Granfluencers are influencers of typical grandparent age, generally 60 or older. Some members of this Baby Boomer generation are building huge social media followings and partnering with brands.
Theseunique influencers present an equally unique opportunity for brands to connect with audiences of all ages.
The Wealth of Older Generations
Brands have good reasons to target baby boomers. Many say thisis the richest generation of seniors we’ve ever had and will ever have. They have the highest incomes and the most real estate. Baby boomers have redefined aging and, more than previous generations, expect to be able to enjoy life.
“With the highest current disposable income of all generations, baby boomers have the greatest spending power of all generations… According to studies, they spend more than the average customer in almost all consumer categories.” In Germany, the average wealth of boomers is higher than the population average, 30% higher than that of younger generations.
Authenticity that Appeals to Old & Young Audiences Alike
It’s easy to assume that older influencers appeal only (or primarily) to older audiences. But it’s important to consider that granfluencers don’t appeal only to older people. These influencers are attracting followers of all ages, and like all influencers, they create content on a variety of topics.
“While granfluencers speak to older generations, they can also attract younger audiences because of the fun and authentic way they represent themselves online.
Brands should consider partnering with granfluencers as a way of attracting Gen X, Millennials, or even Gen Z, as the older influencers are quite entertaining and engaging for these generations as well,”
said Sarah Schmid, Head of Marketing at Kingfluencers.
62-year-old Helen Polise has nearly 1 million followers on her TikTok account, “The Muthership,” which features paid tutorials on using TikTok. Polise affirmed the importance of authenticity,
“I want to highlight that it’s OK to get older. I feel more authentic. I’m not afraid to be myself.”
CrunchyTales.com, the magazine on a mission to reset the meaning of middle age, wrote about the appeal of granfluencers.
“Well known for their authenticity and reliability, they don’t try to be something they’re not and are comfortable in their own skin. This makes them appealing to their followers, who appreciate their genuine approach. Thanks to their ability to create a sense of community, engaging with their followers, responding to comments and messages, they are also able to create a strong sense of belonging.”
Pro-Aging, Pro-Living
There’s been a growing recognition of the need to fix toxic beauty standards on social media. Often, this involves featuring models of varying sizes and not using filters to artificially make skin appear flawless. But even with this increased focus, elderly models are still somewhat rare. Showing people of not only different shapes and sizes but also ages is another positive development in the growing popularity of granfluencers.
With over three million followers on Instagram, Helen Vanwinkle describes herself as,
“Stealing Ur Mans Since 1928.”
The 94-year-old American posts bold, colorful outfits.
Many granfluencers communicate pro-aging messages, such as Grece Ghanem who’s bio states,
“All about fashion and confidence as style has no age!”
Joan MacDonald shares her fitness journey, which began when she was 70 years old. She writes,
“To all the incredible women out there, let’s come together and challenge the misconceptions about aging. As we pull back the veil on all we’ve been fed about getting older, we are empowering ourselves to embrace the beauty of aging.”
These messages resonate with a younger audience that hasn’t yet reached that phase of life.
More Diversity and Inclusion
“I see the development of granfluencers as positive. It shows that diversity and inclusion can be done in different ways. I imagine that we will soon be able to observe this trend in Switzerland as well. At Kingfluencers, we already see the relevance of influencers from other generations in addition to Gen Z,” said Tamara Glück Gonzalez, Senior Influencer Strategist, Kingfluencers.
Kingfluencers recently wrote about the popularity of TikTok beyond Gen Z. Just because Gen Z may have led the way doesn’t mean other generations haven’t also moved to embrace TikTok.
Another popular granfluencer on TikTok is 89-year-old Propa, who shares adventures such as a hot air balloon trip, and cooking-related content, and has partnered with HelloFresh Deutschland.
Capture Attention with a Distinct Approach
Merely by nature of being distinct, granfluencers can capture attention. As unique individuals on platforms with numerous young and beautiful creators, elderly influencers stand out from the crowds.
Similar to Seth Godin’s famous Purple Cow analogy, granfluencers can help brands capture attention, which is vital in an increasingly noisy world.
For example, Erika Rischko is an 83-year-old fitness junkie and author of,
“Für Fitness ist es nie zu spät.”
Erika posts many workout videos, some of which are quite intense and impressive, including suspension training.
Her content stands out among the many posts tagged with “suspension training.”
Tips for Brands Working with Granfluencers
The process of partnering with a granfluencer is the same as with an influencer from any generation. Some quick tips include:
2. Give them a briefing, but enough freedom to connect authentically with your audience.
3. Remember that granfluencers are not digital natives.
While those who’ve built a large following are likely as tech-savvy as any Gen Zer, don’t assume.
Connect and have a quick chat to confirm your influencer’s understanding of relevant issues, such as social commerce features or music rights.
4. Consider an account takeover, enabling a granfluencer to bring all their authenticity, fun, and wisdom to your brand for a day.
5. You can run campaigns such as:
Staying fashionable as you age
Cooking tips for senior citizens
Traveling while elderly
Or simply run campaigns on fashion, cooking, and traveling without specifying that the influencers are elderly – similar to how not every fashion campaign featuring a Gen Z influencer is titled, “Fashion tips for Gen Z.”
With 4.2 M followers, Jaadiee is a popular multigenerational TikTok account. Jaadiee runs the account and describes himself as the
“personal photographer and grandson of Gramps.”
After seeing his grandpa’s love for streetwear evolving, Jaadiee decided to capture his joy and passion and spread it with the world. While Gramps is the main subject of most TikToks, Jaadiee also appears on camera occasionally.
Contact Kingfluencers to explore how we can help you team up with influencers – “Grand” or otherwise – to build campaigns that amplify your brand messages.
How to be Another Success Story at StreetParade & Beyond
If you ask yourself what “the Power of Influencer Marketing at Events” brings for your brand and how to maximize your impact for your next campaigns, then read on.
The term “event marketing” conjures up images of exhibitor badges, giveaways, and sponsored cocktail hours. For marketers, it means a lot of logistics work. Influencers, on the other hand, are often associated with campaigns confined to social media – viewed as an entirely distinct marketing channel.
But by incorporating influencers into events, you can fuse the excitement of the event with authentic brand advocacy. The result is a synergy, with the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Events are a Vital Marketing Tool
For 61% of marketers, events are their most vital marketing tool. Many events, such as the annual Zurich StreetParade, already have huge visibility, making them excellent channels for brands to engage their audiences. Impressively, event participation leaves 98% of users feeling more inclined to make a purchase. Sponsorship of events helps to facilitate brand engagement for a whopping 98% of cases.
Coachella, a music and arts festival held annually in California, generates buzz through multi-faceted marketing, including big brand sponsorships, influencer marketing, and social media. When influencers attend and create content, the audience shares in their unique, personal experience of the festival, which is authentic and relatable. Brands foster content creation with experiences such as Absolut Vodka’s “Absolut Ultimate VIP Coachella Experience” contest. Such luxurious settings are often “Instagrammable,” driving the creation of beautiful, engaging content. Research shows that 40% of consumers become brand loyalists after a brand activation event.
The Power of Combining Influencers & Events
Similar to social media in general, brands can engage in their own marketing activities at an event– without influencers. But, again like social media, influencers provide brands with a way to stand out from the noise. Influencers give brands a real face that people relate to and help connect to consumers.
In 2022, the World Cup was hosted in Doha, Qatar, a city not previously known as a soccer hub. To promote the tournament, FIFA immersed 17 influencers in Doha’s culture. The campaign included influencers representing 5 countries that are major soccer hubs in order to deliver the necessary large, international exposure. The team achieved a total reach of 10 M, with a total engagement of 127K.
(Brands + Influencers) + Events = Synergy
With the proper strategy, brands can partner with influencers and use the marketing power of events to engage audiences.
Kingfluencers serves as a link between brands and creators.
Last year, in collaboration with StreetParade Zurich, we created an exclusive Kingfluencers VIP Stage and shared the experience with over 250 influencers. Under the hashtag #KingfluencersXStreetparade, the influencers shared the unforgettable day live with their communities. The creators published a total of 71 posts on Instagram and TikTok, achieving over 1.8 M impressions.
Join the Party, Share the Good Vibes
Building on the success of 2022, Kingfluencers was again part of StreetParade this year and hosted an event in which content creators celebrated brands, combining the excitement of the eventwith brand advocacy. Enjoying the comfort and support of ON RUNNING shoes, influencers danced in the exclusive VIP zone with the best view of the main stage. ON RUNNING shoes also provided a cool and refreshing installation, and our brand partner Maybelline delivered an onsite get-ready booth and amazing giveaway products.
Highlights include 2.2M (4.8M*) impressions, 210k (358k*) engagement, and an engagement rate of 7.0% (10.9%*).
*KPIs were estimated using internal artificial intelligence-based technology. The actual KPIs generally correspond to the figures in brackets, as significantly more was posted than tracked.
Some of the created content pieces by our influencers on-site can be found below:
Kingfluencers’ content creators that were invited, such as Sven Ivanic, had a wonderful time:
The StreetParade itself is already a highlight, but the Kingfluencers team simply takes it to an even higher level. Great view of the main stage, great people from different areas, and good vibes. What more could you want?
– Sven Ivanic
The huge visibility of the event delivers the perfect opportunity for brands to generate buzz around your product or service in a fun atmosphere, surrounded by people enjoying themselves. Content creators can share authentic good vibes and promote your product in a way that doesn’t feel like a promotion.
Contact Kingfluencers to discuss how your brand can benefit from joining next year’s party.
12 Ways to Maximize the Impact of your Influencer Partnerships at Events like StreetParade
Involving influencers raises awareness of the event itself as well as awareness of your brand. Consider the following additional, creative steps.
1. Offer an exclusive, thrilling influencer experience
Delivering an immersive, exciting time for your influencers can build and strengthen their love for your brand, driving more impactful, authentic advocacy. This can also foster more content and higher content quality.
Together with L’Oréal Switzerland, Kingfluencers organized a pre-event for some of the influencers that were invited to the Swiss Influencer Award Show. Professional L’Oréal make-up artists and hairstylists pampered 20 influencers, including Alessandra Spataro. The fun experience also featured beautiful floral decorations from Blumenpost, some tasty bites from Eat Unique, and delicious rosé wine from Piu Vino.
2. Ask influencers to invite their community to try your product at the event
Engaged community members can post genuine reactions and reviews, further expanding your reach.
3. Consider an account takeover
Enable an influencer to share their event experiences with your brand’s audience.
4. Try some guerrilla marketing by using the elements of surprise and wonder.
Event attendees are already expecting thrilling, unique experiences. Join the fun with experiential marketing and unconventional and inventive displays. For example, the “Amex Experience” lounge at Coachella offered American Express cardmembers fun activities such as printing their photo onto a limited-edition Coachella tote bag.
5. Run contents & challenges before & during the event
Add to the anticipation in advance of the event by hosting contests and challenges. Keep the content going throughout the event and involve your influencer partners in activating their communities over a longer period of time.
Kingfluencers ran a campaign for Stimorol in combination with Zurich Openair (ZOA) which achieved excellent KPIs: 2.2M impressions and 45K engagement. In the first phase, influencers promoted a contest before the event to win tickets to ZOA thanks to Stimorol. In phase two, influencers were onsite at the festival, interacting with the community doing Stimorol samplings and funny interviews and challenges.
6. Repurpose the content afterwards
Use the content created during the event across multiple channels. Consider hiring photographers and videographers to create high-quality content with your influencers.
7. Partner up with another brand
In addition to partnering with influencers, consider teaming up with another brand to expand the audience you can reach. By pairing up with a complementary brand, such as food with beverage, you can create delightful experiences for your combined audience.
8. Livestream the event
Share the fun in real-time live on social media, streamed as part of an account takeover by an influencer or marketing agency, or by internal brand employees.
9. Offer branded goodie bags
Everyone loves some swag, and unboxing a goodie bag is fun content to share. Harness the power of FOMO by offering giveaways to event VIPs and influencers.
Interestingly, FOMO is an especially helpful marketing tactic if your target audience includes millennials. 69% of millennials experience FOMO, the highest percentage in any age group. Include branded items like clothing and gadgets to mix the digital with physical experience.
10. Promote incentives
Offer special promo codes for your influencers to share with their community during the event. Consider making the offers short-term to further drive action.
11. Create online event resources
Build assets such as unique landing pages on your brand’s website. Make sure your audience knows the scope of your involvement in the event so they can participate by attending in person, watching your live stream, joining your content, etc.
12. Plan properly & clarify expectations
Regardless of which of the above ideas you incorporate, make sure expectations are clear and your brand can expect a return. Well-structured campaign must include clear briefs and expectations to avoid misunderstandings and disappointment. For example, share a “script” of key message points with influencers to maximize content usability after the event.
The term “influencer marketing” is often associated with lifestyle influencers promoting products such as makeup and shoes to consumers. Should such influencers also promote cybersecurity platforms, employee training services, or corporate lease accounting software?
Yeah, probably not. To be fair, the B2B tech brand, the influencer, and their followers would all be displeased with such promotions!
The proper match between influencer and brand is vital. But is the concept of influencer marketing a fit for B2B brands?
B2B influencer marketing is growing, consistent with the common pattern of marketing practices becoming widespread in B2C before expanding to B2B. Despite this growth, many misconceptions around B2B influencer marketing still persist. We’re highlighting the most common myths and debunking them with the facts, so you can consider adding this impactful, effective marketing tactic to your mix.
Myth #1: Influencer Marketing Drives Emotional, Impulse Buys & is Therefore Irrelevant to B2B
B2B buyers are making decisions that impact the future of their careers. While consumers might seek approval and validation from friends, B2B decision-makers desire the approval and validation of their professional peers.
Thomas Ordahl, chief strategy officer, of Landor Associates, states, “B2B buyers are making decisions every day that can change their careers. That’s inherently emotional – more than we even like to admit.” 71% of buyers who see a personal value in a B2B purchase, will end up buying the product/service.
While B2B purchases are often less impulsive than B2C, it’s still important for sellers to tap into buyers’ emotions while building trust. Interpersonal connections are particularly vital. “92% of B2B decision-makers trust a person more than a brand even if they don’t know the person.”
Myth #2: B2B Decision Makers Don’t Pay Attention to Influencers
This myth persists because of a common association with the term “influencer” with people like Kim Kardashian. Sure, people aren’t consulting beauty influencers when selecting a cloud computing provider. But B2B decision makers do consult a variety of subject matter experts.
According to Forrester, B2B buyers go everywhere for information. “They talked to peers, industry experts, and various provider representatives to get their specific questions answered. They also did a lot of self-directed research checking all sorts of sources, from social media to syndicated content to category- or industry-specific resources.”
As Nielson stated further in its report, “expert content has a greater impact than brand content in the stages like brand familiarity and affinity.” Gartner reports that B2B buying groups spend 27% of their time conducting independent online research. B2B buyers are increasingly relying on guidance from peers throughout decision-making processes that are growing longer. The Demand Gen 2022 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey asked respondents about changes to their buyers’ journeys. The added processes include spending more time using social media to research vendors and solutions (31%) and relying more on peer recommendations/review websites (29%).
Myth #3: There Are Too Few B2B Influencers Available for My Brand to Do Influencer Marketing
You don’t need many influencers; you just need the right one(s).
B2B influencer marketing is more feasible than many perceive it to be. When you partner with the right voices in a well-structured campaign, individual people can make a difference and change the narrative to your brand’s advantage.
There are likely multiple thought leaders in your industry who create helpful content your target audience relies upon… but they simply aren’t partnering with brands. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t team up with your brand. You simply need to approach them and negotiate terms, including having a well-structured process and agreement. That’s where relying on the expertise and the enriching B2B creators network of an agency like Kingfluencers can set you up for success.
A well-structured campaign includes reinforcing your brand’s key messages across multiple channels, including your owned properties. You can use multiple voices to discuss the challenges your audience faces, so you address multiple factors that impact their decision. Most importantly, you already have B2B influencers… your employees! Which brings us to our next 2 myths.
Myth #4: We’re Working to Build Our Brand’s Digital Influence. There’s No Place for Individual People to Share Our Messages
People want to see authenticity and real people – even B2B buyers. A people-centric approach can make a big difference, particularly as your brand stands out among the overload of bots and obviously automated, impersonal social selling. In particular, the consistent engagement of senior leadership on social media can have numerous benefits for your brand.
56% of professionals stated that a business executive’s presence on social media positively influences their purchase decisions.
Individual employees working as ambassadors don’t detract from your efforts to build your brand’s digital influence. As employees, their contributions positively enhance your brand’s digital influence, working synergistically. By engaging on social media, employees can provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse, authentically revealing how engaged and happy employees are. In turn, this demonstrates how motivated staff is to develop quality products, provide good service, and remain with the company to deliver consistency.
Myth #5: Employees Must Be Trained! We Can’t Use Our Staff for Influencer Marketing
If an employee is going to be interviewed by the press or speak at a conference, we definitely recommend they are press trained! But many employees can be recruited to help amplify your messages and build digital influence. Employees in various departments can be among your various ambassadors, each adding a specific angle and unique value. Additionally, you can opt to provide comprehensive training to selected staff in order to help them become brand power voices.
B2B Influencer Marketing Myths. Employees Must Be TrainedB2B Influencer Marketing Myths. We Can’t Use Our Staff for Influencer MarketingB2B Influencer Marketing Myths. Myth #5B2B Influencer Marketing Myths. Comprehensive training
Kingfluencers Helps You Build B2B Digital Influence
Reach out to Kingfluencers and let’s discuss how we can help you:
Select influencers to reach and engage your target audience
Negotiate terms and execute well-structured agreements
Build personal branding campaigns for selected executives and employees
More than 85% of the Swiss population can be reached on social media and 40% follow influencers. Can they be influenced to make purchases through these channels? Our study on where and how Swiss consumers find inspiration and information about products and brands today, with an added focus on influencer marketing and the luxury industry, says yes.
Influencer and advocacy marketing can nowadays be identified as Influence Marketing producing the pinnacle of purchase decision drivers, electronic Word of Mouth or eWOM. eWOM is impacting consumers through recommendations that feel as relevant as those of a friend or an expert. It’s therefore no surprise that, according to our data, every third inspiration via a social media channel or influencer leads to a purchase in Switzerland.
We address the ongoing debate about authenticity and marketing power of influencers – do consumers trust them? Can they really sell products? We found that in the lifestyle and luxury sector, 78% of Swiss consumers who noticed paid influencer ads were inspired by them, and 40% stated they’ve made a purchase because of them. In other words, influencer marketing is a powerful form of marketing in Switzerland where authenticity and commercial opportunity co-exist.
In our Consumer Study Report about “The Power of Digital Influence”, you will find profound insights into online channels, platforms, and content creators that inspire Swiss consumers and act as key decision-making levers in the purchasing process.
If you have missed our exclusive summary of the study in our public webinar with marketing.ch, where key results and insights have been presented by our CEO Yoeri Callebaut and Chief Strategy & Digital Influence Officer Eric Amstein, you can find the full recording here.
Free Consumer Study Report – The Power of Digital Influence: What inspires and influences Swiss consumers
We recently wrote about how retail expanded from brick-and-mortar stores to include ecommerce and has been expanding further to also include social and livestream commerce. Many attributes of Switzerland and the Swiss people make us an ideal audience to target with new retail initiatives.
What trends are we now seeing within this new, broad scope of retail?
Merging the Point of Inspiration with the Point of Purchase
With the inclusion of social commerce and even AR, brands aren’t selling to distinct, separate audiences with isolated tactics. New retail involves connecting with your audience in innovative ways and merging the point of inspiration with the point of purchase.
The third trend includes a blurring and blending of physical and virtual worlds. “It is certainly true that some consumers who shopped online in 2020 and 2021 are likely to return to brick-and-mortar stores, and that the store of tomorrow will look very different… And what may be surprising is that people of all income levels and generations are interested in shopping for real-life products in virtual worlds.”
39% of consumers have had a consultation in a virtual or augmented reality environment on topics from health and wellness to DIY projects. In agreement with our own guidance, Accenture advises, “The metaverse has arrived, and the best thing that retailers can do today is starting to experiment.”
Collaborate Cohesively
Deloitte also emphasized the need for cohesion. “Social commerce trends are not only reshaping consumer shopping experiences, but unlocking new opportunities for platforms, brands, and creators. Social commerce success depends on collaboration and integration of key players in the ecosystem.”
Deloitte provides social commerce services that solve operational and technical challenges, including architecting technology stacks to integrate brand and retailer e-commerce systems with platform systems.
Influencer Marketing Success Case
Cohesive integration of marketing campaigns between brands and influencers is equally important.
Kingfluencers recently executed a campaign in which influencers discussed how to start your day successfully with SUPER SHOTS by hohes C, while taking their communities along for the day. The communities showed high qualitative interest with an engagement rate of over 5%, and the influencers received many questions on where to buy the SUPER SHOTS. In addition to indicating high trust in the brand and the creators, this reveals how social campaigns can drive purchases from brick-and-mortar stores.
Anna PfisterGiulia SteingruberLinda Fäh
Fusing Digital & Physical Experiences
While we may think of ecommerce and retail stores as distinct modes of shopping, Deloitte’s 2022 Retail Industry Outlook describes the accelerating fusion of digital and physical experiences. “Over the next five years, leaders are buying into the prospects of digitization of the physical world, such as voice commerce, staff-free cashier-less stores, and the selling of digital goods.”
Burberry opened a shoppable digital version of one of its flagship stores. Customers can navigate themselves around the virtual store and purchase items by selecting digital icons.
Experiential Retail and Flagship Stores
To attract new customers and build loyalty, retailers are developing immersive shopping experiences and building innovative flagship stores. Athletic apparel brand On’s first-ever flagship store, On Labs, is situated beneath its Zurich-based headquarters and features a foot scanner that details your shoe size to within 1.25mm of perfection. Kingfluencers’ team was part of the flagship store launch, sharing the good vibes, sporty challenges, and benefits of joining the club for running lovers with content creators like HaVy Nguyen. The campaign achieved over 1.6M impressions and a 3.11% engagement rate.
Zurich is also home to the Freitag tower, made from used freight containers. The flagship store sells recycled, one-of-a-kind products, such as bags, smartphone cases, and wallets. Additionally, consumers can personalize their bags by becoming involved in the production process at the Freitag Sweat-Yourself-Shop.
Social Commerce on Instagram
Social commerce usually takes place on the move, i.e. via smartphone or tablet, as social media offers are preferably used via mobile devices. Brands can excel by building a social media strategy optimized to cash in on the movement and avoid losing out to competitors.
Instagram enables you to use real-time and pre-made content to create an interactive, visual shopping experience that deepens connections with your community. With Instagram Shoppable posts, you can sell products directly from shoppers’ feeds. Product Tags let you highlight items from your catalog directly in your images and videos, so people can easily tap and learn more.
As part of our Instagram marketing services, Kingfluencers can help make your products easy to discover on Instagram. Earlier this year, Mondelez launched limited edition Oreos in collaboration with Warner Bros and the brand-new Batman movie. Kingfluencers ran a campaign in which influencers showed how biting the new cookies in a creative way can lead you from a serious world into a playful one.
Technology-Driven Convenience
Some retail trends originally expanded in response to COVID-19, such as self-checkout, buy online pick-up in-store (BOPIS), and contactless payment. These technology-driven experiences remain popular for convenience and their ability to reduce staff, (plus the preference of antisocial shoppers!).
Retailers must also consider macroeconomic trends, including inflation. On July 26, 2022, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) wrote, “Several shocks have hit a world economy already weakened by the pandemic: higher-than-expected inflation worldwide – especially in the United States and major European economies – triggering tighter financial conditions.” Of course, inflation can lead to consumers buying fewer items and being more price-conscious about the items they do purchase. While many consumers worldwide are worried, CH inflation is expected to fall in the new year and Switzerland should avoid a recession.
Sustainability is Sought After
A 2022 report shows that two-thirds of consumers say they would pay more for sustainable products, and nearly three-quarters value product sustainability over brand name. Interestingly, retailers are largely unaware of the strength and prevalence of these preferences, creating a greenfield for savvy retailers.
Buying and selling secondhand products, referred to as “recommerce” is also on the rise, enabled by platforms such as Poshmark. In addition to helping buyers save money, it’s a sustainable practice. Some great options in Switzerland include Depop and Secondhandkiste for clothes. Tutti, Ricardo, and Brocki.ch are popular Swiss sites that offer a variety of items.
Kingfluencers also had the pleasure of running a campaign for Ricardo focused on communicating the brand’s USPs through interactive campaigns. Influencers were given various challenges when putting together hiking gear on Ricardo. The total engagement rate was 5.1%.To further encourage sustainability and low-waste products, Brocki.ch also worked with Kingfluencers on a campaign to promote their thrift stores all over Switzerland. Impressions were 41% higher than forecasted, and the total engagement rate was 5.0%.
What’s Emerging and What Should Brands Be Doing About it?
Last year, we published, “13 Social Media & Influencer Marketing Trends to Look For Now,” many of which are still relevant for 2023. So, what new trends are emerging now, and what’s changing? Most importantly, what should brands be doing about it?
1. Social Media is More Deeply Intertwined with Life, as People Share Everything
While people have long used social media to share life’s fun (and sometimes not so fun) moments, posts were often carefully curated and edited.
Social media is now becoming increasingly entrenched in people’s lives, as people share everything in the moment, on the go. Users are sharing every second via video on TikTok, SnapChat, and BeReal in ways that are less pre-planned and polished than typically seen on Instagram. On the popular Netflix show “Emily in Paris,” the protagonist livestreams her visits to popular tourist destinations – free of edits. The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau posted where to find the main locations in the series to help people see the city through Emily’s eyes.
For Pro Juventute, we organized a campaign against cybermobbing in which three TikTokers, including Kris G, authentically shared their experiences with cyberbullying along with tips on how to deal with offensive comments and messages.
The Takeaway: Create brand content and select influencers who embrace this instant authenticity people crave.
2. Moving Even More Toward Everything Video
In our 2022 guide, we noted that video is increasing in relevance and importance, leaving other formats less likely to be noticed. As platforms adapt, they’re converging on video, specifically on-the-go storytelling. Sprout Social predicts that businesses will put more money behind video production.
PPCexpo states the video is, “The single most important content marketing strategy today.” Both video and authenticity continue to grow in importance. Social Media management platform Later notes video content is already shifting towards casual, off-the-cuff storytelling. “Even video editing is becoming more about telling a story, like using multiple apps to create clever edits.”
The Takeaway: Allocate sufficient budget to video production and select influencers with proven ability to create engaging videos. Also consider innovative use of your influencer video content with Kingfluencers “Influencer TV Spot,” a new exclusive advertising format that we launched last year, to take storytelling to a whole new level.
3. Performance Marketing Grows in Importance, as Brands Focus on KPIs
Many brands are still struggling to figure out how to monetize their social media presence. Brands want to ensure their initiatives, including IM campaigns, pay off, but tracking KPIs can be challenging.
As 2023 progresses, IM will be more tuned into sales and focused on conversion. Kingfluencers’ Head of Creative Strategy, Larisa Topalo, stated, “Conversion will begin to overtake awareness as the key goal.”
Eric Amstein, Kingfluencers’ Chief Strategy & Digital Influence Officer, stated, “Brands need to use every digital communication channel more and more strategically. Getting ahead of the narrative across all stakeholder interaction will be crucial to stay relevant and commercially successful. These investments will drive stronger results in digital brand building, digital reputation, positive eWOM, driving better performance of marketing activities and ultimately conversion rates.”
Fohr, influencer marketing agency and platform provider, also predicted, “Brands this year will be highly focused on ways to track conversion and their return on ad spend (ROAS).” In addition to a prioritization on conversion, Fohr predicts a rise in multi-touch attribution models that follow a longer customer journey.
The Takeaway: Allocate some of your campaign budgets to performance marketing (boosting organic content to reach even higher KPIs). Establish specific campaign goals and closely monitor quantitative KPIs, in addition to nuanced measurement with qualitative analysis. Consider multi-touch attribution models and use every channel more strategically.
4. IM Content Gains More Ground
According to a study from eMarketer, “Influencer marketing spend is projected to grow 23.4% in 2023 and 15.9% in 2024.” But we don’t expect IM expenditures to be restricted to traditional campaigns.
Instead, IM content will continue to spill over into other domains and serve as the basis for performance marketing campaigns. Brands will use the power of that content to convey their value, get attention, and further capitalize on their IM investments.
Larisa said, “We’ll see more influencers, more content, more platform changes. Integration of influencers into traditional marketing activities will continue, for example PR events, capsule launches, product co-creation, TV advertising. There is a lot of room for creativity, and we’ll see even more unusual collaborations, viral campaigns, and clever integrations.”
Influencer marketing will also continue to expand beyond consumer products, impacting B2B purchase decisions and integrating the influence of corporate leaders. We expect B2B influencer marketing to take off, but it needs the requisite tools and processes. It can be time-consuming and difficult to find B2B influencers, making the support of agencies that much more vital. (And yes, Kingfluencers is already part of this take off!)
The Takeaway: Allocate funds for IM as an integral part of your marketing efforts. Yoeri Callebaut, Kingfluencers CEO, advises, “Take the time needed to strategize, plan, and allocate budgets. IM can’t be an afterthought at which you throw leftover budget. It’s important for brands to have a diversified and smart approach to social media and constantly reinvent how they communicate, spending more time on content to stand out. The storytelling train is moving fast. You need to get on now and come with brand stories, characters, and room for influencers to be creative.”
5. Social Media Platforms & Creators Continue to Innovate… Beyond TikTok
Platforms have long been accused of copying one another, which we expect to continue. However, some innovative channels are still emerging and growing as they target unique niches, such as Twitch.
Larisa expects IM campaigns to become more creative, complicated, and elaborate. GoPro demonstrated their trust in the unbridled creativity of influencers at the recent GoPro Creator Summit. The brand invited 42 creators to a four-day, all expenses-paid jaunt to Interlaken, Switzerland, an experience one summed up, “A brand threw me out of a plane.” GoPro didn’t give creators any specific assignments or content mandates.
In collaboration with Street Parade Zurich, we created an exclusive Kingfluencers VIP Stage and shared the experience with over 250 influencers. Under the hashtag #KingfluencersXStreetparade, the influencers shared the unforgettable day live with their communities. The creators published a total of 71 posts on Instagram and TikTok, achieving over 1.8 M impressions.
The Takeaway: While it’s important to stay informed of the latest platform innovations, brands must move toward a community-centric approach. Focus on your target community and build an approach that includes which platforms to use to reach them. Think beyond Meta (Instagram) and TikTok and include other platforms like Twitch (especially for men), Pinterest (especially for women), and YouTube. Kingfluencers will continue to help you stay informed with our new upcoming study coming out mid-March with insights into digital influence on Swiss consumer behaviors like inspiration searches, purchase decision-making, and platform usage.
6. TikTok Remains a Driver, as Platforms Strive to be More Entertaining and Engaging
Fohr thinks, “TikTok will stay as a cultural engine, as the platform matures, creators could bring their communities elsewhere.” The agency and platform provider has seen reports of slower follower growth and fewer views on creator content, which means new opportunities for YouTubers, bloggers, newsletters, or live streaming.
TikTok has been banned in government agencies due to cybersecurity risks in several US states. Fear of TikTok bans persist, but restrictions are likely to remain limited to government agencies or individual corporations.
“In my opinion, other platforms now see the entertainment approach is working, and are launching more features to make the platform both more entertaining and more engaging. Impacted by TikTok’s success, platforms are striving to create community feelings and engagement, stimulating interactions with features such as chat, video calls, groups, and audio rooms. These are big factors that make people stick to the platform, contributing to the success of social media,” said Yoeri.
“Sparking connections between people over what they find,” is among Instagram’s priorities in 2023, alongside inspiring creativity, and discovering new things.
The Takeaway: TikTok remains a vital channel to connect with consumers, and don’t disregard the opportunities for engagement elsewhere. Entertaining content is great, but people stay when they can connect and interact in a community.
7. Focus on User Generated Content (UGC)
Nearly 80% of consumers surveyed say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions. Recognizing this value, brands are making increasing efforts to capture a greater variety of voices, such as consumers and employees. Through consumer advocacy efforts, they’re working to capture UGC and use it wisely, building a squad of voices to deliver a broad range of support.
Salesforce is one very impressive success case. The brand revamped their social ambassador program and turned 25,000 employees into social brand ambassadors in 21 months by leveraging Haiilo.
The Takeaway: Make plans to capture and leverage UGC. Don’t leave it to chance. Give your consumers creative freedom to showcase how your product can solve a key pain point of your community. The authenticity of such real stories makes IM powerful and can result in highly successful campaigns.
8. Scrutiny & Oversight of Platforms + Influencer Guidelines
Recent events at Twitter have unleashed many questions and increased scrutiny. Specifically, how do platforms really operate? How fragile are they? What impact do they have on democracy?
Social media is becoming a topic of geopolitical interest, amid growing concerns about the power and instability of platforms. We’ll likely see increasing demand for more oversight and regulation.
Greg notes that Twitter could become more interested in the creator economy to generate new revenues. While some brands have reduced their Twitter marketing spend, the platform still provides great opportunities. For example, Shakira sang about her ex Gérard Pique’s new girlfriend, “You traded a Rolex for a Casio.” Casio responded and has been having great fun on Twitter.
Anja Lapčević, Kingfluencers Co-CEO & Chief Influence Officer, stated that France is now another country that has planned to implement guidelines for influencers. “We will also focus on further developing the Code of Conduct and expanding the Conscious Influence Hub, in addition to recruiting more creators, agencies, brands, and individuals to work with association. We believe that as a community we can use the positive power of social media to strengthen digital togetherness.”
Sprout Social wrotehow brands talk about sustainability, specifically, will change, with many opting for a quieter approach amid fears of being called out for greenwashing.
The Takeaway: Contribute to social media as a force for good. Ensure public statements are always transparent and sincere.
9. Brands Will Hire Influencers to Run Their Accounts & Work Onsite
Shopify states, “If an influencer has a track record of going viral with their own accounts, chances are they can replicate the success for a brand.” In addition to their knowledge of what engages communities on social platforms, they also have friendships with other influencers that can further help brands extend their reach.
Kingfluencers manages Manor’s TikTok account, where our team also engages with their communities via the creators T-Ronimo and Ericwdrae. Another successful example is influencer lala who creates TikToks for the German grocery store EDEKA.
10. In-Store Influencers
Based on their global consumer study, the Qualtrics XM Institute has declared 2023, “the year businesses rediscover the human connection.” “But in the rush to digitize everything, and drive operational efficiency, many companies left their humanity behind. And now, they’re paying the price as consumers demand deeper, more human connections with the companies they buy from.”
Influencers can play a part in building more human connection. As published by Trend Hunter, “Brands are inviting influencers to their brick-and-mortar retail locations for more interactive and engaging partnerships. These collaborations are often realized as consumer-facing marketing resources, or a way for the brand to help influencers supercharge their social media content.”
Consumers are increasingly looking at influencers for insights into different products or services, as they are often shown in the moment or in use. Both, brand and influencers, ensure through in-store creator events to provide real, authentic experiences instead of putting the purchase decision in focus.
Some of our influencers participated in such a in-store creator event for the opening of the On Running flagship store in Zurich, together with other talented content creators. It was a fun (and sporty!) event, full of laughter, music, good vibes, and refreshing drinks.
Brands will increasingly focus on reviving brick-and-mortar retail experiences, especially with influencer opening events or visits, because that makes retail fun and more human-centric! Even employees can act as in-house influencers and become a crucial part of your branding.
The Takeaway: Consider enabling creators to manage your account or just take it over for a day. Give creators freedom to generate content for your brand. While influencers are often associated with social media, consider partnering with them for in-store collaborations.
11. Need to Compete with AI (Artificial Intelligence)
New use cases for artificial intelligence seem to occur on a daily basis. Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT is a chatbot that’s shockingly decent at creating unique content. Social Media Today writers suspect that many websites will use AI-generated content for generic overviews, helping cut down on SEO time. “The end result, then, is that people – like, actual, real humans – will be less and less engaged by the generic, which could open up more opportunity for better copy to stand out.”
On the other hand, the OpenAI Terms of Use states, “Due to the nature of machine learning, Output may not be unique across users and the Services may generate the same or similar output for OpenAI or a third party.” Therefore, by using AI-generated text, you could end up with duplicate website content, thus incurring Google penalties.
AI-generated art has also been growing, with some unique results such as every country as a super villain.
AI may be progressing in creating text and imagery, but it doesn’t seem capable of making fun TikToks… yet.
Content, whether for SEO, email, or social posts, must resonate with people. As reiterated by many surveys we’ve quoted here, people crave authentic human connection. It’s crucial to share emotional, sincere posts from real people that consumers can relate to. AI can’t come close to achieving that vital depth of connection.
The Takeaway: Influencers will have to compete with AI in creating content. Brands should carefully vet influencers – especially writers – so you can be certain the content they’re creating is unique. Real people are needed for real human connection. But also consider including some fun, fascinating AI-generated imagery as a complement to your authentically human campaigns.
12. Preventing Burnout & Improving Mental Health Will Be Priorities
With all the new trends and innovations, it’s important to maintain a focus on wellness, both physical and mental. Behind every smiling face on social media is a person with doubts and problems. That’s why we’re introducing a new format on our channels: Monthly Mental Health Check-in. We at Kingfluencers want to bring attention to the topic of mental health and share very personal and close experiences. Our January topic was comparing yourself on social media and was extended in February with our #NoFilterFeb Challenge. In our 2nd part of the Mental Health Campaign, we highlight how social media distorts reality and provide tips and tricks.
Talking to The Media Leader, Phil Rowley, Omnicom Media Group’s head of futures, commented on the need for social media to positively impact mental health. “We love social media, but we hate it too, and we certainly can’t stop using it. So the only long-term solution is to find a model that scratches all of our itches but doesn’t make us feel terrible in the process.”
The Takeaway: Consider how your social media interactions will impact anyone who encounters them. Refer to the Conscious Influence Hub Code of Conduct for guidance.
Soon, But Not Now:
Live Commerce
Live commerce is gaining ground worldwide, although it’s not yet common in DACH. The Drum reports a recent shift in understanding and engagement of live shopping in Europe.
Many platforms offer their own shopping features – with social commerce, brands can handle the entire customer journey within one platform – from the initial inspiration to the purchase of a product. This gives social commerce an advantage that traditional online commerce cannot offer and also increases the impulse of purchases. According to the Swiss Mail Order Association, which brings together more than 320 online retailers generating around 50% of Swiss B2C online sales, manufacturers and brands are investing heavily in their online format to increase sales and improve the customer experience.
Although the topic is still very young in Switzerland, it will become increasingly relevant and also be used more and more.
Metaverse and Web 3.0
Fastcompany says: “In 2023, the Metaverse is likely to grow exponentially, becoming more immersive and more expansive. With advances in technology, we are likely to see more realistic avatars—the figures that represent you in the Metaverse—that allow for more complex interactions in virtual worlds.”
At Kingfluencers, we expect the metaverse to grow significantly in 2023 both on the side of brands and users presence – although perhaps not at the speed sources like Fast Company predict just yet. In Switzerland and DACH, we assume that it might still take a little while and foresee the boom rather as of 2024-2025 for a number of reasons such as complexity for people to get involved in areas like NFTs (requiring NFT wallets etc) and general access to the Metaverse with multiple ‘Metaverses’ like Sandbox existing without any of them being the true leading one. We do believe that in the next 2 years clearer dominance of certain Metaverses will become apparent, which will help adoption as people and brands will know where to go – Metaverse-wise. Furthermore in order for Metaverse to become more popular and gain traction, access to Metaverse and Web 3.0 should be simplified and potential users need easily accessible guides and information or education concerning how to participate – from buying NFT’s to generation avatars and being ‘on the Verse’. Once how to gain access is more clear or simplified consumers and brands are likely to find their way to the world of web 3.0 a lot faster and the exponential boom can begin (much like it happened with social media in general).
The real trend we expect is that specialized stakeholders in this industry such as web 3.0 developers but also some leading frontrunner brands outside the web 3.0 technology zone will make access to the Metaverse and Web 3.0 easier or more attractive in order to stimulate adoption. This will be done for example by simplifying systems and procedures related to access and ownership of digital assets, so that more people will find their way to it without much ‘technology hassle’. Some of this will require real ‘reengineering’ of certain systems and processes related to these fields. Forward looking companies and brands will continue to invest in innovation in all areas as well as NFTs throughout the year and with good reasons.
Supporting Your 2023
If you have any more questions about the emerging trends listed or would like to chat about other trends on the horizon, feel free to contact us right away.
In early 2023, we published, “13 Social Media & Influencer Marketing Trends to Look For Now.” We’re looking back at 2023 to see some examples of these trends… and one where we got it wrong.
1. Social media platforms are experimenting
2023 saw no shortage of innovations in social media! The biggest of which is the metaverse. We’ve written a series of 4 articles now. One key takeaway: it’s still early days, but the metaverse is currently a huge green field with many opportunities. We’ve predicted that a critical mass of users is still three to five years away, but brands should start thinking now about how to engage communities there. The guidance of experts and support from agencies will be more critical than ever.
Users have been wanting more authenticity in social media, and the hot new app BeReal is meeting that demand. BeReal has been downloaded millions of times, held the No. 1 position in the App Store, and received interest from investors.
Social media platforms have long copied one another and BeReal seems to be the one to emulate. Instagram launched a new ‘Dual’ camera mode, and TikTok announced the expansion of their suite of creation tools with TikTok Now, “a daily photo and video experience to share your most authentic moments with the people who matter the most.”In July, NPR wrote that Facebook is making radical changes to keep up with TikTok. Despite efforts to copy it, TikTok continues to dominate.
2. Social Media Platforms Emerge to Target Increasingly Smaller Niches
Our second trend is the one we admit we got wrong. Some influencers are focusing on increasingly smaller niches, making nano-influencers effective partners for brands to connect with their target audiences. We did also see platforms, such as BeReal, grow and expand, but that app was founded in 2023 and while it has a unique appeal, it’s not targeting a small niche.
However, 2023 didn’t see the emergence of any entirely new platforms targeting a small niche, so we acknowledge that this prediction was inaccurate
3. Digitalization of everything, including growth VR/AR & metaverse
We wrote about emerging retail trends, some of which fuse the physical and digital. With the inclusion of social commerce and even AR, brands aren’t selling to distinct, separate audiences with isolated tactics. New retail involves connecting with your audience in innovative ways and merging the point of inspiration with the point of purchase.
According to Accenture, 39% of consumers have had a consultation in a virtual or augmented reality environment on topics from health and wellness to DIY projects.
4. More love for nano and micro-influencers
Lauchmetrics found that micro- and nano-influencers made up the most Media Impact Value (MIV) in beauty. At Kingfluencers, we added 98 new nano influencers in 2023 into our creators’ community. Kingfluencers has run numerous successful campaigns with micro- and nano-influencers.
One highlight was Vacherin Fribourgeois. We ran a campaign to build awareness and create a sense of belonging to a community through the “Instants Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP.” Our concept encouraged influencers to talk about their different traditions while eating fondue and the secret ingredients they use to make it an even better experience. Over 3 weeks, 5 micro and 1 mid-tier influencers made a total of 69 posts on Instagram and Facebook. Total impressions were 232K, 60% higher than forecast, with over 1.239K interactions and a total engagement rate of 4.81%.
5. Creator content will become more widespread
The domain of influencers continues to expand beyond social media platforms. Kingfluencers was part of the opening night of the Zurich Film Festival (ZFF). We welcomed the biggest Swiss content creators on the ZFF Green Carpet, including two of last year’s Swiss Influencer Award winners: Adrian Vogt and Brian Havarie.
As Fabian Plüss, our Co-Founder said, “We’re proud to see that the work of content creators is also recognized and respected by the ZFF. This shows that the festival has a diverse perspective on video productions of all kinds and thus welcomes the creators’ scene.”
For Pro Juventute, we organized a campaign against cybermobbing in which three TikTokers, including Kris G, shared their tips on how to deal with offensive comments and messages. The reach of the campaign expanded beyond social media, as it was also featured in an article on Watson.
Adrian VogtBrian HavarieKris Grippo
6. Creator economy will boom as content becomes currency
One fascinating, innovative use of influencer content is the “Influencer TV Spot,” a new exclusive advertising format that we launched last year. In case you missed our “2022 Recap” article from 13.01.2022, we dove into this new exclusive advertising format in our, “Exciting News” section.
Video is dominating
Video is one of the most important formats on social media. PPCexpo states it is, “The single most important content marketing strategy today.” Video has revolutionized marketing across all channels. Landing page videos are able to increase conversion rates by 80%. 92% of mobile video consumers share videos with their social network, and over 80% of businesses say video generates a good marketing ROI. The number of digital video viewers is expected to reach 3.48 billion in 2023. With video content dominating, YouTube is now the second most popular website in the world.
Short-form videos are also an excellent tactic for informing and connecting with your audience, such as the Pro Juventute campaign against cybermobbing. Pro Juventute offers children and young people a confidential telephone line to talk about their concerns, as well as helpful tips on its website 147.ch. Six influencers, including Kris G, talked about their own experiences with mental illnesses in a total of 6 TikTok videos. Impressions were more than 866k with a reach of more than 598k, achieving a 26.7% engagement rate and 45.13% growth in followers. The campaign was also featured in an article on Watson.
7. Influencers face increasing pressure to innovate
TikTok released its Year on TikTok 2022 which included many innovations, such as a song set to Tariq’s, aka Corn Kid, enthusiastic description of his tasty snack. Among the breakthrough stars, “#SpaceTok opens up to a new dimension, thanks to European Space Agency Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who takes us on out-of-this-world adventures.”
Qualtrics spoke to more than 33,000 consumers in 29 countries to find out what businesses need to do to win their loyalty. The answer? Act more human.
Uster, the third largest city in canton Zürich, worked with Kingfluencers to emphasize the human impacts of littering. The campaign targeted young audiences to reduce littering in Uster and around Lake Greifensee. Comedy influencers communicated to their audience that littering is not cool under any circumstances. The curated content was very appealing to the audience, as shown by the immensely high engagement rate and the large quantity of positive comments. 3 macro influencers on Instagram and TikTok published a total of 12 posts (videos and stories) + 2 additional pieces of content. The interaction rate was 7.1%, and the engagement rate was 30.9%.
As influencers innovate, they must continue to be relatable and authentic. These attributes are what drive high levels of engagement. To their community members, an influencer can feel like part of their friendship circle. Partnering with influencers is a powerful tool for brands to build trust and connect to consumers, delivering exactly what consumers want – acting more human, and helping fuel growth.
8. Long-term partnerships between brands & influencers
Here at Kingfluencers, we’re thrilled to have ongoing relationships with influencers that are now stretching into their fourth year, including L’Oréal, Nestlé, and Mondelez.
Kingfluencers worked on campaigns to promote V6 chewing gum, a Mondelez brand. To highlight the unique health and well-being benefits of V6, the team chose influencers focused on health, nature, and an overall positive outlook. In one campaign, influencers shared a story in which they received the most beautiful compliment and why it made them smile, then encouraged their communities to share their own stories, achieving a total engagement rate of 3.9% on Instagram and Facebook.
Eyeglasses maker AFFLELOU worked with Kingfluencers on a campaign lasting 12 months, with the goals of expanding brand awareness in French-speaking Switzerland and generating new customers. Influencers were selected to inspire the audience with cool looks and give the brand credibility and familiarity. The campaign achieved a total engagement rate of 3.72% so far (the campaign is still running).
9. Heightened awareness of the risks of social media
Social media has had tremendous impacts that have reverberated throughout the year. We examined the complex issues around combating misinformation. Individual responsibility is vital. Stopping the spread of misinformation at scale is problematic. Algorithms haven’t proven effective at differentiating between criticism and advocacy.
As awareness of the potential downsides of social media increases, we’ve also seen a focus on the risks of toxic beauty standards. Governments have taken steps to combat toxic beauty ideals, while brands have actively promoted healthy attitudes toward beauty.
Unfortunately, no one is safe from fake followers, which can reduce your credibility on social media. Our article describes how to recognize them, how to remove them, and, above all, how to avoid them. Businesses of all kinds are aware of the many risks they’re facing. A PWC survey shows that more than 95% of businesses expect to face a crisis within the next two years. All of these issues reinforce the importance of crisis management, including ensuring your influencers know your contingency plans if things go wrong. While social media can be the source of a crisis, fortunately, it can also be a vital tool in managing one.
10. All about Gen Z
We predicted that the existing focus on Gen Z as a coveted demographic will continue, and recommended that brands should consider Gen Z in their campaigns. Kingfluencers is well-equipped to help our clients connect with Gen Z, as 37.5%* of our new creators are Gen Z (*of those Influencers who provided their birthday.)
But one trend that is not all about Gen Z is TikTok, as we wrote, Gen Z is not synonymous with “Gen TikTok.” Different generations use TikTok differently.
In the next article, we’ll take a look at what trends await us in 2023 and also give the trends our personal Kingfluencers touch and evaluate the trends. Be curious and stay tuned!
Join us on a short trip down memory lane as we share some favorite moments from our fun and productive year. Kingfluencers started 2022 at our new office in the heart of Zurich. After the successful Q1, we not only redecorated our office rooms but welcomed over 10 new employees throughout the year.”
Campaign Highlights
In 2021, Kingfluencers completed over 150 campaigns. Our total increased to 213 in 2022 (+40%). Implementing all these successful campaigns was only possible thanks to our amazing creators. We worked with 308 different influencers in 2021, which increased to 346 in 2022 (+12%).
+ 12% Creators+ 18% New Creators+ 40% Campaigns
While it’s difficult to choose our favorite campaigns, we’ve selected a few highlights.
We did a total of 46 campaigns for L’Oréal, and a campaign with Toblerone included a giveaway with Emma. For Pro Juventute, we organized a campaign against cybermobbing in which three TikTokers, including Kris G, shared their tips on how to deal with offensive comments and messages. The campaign was also featured in an article on Watson.
But also our wonderful clients shared their thoughts on working with us this year:
Tatiana Traulsen, Marketing Manager @Nestlé Cereals: “I have really enjoyed working with Kingfluencers for our two cereals campaigns this year. Everything went smoothly, even despite tight timings, thanks to very reactive and transparent communication, as always! Kingfluencers brought smiles and excitement and a perfectly managed successful campaign. Thank you for making it so easy.”
Rebecca Pohlmann, Digital Manager @Pierre Fabré Suisse: “We are very satisfied with the cooperation with you. You work very reliably and bring a very high degree of flexibility to fulfill our wishes. We are very much looking forward to presenting our brand together with you in the next year according to the current social media trends in the networks.”
Our Growing Creator Team
In 2022, Kingfluencers welcomed 579 (vs. 489 in 2021) new influencers to our team. In this section you will find a small mini-honor from Kingfluencers to the categories: Newcomers, Most reliable, Most creative, and OG Influencers.
Starting with THE newcomers 2022: Noah Bachofen, who shares cooking tips with beautiful scenery. Cooking with Jey also shares quick and easy recipes from healthy to indulgent, along with glimpses of her adorable cat. Basel-based design and fashion influencer Gian-David posts funny videos on topics such as traveling and relationships. Kingfluencers’ most reliable creators in 2022 are Vivienne Burkhardt, Aline Made, and Ramona Brüniger. The most creative were SwissComedy, Margaux Seydoux, and T-Ronimo. We continue to run successful campaigns with our numerous OG influencers, including Alison Liaudat, Minea, and Family of 5.
Alison Liaudat for Gucci BloomMinea Jud for GUNNAVivienne Burkhardt for Ochsner Shoes
Creators’ Favorites from 2022
Reflecting on the year past, our creators appreciated the nicely organized projects with pleasant and uncomplicated cooperation. Creator Alison Liaudat’s favorite campaign was watching the champions league finale with Just Eat in Paris, which included building brand awareness rather than specific product placement for a “natural approach.”
While creator Laura Bante struggled to select her favorite campaign, the Steampod launch campaign stood out for her. “I was able to closely experience the evolution of each generation and was able to test the latest generation before everyone else! This also contributed to the interest and curiosity my followers had to see what new features were in stock.” Fabio Zerzuben stated that, “all campaigns were unique and really cool. Especially Oreo (Batman), but also Generali were great collaborations.” Other highlights were the Rundfunk event and his visit to the KF office for an exchange “in real life.”
Exciting News
This year, Kingfluencers launched the “Influencer TV Spot” service, a new exclusive advertising format. Kingfluencers and Admeira give brands the opportunity to broadcast their influencer marketing content as a TV commercial. Merge the power of TV with the trustworthiness and unmatched appeal of influencer marketing to gain unbeatable reach at an accessible cost.
One of the first success cases was within the Ochsner Shoes yearly campaign which is based on seasonal events throughout the year, with influencers skillfully setting the stage for each pair of shoes. The Influencer TV Spot premiered on July 13, 2022, on SRF2, achieving a Gross Rating Point of 21.6% and more than 1 million impressions. Broadcast in November, the second Influencer TV Spot campaign with Ochsner Shoes and Christa Rigozzi achieved a Gross Rating Point of 32.0% and more than 1.488 million impressions.
Kingfluencers also worked with a leading Swiss technology company in 2022, helping connect to their B2B audience and building an employer branding strategy. Finally, Kingfluencers also manages social media for Manor’s TikTok account since July 2022, where our team has enjoyed planning their account & engaging with their communities in regard to content creation with creators like T-Ronimo, Ericwdrae or Fatjona.
Productive & Fun Events
2022 was filled with a variety of exciting and productive events. In April, Kingfluencers and Pathé held an exclusive screening of the much-awaited “The Batman” movie.
Thanks to our new collaboration with the Zurich Film Festival (ZFF), Kingfluencers was part of the festival’s opening night in September. We welcomed the biggest Swiss content creators on the ZFF green carpet, including two of last year’s Swiss Influencer Award winners: @aditotoro and @briann. As Fabian Plüss, our Co-Founder said, “We’re proud to see that the work of content creators is also recognized and respected by the ZFF. This shows that the festival has a diverse perspective on video productions of all kinds and thus welcomes the creators’ scene.”
In collaboration with Street Parade Zurich, we created an exclusive Kingfluencers VIP Stage and shared the experience with over 250 influencers. Under the hashtag #KingfluencersXStreetparade, the influencers shared the unforgettable day live with their communities. The creators published a total of 71 posts on Instagram and TikTok, achieving over 1.8 M impressions.
Also in September, we had the opportunity to celebrate one last beautiful summer night in Zurich at our exclusive client mingle event at Rundfunk, where we connected with some of our top clients and amazing creators in a fun and inspiring way!
In October, our team organized a get-together for our content creators in beautiful Ticino, providing an opportunity to better connect with our Swiss, Italian-speaking creators, while enjoying stunning views of Lugano Lake.
The 3rd annual Smile Swiss Influencer Award Show was held in November. With over 1,000 VIPs and a combined reach of more than 50 million followers, the event was a success with “Hollywood-ready social media moments,” according to Fabian Plüss, founder of SSIA and co-founder of Kingfluencers. Before the award show, we organized a pre-event with L’Oréal Switzerland, transforming our office into a beauty world. Makeup artists and hair stylists welcomed our lovely creators and styled them and our team for the big night.
In order for brand partners to benefit from impeccable and solid advice in the field of influencer marketing in the future, Kingfluencers will now also become the official sales partner. As the official distribution partner for #SSIA2023, we will offer exclusive partner packages.
We finished up the year with our sparkly Kingfluencers Christmas Party, where we were spoiled with the best Swiss cuisine while creating some TikToks.
2023 will be an exciting and colorful year with a variety of thrilling events. Kingfluencers will also have a startup stand at one of the biggest marketing events – so stay tuned for what’s to come!
KF @ Ticino EventKF @ Swiss Influencer AwardKF Christmas Party
Joyful Team Building & Charitable Fundraising
In October, we held a team-building event where our Co-CEO Anja filled the day with creative challenges and a beautiful hike from Lugano to Gandria. Along the way, we were asked to build strong, cooperative teams and learn more about our corporate values in order to better live them in practice.
Reflecting on 2022, Anja said, “My highlight every year is my team and everything they do. It fills me with joy to be able to accompany so many great people on their way. I’m also especially proud of our #KFcares initiative, which gives new meaning to our work and allows us to support important organizations every month.”
Through our charitable work with #KFcares, we’ve donated a total of 2,521 CHF. Starting in March due to the Ukraine war, where every post felt so pointless and wrong, we launched our own #KFcares project. This way, each of our posts gets added value and meaning. In March we donated to the Ukrainian organization Voices of Children, and in May & June, our donations went to Unicef & Pro Juventute. For November we donated to Iran and the Center for Human Rights. An initiative we are very proud of!
As of 13 December, we’ve made a total of 174 social media posts and 666 stories from our own Kingfluencers’ channels.
Coming up next week, we’ll take another look back. In early 2022, we published, “13 Social Media & Influencer Marketing Trends to Look For Now.” Throughout the year, we saw many excellent examples of these trends… and one where we got it wrong. Follow Kingfluencers on Instagram and TikTok to learn about 2023’s exciting events and even to occasionally follow along in real-time.
Influencer marketing and content creation have been the twin towers of modern business. Reaching target audiences with the right kind of information in a suitable format has been how companies worldwide have operated for the long term. In all that time, the only changes anticipated were improvements in the kind of content offered and also development in the tools and strategies used in the distribution of content. Nobody envisaged AI becoming a part of the business mix. However, the introduction of ChatGPT and other tools like Dall-E into the market hasn’t gone unnoticed. Since its release in late 2022, many people around the world have worried and wondered about how this tool will affect influencer marketing and content creation in the coming years. Would it take over the job of influencers and content creators? Or would it become a helpful tool that those within the twin space can leverage to improve their jobs and be more effective? Read on to learn the possibilities in the twin fields of influencer marketing and content creation in the age of ChatGPT.
Influencer Marketing and Content Creation
While many know these two fields are closely related, they also find it difficult to ascertain their differences. Let’s make the distinction clear.
Content creation is an essential aspect of digital marketing and branding strategies which involves all processes concerned with producing and publishing original content. This could include media like written articles, videos, images, and audio. These contents are usually created to be published on platforms like websites, blogs, social media outlets, etc. The person who does this is known as a content creator.
Influencer marketing, on the other hand, is a form of marketing that depends on using well-known individuals (influencers), that have a powerful voice due to the influence on their community, to read a target audience. This works through the collaboration of companies or brands with influential individuals who usually have a large following. These individuals help the brands to promote their content. Using this method, they could reach a broader range of people. There are various forms of collaboration, such as payment per content, barter deals or ambassador contracts. Through a briefing, the brands ensure that influencers and content creators understand how and what kind of content they should post, but ideally leave them enough freedom in the creative realization.
So while the content creator produces content, influencer marketing ensures the content gets to the right people on the right platforms.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a conversational AI model developed by OpenAI. It is based on the GPT-3 architecture, which is a transformer-based language model that has been trained on a massive corpus of text data from the internet. The model has been fine-tuned for conversational AI and can generate text in response to user inputs, making it suitable for building chatbots and virtual assistants.
ChatGPT can answer questions, engage in casual conversations, and generate text in various styles and formats, including questions, statements, and even poems. The model can generate human-like text and has a vast knowledge of the world, making it a powerful tool for natural language processing and generation tasks.
How does ChatGPT affect Influencer Marketing Content Creation?
There was a lot of panic within the content marketing space when ChatGPT was launched. Many felt it was going to be a big competitor for those in the content marketing space. There are a few reasons people think this way.
1. ChatGPT has Access to Tons of Information
Content marketing is all about the packaging of information and ChatGPT has Access to all the information you could think about. While you would be aching your head to find the correct information to use for your content, this AI tool has access to all the information you could ever dream about.
2. Works Quicker and Smarter Than Humans
For an AI that generates excellent content in less than five seconds, ChatGPT is the ultimate content generator. If you think of it, it could come up with the right content, create perfect hashtags, and use the right metrics. That’s way faster and smarter than humans could cope with.
3. Its Availability To Everyone
Anybody could get on ChatGPT to get the perfect answers to their questions in a breeze. Why search Google for the top-ranking article on the subject that might not even give the exact answer you’re looking for if ChatGPT can give you that information in the most interactive manner available for written content?
What are the disadvantages of ChatGPT?
Putting all the mentioned positive aspects together, it looks like ChatGPT is and will be a big issue for the world of content marketing. But if you step back and consider the issue from a different angle, you would think otherwise. Here are reasons to believe that ChatGPT is not a danger to the content marketing business.
1. ChatGPT Can Only Be a Content Marketer For Its Brand
If ChatGPT were ever a content marketing tool, it would be primarily for its mother company’s open AI and not for the rest of the world. It shows what the open AI company has to offer. Whatever information it curates and whatever content it creates will lead people back to it.
2. It’s Only Text-based
This may be why ChatGPT cannot dethrone content marketers and creators. It is simply a text-based bot that can only provide content in textual format. Content creation doesn’t stop at written documents only. It includes audio, video, and even animation. ChatGPT cannot offer all these other kinds of content even if it can provide the needed information. Nevertheless, there are many other AI tools apart from ChatGPT, such as Lumen5 for AI-powered video production, Soundraw as an automated music generator or Cleanup.Pictures to remove unwanted objects or people by artificial intelligence and many more.
3. Issues with content
While it is true that ChatGPT can create content, it is not the perfection many think it is. Of course, it can generate text that mimics human writing to a certain extent. However, it’s important to note that AI-generated text is not the same as human-written text, and some differences may be noticeable.
For example, AI models may struggle with the following:
Understanding context and cultural nuances
Conveying emotions and empathy in a text
Generating genuinely original content that has not been seen before
Matching the tone and style of a particular publication or brand
While it’s true that AI-generated text has the advantage of being able to quickly generate large amounts of text on a wide range of topics, which can be helpful for tasks like summarizing information, generating ideas, or synthesizing data, it is likely to lack human touch which most brands crave.
4. ChatGPT is not an influencer
Influencer marketing works because (well-known, influential) people collaborate with brands to advertise their products through content marketing. These persons are people with an opinion who can inspire people for one brand or the other. ChatGPT, on the other hand, is an unbiased AI tool that would not bend to anyone’s side. This makes it impossible for brands to even rely entirely on AI.
5. ChatGPT and SEO
Search engine optimization is a massive part of content marketing. There are sides to the field of SEO that ChatGPT can handle. It can quickly create keyword-optimized content for brands and websites and also help in identifying new keywords that your business should target. It can also help with competitor analysis through the text summary process. However, there is more to SEO than keyword discovery and optimization. There are aspects of SEO that do not directly involve the creation of content. ChatGPT can only help with the content part of SEO. These would not include technical aspects like on-page optimization, and off-page activities like link building and domain credibility. These aspects are fundamental and must also be handled so content can fly. Since ChatGPT cannot handle these aspects, it cannot take the place of content creators and marketers.
Based on these reasons, it is easy to conclude that the end of content creators and marketers isn’t even near.
How Does ChatGPT Influence Content Marketing and Creation?
The answer is content. At its best, ChatGPT is a tool that content creators can use to make their jobs easier, quicker, and more effective. ChatGPT offers significant leverages when it comes to content. Here are some benefits of ChatGPT for content marketing.
Content Generation
ChatGPT has the potential to significantly impact content marketing and creation by providing an automated way to generate high-quality written content. Some use cases include:
Product descriptions: ChatGPT can generate product descriptions for e-commerce websites, saving time and resources for marketers.
Blog posts and articles: ChatGPT can generate blog posts, articles, and other types of written content, freeing up time for marketers to focus on other tasks.
Social media posts: ChatGPT can equally be used to generate social media posts, freeing up time for marketers to focus on other tasks.
Email marketing: ChatGPT can generate email marketing content, freeing up time for marketers to focus on other tasks.
Efficiency and Speed
With ChatGPT, creating a lot of content with efficiency and speed is guaranteed. You can make tons of written content that would require a minimal amount of editing. It is so effective it becomes difficult to spot the difference between AI-generated text and human-generated text.
FUN FACT: There are portions of this article that were generated by ChatGPT. You’ve already read through them without noticing. You can try again if you are able to detect the text written by ChatGPT.
Creating Ideas
Sometimes, the most difficult aspect of content creation is generating ideas. This is because we are human, after all and need breaks. But ChatGPT never needs a break. This AI tool can help you when you need to curate ideas. Anything ranging from hashtags to entire body contents, ChatGPT can help with ideas.
Monitoring Market Situations and Competition
With ChatGPT, you can monitor your competitors with ease. You can get easy insight into your competitor’s strategies, products, and market presence. This makes it easy to know exactly what’s going on in the market and make the right decisions. Also, you can monitor the situation in the market and get information like trending topics, ranking keywords, etc. With this, you can stay on top of your content strategy at all times.
Are There Downsides To Using ChatGPT for Content Marketing?
While using a language model like ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for content marketing, there are also some disadvantages to consider:
Lack of creativity
While a language model like ChatGPT can provide information and generate text, it may lack the creativity and originality that human writers can bring to content marketing.
Potential for language errors
Language models like ChatGPT are imperfect and may generate grammatically incorrect sentences or use the wrong terminology. This can lead to a decrease in the quality of the content produced.
Lack of empathy
ChatGPT lacks empathy and emotional intelligence and may not be able to understand the tone, emotions, and nuances that are important in content marketing.
Limited understanding of context
Language models like ChatGPT can only provide information based on the data they were trained on. They may not have a complete understanding of the context in which the content will be used and may not be able to generate content specifically tailored to a particular target audience.
Relying too heavily on AI
While AI can be a valuable tool for content marketing, it’s important to remember that it should be used in conjunction with human intelligence and creativity, not as a replacement. Relying too heavily on AI may lead to a decrease in the quality and originality of the content produced.
While a language model like ChatGPT can be a useful tool for content marketing, it’s essential to use it in conjunction with human intelligence and creativity and to be aware of its limitations.
Conclusion
ChatGPT is here to stay, and it shouldn’t be seen as a threat to content creators and marketers. It should rather be accepted as a great supporting tool that can help make the whole content marketing process simpler and quicker. However, ChatGPT, all by itself cannot do the job that content creators and marketers do. All it can offer is content that needs to be leveraged by experts in the field of content creation and marketing. This is why you still need professional help. You can reach out to our agency today or click here to check out our services.
Finding the best TikTok agency that’s based in Switzerland can be a challenge.
So we’ve gone out and researched for you which Tik Tok agencies there are in Switzerland – and summarized them in the following directory of the top 10 Swiss agencies for Instagram content and advertising, sorted by city.
Of course, we’re also recommending our own Instagram agency, Kingfluencers!
The directory is not complete, you’re welcome to tell us about other agencies that belong on this list and we’ll be happy to add them.
The 10 Best Instagram Agencies in Switzerland
Zurich, Basel and Bern are the three big Swiss cities offering Instagram agencies. While the amount of agencies you can choose from is overwhelming, the world of social media marketing is growing fast and new players are popping up all the time.
So let’s dive into the 10 best Instagram and Instagram agencies Switzerland has to offer:
Instagram Agencies in Zurich
Kingfluencers
Kingfluencers is Switzerland’s pioneer of influencer marketing since 2016. Our team provides you with a full service including every aspect of influencer marketing on Instagram. Our agency follows highly efficient and rock-solid processes with proprietary and AI powered in-house technology in order to generate the best outcomes on Instagram for your brand from day one of our collaboration. From strategy to implementation and ongoing community management to reporting and optimization, we bring your message to life and generate more brand love. With our network of more than 3,000 creators and our multiskilled diverse team of experts, strategists and creative minds, we deliver exactly the services and support that you need, when and where you need it, so your brand presence will hit the mark. Creativity and quality are our drivers, going the extra mile to perform is our constant state of mind… because we love doing what we do!
To get the real full-service omnichannel approach, our influencer marketing content can be recycled and broadcast as a TV commercial thanks to our new service “Influencer TV Spot”. With our partnership with Admeira, all brands get the opportunity to benefit from the power of TV with the unmatched appeal of influencer marketing at an accessible cost for more reach.
Kingfluencers is based at Hohlstrasse 188, 8004 Zurich, Switzerland.
Ramble
As a Swiss Instagram agency, ramble designs tailor-made content strategies for your company, plans and produces all content for your social channels – if you wish, they can also take over the entire community management. Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. The Facebook subsidiary has seen enormous growth, especially in recent years. The perfect channel to position your advertising message in a young and dynamic environment.
ramble’s Instagram agency is based at Räffelstrasse 26, 8045 Zurich, Switzerland.
Suchhelden
Suchhelden has the resources and know-how to fill your Instagram account with high quality posts and increase your reach. As an Instagram agency, they focus on stimulating the growth of your Instagram account. While you can continue to focus on doing what you do best. Suchhelden takes care of posts in the form of photography and videography that fit your company. In their role as one of the known Instagram marketing agencies from Switzerland, they’ll help to make your message understandable and suitable for Instagram.
Suchhelden’s agency is based at Hagenholzstrasse 83b, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland.
Instagram Agencies in Basel, Switzerland
MindStudios
An appearance on Instagram is not aimed at generating likes – at least it shouldn’t. Swiss-based agency Mindstudios works with you to develop a strategy that is fully aligned with the goals of your company. While private Instagram use is often characterized by spontaneity, they recommend comprehensive editorial planning for professional use, which guarantees the necessary consistency of content publishing. They’ll support you in this or take over the task completely in consultation with you. Mindstudios agency’s Instagram experts create all kinds of content, always tailored to your target groups and your goals.
Mindstudios is based at St. Alban-Tal 43, 4052 Basel, Switzerland.
OnlineKarma
The Instagram agency onlineKarma implements campaigns for companies from large to small, supports channels from A-Z and provides support for the complete Instagram marketing.
Achieve your goals with profitable Instagram campaigns and effective influencer marketing. From strategy, planning and implementation, they look after brands and provide support for complete Instagram marketing. onlineKarma is one of the leading Instagram agencies in Switzerland. They would be happy to support you professionally for effective and successful campaigns.
OnlineKarma’s agency is based at Hebelstrasse 52, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
Sidekicks
Sidekicks’ agency helps you to determine the target group and to record the targeting. They set up your TikTok campaign and constantly optimize it for optimal performance. They also report on the results of the campaigns in monthly reports, based on your needs. For the Swiss agency, it is important that results and figures are understandable and that every customer has a contact person for all concerns regarding their TikTok campaign. Sidekicks help to define the goals and target groups. A campaign can only be successful if there is clarity about this.
Sidekicks TikTok agency is based at Steinentorstrasse 19, 4051 Basel, Switzerland.
Social Media Agentur Bern takes care of everything from planning to implementation to posting and maintaining the account. So you don’t have to worry about anything. With a professional social media appearance, your company will be seen as modern and innovative.
The Swiss Instagram agency helps you build up organic reach through professional content and thereby generates new customers.
Social Media Agentur Bern is based at Unterdorfstrasse 5, 3072 Ostermundigen, Switzerland.
Creasquare
As part of an Instagram campaign, Creasquare’s agency quickly gets you new contacts with potential for conversion. With Instagram, they’ll target your target group very precisely and address them personally. Creasquare agency differentiate into two areas, your Owned Media and Paid Media. With organic owned media you can serve particularly well existing contacts and customers and remain present sustainably. With paid advertising, on the other hand, you gain reach, traffic or interesting contacts.
Creasquare is based at Morillonstrasse 11, 3007 Bern, Switzerland.
Iqual
Instagram Ads enables you to reach a specific target group and to interact specifically with the largest user group, between 18-34. Swiss Instagram agency Iqual would be happy to advise you and help you achieve your goals with Instagram advertising. In order to ensure the sustainable operation of the Instagram advertising account set up by them via Facebook, clean and targeted support and optimization is mandatory. Iqual can also take over and maintain accounts that they have not set up themselves. However, they know from experience that one revision or even new addition is in many cases worth it.
Iqual’s Instagram Ads agency is based at Morgenstrasse 131B, 3018 Bern, Switzerland.
Found the right Swiss Instagram agency for you?
We hope this list helped you to choose the best agency for yourself!
Our clients’ success with Instagram marketing has shown that if you choose the right agency to partner with, it’s an amazing way to grow your brand and recruit new customers.
