We all came across news of Instagram influencers charging money in 6 figures to promote a brand or a YouTuber partnering with a tech company but behind all the noise surrounding this new form of marketing, the question remains the same whether Influencer Marketing is the new disruption in the marketing domain or is it just another marketing hype that will fade away eventually ?
Ever since the reach of social media grew exponentially, it was a matter of time for the influencers to capitalize and leverage their mass following. The marketers and brands didn’t want to lose this opportunity either (read FOMO), thus all these factors lead up to the creation of an industry that’s worth billions of dollars today.
According to the data collected by the MediaKix, it’s estimated that brands would spend up to $20 billion on this nascent industry by 2023. Compared to digital marketing as a whole, it’s still a small pie but the outlook looks quite bullish for the industry.
Influencer marketing is projected to grow almost twice in value than that of 2020.
Instagram leads the pack with the most sought after tool to reach for influencers. It has managed to give one of the best ROI in the industry. YouTube is soon catching up to it, with Twitter and LinkedIn making decent progress in itself. According to data released by Influencer Marketing hub, approximately 4 out of 5 brands choose Instagram as their first preference for collaborating with the influencers.
Google Searches for Influencer Marketing grew 1500% over 3 Years
With the reach, comes the tracking. Undoubtedly Influencer Marketing is on surge but the industry is yet to give solid numbers to defends its viability and sustainability. It’s estimated that nearly 25% of the brands either lose money or barely see any Return on Investment, but influencers are not alone to be blamed for it either.
In the end, it’s all about engagement. Brands are not only looking to grab eyeballs but also initiate engagement around the brand. On the other side, influencers have to compromise with their content at times. A famous travel vlogger mentioned in an interview that brands often want more screen time from them and even proof-check the content and make demands to alter depending on their brand positioning.
The industry is yet to have the standardization protocol. The brands and content creators are often not on the same page. Additionally, the audience has become way smarter, they can easily segregate the brand promotion from the content. Thus in order to give content creators one more stream of revenue which could be independent of their content, it gives creative freedom to them.
We at MerchKart, collaborate with influencers to create their own merchandise brand. We are not just another T-shirt printing company. Our goal is to have deeper connection with our influencers so that we can mutually create value for each other. If you’re an influencer based out of Toronto, please reach out to us by going to the link below.
Collaborate with MerchKart