>> 2017 – the year of Influencer Marketing <<
The holidays are upon us and “tis the season for influencer marketing.” The influencer moment is building; in fact, we’ve seen a 90 percent lift in influencer campaigns.
To get ready, make sure you tune into CNBC SQUAWK Alley on Monday, December 5th, at 11am ET! TapInfluence CEO, Promise Phelon, will be LIVE sharing key insights about the impact of influencer marketing on consumer behavior, plus a data preview from our soon to be released study, “The Voice of Influence.” It’s truly exciting! Please tune in by checking your local listings HERE.
Given this is the first newsletter of its kind from Tap, my goal is to share a report of influencer marketing news that you can use to help perfect your marketing strategy. So, what’s on Tap?
>> Industry quick hits <<
Instagram is taking on Snapchat with Instagram Stories and their new Instagram Live feature. Why this matters? Influencers are now choosing where they want their video content to live. In a recent Tap survey, influencers saw the highest engagement with images (even over videos), and they believe Instagram offers marketers most potential ROI.
Adding SnapChat-like features will allow influencers to provide a more diverse set of content mediums in one place. And if you didn’t know this already, Instagram has a reported 300 million monthly users. Read more.
Instagram also unveiled a new feature that allows marketers to add SHOPPABLE tags to products in their images. They have only rolled this capability out to 20 retailers so far to test. This could be a significant step toward measuring eCommerce sales lift generated from Instagram content and could eventually be used by influencers. The key for marketers is not to overdo it, and Instagram makes this simpler by hiding these shoppable tags until a user elects to view them by clicking a small shopping icon in the image. Read more.
Beyond ever changing algorithms, there’s a lot going on at Facebook:
- They’re doing away with Atlas, due to low-quality ads with a deeper focus on measurement. Read more.
- They’re finally combating the fake news problem. This is great for influencer marketing. Be aware, it also puts emphasis on ensuring content is authentic and relevant to your audience. Read more.
>> Tap hits <<
We’re also in the news. We recently launched a survey called “The Voice of Influence,” and we’re releasing the official report in early 2017. If you’re interested in a sneak peek, here are great summaries from eMarketer and the Bulldog reporter. The most compelling finding was that influencers reported alignment with a brand’s core values—even above compensation—as the most important aspect to working with a brand.
If you didn’t catch my first sentence, influencer marketing is on the rise. eMarketer reported that 84 percent of marketers are planning to run an influencer marketing campaign in the next 12-months. Lighthouse3 pulled together this handy industry report about marketing technology trends for 2017. Influencer marketing was prominently featured, and no surprise, adblocking adoption is on the rise. See the report.
“Influencer Technology is a very nascent space and it’s replete with hype based on little or no verifiable technology. We look at 5 key capabilities to evaluate influencer technology platforms – Discover, Connect, Engage, Recruit (pay) influencers and Measure (report success) and found that very few vendors offer a complete technology solution. Many offer 1 or 2 capabilities such as influencer discovery or reporting. This proliferation of point solutions has led to “tools sprawl fatigue” as brands are overwhelmed by fragmented offerings that are not integrated with their current marketing technology stack or measurement models. We see vendors meeting this growing demand for comprehensive solutions either through in-house development of additional capabilities or acquiring/merging with technology vendors in adjacent categories.” ~ Mia Dand, CEO, Lighthouse3.com, Digital Strategy & Research Advisory firm
As you plan for 2017, make sure you check out our second annual report, “2017 Predictions.” We’ve loaded it with 10 quintessential predictions to help you map out your 2017 marketing strategy. Get the 2017 Predictions here.
Don’t forget to check us out next Monday, December 5, on CNBC SQUAWK Alley, at 11am ET.Got questions? I’m here to help; just send me a note.
Joseph Cole is the VP of Marketing at TapInfluence. He has the enviable blend of knowledge and practical team-building, achieving remarkable results while helping grow the company’s culture of learning and curiosity. Follow Joseph on Twitter @joefcole