Down to collab? A look at influencer income

Lightyear isn’t the only one adding social elements to its app: eToro and ZuluTrade both let users discuss and share trade ideas and copy the trades of influencers. Brokers are also betting on cryptos to reverse falling trading volumes among retail investors.

The pandemic is changing how brands work with influencers. Not only is it accelerating existing industry trends, it also presents new challenges and opportunities for influencer marketing.

Not every marketer does influencer marketing, but a large majority do. In our first-ever forecast, we estimate that 67.9% of US marketers with 100 or more employees will use influencers for paid or unpaid brand partnerships in 2021.

Younger generations are more likely to buy products based on influencer recommendations, as well as consider them reliable. However, these demographics still see influencers as less trustworthy than other sources.

As the 2020 presidential race continues, some candidates are turning to social media influencers to spread their messages and garner support for their campaigns. It was reported that former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg recently partnered with popular Instagram accounts to create meme content for promoting his candidacy, called the Meme 2020 project.

Social networks like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok have ramped up their social commerce efforts in the past year, shifting toward an ecosystem where users can discover, shop and purchase products one place. Initially, these social commerce features were only offered to brands, but now social networks are experimenting by bringing the same tools to influencers.

While it’s too soon to bid adieu to the aspirational influencer, it’s clear that the pandemic has humbled many of even the most polished creators.

eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson and junior analyst Blake Droesch discuss how brands are changing their approach to influencer marketing, the main challenges influencers are struggling with and what influencer marketing might look like going forward. They then talk about TikTok's call-to-action button, how platforms are dealing with misinformation and Twitter's purchase of a mobile-focused demand-side platform.

Fallout caused by the spread of the coronavirus—including travel restrictions, business closures and event cancellations—has taken its toll on the influencer marketing industry. Social distancing and fewer collaborations with brands have made it difficult for social media creators to produce regular content, causing some to shift focus.

For our new report “Influencer Marketing and the Path to Purchase,” we spoke with a number of social media influencers to find out what brand partnerships look like from their perspective. They shared insights on what creative collaboration looks like, how to engage their followers, and what they do to measure the performance of their content.

The pandemic has disrupted the influencer marketing industry. But it’s not time to completely throw out the rulebook, as most of the changes are accelerations of pre-existing trends, rather than transformative shifts in the market.

Seventy-two percent of US and UK consumers who follow influencers said they were spending more time on social media since the outbreak.

Most influencers consider brand awareness to be their primary role when collaborating with marketers. But in the past year, social networks like Instagram have slowly begun opening commerce features to creators, indicating that influencer marketing could soon play a larger part in driving purchases on social media.

eMarketer junior analyst Blake Droesch and senior analyst Jasmine Enberg discuss how COVID-19 changed social media engagement, platform advertising and influencer behavior. They then talk about TikTok's new "Transparency Center," the optimal social media posting lengths, Facebook Stories in other places and Instagram's disappearing text messages feature.

eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Debra Aho Williamson discusses TikTok's future: Can it keep operating in the US? If so, what will user growth and engagement look like going forward? She then talks about marketers' attitudes toward influencer marketing, major social media trends of 2021, and the prospects of live shopping on social media in the US.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Lucy Koch and forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom discuss generational consultants, executive changes at Disney, the rising fortunes of music streaming and the role of social media influencers in politics.

eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson and junior analyst Blake Droesch recount their experiences interviewing 16 social media creators about how they approach brand partnerships, which platforms are working for them and influencers' role in the purchase process.

Engaging influencers through social platforms could be particularly relevant to incumbents in distinguishing their robo-service from their main brand; being too outwardly associated with the core brand might be a potential turnoff for younger demographics. Stash.

Article: Instagram tests creator subscriptions as it navigates a changing influencer landscape. Article: Can TikTok triple its ad revenue this year?

Rather than risking the high up-front fees of a campaign, affiliate channels can serve as a low-risk means of testing influencers for marketing partnerships.