With the uncertainty of COVID-19, some brands have begun to cut down on their marketing spend and cancel product launches due to nationwide shutdowns and stay-at-home orders. And for those in the marketing industry, the uncertainty became a question of how influential social media stars could be during quarantine. As a result, a survey conducted in March found that more than one-quarter of influencers were receiving fewer offers from brands amid the pandemic. While your brand couldn’t plan for these unprecedented times, here’s why you should get ahead and take the time to plan and perfect your influencer strategy.
Social Media Boom
While publications like Wired magazine have asked, “Could the coronavirus kill influencer culture?” social media users have proved that they’re still engaging. In fact, they’re engaging more than usual. During the lockdown, there has been a surge in social media usage, giving influencers more opportunities to engage and reach wider audiences. The COVID-19 Impact Tracker from PR agency Tin Man found a 50 percent increase in social media use in the last week of April as opposed to the same time last year. Tin Man also found that 27 percent of the population is on Instagram at least once a day while 60 percent visit Facebook daily.
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Building off of this information, the influencer agency Obviously, which analyzed 160 of its own campaigns, found a 76 percent increase in their total daily likes on Instagram posts with the hashtag #ad over two weeks in March.
“People are spending more time on social right now, and brands and influencers have a – literally – captive audience,” says Kate Matlock, deputy managing director of BCW’s digital innovation group in an interview with PR Week.
Matlock even believes that we could be entering a new golden age of influencers, as social media stars have evolved and adapted to the changes.
“With this increased visibility and infinite time on their hands, influencers are feeling pressure to churn out engaging, topical content. It’s an opportunity for brands to be that creative sponsor and engage audiences authentically and with a dose of positivity.”
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Why Opt for Influencers?
To be successful during this time with your influencer marketing strategy, it’s important to understand what your audience needs and partner with the right influencer who can support you and your brand. Since influencers have mastered their internet skills, they are ideal to partner with this crisis, as they can create high-quality videos and interactive mobile content from home, like they have been doing for years.
Even the World Health Organization (WHO) turned to a selection of influencers for its Safe Hands Challenge campaign to encourage the public to wash their hands properly. With this challenge and improvement in its influencer strategy, the WHO cut production cuts by encouraging influencers to record their own videos.
“Empowering influencers to make their own stuff in their own way – in a tried and tested way, as well – is proving really powerful,” said Ed Brittain, social and influencer planner at MSL UK, to PR Week. “When it comes to ideas, we’re putting a lot more of the creativity in the hands of the influencer. I’d say if anything, trust has gone up – trust they will create content that fits with their tone. They can turn things around a lot quicker [than production companies], and they are great collaborators and partners.”
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Developing an influencer strategy is also beneficial because influencers are experts in communicating with specific audiences with the right format and tone. While others may struggle to adapt to the new realities of the lockdown, many influencers have thrived in it, adjusting better than celebrities who have received backlash for posting out-of-touch, or insensitive, content. In a time where audiences are craving a sense of normalcy, connection, and conversation–all of which an influencer can provide. The focus now is on transparency, relatability, and responsibility, especially on the brand’s part, so influencer marketing has helped draw attention to consumer-centric content instead of product-centric ads.
“Consumer behavior has shifted, and while we’re locked in and people have more time on their hands, the world is turning to the web for everything from learning and keeping fit to staying sane and wanting to be entertained,” Sasha Marks, director at Brazen, told PR Week. “Rather than create that content themselves – which could be perceived as opportunistic, not to mention a challenge during lockdown – brands should be looking for genuine advocates to create that content and be the facilitators of meaningful conversations.”
Despite the challenges that COVID-19 has presented to brands, it has propelled digital creators into making their most innovative content yet. In a time when staying in touch with your consumers has never been more important, creating an influencer strategy can be the powerful key you need to spread your goals and message.
Check out these influencers who are continuing to post content while social distancing:
| Name | Instagram Handle |
|---|---|
| Antoni Porowski | @antoni |
| Ivana Jorgensen | @ivajorg |
| David Dobrik | @daviddobrik |
| Hannah Brown | @hannahbrown |
