most obvious! Brands will increasingly use creators on TikTok to reach their target audiences. TikTok are facilitating these collaborations through the TikTok Marketplace and through direct shopping through live TikToks. This will be massive in 2022.
2. Tumblr. There have been whispers about the regrowth of Tumblr in recent weeks and creator culture on this platform. If you want to keep an eye on Influencer Marketing this year, keep your eye on this platform! 48% of Tumblr’s active users and 61% of its new signups are Gen Z. In January 2022, Vogue even ran a story entitled ‘The 2014 Tumblr Girl Is Back.’
3. YouTube is rolling out media kits to help creators land more brand collaborations. We expect this will really attract more and more creators to YouTube in 2022, potentially moving away from Instagram towards YT and TikTok.
All of these trends will impact the influencer market, forcing brands and creators to stay ahead of the curve and create on the ‘platforms of the moment’ to stay relevant.
As a business, how will you face these changes to trends and keep current?
As a business, it will be essential that we stay up-to-date with the latest trends and platforms to be able to best service our clients. We need to make sure that our clients are reaching their target audiences in the best possible ways, which will mean getting familiar with new platforms and creators.
What part does social media and technology play in the influencer market? Is it now a crucial aspect?
Social media and technology form the basis of influencer marketing. The very reason the majority of these ‘influencers’ have gained this title is down to social media. Technology will continue to evolve to facilitate things like finding best-fit influencers, tracking campaign performance, and spotting fake followers. Platforms like this are becoming more and more crucial for agencies, brands, and creators, although many stakeholders (in the UK and IRE at least) are still finding their feet with them.
With regards to the influencer market, TikTok is currently coming out on top. Do you think this will evolve or change throughout 2022 and beyond? If so, how?
As I mentioned earlier, TikTok will continue to evolve to improve creator collaborations, in-app shopping, and the sponsorship of already-viral videos. However it may be interesting to consider, has TikTok peaked? Will these new introductions further hook users, or will they alienate them? Creators may prefer YouTube where creators rarely have to change their content to achieve revenue, with ads placed around their videos more so than them forming the content itself. Watch this space!
There has been lots of discussion recently about the growing demand for authenticity over perfection. Do you think this is something that will continue to grow and what impact do you feel it will have on the influencer market?
I believe that the demand for authenticity will stay. People can now see past ‘perfection’ and I believe consumers will be put off by those who appear too ‘perfect’ all the time. I believe this will improve the influencer marketing industry as authentic content will encourage closer and more trusted relationships between influencers and their followers.
Diversity and inclusion became an important conversation in the influencer marketing industry over the last 12-18 months. How do you ensure that this movement isn’t just a ‘trend’?
It is up to the entire industry to support this movement in a continuous and consistent way. Agencies and brands need to ensure that they are producing diverse campaigns as a priority.
Thanks for the chat Fran - great to get your insights and perspective!
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Published on: 15th February 2022
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