The future of influencer marketing is Ecommerce

Throughout 2021 there has been a visible shift in social media platform strategies; with Instagram announcing that it's not just a photo sharing app and instead, something quite different, with a focus on transactional value. We also saw the significance of Shopify and ecommerce throughout the COVID period, with users forced to stay at home and instead shop online. This being a global issue forced social media platforms to take notice and align their user experiences with this shift. 

With millions of active users at their disposal, platforms have decided to attempt to directly sell to them through the application themselves. Through the use of integrated stores, users can now directly purchase products through most social platforms.

There are many takeaways to observe from these changes, as this shapes a new opportunity for influencer marketing. Influencers are now incentivised to work closer with the platforms themselves to work symbiotically to sell products, whereas previously most of their sponsored work would have occurred independently - with little to no involvement from the platform itself.

There's also an affiliate opportunity for influencers to directly receive commission through the platforms, which helps to cement influencers as another layer of the purchasing journey. Consumers will more likely go through influencers before completing their purchase.

Through the use of influencers, brands can also create a healthier relationship with their target consumers, through these social channels having official ambassadors addressing their customers - therefore brand ambassadors (and by proxy, influencers) will become essential to the shopping process.