Source: Social Media Explorer
The creator economy boom resulted in a huge spike for influencer marketing startups. Last year, Uplify, the sponsorship automation technology, had an unprecedented 300% revenue growth and 517% active community increase. The company is on a mission to connect the livestream universe with the world of advertisers, and it came up with some predictions for 2023. This year, according to Uplify, it’s all about efficiency and transparency.
CPC (Cost Per Click)/CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) campaigns. We’re entering a period of economic uncertainty, where recession is on everyone’s minds. Brands will be more cautious spending money on influencers and will be expecting more measurable results. Previously, most advertisers simply paid for a number of followers. Now, advertisers are expecting a better return on their budget. Luckily, technology allows brands to reach out and efficiently engage the influencer audience based on CPC/CPM.
ML/AI-based technology allowing cross-platform reach. Brands and influencer marketing agencies are turning to technology to increase engagement and boost an ad’s reach. Thanks to ML/AI platforms, different sponsorship formats, including interactive sponsorship inserts, etc., can be distributed across the most popular livestream platforms, such as Twitch, YouTube, and Trovo. The efficiency of such campaigns can be 20-30% higher than traditional advertising.
Advertisers turn to creative advertising formats to boost engagement. With high performance interactive playable marketing, companies can increase ad recall by 30% and get 10x higher engagement. The main advantage is that users interact with sponsorship formats during live streams and get more involved with the brand or a product. Last year, for example, Uplify integrated a few interactive formats with an average CTR of 2%, including quiz, voting, “wheel of fortune”, and playable sponsorship.
Brands turn to technology to engage micro creators at scale. Every influencer, whether micro or macro, has their own, sometimes very niche, audience and a unique style and content. Any of these can be potentially valuable for a brand. For a follower, an influencer can sometimes replace a news outlet or an entertainment channel. Advertisers are now collaborating with different types of content creators, because both micro and macro influencers are important for their campaign’s efficiency. For example, if ad reach is more important, then live-streamers with the largest number of followers can deliver. But, if engagement is the campaign’s focus, then micro-influencers can show the best results.
New live-stream platforms are emerging. Advertisers will definitely have more opportunities in 2023. According to the latest research, the global live-streaming video platform market has been booming. Southeast Asia, Central Southern Asia, and Latin America are the fastest-growing regions, with expected CAGRs of +27.6%, 23.4%, and 19%, respectively, for the 2020-2025 period. Apart from YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram, new market players are emerging. Twitch still has a hold on the streaming landscape, according to Stream Hatchet, but disruptor platforms like Africa and Steel are gaining traction. Other new kids on the block include Momo, Douyu, Uplive, Inke, and ByteDance. Decentralized Web3 live-streaming platforms could also be the future of the industry.
Live-stream audience maturing. The games’ live-streaming audience is expected to reach 1.41 billion by 2025, and the main driver of this growth is non-gaming content, which currently accounts for up to 21% of all live-streams. Some experts attribute this to the fact that the live-stream audience is changing, and video gaming is not just a hobby exclusively enjoyed by young people. Although 65+ year-olds devote the least amount of time to gaming, almost 70% of gamers are 18 to 64-years old.
