Considering how marketing trends keep evolving at a very high pace, it isn’t a surprise that 65% of marketers are planning to increase their spending on influencer marketing this year. Yes, influencer marketing has been gaining a lot of credibility and fame over the past couple of years with major brands like Amazon and Gucci relying on it to boost sales.

If you are a part of the business world or have an interest in marketing, here are the top influencer marketing trends of 2019 you must be aware of:

1) The money is huge

As I mentioned, spending on influencer marketing has drastically increased over time. This attributes to hiring more and more influencers, the increased value of top social media influencers and rising social media engagement. You want Virat Kohli to post about your brand on Instagram? Well, it might just cost you more than a TV advertisement shoots these days.

2) Facebook bids adieu

Facebook has seen an increase in inactive accounts, influencers are more active on Instagram or Snapchat instead. It is more or less only running on ads and fails to give any good return on investment. To analyze, people hardly even use the Facebook app on their phones or put efforts into changing the profile picture of their accounts on the platform.

3) Entrepreneur vibes

Influencers are not just gaining traction for being impactful and result-bearing but also for their new initiatives and ventures. Bhuvan Bam, for example, has entered singing and ad-shooting as well, establishing his own brand, beyond his work on Youtube.

4) Collaboration is the key

Influencer marketing is not just a one-time thing anymore. Brands are looking for long term collaborations with influencers for social media activity. Take a look at Prajakta Koli (MostlySane) and Pepsico’s joint venture.

5) Micro over macro

Brands are also seen to be relying more on micro-influencers to save on the high costs of capturing a macro-influencer. The number of micro-influencers and their fan following has been substantially increasing. Brands prefer working with multiple micro-influencers to tap into various market segments rather than spending a huge sum on just one macro contender.

6) Short and sweet

Social media and influencer marketing means you need good content. It’s an era of short, impactful and crisp content that requires minimum reading time but can garner maximum attention. It is all about generating brand loyalty via reliable content giving the right information at the right time.

7) ROI matters, A LOT

With increased spending and customer base, Brands also want to see higher returns on their money. Infact, expectations are rising, where it is seen that influencer marketing generates similar ROI as compared to other marketing efforts. One might never know; it might even start giving better returns in the future.

8) TikTok goes for the win

TikTok is making its space beside Instagram on the influencer marketing throne. It allows brands to use videos as a marketing stint, find new faces and focus on the Gen-Z audience that is highly active on the app. There is a reason why brands like Google have used TikTok to launch a viral marketing campaign.

If you’re part of a marketing team, don’t ignore the successful giant that influencer marketing is becoming. If you are a student, you might as well look into it as a career. In the end, influencer marketing trends have something for everyone to learn from.

Also Read: Reasons Why This Is The Best Era For Instagram & TikTok Influencers