By Erin Rodrigue

Few marketing trends last forever. In reality, they come and go at rapid speed — and marketers must adapt.

Because marketing is always evolving, your marketing playbook should, too. But if your strategy looks the same as years prior, it’s time to do some housekeeping.

Here, we’ll cover five marketing trends that are losing steam and how marketers can respond.

1. Celebrity endorsements on social media.

Have you ever seen a sponsored post from a celebrity on social media and thought, “Do they really use that?”

For example, Beyond Meat’s collaboration with media personality Kim Kardashian became a viral moment in 2022, but not for the right reasons. After releasing a promotional video of Kardashian sampling its vegan products, viewers were quick to accuse Kardashian of “fake chewing,” leading many to question the authenticity of her endorsement.

While celebrities offer more exposure, consumers need to trust the celebrity and believe the endorsement is authentic. But building that trust is getting harder.

Research shows that trust in celebrity endorsements is decreasing. Only 44% of Gen Z-ers trust endorsements from a celebrity or athlete. This number drops to 38% for Millennials.

Unsurprisingly, the same study found that influencers are more trusted as brand spokespeople. We predict social media influencers – specifically micro-influencers — will start dominating this space.

Micro-influencers have a smaller following than traditional celebrities, but their audience is highly engaged. On top of that, they are seen as “everyday” people, so their audience is more likely to trust their recommendations.

Brands seem to be catching on: more than 56% of marketers who invest in influencer marketing work with micro-influencers.

2. The heavily filtered Instagram aesthetic.

If you’ve scrolled through Instagram recently, you may notice the aesthetic is changing.

Gone are the days of heavily filtered photos and perfect Instagram feeds. Nowadays, influencers, brands, and everyday users are pivoting towards a more unedited, imperfect look.

What’s the reason for this pivot? Many users feel a sense of fatigue over the highly processed aesthetic that has dominated the platform. The Gen Z crowd, in particular, values authenticity over appearing too polished online. It’s no wonder they gravitate to TikTok, where raw and unfiltered content is the norm.

Brands are starting to take notice of this shift, including Glossier. These days, the brand plays into the “anti-aesthetic” movement by sharing candid shots, unedited photos, and even cute animal photos.

Although this is just a shift in aesthetics, it points to a bigger trend with young consumers: they crave authenticity from brands. In other words, snapshots of …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron