The Unstoppable Rise of Influencer Marketing During Isolation

We’re in the eye of the storm in one of the most unimaginable and terrifying pandemics no one could have predicted, and it’s completely changing the influencer business. 

We’ve always known that consumers buy from people, not brands and yet it’s taken for traditional promotion avenues to be stripped for some brands to cotton on to the benefit of having an authentic, trusted face promote their product. As the coronavirus continues to spread around the world, brands are having to adapt to the rapidly changing market. Events have been cancelled, campaigns have been postponed and budgets have been cut, but brands still need to be present online. This has seen many of them shift their focus to online content creators, with staggering results. 

New reports show that influencer marketing has risen by 48% in the last number of weeks, with engagement on #ad posts up 76%. Brands are also discovering that the influencer-marketing business model could be particularly well-suited to a time in which online demo content filmed at home is a particular hot commodity, especially when commercial shoots are not possible. It’s hard to imagine things going back to the previous modus operandi of previous big budget shoots when results are showing that the DIY approach lands just as well with the viewer. 

As traditional income streams have waned, content creators are looking to available avenues to earn their income. Affiliate links and direct to consumer sales are the obvious routes but long term, many will need to broaden their focus, moving away from quick-sale content and putting viewer value at the heart of their thinking. 

One area of content creation that has exploded is at-home alternatives. Work-out videos, cook-along content and craft DIYs are booming with people eager to fill their time and learn new skills when stuck at home. Unlike fashion and travel, this form of content seems to be much more robust and has risen to the top of viewers current preference. 

Of course influencers can get it wrong. For every content creator upping their game and investing heavily in their output, there’s the inevitable drop off of the lacklustre influencer who relied heavily on fast fashion outfit posts with no real personality or meaning in their content. Viewers are hungry for authenticity and relatability. Some major gaffs have included celebrities creating cringe worthy sing along videos, to influencers urging others to stay home from the comfort of their mega mansions, blind privilege looks more distasteful than ever. Being painfully out of touch with the masses isn't good for brands and it isn't good for business. 

The impact of the pandemic on the influencer marketing industry is yet to be fully seen, but we can predict that with such a huge surge in engagement on #ad posts, things will certainly not fall back to the previous state immediately. When brands have seen the return on investment for a relatively small output it will be hard to imagine them investing as heavily in traditional PR to the same scale again. Influencer marketing costs less to produce and often performs better than highly stylised, overly produced content. In a sign of what’s to come, brands are currently bypassing production companies and working with influencers to create content instead, with astonishing results. It’s estimated influencer content costs 50% less to produce, with ads performing 40% better. 

During the last recession, the average cost of a sponsored post fell by 62.7% between 2008 and 2010, according to marketing agency Izea's data - but the world was a very different place then. As the inevitable recession looms, brands will need to be strategic with their probable reduced budgets and as we have seen demonstrated, influencer marketing has proven to be a safe bet. 

Brands that are still running marketing campaigns are treading carefully and focusing on feel-good messaging to avoid coming across as opportunistic or insensitive and clever brands are looking to strategic use of influencers to convey their message. This isn’t the time for a hard sell - 73% of consumers say how companies act now will affect their future spending decisions. This is the time for brands and influencers to build real relationships with consumers, based on authenticity and real connection.