How influencer marketing will develop in 2019: seven key drivers

1. brands spend more budget on influencer marketing 

Influencer marketing spending by German companies continues to rise. For brand companies that recognized the value of influencer marketing early on, such as in the fashion and food industries, the share of the budget for influencer campaigns in the communication mix is already over 15% in some cases. Other industries will also follow suit.

Björn Wenzel: "Budgets will continue to increase, partly because there are more and more case studies and tools that prove the advertising impact of influencer marketing campaigns. Some companies from traditional sectors, such as banks, are already investing around 15 percent of their media budget in influencer marketing in order to address target groups precisely."

2. influencer marketing is more strongly integrated into overall communication

Influencer marketing must be strategically integrated into media planning. This is the only way for marketers to increase impact and make success measurable. Similar to traditional media planning, this involves questions such as: Which channels fulfill which advertising purposes? Which channels and influencers reach certain target groups? How is influencer marketing linked to other campaign components?

Björn Wenzel: "My trending channels in 2019: Twitch stands for reach, diversity and interaction. Generation Alpha, the children of millennials, are particularly active on WhatsApp. And the channel is particularly good for customer loyalty. Snapchat is still important for reaching Generation Z. Lenses on Snapchat will play a special role this year."

3. social media platforms combat fraud

Hootsuite's Social Media Trends Report 2019 shows that social media networks are increasingly courting trust. Facebook, Twitter and co. are taking measures to improve their data security, transparency and authenticity. Instagram recently announced that it would use machine learning to identify fake followers and purchased likes, warn Instagrammers and remove them if necessary.

Björn Wenzel: "Building reach via follower apps or buying 7,000 followers for 12 dollars contradicts the purpose of an opinion leader and damages the reputation of influencer marketing. In 2019, we will increasingly see platforms with a lot of PR around them defending themselves against dubious practices."

4. high quality engagement becomes an important KPI 

Influencer marketing is not subject to the same key performance indicators (KPIs) as traditional online marketing. Thousand-contact price (CPM) and opportunity-to-see (OTS) are aimed at reach, whereas influencer marketing is particularly concerned with interactions. The pure number of likes and comments is no longer enough to assess the success of a campaign.

Björn Wenzel: "An important KPI in influencer marketing today is high-quality engagement. This involves interaction rates, click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates. Before-and-after surveys among followers can also show how a campaign has influenced advertising and brand perception."

5. market research increases planning security

94% of brands hope that influencer marketing will increase awareness and 93% hope that it will increase relevance in certain target groups. This was revealed by a survey conducted by the German Digital Industry Association (BVDW). Market research is a valuable tool for measuring the success of an influencer marketing campaign.

Björn Wenzel: "Surveys of followers determine how an influencer marketing campaign increases brand and advertising perception. These results can be used for campaign planning in the future."

6 Brands pay more attention to brand safety

Brands want to avoid negative publicity due to unsuccessful influencer campaigns or shortcomings in labeling requirements as far as possible. In 2019, they will pay even more attention to brand safety in influencer marketing. Careful selection of the influencer and a clear campaign briefing set the framework for communication. Influencers should be briefed on overarching campaign goals, KPIs, hashtags and timings in order to act in the interests of the brand. Clarification on the labeling obligation is usually included in the contracts with the influencers.

Björn Wenzel: "In addition to a critical selection of influencers and clear campaign briefings, it is important to check the content before publication. Most of the influencers we have worked with have not seen this as a restriction of their creative freedom."

7. influencers rely on messenger marketing

Today, users send texts, photos, videos and documents as well as locations and voice notes via WhatsApp. Over one billion people use WhatsApp in more than 120 countries, 50 million in Germany. Influencers are now discovering the service to draw their community's attention to their new blog, YouTube or Instagram posts.

Björn Wenzel: "The click rate on WhatsApp is often higher than on other social media channels. To end up in the influencer's newsletter, the user saves the WhatsApp number provided as a contact and sends the stored sign-up word to the number. We will see creative test campaigns and best practices in 2019."