You don’t want to get left behind. Influencer marketing is always changing and the key to your brand’s success is staying ahead of the change. With 2020 now (kind of) behind us, here are the three major changes that you should expect to see when it comes to influencer marketing in 2021.

Data Backed Decisions

Many brands are starting to pay close attention to results. For starters, this means that you shouldn’t be using influencers based on their follower count but rather their engagement rate. Let’s say we have two creators. One with 100k followers and a 2% engagement rate and another with 50k followers and a 6% engagement rate. Despite the first creator having more overall followers, the second would have 1.5x more actively interacting followers. If you’d like to learn more about an influencer’s engagement rate, you can check out Trendster’s easy-to-read analytics on our influencer’s pages.

From Mega to Micro

It’s been found that smaller creators with 5000 followers or less also known as “micro influencers” have high engagement rates. If you’re looking to get the biggest ROI you should seriously consider including some smaller creators in your influencer campaign. Your product will receive more real follower interactions for cheaper.

This doesn’t mean that collaborations with bigger influencers are going anywhere, but they may start working a little differently. You don’t have to throw in a sum of money and hope for the best. More brands are offering performance based compensation. This can translate to either payment through affiliate links, per coupon code used, or based on a post’s comments and likes. Trendster offers different ways of compensating influencers and makes tracking your campaign’s performance a breeze.

Choose Your Value

Studies show that a significant number of influencers are open to creating content in exchange for free products if they genuinely like a brand. Trendster allows you to pay influencers in different ways. You can create a giveaway campaign or offer products in return. You can also guarantee your target ROI by offering affiliate compensation based on a post or coupon’s performance.

Authenticity is Key

You may be thinking that  a focus on results is all it’s going to take to make your influencer campaign successful in 2021. Not so fast. Being genuine and authentic and thinking past sales and numbers is now more important than ever before. Let your influencers be themselves. If you try to generate highly managed content, not only will your campaign be ineffective, it could backfire. Followers these days are opening up to and even starting to prefer more spontaneous, in the moment content. This means more video content and unfiltered snapshots of your influencer’s life. 

This also means that followers will be expecting more honesty and transparency when it comes to influencers working with brands. The modern day follower won’t fall for a thinly veiled sponsor. They expect influencers to be clear when they’ve been compensated for promoting a brand. Followers may even start expecting influencers to only work with brands that they genuinely support and use yourself. Joining trendster helps you find influencers that are a perfect, natural, fit for your brand.

More Than Just an Influencer

2021 won’t just change how you collaborate with influencers but also how long you collaborate. Brands are likely going to focus on longer term partnerships with influencers instead of one off giveaways and collaborations. This will take shape as contracts and the inclusion of influencers as brand ambassadors. These longer term collaborations are expected to form more authentic and impactful relationships between brands and influencers that deliver better results. 

This means that you’ll need to put in more time studying the influencer’s past work as well as how easy they are to work with. On Trendster you can easily see influencer’s reviews and past collaborations.