Influencers & Social Commerce - A Rapidly Growing Commerce Marketing Trend Fueled by Social Distancing

From the moment we start making purchase decisions we are influenced by people around us - family, friends, and people whose opinion we trust and respect. And while "traditional" marketing (across digital, outdoor, TV and print) also tries to influence our consumption decisions many brands are seeking a more meaningful connection with their customers in order to increase brand loyalty (and with it, repeat purchases). Influencers who are active across social media channels to present and recommend products they believe in are helping to create such connections.

Hence it comes as no surprise that market analysts predict that the influencer marketing industry will be worth north of $15 billion by 2022, a rise from $8 billion in 2019. This is further fueled by the "New Normal" of social distance shopping where we interact much less with a helpful store assistant but instead will be further influenced by online recommendation makers. This trend will be visible across the new influential platforms such as TikTok and Twitch, but also within the more established platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and even LinkedIn, all of which are projected to grow in the coming years. Each of these channels are relevant in their own regards to target different customer groups and segments.

While the big-name influencers (such as movie stars, sport stars etc.) will continue to hold certain sway over purchase decisions of their followers, micro and nano influencers (with typically less than 10,000 followers) have a much larger engagement rate than the big wigs. This is in line with a trend in marketing that points towards young consumers seeking more authenticity and a closer connection with the brands they advocate. Consumers want to hear recommendations from people they trust, they tend to verify claims and often rely on word-of-mouth to make their buying decisions.

Brands and retailers who are looking to leverage influencers and social commerce effectively should take a few key considerations into account:

• Not every influencer is a good representation of the brand, and there are stories abound of how missteps of an influencer can damage a brand perception or lose some of its advocates. Influencer recommendations are a walk on a tightrope both for the brand as well as for the influencer themselves. Only if an influencer really believes in the product that she or he is advocating can a true and beneficial partnership form
• Building a network of influencers across social networks does not have to be expensive. Brands should give due attention and interact in earnest with their large customers who can act as influencers. Moreover, brands who proactively leverage their influencers opinions for their product design and go-to-market approach can further help to amplify the message about how much they care about their most loyal customers
• The best influencer content is engaging content. With attention spans shortening and users seeking instant gratification any content posted on social media should be worthwhile of sharing, making use of social media as an amplifier of messages and content. Moreover, different platforms have different formats that can help to create user-generated content (think TikTok challenges) which can then be fed back into marketing
• While brand awareness is often the most immediate target of influencer and social media marketing, only by actually selling the advertised products can a brand turn the attention back into revenue. As engaging as influencer content is made to be there should always be a clearly mapped out purchase flow that is short and easy to use. A/B tests and a close look at conversion rates can help to verify and optimize on this

It is worth keeping in mind that the measure of success and KPIs of influencer marketing on social media is both immediate (shares, likes, impressions, conversion) and long-lasting (overall brand perception and awareness). For better or worse, the long-term fate of brands is strongly shaped by influencers, making this a crucial piece of the overall brand and commerce strategy.