Jess Ailion, Content Marketing Manager at Moburst, explains while influencers will be key to app marketing in 2022.

Influencer marketing is not a new phenomenon. It’s been rising the ranks of marketing methods for years now. However, it’s only been in recent years that it’s gained a serious reputation for the value it can bring to brands. Growth in the industry has shot up from 2017 to 2022, with global influencer marketing platforms market size expected to reach over 373 million U.S. dollars in the next five years. 

In our increasingly mobile-first world, now is the time for apps to hop on board and leverage the power of influencers in their promotional efforts – if they haven’t already. It’s not too late to get started, which is why we’ve outlined the 2022 influencer marketing trends that will make this year the year for influencers promoting apps. 

2022 influencer marketing trends
As with any digital marketing avenue, influencer marketing is constantly evolving with new trends leading the way. When considering how app promotion can leverage influencer marketing, it’s important to pay attention to these trends and how they can play an important part in securing app growth. We’ve got the details for you below. 

User Generated Content (UGC)
User Generated Content is the real star of the show in 2022. It’s one of the most cost effective and conversion effective influencer marketing methods. Increasingly, brands are trying to get ahead of the curve by sourcing UGC instead of hiring actors or spending a lot of time and money on creatives. UGC is a much cheaper alternative for brands than those more traditional methods.

At Moburst, we’ve established a Creator Network to help brands source UGC. This network brings together all of the influencers that we’ve formed partnerships and seen multiple campaign successes with in one place. 

How does this help brands? On behalf of clients we have on board, we reach out en masse to the influencers within this network about relevant campaigns. Influencers can choose whether they want to opt-in to a campaign, and can even opt-in to multiple at once. With this process of mass outreach and influencer opt-in, the influencers are coming to us – saving a lot of time and money. 

Next, we filter through all of the responses to decide which ones to move forward with and source content from. We give the creators a brief in which we tell them exactly what and what not to say and what the content should look like, etc. Once they submit their content, we forward it to our Creative team who turn it into ads and assets for the brand. In addition to those assets, the client has usage rights to the content that enables them to repurpose it as they want to for up to twelve months from the time they receive it. 

The whole point of the Creator Network is to source UGC cheaply and quickly, so the creators are not required to post the content onto their own pages. This means the different approval stages that usually occur when working with influencers can be skipped over. Additionally, it shortens the timeline and allows us to work with more creators since there’s no conflict with their personal brand. The influencers within the Creator Network are used to plugging and talking about brands in a very natural way, so we’re just paying them to do what they do best. 

This differs from how we work with influencers in our Influencer Network where we collaborate on content for influencers feeds. That requires a lot more research, e.g. who the influencer’s audience is, how the audience will respond to content, finding the right influencer fit for the brand, etc. 

We hope shedding light on how we source UGC for our clients helps clarify exactly what UGC is and why it’s the way forward for many brands. 

Authentic voice
Influencers provide a more “authentic voice” than brands. A lot of consumers are looking for that external brand voice more than actual brand promotions, and it’s becoming more prevalent each year. Consumers build up trusting relationships with influencers through a process of open communication and engagement. Consumers can choose who they wish to follow and engage with and will likely choose influencers they relate to and trust. 

To maintain this trust and positive relationship with their followers, influencers must be as authentic as possible at all times. Naturally, this is not always the case, but it’s definitely best practice. Especially since followers are often hyper-aware of inauthenticity from influencers, and if caught out influencers can seriously damage their personal brand.  

As a result, an influencer’s opinion of your brand can affect your brand performance and brand awareness dramatically. If they recommend your brand and in a way that authentically aligns with their values and their followers values, their followers are more likely to become customers of your brand as a result. 

Platform updates and revisions
The social media industry is continuously churning, with platforms constantly updating and revising themselves. For example, TikTok recently changed the maximum content length on its platform from three minutes to ten minutes [link to our article] in a highly controversial move. This is just one example of a drastic change that was motivated by the crucial role influencer marketing has to play on social media platforms. 

The recent TikTok change was catered towards creators to allow them the flexibility of producing both long-form and short-form content on the platform, thus deterring them from sending their followers to another platform to watch their long-form content. The decision to give influencers the opportunity to keep everything in one place was likely because TikTok knows creators are using the platform to earn money from brands. 

Beating the competition
With so much to gain from influencer marketing, why not get ahead of the game before your competition? Or, the chances are that your competitors are already onto it, so perform a competitive analysis to understand how to beat them at their own game. What are they doing wrong? What are they getting right? How can you improve the process to bring in the most conversions?

Brand partnerships are happening all over, so it’s important to try and tap into the relevant ones for your brand before anyone else does. 

Post-pandemic shift
Since the pandemic began over two years ago, everything has become much more media focused. With the world slowly returning to some sense of normalcy, people will start to take advantage of this more. Everything that has contributed to the profitability of TikTok, Instagram, etc., e.g. the ability to shop online, in addition to all of the updates of the past couple of years, can actually be utilized to their best potential now that the world isn’t too covid focussed and restriction heavy. 

For creators, something that’s been missing in the last two years are in-person events, e.g. promoting restaurants, stores, or events such as Fashion Week. The recent 2022 Fashion Week was so much bigger than last year’s from a content standpoint. Content was a key focal point because influencers could actually attend events and produce exciting content out of them. There’s so many more opportunities to create interesting content when the world is “open”.  

Generating social buzz and brand awareness
There’s an advantage to generating conversations about your brand on social media without it coming from yourself. A lot of products, brands and even people have become famous from platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, trends and challenges. Building up those organic plugs from influencers will bring a number of benefits, not least because consumers tend to trust these more than promotional efforts on your own social media pages.

As an app, one of the biggest benefits that influencers can bring in this respect is generating social buzz by showing the inside of your app. By being exposed to elements they cannot see until after they download the app, users are given an insight into the true in-app experience which means they’re more likely to download it. 

Influencer shift
Influencers are evolving and they’re becoming so much more than “just” influencers; they’re becoming content creators. Being a content creator requires in-depth knowledge on how to capture audiences, maintain engagement, manage a community, produce exciting content and more. Brands can benefit immensely from leveraging the knowledge influencers have of their own audiences and how to bring growth. 

Enlisting the help of influencers to create exciting content surrounding your app can showcase it in new lights. These will often be more effective at increasing the conversion rate (CVR) because of how well influencers know their audience. 

Final thoughts
There are countless opportunities for apps to boost their KPIs with the use of influencer marketing. In 2022, working with influencers to promote your app can offer a cheaper alternative to traditional marketing methods, bring more creativity to content surrounding your app, increase conversions through the provision of a more authentic and trusted voice, and set you ahead of your competition, among many other benefits. 

About Moburst
Moburst is a digital full-service, mobile-first marketing agency that helps companies to scale and become category leaders. Moburst has offices in New York City, Tel-Aviv, and San Francisco.