You know about the pandemic. You know about the economic downturn. You know about social and political turmoil. But, if you are in the business of influencer marketing, that’s not all the headache 2020 gave you.
With the insane rise of TikTok, the legal battles around it, and the introduction of Reels and Triller, influencer marketing went through plenty of additional unrest.
But, a new study by coupon company Valassis, published on Mobile Marketer, shows that as much as the space is going through changes (growing pains?), it is by no means going anywhere.
Watch a quick B2C CRM news update here:
From the video:
Here are a few highlights from the Mobile Marketer piece:
- 35% of U.S. consumers said they had made an unplanned purchase based on something they saw on social media
- 40% of consumers said they’re more likely to trust a brand that features an influencer they know
- 51% of consumers said they had bought a product or service after seeing it used or promoted by an influencer in the past two years.
And, when taking into account the social protests of this past summer, it is very interesting to learn that:
- 36% of influencer-following consumers saying they follow a more diverse group of influencers than they did before the protests against racial inequality started in the summer
- 32% of respondents saying they had purchased more products/services from businesses that are endorsed by influencers from different racial and cultural backgrounds
But, as many in the influencer space will tell you, this channel isn’t for everyone. While other channels such as online ads, OOH, or email tend to work well with many different audiences, influencer marketing sensitive both to demographics and personal preferences/beliefs.
That fact that “65% of consumers say they would stop following an influencer who says or does something that doesn’t align with their personal ethics and values”, per the research, in showing just how much influencer marketing can backfire.
Another way the pandemic-induced global crisis changes things was a little easier to predict.
At the beginning of the pandemic outbreak, many in the media talked about a number of huge companies that launched during the previous economic recession of 2008-2009.
From WhatsApp to Venmo to Instagram to Groupon to Uber to Pinterest to Slack to Square, and more.
Now, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that applications for new U.S. businesses are rising at the fastest rate since 2007. Because of a mix of necessity and opportunity.
What can it mean for your – well, unfortunately, already existing brand? That you can and should try new things yourself, and tap into those same necessities and opportunities.
One recent example comes from the world of cereal, as demand for breakfast cereal is up for the first time in a decade. One company that is enjoying this spike more than others is General Mills – maker of Cheerios, Lucky Charms, and Cocoa Puffs, that is moving fast to exploit that return to these familiar flavors.
According to a report by Robinhood, they are now going to do it in two main ways: “Meaningful Renovation” (improving existing products) and “Relevant Innovation” (combining existing products).
And whatever the results of these efforts would be, we just wanted to say we think there’s some real buzzword-potential to these two phrases. “Meaningful Renovation”. “Relevant Innovation”. Confusing a bit. A little hard to say. But it could work. You just wait (while enjoying breakfast cereal).