Influencer marketing in a pandemic

We’ve all written about them, if not commented on someone’s blog post about them, if not seen them on our own Instagram or YouTube feeds. Influencers are everywhere and an essential part of modern marketing strategies.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, many advertisers are readjusting their marketing tactics and reassigning their marketing dollars to spend on different things. Some of that includes cancelling influencer trips, or pushing back promotion schedules altogether. Per Digiday, “Victoria Yore, travel influencer and founder of Follow Me Away, has lost 90% of her income due to the coronavirus as the cruise line and airline campaigns she had booked have been canceled,” (Monllos, 2020). Many brands are pausing as they examine what is happening, and that means holding their marketing money until things are more stable (Holton, 2020).

I myself subscribe to Rachel Martino, a fashion blogger from New York City. Though it isn’t live anymore, she posted to Instagram saying that she and her boyfriend (who is also an influencer) have been saving money and only buying essentials since no work is coming in. This is an example of, despite Martino not being a travel blogger, still having campaigns cancelled by advertisers.

A lot of influencers also depend on advertisers to fund their lifestyles – in the form of free products, free trips, and other free items in exchange for advertisement on influencers’ pages. That being said, with an increased number of social media engagement since so many people are now home more often, perhaps this is an opportunity for brands to invest even more in social media marketing. As people gather on social media for forms of escapism or to connect with one other, this may provide new and refreshing opportunities for advertisers to utilize social media into their integrated marketing campaigns, (Faull, 2020)

Do you think the coronavirus pandemic will have a positive, expanding effect on the influencer marketing industry, or will it have negative implications? In what ways do you think?

References:

Faull, J. (2020, March 19). ‘Influencer marketing can prove its value’: the social opportunity amid coronavirus crisis. The Drum. Retrieved from https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/03/19/influencer-marketing-can-prove-its-value-the-social-opportunity-amid-coronavirus.

Holton, K. (2020, March 19). Advertisers stare into the coronavirus abyss. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-advertising/advertisers-stare-into-the-coronavirus-abyss-idUSKBN2162CB.

Monllos, K. (2020, March 18). ‘I’ve seen every thing get canceled’: Influencers get hit by coronavirus uncertainty. Digiday. Retrieved from https://digiday.com/marketing/ive-seen-every-single-thing-get-canceled-influencers-get-hit-coronavirus-uncertainty/.