Will the buzz continue? Influencer predictions for 2017

Lindsay Bennett
By Lindsay Bennett | 16 December 2016
 
Kim Kardashian and her sisters were called into question for not declaring sponsored Instagram posts

From the call for tougher influencer marketing guidelines to more money being pumped into the personality-led sector, influencer marketing was a huge point of interest in 2016. 

Will the buzz continue? AdNews asks the top executives from influencer businesses to predict what's coming in 2017 for the industry.

Tribe founder Jules Lund

Simple really. In the past, campaigns consisted of one influencer. 2016 it was in the tens. 2017 it will be in the hundreds. 2018 it will be in the thousands. All the while getting more meaningful as it shifts from celebrities to everyday citizens being rewarded for celebrating the brands they already use and love.

Social Soup CEO Sharyn Smith

The future for influencer marketing needs to be about the following five things: authenticity, transparency, relationships, integration and be results driven not awareness driven by likes and comments. Last year was all about Instagram which will continue but next year will become more about impactful video storytelling platforms such as Instagram stories, Snapchat stories, Facebook live and youtube as both influencers and brands will benefit from more authentic and engaging content. Influencers will become more commercially driven as a click to buy button is added to their direct recommendations It’s also becoming more mainstream for influencer campaigns to generate high quality user generated content to be used instead of expensive production options.

Vamp co-founder and CEO Aaron Brooks

1. You'll stop calling them influencers and start calling them creators
- The value is in the content they create and not just their reach

2. Brands will realise "cheap disposable content" lives forever
- Cheap content in social media without purpose or a creative platform doesn't elevate a brand it detracts from it.

3. Costs will go up. The day of cheap and easy are over
- As the good creators become more talented and more in demand the cost per piece of content will increase.

The Remarkables MD Lorraine Murphy

The influencer marketing space will need to be a lot more strategic in 2017. The space has become extremely rapidly commoditised. In order to continue to grow, influencers will need to be integrated across the broader marketing/comms plan and the need will be greater than ever for experts who can advise brands on the best strategy to reach their objectives.

We Are Social MD Suzie Shaw

There is plenty of headroom in influencer marketing yet, and the main thing we expect to see in the year ahead is an increase in the level of professionalism and sophistication from the influencers and their agents. This will likely come with an increase in their price. In our view, there is still a gap between the cost and the value in influencer marketing, so brands would be wise to invest now while there are still efficiencies to be had.

Hypetap CEO Detch Singh

We're going to see a lot more long term programs focusing on building brand advocates rather than one off 'product placement' campaigns. Audiences now need to see influencers really advocate for brands and have a relationship with them before it leads to purchasing behaviour.

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