The influencer marketing agency Obvious.ly just released its Trends Report: The Impact of Coronavirus on Influencer Marketing. It’s based on a survey of over a thousand of their influencers to get their take on the priorities for content during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as analysis of data on over two thousand TikTok influencers and millions of Instagram posts.
It identifies five key trends:
- Influencers are now becoming their own production agencies
- Video content is exploding
- Niche verticals are becoming mainstream
- TikTok gains ground
- A focus on community and the collective good
There’s no place like home for influencer content
Given the government mandate to stay at home as much as possible in order to flatten the curve, many businesses have had to close. That includes studios where professional videos are usually shot. But that doesn’t mean there is no more content being produced. It just has found a new home at the homes of influencers:
“These creative professionals are already set up to work from home and have a ready-to-show portfolio of engaging, high-quality content made without a full production team or a big budget. There’s an added bonus: many influencers, excited to work with a brand they love, post their work for additional exposure and authentic brand awareness.”
The report notes three upsides for this situation:
- One third more brands now seek influencers to create their photo and video assets
- The costs of creative production has been cut in half when produced by the influencer as compared to by a production studio.
- Ad performance of influencer-created content in social ads gains a 40% boost.
Demand for live video surges
The report references Facebook’s statistics of a 50% rise in Facebook Live and a 70% rise in Messenger Live that has prompted the social media giant to launch “a new set of tools and features for live broadcasters, including allowing anyone to view Facebook Lives, even if they’re not signed into the platform.”
Influencers are willing to hop on the live demand. According to the report’s survey, 92% said they’d be open to creating live content or hosting a live stream. Beyond hypotheticals, 87% report using Instagram stories, which still far outstrips other channels like TikTok.
Not so niche
The report identifies “two macro trends here: influencers who previously focused on one or two verticals are broadening the types of content they create, and people who previously consumed a narrow set of content are seeking more from their social media.”
Specific areas that have seen tremendous growth surround whatever falls under “home life,” which includes DIY, cooking, cleaning, etc., which has now grown to 59% of influencer content, taking the second ranked spot right behind beauty and fashion, which dominates 62% of influencer content. The new third place – 56% – is taken by “wellness,” an umbrella term for “mental health, workouts, meditation, and nutrition.”
Time for TikTok
With so many people stuck at home, they seek more mood-lightening entertainment on their screens, and some also want to post their own family-created content. As a result, 67% of those surveyed said they either created or consumed content on that platform, which registered a 27% increase in engagement from February to March 2020.
Influencers have also increasingly joined TikTok, as 24% report having come on during quarantine. Brand can and do capitalize on that trend, having only hired influencers on TikTok, but encouraged people to upload their own content, as we saw in Do the Distance Dance.
Community focus
The report finds “that brands are successful with content oriented toward the well-being of their customers and communities.” Examples of that abound, as we saw in Precedents for Unprecedented Times: Brands Pivot for Relevant Marketing, Sharing is Caring, and Vans Applies Creativity to Prop Up Businesses.
The report quotes the sentiment behind such marketing strategies: “People want to learn about ways to give back and to listen to positive messages during this time. Influencers play a major role…using our platforms we can raise money and reach people around the world who need help.”
It also reports that 97% of influencers are happy to post about brands and causes they care about, and 80% are willing to contribute their talents to “a charitable campaign without compensation.”
Conclusion
The time of crisis gives influencers greater scope and new audiences that can be channeled for good. Brands that tap into that can nurture goodwill and do some good for the community.
