Influencers are finding it hard to make through this sudden epitome of sadness. The coronavirus outbreak is constantly leaving prints across the global economy. The influencer marketing industry is strategizing to adapt better. Being an influencer, blogger, content writer is no easy task.
Sudden shutdown of sponsorship deals, cancellation of events, forcing artists to focus their alternative revenue streams have let them downsize their business. Not all are finding it difficult. Influencers are like stones creating a ripple effect across people’s minds, busy watching them.
The future which previously forecasted social media engagement, luxury trip images, shopping hauls are now looking for alternate ways to make their living. Although Influencer living is largely based on the inspirational and aspirational aspects. Besides, aspiration seems to be fundamentally flawed when thinking about influencer living in this outbreak.
The concept of a perfect life does not exist. Brand promotions are one of the most revenue-generating forms of earning. Talking of influencers, a beginner with 10,000 followers can possibly earn anything between 7000 to 14000 per promotional post, for instance. Those with advanced promotion and experience in this area make about 10 to 15 lacs with branding so far.
The significant shift in the marketing model is fleeing influencer income. As a result, the new economic era does not boast of an aspirational lifestyle lauded by influencers.
If reports are to be believed, about 6.5 billion dollars was the final revenue generated from influencer marketing back in 2019. Every marketing agency, be it a brand owned or outsourced, spend about 22.5 % of the total budget on influencer promotions. It’s easy when a brand has access to a celebrity and can afford trusted endorsements.
Celebrity To Celebrity Influencer Marketing
Brands such as “nush“, “all about you“, “wrogn“, “kay by Katrina“, “starstruck“, “cr7“, “the Messi store“, are businesses owned by celebrities, Anushka Sharma, Deepika Padukone, Virat Kohli, Katrina Kaif, Sunny Leone, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi.
These brands are not branded by influencers or made a part of fashion sales. Celebrities choose to market themselves. This strategy owns a better customer fan base. By promoting their brands on Twitter and Instagram that directly links to their fans and create a safe environment.
Of course it’s better to follow celebrities themselves than hearing from someone using the product retweet. This engages your mind into believing that celebrities are just like you and what they promote is what they use. Not every interaction has a positive outcome.
Celebrities build crafted thoughts to seep them into the minds of their fans, even if it is bad publicity, it is still publicity.
This is a form of influencer marketing although not dependent on influencer promotions.
Online Content – Now A Challenge
Online content consumption is having a tremendous spike during this COVID-19 lockdown. Part of the creators experiencing major heat includes influencers. About 95% expect the earnings to be badly hit by the pandemic. The new work from home culture is acting as a major obstacle for content creation.
Some areas also have connectivity issues as such posting on social media becomes a challenge. Influencers have also been quite motivating when it comes to getting back on feet. Some of them have started live sessions and webinars to engage the audience on a real-time basis.
These nutrients are helping the adaptability quotient and keeping up with the content flow. Influencers and their social persona require calibration. Social media marketing and influencer marketing have their own definition.
Sometimes brands hire influencers to refocus and appear authentic. Advertising Agencies are now focusing on DIY and content from home to keep their channels ongoing. Commercial photo shoots will take time to resume. Influencers rising to the occasion can make a subtle income even with home contents.
Travel And Event-based Opportunities
Influencers making money from the travel industry are holding their breath. There has been a decline in sponsorship campaign and a lot of followers, as well companies sponsoring the travel blog are now reluctant to take up new trance. This is building up an income challenge.
For example, Bali has been the influencer’s place. Beautiful sightseeing opportunity to the best beer and the best beaches to hangout has been promoted on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. I have personally visited Bali after gathering information from my favorite influencer Gypsy.
These sponsorship declines have made influencers switch to new income strategies. A lot of them are now focusing on direct consumer businesses or revenue earning system apart from DIY and webinars. Influencers have also taken up consultation, coaching, teaching, and yoga as a part of their content creation.
The previous strategy of focusing on the present has now been demolished. Adjusted realistic goals are focusing on long term return instead of short term blues.
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No Collaboration Or Low Collaboration
Famous cosmetic brand Fenty Beauty is owned sponsored and promoted by Rihanna, has over 4 lakh followers on Tik Tok. Recently this beauty brand has launched ecolab house rent. House rent is popular among influencers where they are motivated to create, promote, and personalize YouTube and Instagram videos.
Influencers can have their own choices to get together and promote the product or simply create live videos. As of recent reports, Fenty Beauty collaboration space has been temporarily shut down due to the pandemic.
A report released states that companies are primarily working to connect marketers and influencers. There has been a forecast showing a fall in social media promotional prices. This fall in price may depend on the length of the outbreak and the overall impact.
Answers are kept on hold and not paid unless a particular number of viewers crosses that channel. Some brands have suggested mixed compensation models manage budget and improve the overall return on investment.
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Importance Of Influencer Marketing
Promotional prospects for essential items have enlarged the picture of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the backdrop, marketers are going head over heels to keep their audience connected to the extraordinary situation and its power rating effect is reshaping the society in long-lasting ways.
The change in our eating, traveling, and shopping capacity has already left the influencer profile life but there is no point holding back. A group of creators has found ways to create end customer engagement in the face of crisis. The nonessential buying decision is still gaining its promotion and starting to realize that influencer partnering could be the only option to try to drive traffic and escape the economic destruction we are heading.
No matter what, some sort of pleasure is always running in the mind. As consumers, we need products and services even though the demand has shifted. Businesses need to stay in place. We need jobs, we need cash and we still need to be the same old consumers.
Brands have found marketing strategies affecting consumer involvement. Influencer marketing as a direct channel to reach the emotional space acting behind every purchase, not only will brands be gaining respect but a consumer getting his pleasure product will help you in ways beyond the sale of your product.
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Ways In Which Influencers Help A Brand Live.
Influencers get the brand message out. They describe to the world about best practices for personal health, and now they are mastering in in-home content. This can very well promote best practices of staying home, keeping a distance from false information, and gain real information sources about COVID-19 and sanitary habits. One such influencer team in recent days has been of Elf cosmetics. iLL Wayno teamed up with Elf cosmetics to promote a Tik Tok video.
The space of escape among influencers is creative resilience. In the face of difficulty, they become inspirational even when the world is fighting with millions of death. YouTube influencers promoting self-love videos, personal improvement videos, and promotional videos for this quarantine period include ideas that help you love yourself.
Domain Of Trust
This is where brands exploit influencers with a huge number of followers on YouTube and Instagram. A trustworthy influencer will not do business with just any brand or organization. Promoting values and delivering benefits to the audience are most preferred. Of course, purchasing decisions are persuaded by influencers, however, consumers are aware of the unsurprising moments. A bad decision can bring them downtime. This pandemic some influencers are helping brands become more responsible and prioritize corporate social responsibility to engage ideal customers.
Message Is Important Budget Is Not
We are yet to witness the economic side effects of this coronavirus pandemic to forget the marketing strategies. Any marketing strategy bringing the best results must compulsorily have an influencer. Influencer marketing at this moment is budget-friendly. The investment may not be as high as previous campaign shoots and equality of influencer metrics becoming a factor determining the budget.
Troll Fear
One of the most affected cities of the world New York has the maximum number of influencers and fashion bloggers. Being the coronavirus epicenter of the US, this situation has made influencers pensive about the tone of work. Rewriting captions and posting meaningful content, influencers are now afraid to post beautiful images in the fear of getting trolled.
The sense of relatability affecting young talented minds has left them without work and pay. Instead, influencers in New York are spreading information on fund donation, safe behavior, coping up with the COVID-19 pandemic, and positive messages that can keep life moving.
Here comes the part where influencers are socially responsible and what they post which helps them carry their work and simultaneously not ignore the current situation altogether.
Some influencers have resorted back to nostalgic posts, getaway posts that are now being released in the name of “throwback back at old days” and “there was a good time”. Although it might seem more real to see an influencer abandoning its current optimism and going back to the days when there was work, however, the business must go on.
Marketing Rebound
In view of the first COVID-19 lockdown lift, brands are formulating strategies to rebound the influencer marketing industry. According to a research conducted by More Media Private, Limited, various influencers have expressed confidence in reviving influencer marketing way for the leading brands of the country in the year 2019.
An average influencer earning in India was estimated to be 5000 rupees. However, for the year 2020, the economy is cautious. Influencers foresee a dip in their earning because of the impact on overall industry. Influencer marketing industry is all set to gripple available options and regain the market as soon as the lockdown encompasses all difficulties.
Influencing as a part of brand promotion has been a vocational revenue for millions. It helps people to connect digitally and socially meanwhile earning at the same time.
Work From Home Is A Difficulty
As a part of a survey conducted by Zephyr Media Private Limited, influencers have given mixed reviews when it comes to comparing previous work and the current work from home situation.
80% of influencers have reported work from home to be an obligation rather than a profession formulating new content and keeping mind motivation may not always be an outcome. At the same time, almost 90% of influencers from various other genres have reported the current innovation plans and strategies in the wake of travel and public gathering restrictions across the globe.
At this time influencers are mostly focusing on organic ways to deal with COVID-19.
52% of influencers all over the world are finding it difficult to shoot and edit photos and videos without the help of the professional team. Some have reported this situation to be a new opportunity to reskill themselves in the domain of audio and video editing.
This will not only reduce the dependency of outsourced professionals but also help them expand the areas of income. Some areas are also facing broadband speed and data network issues, especially in non-metro areas of the country. Reviews of the old products, featured items are also been taken up as a part of the ongoing brand promotion.
Anyway, this idea is driving economies of scale. Live sessions and webinars are creating technological adaptation on a periodic basis keeping the audiences engaged in real-time.
Let’s Revive
Given the fact that the economy is down, brands do not prefer reaching out to Bollywood film stars to promote their product. Now it’s about fitment and originality.
Collaboration – If you exist in a vacuum, content creating will be a burden. So what if you cannot go out for shooting. Do not stop posting pictures with other people. Show some love. This time is for better utility, planning, and coordinated collaboration. Co-ordinate a day with some other Instagrammers who live nearby. Get along with some influencers or Instagram friends. Being an influencer is more about team sport.
Authenticity – If you are about copying stuff from others you may not be receiving offers, even when everything is back to normal. Some people put way too much effort into copying others. They forget their originality. Celebrate individuality. Raise your voice.
Smartly ubiquitous – Write, shoot, post, and appear frequently. Make sure to promote high-quality content, even if it is in a simple language. Target your key audience along with the current situation. Target ways to overcome and target plans that will be undertaken one situation is lifted.
Engagement – It’s easy to buy likes and comments. These days brands are doing due diligence to ensure engagement in the form of publicity. You being an influencer, are you able to initiate a conversation with your followers? Do your post and your videos engage likes and comments? An influencer engaging customer, looking for thoughtful comments, and posting content based on public interest is well appreciated.
Final Thoughts
Take it, easy dear. It’s difficult to build up a fan base and more so when you have to maintain them without resources. Either you break or you make. When it comes to your Instagram updates, blog posts, or whatever your skills are as an influencer, make sure the simple of the simple content is of high quality.
If you are a photographer, post old pictures, apply visual effects, connect with sympathy and emotions. If you are just a content creator, writing blogs, and articles to keep your audience in your grip. Make sure your explanations are lucid and showcase a vivid understanding. Going forward, influencers may have to counter more transparency and accountability.
A marketing lag between the promised number and the ongoing challenge will act as a trade-off between influencers and brands. In other words, influencers are a part of the marketing funnel. Mobile activities may help the funnel remain smooth.
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