The short answer is yes. The future of advertising will be largely dependent on what today we call influencers or creators. And by "future" I don't mean 10 years from now, I mean the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, even. Why?
First of all, cookies.
Privacy legislation has been popping up all over the world and continues to be refined, reshaping the online advertising industry. Major companies like Google and Apple that also own big advertising channels are taking action to implement changes on a regular basis (which is a whole other topic!). All this is pushing advertising back into an interest based targeting system. Like blogs or magazines, influencers are focused on specific interests and verticals, but they connect with audiences on a very personal level and can access an audience that converts. At the moment, many creators and influencers are looking for longer term partnerships and sponsorships, which presents a great opportunity to start replacing some of your current cookie-dependent tactics.
Social media networks are also undergoing transformations.
It's been happening in plain sight and we don't mean changes only to their advertising offer, but holistically as an industry. What we now know as "social media" may soon become a thing of the past. TikTok says it's an entertainment platform, Snapchat has always dubbed itself a camera company, BeReal's description on the app store is simply "not another social network," and through its recent rebrand, Facebook has reemerged as a social metaverse company named Meta. Influencers tend to specialize on a single platform and can keep you tethered to the right approach.
Social media platforms (or whatever they become) are the search engines of the future.
Google has been toying with and testing showing social media content on search results for a while now. You should not be surprised if this becomes ubiquitous in the near future and video content from any platform becomes integral to a solid SEO strategy.
But Google as we know it today could also dwindle in use as Millennials become seniors and Gen Z matures. Pinterest and YouTube always set themselves apart as search engines. Instagram has long served as a travel research and planning tool. It has also joined other networks as a spot for products and experiences discovery through search boxes, hashtags and peer recommendations. If you are reading this, you are likely a millennial or older and it's important you remember, feeds are the search tools the newer generations have grown up with—far removed from libraries, guides and Google. In fact, Google executive Prabhakar Raghavan, recently recognized that “in our studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search, they go to TikTok or Instagram.” Why does this matter? Search signals intent and intent is way more likely to lead to sales. The younger generations (and admittedly many millennials I know as well) often forego search engines all together and instead head straight to their their favourite influencers' feeds to find what they are looking for.
We are back at an era of "many."
For a while Netflix was the only streaming app, Facebook and Instagram the only two social networks, Spotify the music platform, and Google the single most used search engine. Now, we can select from various streaming platforms and engage in many social media networks, gaming platforms, messaging platforms, and all sorts of other platforms. It will become increasingly difficult to have a solid presence across all existing channels. Influencers can be a way to hack this challenge. Your marketing department (or person) cannot be expert at everything, but they can be brand owners and manage influencers across various places, simultaneously.
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