Why 2022 will be the year of influencers promoting apps

Jess Ailion, Content Marketing Manager at moburstexplains that influencers will be key to app marketing in 2022.

Influencer marketing is not a new phenomenon. It has been rising through the ranks of marketing methods for years. However, it has only been in recent years that it has gained a serious reputation for the value it can bring to brands. Industry growth increased from 2017 to 2022, with the global influencer marketing platform market size expected to reach over US$373 million over the next five years.

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

2022 Influencer Marketing Trends
As with any avenue of digital marketing, 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 a significant role in securing app growth. We have 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-efficient methods of influencer marketing. Increasingly, brands are trying to get a head start by sourcing UGC instead of hiring actors or spending lots of time and money on creatives. UGC is a much cheaper alternative for brands than these more traditional methods.

At Moburst, we’ve created a network of creators to help brands source UGC. This network brings together all the influencers we have partnered with and seen multiple campaign successes in one place.

How does this help brands? On behalf of the clients we have on board, we reach out to influencers in this network en masse about relevant campaigns. Influencers can choose if they want to sign up for one campaign, and can even sign up for more than one at a time. With this mass outreach and influencer onboarding process, influencers come to us, which saves a lot of time and money.

Then we filter through all the responses to decide which ones to go forward with and which content is sourced from. We give creators a brief in which we tell them exactly what to say and what not to say and what the content should look like, etc. Once they submit their content, we pass it on to our creative team who turn it into ads and brand assets. In addition to these assets, the customer has rights to use the content that allow him to reuse it as he wishes for a period of up to twelve months from receipt.

The whole point of the Creator Network is to source UGC cheaply and quickly, so creators don’t have to post the content on their own pages. This means that the various approval stages that typically occur when working with influencers can be skipped. Also, it shortens the timeline and allows us to work with more creators since there is no conflict with their personal brand. Influencers within the Creator Network are used to plugging in and talking about brands in a very natural way, so we just pay 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 influencer feeds. This requires a lot more research, such as who the influencer’s audience is, how the audience will react to the content, finding the right influencer for the brand, etc.

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

Authentic voice
Influencers provide a “more authentic voice” than brands. Many consumers seek this external brand voice more than brand promotions, and it is becoming more prevalent every year. Consumers build trusting relationships with influencers through an open communication and engagement process. Consumers can choose who they want to follow and engage with and will likely choose influencers they relate to and trust.

To maintain that trust and positive relationship with their followers, influencers need to be as authentic as possible at all times. Naturally, this is not always the case, but it is certainly best practice. Especially since followers are often hyper-aware of the inauthenticity of influencers, and if caught off guard, influencers can seriously damage their personal brand.

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

Platform updates and revisions
The social media industry is constantly evolving, with platforms constantly updating and revising. For example, TikTok recently changed the maximum length of content 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 sea change driven by the crucial role influencer marketing has to play on social media platforms.

TikTok’s recent change was aimed at creators to allow them to produce both long-form and short-form content on the platform, discouraging them from sending their followers to another platform to watch their long-form content. The decision to give influencers the option to keep everything in one place was likely because TikTok knows creators use the platform to make money from brands.

Beat the competition
With so much to gain from influencer marketing, why not get a head start on your competition? Or, chances are your competitors are already on it, so do a competitive analysis figure out how to beat them at their own game. what are they doing wrong? What do they get? How can you improve the process to drive the most conversions?

Brand partnerships happen everywhere, so it’s important to try and tap into those that are relevant to your brand before anyone else does.

Post-pandemic change
Since the start of the pandemic more than two years ago, everything has become much more publicized. With the world slowly returning to some sense of normalcy, people will begin to enjoy it more. Everything that has helped TikTok, Instagram, etc. to be profitable, for example the ability to shop online, in addition to all the updates of the last two years, can actually be used to its best potential now. that the world is no longer too covid focused and heavy restriction.

For designers, what has been lacking in the past two years are in-person events, such as promoting restaurants, stores or events such as Fashion Week. The recent Fashion Week 2022 was so much bigger than last year’s from a content perspective. Content was a focal point, as influencers could actually attend events and derive exciting content from them. There are so many more opportunities to create interesting content when the world is “open”.

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

As an app, one of the biggest benefits influencers can bring in this regard is generating social buzz by showing the inside of your app. By being exposed to things they can only see after downloading the app, users get a glimpse of the real experience in the app, which means they are more likely to download it.

Change of influence
Influencers evolve and become much more than “just” influencers; they become content creators. Being a content creator requires in-depth knowledge of 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 audience and how to drive growth.

Using influencers to create exciting content around your app can show it in a new light. These will often be more effective at increasing conversion rate (CVR) because of how well influencers know their audience.

Final Thoughts
There are countless opportunities for apps to increase their KPIs through 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 the content surrounding your app, increase conversions through the delivery of a more authentic and trusted voice, and give you a leg up on your competition, among many other benefits.

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