With most of us quarantined at home in the past few months, the demand for non-essential items and services dropped. After all, who needs a new Chanel bag if you can’t show it off? The influencer marketing industry has understandably been shaken up.
But that doesn't mean you should keep holding off on influencer marketing campaigns. Venues are opening back up and people are going out again, which means there’s probably more necessity for your products and services. Influencers also help provide a sense of community, inspiration, and guidance to help their followers make sense of current events.
Wait! Open venues don’t mean a complete return to pre-pandemic life. Many locations have implemented certain safety precautions, such as mandatory face masks and social distancing. Social gatherings with large crowds of people, such as music festivals and sporting games, aren’t resuming yet. Your influencer strategy should reflect the world as it currently stands, showing sensitivity and empathy to current events.
Here are some ways you can work with social media influencers in 2020 and stay in touch with your audience:
How your brand can work with influencers now
1. Promote lower-risk activities and avoid portraying higher-risk ones
Some activities are simply safer than others, mainly due to how much distance you can naturally and/or easily maintain from other humans. Being outdoors is generally safer due to better air circulation, so running on the beach or going on a hike pose lower risks. Indoor activities with little space between yourself and others, such as going to a nightclub, are too risky at this point.
Your influencers can promote your product or service being used in the safest ways you can that’ll still look great on Instagram. For example, a fashion brand might want to hold off on the party dresses and instead promote activewear at a stunning hiking trail (not a gym). If you’re a food brand, please don’t have an influencer raving how your BBQ sauce is the “life of the party” in a crowded yard.
The safety of your influencers and customers should come before your profits and certainly before any awesome but risky ideas you have.
2. Continue to promote products and services that can be used at home
Even if your local mall traffic has returned to pre-pandemic levels, not everyone is ready to go out as often as before. This is especially true for those of us who are immunocompromised, older, have other health conditions, or simply live with other individuals of the above.
This means you can continue to promote loungewear, lingerie, Zoom call makeup looks, cleaning supplies, home workouts, and other items made for the home. When doing so, ask your influencers to encourage their followers to stay home if they are at risk. Show how your product livens up home life.
3. Work with a diverse range of influencers in ethnicity, skin color, and overall appearance.
Don’t forget that 2020 will also be going down in history for our recent civil rights movement. The last month’s movements have brought several amazing legal and social changes to our society, reforming our law enforcement and opening up important dialogues about racial discrimination. This phenomenon has graced the business world, as several companies have donated to nonprofits and have written odes to solidarity with Black people and people of color in general.
Even though you’ve probably participated on social media as well, your activism shouldn’t merely be short-lived and performative. Racial discrimination has been pervasive in the influencer marketing industry, with multiple large companies having faced criticism for a lack of skin tone and racial diversity in their choice of influencers. Others have been criticized for hiring diverse influencers but failing to treat them with inclusivity and respect.
Your customers are diverse and will want to see themselves reflected in your brand. If they don’t, they may look for themselves in your competitors. Many customers prefer to buy from brands that reflect their values, and many value seeing a wide range of faces and bodies.
4. Be careful who you work with.
You’re probably already careful to vet influencers for their followers, engagement rate, and past conversions. However, profits and numbers aren’t everything. As previously mentioned, your customers also care about your social values, which should impact which influencers you choose.
The pandemic and social movements have left many folks justifiably emotional. Many are calling out brands for insensitive responses to the pandemic or to the Black Lives Matter movement. Since influencers are also brands in a way, followers are also sensitive to their responses to social issues as well.
Your choice in influencer will impact your brand’s reputation. If you value making a positive social impact, it would be wise to choose a wholesome influencer with a history of activism. You should do plenty of research into anyone you choose. Working with an influencer known for a scandal or two could cause backlash.
5. Partner with a nonprofit.
You already know that the pandemic has caused several layoffs, which means millions more people have been needing a helping hand. Fortunately, several nonprofit organizations have stepped up to provide food, shelter, and other services for adversely affected families and individuals. Many animal shelters are asking for foster homes. National racial justice organizations have raked in millions in donations from several brands, so look into local ones.
Donating a portion of your profits to some of these organizations would be a seriously socially responsible thing to do. Talking about this on social media will catch the attention of your more charitable customers and make them more inclined to buy from you, tying back to the above point that customers prefer brands that align with their values.
Influencers are fantastic options for getting the word out. Choosing an influencer with a history of activism would be ideal, as they’ve probably built up an audience interested in giving back.
6. Craft meaningful messages.
These are odd, confusing, and sometimes troubling times. Influencers are seen as a source of inspiration, so pay attention to your campaign’s overall tone and voice. Ensure that messages are generally positive, authentic, and inspiring in a way that aligns with your brand.
Whatever you choose, try to avoid sounding too angry, pessimistic, or grim. If you’re going to stand for social causes, make sure you and your influencers authentically care about it and aren’t just showing off for clout. Many customers can detect shallow, inauthentic messages.
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As much as we’d also like to have fun at a music festival, our health and safety come first. Some of your products and campaign ideas, no matter how groundbreaking they are, will just have to wait until things get better.
No matter how many conversions you’re looking for, marketing nowadays isn’t just about that. Your brand is also about the community you build and the values you promote.
If you need any help with influencer campaigns, let’s talk!