Ideas for Influencer Marketing for Summer 2023

Key Takeaways

• Influencer marketing is an important part of the digital marketing mix, especially in the summer, to achieve broad and targeted marketing.
• Expedia Group’s Traveler Value Index 2023 shows that 35% of consumers used social media for travel inspiration.
• Social media marketing trends are fast-moving, yet sustainability, health, and mindfulness stand out as themes for the summer of 2023

The summer season is an important time for many industries, especially the fashion and beauty industries. During the warm months, people tend to spend more time outdoors, travel more, and attend social events such as weddings and parties. This leads to increased demand for clothing and beauty products that are suitable for summer weather and activities.

According to a McKinsey report, the fashion industry sees a spike in sales during the summer season, with retailers typically seeing a 20-30% increase in sales compared to other seasons. In the cosmetics industry, summer is also an important time for sales, particularly for sun protection, self-tanning and waterproof makeup products. Overall, the summer season is crucial for many industries and companies often use this time to boost sales and revenues alongside the shopping boom around Christmas.

Does influencer marketing have a future in the summer and when is influencer marketing worthwhile?

Influencer marketing has grown a lot in recent years and will continue to evolve this summer as social media platforms and user behaviors change. Overall, the future of influencer marketing will likely be shaped by technological innovations, continued growth in user numbers, and updates to the networks themselves. So what can you expect in the summer of 2023? For brands, the key is to identify and implement trends and continue to adapt their influencer marketing strategies to the changing needs of their target audiences. To help you prepare for summer 2023 now, we’re giving you an overview of upcoming trends that will shape the future of influencer marketing:

• Nano-Influencers: Brands will likely increasingly focus on working with smaller, niche influencers who have highly engaged audiences in specific niches or regions.
• The rise of nano-influencers
• Video content: As video content becomes more popular, brands should continue to work with influencers who specialize in creating video content on platforms like YouTube, Instagram Reels, and TikTok in the summer of 2023.
• Performance-based campaigns: As brands seek to more accurately measure the ROI of their influencer marketing campaigns, we may see more performance-based campaigns where influencers are compensated based on their ability to trigger specific actions, such as clicks, purchases, or signups.
• Agencies and platforms: With the growth of the industry and the huge increase in influencers, marketplaces such as agencies and IM platforms are likely to become more popular and, more importantly, necessary as they allow brands to find influencers and implement campaigns in a resource-efficient way. Also, read how the EU May 2022 new regulations reshaped the online market.

Kolsquare offers you a complete technology-based solution that helps you organize your influencer marketing campaign from A to Z and measure its success. Request a free demo of Kolsquare software today and get access to our large database of influencers.

Summer 2023 marketing trends marketers should know about

Influencer marketing has a rosy future, that much is certain. With that, of course, we hope your brand or business has success  as well. To be successful, you should know what will be discussed in the summer of 2023 and what trends are likely to prevail.

• Sustainable and eco-friendly destinations: As more and more people become environmentally conscious, the demand for destinations that promote sustainable practices is on the rise. These could include places with eco-friendly accommodations, locally sourced food, and a low carbon footprint.
• Wellness travel: The #MeTime trend is also reflected in travel requests. More and more people are looking for destinations that offer opportunities for self-care, relaxation and mindfulness. This could include yoga retreats, meditation centers, and spa resorts.
• Adventure tourism: at the same time, people want to experience something on their trips to produce content and escape from everyday problems. With the rise of experiential travel, adventure tourism is expected to continue to grow in popularity. Activities such as hiking, camping, and extreme sports could be popular with travelers in the summer of 2023.

In addition to travel, emerging trends show  that consumers in the West are paying attention to balanced diets and healthy lifestyles.

• Plant-based and vegan products: As the trend toward plant-based diets and veganism continues to grow, we could see an increase in plant-based and vegan products in the summer of 2023. These could include food, cosmetics, and clothing made from sustainable and cruelty-free materials.
• Digital detox and disconnect: As technology and social media proliferate, so does the trend of people wanting to disconnect and unplug from their devices. Accordingly, in the summer of 2023, we could also see an increase in destinations that offer opportunities for digital detoxing, such as remote locations without Wi-Fi or cellular networks.
• Diversity and inclusion: The beauty and fashion industries in particular have been rightly criticized in recent years for their unattainable ideals. So now the issues of diversity and inclusion are important, ranging from all skin colors to all dress sizes. Read more about diversity in influencer marketing here.

Of course, these are just predictions and marketing trends are fast moving, especially on social media. Consequently, new directions may be established and strengthened depending on consumer behavior and external factors.

Choosing the right influencers for your summer influencer marketing campaign

Choosing the right influencers is always critical to the success of your influencer marketing campaign, and summer 2023 is no exception. Here are some reasons why:

• Relevance: Influencers who are relevant to your brand and product can help you reach your target audience more effectively. For example, if you sell beachwear, partnering with KOLs who like to travel and are popular with fashion will be more effective than partnering with those who focus on a different niche, such as cooking.
• Authenticity: consumers can easily recognize when influencers are not authentic when promoting a product. Choosing influencers who have a genuine interest in your product and already use it in their everyday lives can help you promote it more authentically. Maybe even your employees are the next KOLs who want to talk about your work on social media?
• Engagement: High engagement rates indicate that Influencers have an engaged and loyal following. If you work with nano-bloggers who have high engagement rates, you can increase the chances that your campaign will be seen and shared by their followers.
• Reach: There is a fine line between high engagement and high reach in the marketing industry.  These two factors are not necessarily always dependent on each other and sometimes even contradict each other. Bloggers with a large following can help you reach a larger audience. Those same KOLs that have a smaller but more targeted following can also effectively contribute to conversion.
• Image and Values: Your brand’s image and values should match those of the influencers you choose. Such a partnership can help you maintain the consistency and credibility of your brand.

It should be noted that choosing the right influencers for your summer campaign can help you achieve better engagement, relevance and authenticity, which can ultimately lead to higher conversions and a successful campaign.

4 Examples of Successful Summer Influencer Marketing Campaigns

We took a look at the past few summers and found four examples that you can use as a guide for summer 2023.

#RayBanStories - Influencer partnership with Camille Razat

When you think of sunglasses, the cult brand RayBan inevitably comes to mind. And when do you need the tinted lenses the most? In the summer, of course, not only to look good at the beach, in the cafe or simply during an after-work drink, but to protect your eyes from UV rays. With the hashtag #RayBanStories, sunglasses brand RayBan collaborated with French actress and influencer Camille Razat, known from the Netflix series “Emily in Paris”. The Frenchwoman presents a classic model of the brand in an Instagram reel.

Airbnb's #AirbnbSummer campaign

As a popular travel and accommodation platform, summer is of course especially important for Airbnb. Last summer, for example, the company collaborated with U.S. actor Matthew Lillard to convert a VW bus and offer it as a hostel on the site to mark the 20th anniversary of the live-action film “Scooby-Doo.”

Tom Ford Beauty advertises an "Endless Summer"

Tom Ford Beauty worked with Quintessentially Experiences, an Italian marketing agency based in Milan, to create a global digital campaign called “Endless Summer” that involved five influencers. The goal of the campaign was to showcase five travel experiences while naturally creating an eye-catching visual backdrop for the product campaign and attracting key talent with aspirational lifestyle content. The end-to-end execution included providing a selection of activities for each location, as well as experiential dining in unique and exclusive settings. On-site event managers provided 24/7 support to create a unique experience that all influencers shared with their online followers. The campaign was a huge success with over 30 posts and a total reach of 198 million.

Summer skin care with Sol de Janeiro using social media

Sol de Janeiro, a skincare brand acquired by L’Occitane in November 2021, launched a partnership with TikTok influencers from North America, the UK, Australia and the Middle East. The tagline: build self-confidence through soothing and nurturing beauty routines. The campaign was launched during the summer of 2022, with ten global TikTok creators creating content in line with the brand’s tagline “Love It. Flaunt It. You’ve Got It!”  Retail partner Sephora helped push the campaign further with in-store activations and exclusive customer offers.

“At Sol de Janeiro, we build our brand on personal – and personalized – relationships across the board, especially from a consumer and influencer perspective. Authenticity is the top priority when building relationships with our brand’s partners and we are fortunate to have many fans of the brand who are willing to speak organically about their love for the products – from celebrities to our customers,” explained Tamera Ferro, SVP, Global Marketing and Growth for the brand in the online interview.

Measure the success of your influencer marketing campaign in the summer of 2023

Measuring the success of your summer influencer marketing campaign is critical to understanding the effectiveness of your efforts and making informed decisions for future campaigns. Once again, here are some key performance indicators (KPIs) you can use to measure the success of your influencer marketing campaigns:

• Reach: This measures the total number of people who have seen your campaign content through your bloggers. This can be measured by tracking the number of followers, impressions, and content reach.
• Engagement: This measures the level of interaction between your influencers and their audience, such as likes, comments, shares, and clicks on links. Tracking engagement rates can help you determine the level of interest and response your campaign is generating.
• Conversion: This English marketing term describes the number of people who took a desired action as a result of your campaign, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. You can track conversions using unique promo codes, affiliate links, or tracking pixels.
• Brand Awareness: this measures the awareness and recall of your brand among your target audience. You can measure this by tracking mentions, hashtags, and user-generated content related to your campaign.
• Return on Investment (ROI): This measures the financial return on your campaign investment. You can track this by comparing the cost of your campaign to the revenue generated through conversions.