Many countries including Malaysia are slowly reducing the economic and have implemented many social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Until we have found a cure or a vaccine, or developed herd immunity, we will have to adjust to the "new normal". The new way of living and going about our lives including work and interacting with other people. This "new normal" will be changing constantly. How so?
We need to wear our face mask once we step out of the house, the government has finally made this mandatory. Even if they did not mandate it, psychologically, we feel better when we wear a mask.
Some of us are still working from home, especially when the COVID-19 cases seem to be rising again, and we do a lot of virtual meetings as compared to before. We are also using food delivery services more often than before or we cook at home a lot more.
We now have to scan the Quick Response (QR) codes with our smartphones to facilitate self-registration before entering business and food premises.
We see how the pandemic has changed consumer behaviour. But is this a good time to do influencer marketing? We’ll surely say yes! In this article, we will tell you the 5 reasons why you should leverage influencer marketing.
The coronavirus pandemic has led to cuts to all forms of marketing activity. It is not a surprise that marketing budgets have taken a significant downturn as the immediate focus is to protect cash flow.
While the rise of this global pandemic is prompting brands and businesses to pause and evaluate their marketing strategies, this is the perfect chance for your business to do influencer marketing. Why? Because there is less competition now and if you are planning to do something, you might not want to miss this opportunity!
Multiple shutdowns of major events and festivals have made influencers keen to partner with brands. Many influencers have more free time now and to our surprise, our influencers are willing to reduce their price right now. This is something that we find very heartwarming. Most of them really empathize with our business and are actually more open to price negotiations. In return, this would help you get the most reach and engagement with your limited budget.
No. 3 # Rise in digital content consumption
People have more time on their hands right now and the majority of us are spending that extra time consuming unprecedented levels of media to keep ourselves entertained whilst staying safe indoors.
With the shift from in-person shopping to primarily online shopping, brands that are not leveraging social media and influencers in their digital marketing strategy could be missing a big opportunity. There is a huge crowd online, so if you are considering doing influencer marketing, when could be a better time than now?
As the impact of COVID-19 on businesses escalates, we must adapt to a new normal. It's time for us to rethink how business works. This is also an opportunity for us to change, for us to disrupt our usual ways of doing things.
During this unprecedented event, trusted social media influencers continue to be an effective and authentic way to communicate with your audience. There are studies who show that the younger generation is more likely to trust what an influencer says about a brand more than what the brand says about itself in advertising. Influencers can help brands to earn trust, advocacy and ultimately sales. Therefore, influencer marketing could be one of the ways that you bring your business to a different level.
Brands can shift their strategy by focusing more on social responsibility and crafting campaigns, which are not tone deaf. Eventually, the consumers would like to know what are the brands doing in terms of providing relief in their communities, whether it is donating a portion of sale proceeds to charities heavily impacted by COVID to donating food to hospitals.
As a brand, we have to be well aware of the challenges that the consumers are currently facing, especially the changes in their daily routines. For example, brands can devise videos on Instagram Stories with messaging that is inspirational, such as topics on the company vision and mission, how are you overcoming hardships, stay at home cooking and well-being to self-care. This kind of messaging can build brand loyalty and can create a closer relationship between you and your consumers.
To conclude, we strongly advise brands not to jump the gun and then give up quickly on influencer marketing. Whether you are a marketer, startup or an entrepreneur, it takes time to devise influencer campaigns from crafting the creative brief to searching influencers. Influencer marketing can be one of the right paths forward if you’re doing it for the right reasons and in partnership with trusted influencers.
You might also be interested with our blog post on The 3 Things You Need To Know Before Engaging Influencers, check it out HERE.