Weekly Marketing Insights and News Digest (28.06-05.07)

Rgray weekly marketing insights and news digest

Stories filled the entire Instagram feed. Influencers in high demand. Why is visual content more relevant than ever? What LinkedIn got on us. Our Instagram research in 2020 and much more useful information from the world of digital marketing in our new episode of the RGray Weekly Marketing Insights and News Digest.

  • Twitch’s viewers grew 31% in two weeks. Why now is the right time to spend more advertising budget on influencer marketing? Check out the details in our new digest below
  • LinkedIn interviewed 450 marketers. Look for insights of what they’ve discovered in this digest!.
  • Instagram is testing the full-screen Stories feed. When will it be available to everyone? What benefits will it bring? All the latest news only in our RGray Weekly Digest. 
  • Instagram has continued its growth in 2020. What will happen to it at the end of the year? Read the latest insights in our article below. 
  • Visual content makes up 93% of all human communication. How to take advantage of this in marketing? Check it out in our new article.

1. Now is the right time to invest in Influencer marketing

Coronavirus has thrown the advertising industry into disarray. Many offices are closed, and a lot of employees work from home. Production has been delayed or canceled. Marketing budgets have been reduced. The traditional way of doing business is over, which means that now is the time to invest in only marketing channels that are really effective, efficient, nimble, as well as give tangible and scalable results.

In terms of measurable ROI, influencer marketing has always rocked. If your product matches the interests and needs of the audience of a given influencer, the engagement will score much higher than most branded content. Facebook branded videos have an average viewing time of 4.57 seconds, while influencers get tens of minutes. According to recent studies, influencers are more trusted (not to mention the fact that they are much cheaper) than celebrities or athletes from the Z generation and Millennials. For example, buying ads from a local YouTube or Instagram blogger with a narrow and specific audience will give you more results for your money than buying expensive ads from some kind of superstar with a very wide and diverse audience around the world. 

Under normal circumstances, there are great reasons to work with rising star bloggers. And given the current situation with lowering demand on small influencers due to the COVID-19 consequences, here are even a few more reasons.

The Benefits of Influencer Marketing

Influencers still produce

Given the prohibitions on large public meetings, only a few of the production studios and influencers (despite the First Tier ones) remain active on a regular basis. However, customers still have promotion needs. Influencers are functioning a single-window since they are a talent/director/producer/editor/ DP / media distributor, combined into one. They are better tuned than anyone to create content with limited resources — they have been doing this for years.

Influencers are inexpensive

Brands and agencies tighten their belts preparing for the recession. Consequently, influencers also feel a tangible impact. Many promotion campaigns are delayed or canceled. A recent report shows that average prices for influencers are likely to fall by 25 %. As a result, you can work with authorities cheaper than ever.

Influencer engagement is skyrocketing

At the same time, prices for promotion by influencers are falling while their audience is growing. As most of the world is forced to stay indoors, the use of social networks has been growing rapidly. Facebook and Instagram noted a 50% increase in live streams. Twitch’s viewers grew 31% in two weeks. YouTube increased by 63% solely in the United States. And local influencers are benefiting from this, as some reportedly see a 76% increase in likes in Instagram-sponsored posts.

Influencer marketing works

As everyone is forced to shop online, influencers make more purchases than usual. Data from affiliate marketers showed recent sales growth through influencer marketing. SmartCommerce reported a 30% increase in orders, and rival RewardStyle has seen a similar surge.

But agencies must be careful

Although the benefits are obvious, we have a word of caution. Given the current situation, agencies must be careful. Not all types of influence on marketing are the same, and the best programs are cooperation with trusted partners. Influencers are people, and some people can act irresponsibly during the uncertain times while others use their platforms for good. Choose wisely.

In the world of “shelter at home,” advertisers and agencies are trying to create things quickly, cheaply, and with low advertising costs – something that influencers have been doing for years. And considering the financial instability, now is the time to invest only in trusted experts.

Must-have elements for your Go To Market strategy for the US market
Get free consultation

2. The latest LinkedIn research

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed almost everything in the way we conduct our daily lives, at least to some extent. It also made it difficult for marketers to understand how they should communicate, or even if they should, as the ongoing human impacts outweigh the importance of business messaging and maximizing performance through your marketing campaigns.

But many businesses that are still able to operate need to maximize their revenues. The economic consequences of the pandemic will be felt for several years, but these impacts can be reduced if companies continue to work as much as possible and do their best even under these difficult conditions.

It’s challenging, for sure, and it’s hard to know what you should say. So how do companies cope with this problem and face this new reality?

This is what LinkedIn sought to find out with its latest research report – in cooperation with Vision Critical. LinkedIn interviewed 450 marketers to better understand how the pandemic affects them and how they react.

The chart below shows some interesting ideas covering the most affected marketing elements, where the marketing budget is changing and what types of content brands are currently focused on.

In other words, this report can help you formulate a more effective growth strategy for your business – check out the infographics below.

Covid-19 marketing impact and how marketers are responding
See more COVID-19 Marketing Insights
70,000 Recession-proof Businesses Study

3. Are you ready for the next step of the Stories takeover in your Instagram app? Double Story lines are coming soon in your smartphone  😱

As you can see in these screenshots posted by Adweek’s marketing and social media manager Julian Gamboa, some users are now seeing a prompt below their double-story Stories display to ‘See all stories”. When pressed, the “Stories” screen expands to full-screen mode (depending on how many stories you have in your “to view” pipeline).

Instagram confirmed TechCrunch testing of this functionality, noting that it is currently being tested with a few users.

In fact, Instagram has been experiencing this for some time – back in April, reengineering analyst Jane Manchun Wong discovered code for full-screen display of stories in the application.

As Wong notes on his Twitter account, “This full-screen display was the result of manipulating existing code, and I honestly thought it was a joke and that Instagram would never really do that. I seem to be wrong, and Instagram is really so focused on stories that it’s ready to create a full-screen, comprehensive display of stories.”

Indeed, the new test indicates the likely future of Instagram, in which the application opens for the full-screen display of stories. So, accounting that, you should now adapt your Social Media Content strategy to the domination of Instagram Stories as the main traffic channel.  

4. Will Instagram be the primary platform for your social media marketing efforts in 2020?

Instagram continued its growth in 2020, acquiring more users and expanding its product line including new additions to Stories, e-commerce tools, updates for IGTV, and much more. And as Instagram continues to grow, more and more brands are looking at how they can expand their Insta presence, increase their follower base, and make the most of their opportunities.

But in order to make the most of Instagram, you need to know the lay of the land. This new infographic from our team shows a series of statistics and useful insights that can help you make better decisions on your marketing approach and improve your response and engagement rates on Instagram.

There are some great ideas here – check out the full infographic below.

22 Instagram stats you need to know in 2020
See more insights in our Instagram
Subscribe now

5. Why is visual content a new trend in 2020?

Are you looking for ways to improve your marketing campaigns? Want to know why visual content should be a big part of your online strategy?

Our team shares all the statistics you need to know in infographics below.

The list below contains a number of key reasons why you should focus on improving your visual presentation, including:

  • Visual content is processed faster by the human brain.
  • Visual content makes up 93% of all human communication.
  • Visual content is easier to understand by any target audience.
  • Video is the preferred visual content option for users of any platform.

Check out the infographic below for more details.

12 Reasons to integrate visual content into your marketing campaigns