The emergence of a global pandemic has led brands and companies to pause. As a result, they are evaluating their marketing strategies, from traditional advertising to influencer marketing. Now is the time to consult your digital marketing company. Carefully assess where you will invest your marketing budget.
Social media usage among consumers has seen a sharp increase during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to data from Kantar, social media engagement rose 61% above normal usage rates. This happened “in later stages of the pandemic”.
The use of video platforms is also steadily increasing. In fact, we are seeing celebrities and brands use Instagram Live to entertain and interact with their audience. In March alone, TikTok saw a 27% increase in downloads compared to February, with 6.2 million downloads.
During this unprecedented pandemic, trusted social media influencers remain a reliable source of information. They are also an effective and authentic way to communicate with your audience. The 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: The Brands We Trust supports this. There, we looked at people aged 18 to 34. We found that 63% of them trust what influencers say about brands more than advertising. We also know that influencers gain trust, advocacy, and sales for brands.
However, influencer marketing is only the right path if your company is doing it for the right reasons. It also means working with trustworthy influencers.
Working with reliable voices has always been important, but now it is critical. The decisions you make now will have long-term effects on your brand. In fact, the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer: Special Report on Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic is clear on this. Of its respondents, 71% agreed on one point. Brands and companies seen to be putting profits ahead of people during this crisis will lose their trust forever.
So how do you know if you are making the right decision in a world marked by Covid-19? This applies whether you define a marketing strategy with a new influencer or continue with the existing one.
Is influencer marketing the right strategy for your company during the Covid-19 pandemic?
You may be considering reallocating funds or withdrawing marketing funds from influencers. Before deciding, consult with your team and your digital marketing agency on these difficult but important questions:
- What is the goal of my influencer marketing strategy (the proposed or current one)?
- How does my influencer marketing strategy solve a problem or add value for my target audience?
- Am I conveying information that will be perceived as valuable in the current scenario?
- If I had been deeply affected by this pandemic, how would I react to seeing this influencer campaign? Could it be perceived in any way as insensitive or opportunistic?
- How are we providing value to the community and our audience outside of influencer marketing? Are we donating meals, money, or time to help our community?
After deciding to move forward, make sure you have a good plan in place, with contingency measures for each stage.
How to execute an authentic influencer marketing strategy in the world of Covid-19
Audience integration
Take extra care to choose the right influencers and partners. They should identify with your brand’s voice and values and fit your budget. In addition, they must reach your target audience on the right platforms. The wrong influencer can cause even the most inspiring campaigns to fail.
Ask yourself
who is the audience I am trying to reach? What do I want the audience to do when I reach them? What type of influencer makes the most sense for my campaign—micro-influencer, top-tier influencer, celebrity?
Intelligent vetting
We know that partnering with reliable influencers is more important now than ever. Ensure you are making a real impact on your target audience through intelligent vetting. Use influencer marketing tools and take the time to review potential influencers manually. Evaluate and analyze metrics such as engagement, follower spikes, audience geography, and comment quality. Also check the percentage of fake followers/likes. Finally, review their social history for offensive content, competitive partnerships, and their approach to Covid-19.
Co-creation
Creating content is essential. Neither the influencer nor the brand alone can direct or create influencer content out of thin air. The most impactful influencer marketing campaigns will result from genuine collaboration between the brand and the influencer. As a result, they will produce compelling and engaging content that leaves a lasting impression on the target audience.
Real impact
Your influencer strategy is only as successful as your measurement plan. If you are not accurately analyzing or measuring your influencer campaign, there is no clear way to understand its impact. Therefore, spend time developing a measurement strategy and setting KPIs. This way, you ensure that your influencer marketing strategy is generating the desired effect.
Measure traditional KPIs such as impressions, engagement, and link clicks. In addition, make sure you are analyzing audience sentiment in the context of Covid-19.
Influencer marketing plays a key role in your overall marketing strategy. However, it requires careful strategy and planning based on specific goals in order to be cost-effective. This situation continues to change. So we must develop our work in real time to best respond to our customers’ ever-changing needs.
EDC is Edelman’s Affiliate Partner in Portugal. See the original Edelman news item here.
