The less said about 2020, the better.
While the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges for all brands, there are a range of lessons you can take onboard going forward.
As brands and businesses enter this “new normal” in a post-pandemic life, it’s crucial you find ways to connect with your audience’s shifting consumer behaviour and content consumption patterns.
Enter influencer marketing.
Influencer partnerships can help generate awareness, build trust, and drive purchasing decisions. However, it’s the businesses who tap into the post-COVID trends that stand to benefit the most.
If you’re ready to learn from the past 18 months, read on for our most successful influencer marketing tactics in a post-COVID world.
In a word - yes.
And in a number - 8.
Because that’s how many hours the average consumer spends consuming digital media each day. This is up 7 minutes since the start of 2020, which may not seem like much of a jump. However, time spent engaging with traditional advertising (TV, print, radio) slipped to 5.5 hours a day and continues to shrink.
We all spent time at home during lockdowns (Tiger King, anyone?) and that has helped change consumer behaviour. People turned to their devices not just for entertainment, but to explore their favourite brands online. And with more time on digital media, comes more opportunity for you to grow your audience, build trust, and drive sales.
As a reference point, studies show 73% of marketers are allocating MORE resources to influencer marketing since the start of the pandemic. Why? Because brands are understanding that digital media is a viable way to connect with their audience - and influencers are a powerful tool.
While many brands put a pause on above-the-line spending during lockdowns, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a coming of age for the influencer marketing industry.
Improved metrics, codes of practice, and the growing realisation for brands that they need to connect with customers in new and more intimate ways has led to a resurgence in some categories of influencer marketing and a broadening of the range of brands using it.
Let's look at some of the numbers to see where influencer marketing stands in a changing digital landscape.
Source: Influencer Marketing Hub
Numbers are all well and good, but as a brand, how can you use influencers effectively in 2021 and beyond?
(That’s a rhetorical question btw, we’ve rounded up four proven strategies to use influencers, and we’re giving them to you right now).
Because we’re not here to tell you *what’s* happened. We want to show you *how* you can take advantage.
If you can't shoot your own campaigns due to restrictions, using influencers and content creators is a creative way to make high-quality, engaging content that can be used across a multitude of platforms.
Many brands are engaging influencers not to post on their own personal channels, but to create content for brands to use on their own. This year has seen a growth in trends like TikTok video content, and IG Reels that are performing well in reach and engagement.
As a staggering 86.5% of influencers have spent more time on TikTok since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are plenty of opportunities for you to partner with creative influencers who are on the cutting edge of trends and technology. If you’re struggling to put together your own creative campaigns or dealing with frustrating restrictions, try tapping into influencers to fill the content void.
The world of today is very different from the world of 2019, and your market knows it.
It’s more important now than ever before to create relatable content for an abnormal time. Efforts to create more authentic advertising have well and truly kicked into gear thanks to COVID-19, as consumers seek normalcy.
At the same time, it’s more important than ever to be authentic and true when creating content. We’re living in an era of disinformation (#fakenews) and your audience is actively seeking sources they can trust. That doesn’t just refer to news sources, but brands too.
Of course, you don’t need to start auditing your brand and running endless PR campaigns to get on the right side of your target market - you can tap into influencer partnerships to do that for you.
Influencers’ authentic relationships with their audiences can quickly build brand trust. With 61% of consumers trusting an influencer’s recommendations, you can easily generate goodwill and drive purchasing decisions with the right influencer partnership.
When you think of ‘influencers’, what platform comes to mind?
If you’re like most people, it’s impossible to split ‘influencers’ and ‘Instagram’, they go together like Friday and after-work drinks.
But with TikTok being the second most downloaded app of 2020, now is the perfect opportunity for your brand to engage a new audience (many of whom don’t have or use Instagram) through dynamic and engaging video content.
With high engagement and time on the platform (over 500 minutes per month for users 18-34!!!) brands can partner with TikTok influencers to unlock new content opportunities and acquisition channels.
And if you need any more convincing, TikTok users open the app an average of 8 times a day, which gives you 8 opportunities to place your brand in front of a booming audience.
Did you know over 130 million users tap on an Instagram Shopping post each month?
Using influencers to drive traffic directly to brand pages with clear call-to-action (CTA) buttons can help increase conversions in online stores. With 8 out of 10 people using Instagram to research products and services, Instagram is much more than a way to share your Sunday brunch or cute puppy photos.
So, how can you help your followers go from inspiration to conversion with just a few taps? We recommend utilising action buttons and ‘link in bio’ inclusions to make it easy for consumers to purchase your product online. For example:
With lockdowns in the rear view mirror (fingers crossed!), now is the perfect time to increase your influencer and social marketing tactics for an effective marketing mix.
The great news is, you don’t need to be a huge player in the market or have huge marketing budgets for influencer marketing to be successful for your brand.
It’s a bit of a cliche, but the “new normal” everyone keeps talking about is officially here. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way your audience engages with digital media, and it’s crucial you react to meet those changes.
2020 may (thankfully) be behind us. But there’s a bright future ahead, so what is your brand going to do to take advantage of it?
Looking to implement an influencer strategy but don’t know where to start? Click here to learn how The Influencers can work for your brand
From strategy, briefing to content delivery & reporting - we’re your influencer marketing agency with end to end support for your next campaign
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