Patrick Whitnall.
The AdNews end of year Perspectives, looking back at 2024 and forward to next year.
Patrick Whitnall, AIMCO Managing Director
Forget Taylor Swift – Australia, and our local creators, are fully immersed in the influencer marketing era, and it's evolving rapidly. Much like the original influencer Martha Stewart (if you haven’t seen the Netflix documentary, it’s a must-watch), creators today must pivot and remain agile in an ever-changing digital landscape.
Influencer marketing is no longer just a trend – it’s now big business. The global market was estimated to reach a record $US24 billion in 2024, up from $US21.1 billion in 2023*. Spend in the Australian influencer advertising market is expected to reach $0.8 billion in 2024, with a projected growth rate of 16.3% for the year. Looking further ahead, the market is set to grow at an annual rate of 11.68% (CAGR 2024-2029) and is forecast to reach $1.39 billion by 2029.
Australia has kept pace with the broader industry, leading the charge for best-practice standards and compliance, particularly as more and more brands invest in creator-led campaigns.
Over the past 12 months, we’ve witnessed a genuine shift in the mindset of marketers nationally, as they quickly discover what we’ve long known about influencer marketing - its value and effectiveness. It offers serious bang for buck, in terms of content delivery and creativity, allowing companies to connect with consumers in a meaningful, authentic way to drive growth and sales.
And while influencer marketing was initially met with scepticism, brands and agencies have realised - thanks to AiMCO’s work in building trust and cohesion - that it now represents a true engagement and conversion channel.
As we head towards 2025, we expect influencer marketing to become more sophisticated and data-driven, with new technology, AI and diverse content formats are reshaping the landscape. And while our world will continue to evolve, next year is also set to bring a genuine doubling down on authenticism. Brands will focus heavily on building real, deep connections with consumers via authentic content and micro influencer partnerships that hero value-driven content.
Here’s three key predictions for 2025:
- Multi-platform influencer marketing
Given the success of influencer marketing across social media, we expect brands to start rolling out creator campaigns on other channels - think digital, digital out-of-home, BVOD and cinema. This will allow brands to continue to drive authentic connections, while also meeting consumers exactly where they seek inspiration - which may not always be social media.
This diversification will allow brands to significantly expand their reach by tapping into different audience demographics and markets. Additionally, this strategy strengthens brand consistency and presence - brands can roll-out similar campaign creative for cohesion, while still being able to tailor strategies and content, depending on the platform. This multi-platform approach will also enhance engagement and interaction, meeting customers in the moment on their platform of choice, creating additional touchpoints for brand awareness and sales.
Alongside this, Steve Wright from Vamp believe that there will be a refocus on big ideas. He said that 2024 saw the rise of trend-led content underpinning social media and creator strategies, with the new year set to bring more balance. Trend-led content has been fantastic for relevancy, differentiation and unlocking what’s left of organic reach, but the downside is that the general social media and creator landscape has become saturated with content that feels too same-y.
To tilt the scales, he’s expecting to see big, bold creator campaign activations, focused on bringing messaging and brands to life. These campaigns will still be social media-native in their principles and foundations, but will be able to transcend platforms, with adaptability across other channels in the marketing mix.
- Social commerce
Social commerce presents a real growth opportunity for brands in 2025, particularly given the sheer size of the market - globally, it’s expected to hit $US1.2 trillion next year*. This proliferation is being driven by social platforms that are increasingly incorporating shopping features into their channels, allowing influencers to directly sell products through their content.
And with the arrival of TikTok Shop in Australia in 2025, we’re expecting to see a significant rise in social commerce integration nationally as brands look to harness that seamless buying experience. As social commerce grows, we’re also anticipating greater platform research, particularly as brands look to drill down into their data. Expect deep dives into models around sales tracking, data signals and payment terms.
For creators, social commerce allows them to diversify their brand and revenue by leveraging audience loyalty across their community. In 2025, influencers will go beyond traditional brand partnerships as they pursue affiliates, creator-led store fronts, commerce, live stream selling, first party merchandise, book deals, events and fan-funded models.
AiMCO Board member Alexis Whelan from Kinesso calls it ‘creator commerce’ with TikTok’s Shop Australia transforming influencer marketing through enhanced accountability, measurement and attribution. This innovation marks a significant power shift in the influencer-brand dichotomy, with influencers taking a more central role in driving product sales. As this shift unfolds, brands will need to accelerate their relevancy and strategy to ensure they show up in TikTok Shop in an authentic way.
In addition, Sarah Letts from Totally Awesome believes that 2025 will see the rise of creators as entrepreneurs. The rise of influencer-led, direct-to-consumer brands means creators are evolving from brand representatives into fully fledged business owners and product creators in their own right. This presents a new challenge for brands - creators as competitors in their industry. Brands will need to adapt their product and marketing strategies to stay relevant and desirable.
- Authenticity
Get ready to get real in 2025 - the focus on authenticity over follower count is likely to reshape influencer marketing in the next 12 months.
This year’s growth of micro and nano influencers will continue into 2025, as brands look to harness the strong relationship between micro influencers and their followers. Micro influencers are often able to deliver higher engagement rates, more authentic content, and niche, ready-to-buy audiences, making them a solid investment for brands looking to form meaningful connections with customers. Expect these influencers to move into long-term, brand ambassador roles in 2025, becoming a regular part of a brand’s marketing strategy, rather than a temporary spokesperson.
Born Bred Talent’s Stephanie Scicchitano warns brands not to underestimate the micro influencers. As brands increasingly prioritise authenticity and genuine engagement, it makes sense that they would turn to influencers who have a more personal connection with their audiences. This trend reflects a broader consumer desire for highly relatable content and trustworthy recommendations. These influencers demonstrate how niche content can create meaningful connections, making them invaluable partners for brands looking to foster genuine engagement.
As consumers become more sceptical of traditional advertising, authentic content will be critical to breaking ground with savvy shoppers. Audiences are looking for influencers who genuinely use and endorse products they believe in - and they want these relationships to be disclosed. Next year will bring greater transparency around brand-influencer arrangements, along with a push for increased metrics and measurement around partnership success.
*Source: Statista Influencer Market Size
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