‘20% of media spend will move to social’: Creators’ new place in marketing

2022 is about getting involved in all the different marketing streams. It’s become a far more integrated part of the marketing mix, and a line of the budget that’s always put down first. It needs to be integrated into point of sale, it needs to be integrated into above-the-line. There’s no part of me that believes that influencers should be 100% of media spend; it shouldn’t. But it should be a larger proportion than it is right now.

We believe that 20% of media spend will move to social and influencer marketing. TV spend and above-the-line will be produced to make way for more trackable, effective, positive return on digital marketing. That gap being closed will force a more integrated approach for marketing environments.

Lauren McFarland, influencer marketing director, Journey Further: the fall of siloes

We’re seeing the fall of silos. We’re seeing influencer marketing being integrated through all other marketing channels. We’re working with different types of teams to work with influencers. That’s exciting because it’s giving us more of a comprehensive understanding of consumers’ journeys through to purchasing products.

Natalie Carson, senior account manager, Coegi: no more vanity metrics

2022 is the year of advanced measurement to determine success: not just vanity metrics, such as shares and comments, but integrating point-of-sale, Google Analytics and affiliate codes. We’ll even see whitelisting creators, so that you’re getting access to their accounts, and you’re able to put paid media dollars behind the content they created and make look-alike audiences based on people that follow them.

Chloe McCloskey, global head of social, Oliver: exploding creativity

We work across global brands, and we’re only seeing an increase in their interest in integrating influencers and creators to their always-on and campaign advertising work. Influencer marketing has now solidified its place as a key marketing channel in the mix.

Personally, I think that this transition to creators is great news for our industry, and possibly humanity, because we’re seeing a lot more creativity and a lot more positivity through the new voices that are coming through. I’m really excited to see where that goes in the next year.

Mollie Lyons, senior social manager, Wilderness: the nichification of influence

In 2022, we’ll see an uptick of brands showing interest in influencers and content creators – and an uptick of influencers in more niche industries, especially finance. A few years ago, I can’t imagine a bank would think they’d be pushing financial information on Tiktok and Instagram, but they are.

We’ll also see more niche industries that would never have thought that they could correlate their marketing tactics with such fluid techniques and tactics; we’ll see a lot of niche brands exploring the space and I think it will be very effective for them. But it is an education piece – that’s why we’re here to keep pushing brands to realize the value and worth of investment influencers have. It’s the most powerful tool we’ve got, especially in social media.

George Gossland, social media producer/creator, Favoured: influencers taking center-stage

From an influencer’s point of view, the role of the influencer this year is for them to really narrow down what their niche is; find brands that suit that niche and be the face of that brand.

It’s going to come down to what their niche is and how they can relate to a brand. I think you’re going to see influencers (rather than just a logo) at the forefront of it all and doing socials for brands. People will resonate more with that.

For a bi-weekly briefing of analysis from agencyland, sign up to our Agency Insights newsletter.