How has the pandemic affected brands and influencers?

Without a doubt, the pandemic was a severe blow to the planet in general and modern society, because not only our health was in check. Most companies faced millions in losses due to the restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the virus.

But as they say, crises can become real opportunities to grow or innovate, as happened today with this pandemic. Influencers changed the way they do marketing in confinement, and agencies found there a potential lifeline for their brand's downfall.

The economic impact of the pandemic

Although accounting for losses globally could be somewhat complex, we can actually estimate that these are in excess of billions of dollars. And it is that you only have to make a quick calculation of the affected industries, which range from tourism to productive ones.

Everything, practically everything, stopped, thus affecting commerce, mobility and even people's work. These losses led a large number of companies to succumb to falling sales by closing their doors. That is why it is said that the blow was very hard.

Influencers: A lifesaver?

An influencer is a modern opinion leader who uses his media positioning and reach to influence the opinion of his followers. This scope and power of influence, as well as relevance in the market, made companies turn to look at them.

And what better way to do it during the pandemic where people could not physically meet to record campaigns together, but they could do it independently, each at home and with their mobile. This possibility of creating independent content, but for the sake of the same objective, was what made the influencers become brand lifesavers.

How to exploit influencers in times of pandemic?

1) Home delivery

Most companies, especially those related to restaurants and food businesses, had to change their way of selling by moving to home delivery and online sales.

That was where the influencers came in because a means was needed to communicate the arrival of online stores and home services. If you saw an influencer talking about your favorite restaurant and its deliveries or Pick Up, here is a perfect example.

2) Social communication

Social communication is a fundamental pillar to communicate what the brand is doing beyond its commercial part. Influencers are like champions of the values ​​of brands, in charge of spreading the social actions of companies and businesses.

Many insurance companies, for example, began to disseminate actions and campaigns to raise awareness around COVID19. Many influencers participated in these campaigns spreading the brand's messages. The objective of these actions is not to sell but to demonstrate that brands can also collaborate in creating solutions to our day-to-day problems.

3) Brand reinforcement

Finally, we can use influencers as a way to reinforce the positioning of our brand. It will only be enough to send some packages to influencers so that they talk about our brand and mention it in their networks.

As such, there is no guideline to follow in this category as the goal is to be on the consumer's mind and remind them that we exist. Although of course, we can appeal to certain objectives such as maintaining the conversation around our products, promotions or social actions.

Is it worth investing in influencers?

The answer is that it depends, it depends as much on your objectives as on the campaign and of course, on the influencers. There are many examples that a poorly planned campaign with the wrong influencers can end up being counterproductive for brands.

That is why you must define well what you want to achieve and who are the best influencers for these strategies. An influencer agency will undoubtedly help you make your actions with influencers really work. So you know, it is not about hiring by hiring users with many followers.

How to hire influencers?

If you want to work with influencers, the best option is to find an agency specialized in this field. These agencies have the experience and knowledge necessary to make your objectives and expectations a perfect match with the influencers, thus reducing the risks that the campaigns go wrong.

In addition, many agencies have their own list of pre-approved influencers which, arguably, are guarantees for brands. The same experience of influencer agencies allows them to know which users work best for different types of campaigns and brands, thus avoiding hiring anyone.

Advantages of hiring influencers through an agency

· Profiles ad hoc to your brand: Why would a fitness or gym clothing brand hire a sedentary influencer who does not do sports? Exactly! This is where an influencer agency will help you avoid these mistakes and select ad hoc influencer profiles for your brand.

· Reduce risks: Influencers are people so we cannot control them like a TV channel or a publication on networks. Having an influencer agency behind you will help us reduce the risk of a campaign going wrong.

· Experience and knowledge: Another great advantage of having an agency is that it can provide us with guidance in creating campaigns with influencers. Your knowledge and experience can be vital in the planning and development stage ensuring that our campaign really works.

· Save time and money: Finally, influencer agencies can help us save a lot of time in planning and executing campaigns, as well as in finding influencers. This is very important when we want to optimize our resources and launch campaigns as quickly as possible without wasting time or money