Zefmo Media predicts five influencer marketing industry trends for 2019

With the increased popularity of social networking sites such as Instagram and Facebook, influencer marketing got a mainstream standing in 2018 among Indian marketers and brands. The India Influence Report 2018, released by Zefmo, in the beginning of the new year, highlighted the trend of influencer marketing maturing in 2018.

As we enter 2019, Zefmo Media through their experience of working with multiple brands and influencers in 2018 highlighted the top five influencer marketing industry trends that are expected to get traction over the year.

Shudeep Majumdar

Shudeep Majumdar Co-founder Zefmo Media stated that ‘Don’t fake’ will be the mantra for influencers in 2019. “There is no point in either pretending that you have been invited by top corporate brands for brand collaboration or stating it on your social handles. The influencer community is very well connected and any pretentious status update on your social handles will soon be known by your peer group. Therefore, refrain from posting fake collaborations,” he said.

Majumdar also stated that influencer marketing will no longer depend only on views, likes or shares, hence there will be no need to pay for it. “Gone are the days when your followership alone would determine the ‘worth’ of the influencers. Yes, a decent following will continue to demand peer and brand respect, but adding fake followers isn’t the way forward. It is just a matter of time before someone will spot the irregularity in the traction of your social posts and the credibility will be lost forever,” Majumdar commented.

Quality content will continue to rule as nothing can replace the hard work and effort that goes behind creating quality content. Quality content will lead to better engagement with audience and give a new dimension to the credibility as a creator.

Majumdar also suggested that influencer marketers should concentrate on long-term relationships. Both influencers and brands are expected to look more towards longer-term collaborations and not just one-offs. Majumdar stated there is indeed merit in long-term value creation leading to authentic and consistent storytelling, do your best to retain and nurture relationships.

Maintaining brand sanctity is the fifth trend according to Majumdar. As brands scout for influencers, they are increasingly looking at the kind of brand associations that have happened in the past. Every brand has an ethos and if an influencer isn’t fitting the bill, then collaborations don’t fit into the picture. If influencers are creating content around a topic, make it niche with the right doses of relevant brands within it. Integrating any number of varied and unrelated brands is not going to be the way forward for long.

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