COVID-19 + Influencer Marketing: How Creators Are Thriving in Quarantine (and You Can, Too!)

As the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown continue to disrupt business and creators’ summer plans, many consumer-facing influencers (fashion, fitness, food & beverage, etc.) have been able to easily adjust to creating appropriate content for the pandemic. Forbes shows influencers are more influential than ever with:

• Increased traffic to their social channels and website blogs
• An average increase in likes of 67.7%
• More than 50% increase in comments
• Consumer-focused influencers are receiving significant growth in content views and impressions specifically in meditation (55%), cooking (110%), and fitness (100%)
• Stories’ views have increased by 21%

Yet, influencer pricing has only increased by 3.1%, likely due to the fact that rates are largely based on followers instead of engagement, which means influencer marketing has become an even more efficient, cost-effective tactic. These increases in engagement will allow influencers to build more loyalty with their audiences that will last well after the pandemic. This, in turn, will help maximize their influence and effectiveness for current and future brand partnerships.

Not only have influencers seen impactful growth, but social media as a whole has seen a substantial rise in traffic since the pandemic’s onslaught. A Kantar study shows:

• Facebook and Instagram traffic is up 40% for consumers under 35
• Time across all apps since the crisis has grown 70%
• Instagram and Facebook Live views doubled
• Average screen time is up to 5h40m per day, an 18% increase

To this effect, The Martin Group created summer campaigns for Galbani Cheese, a high-quality, Italian cheese brand, and Recipe 21, a premium value spirits brand.

Galbani Cheese’s summer influencer campaign leveraged this increase in consumer attention to highlight their fresh mozzarella products. With the help of 20 influencers, they highlighted the cheese in quick and easy recipe ideas, perfect for families during quarantine. Influencers developed recipes and created photo and stories content for Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook, which resulted in:

• 2M+ impressions
• 11K+ engagements
• Positive sentiment in comments with consumers excited to try the recipes and Galbani Fresh Mozzarella  

Our work with Recipe 21 utilized partnerships with several micro-influencers to create high-quality content and stories for Recipe 21’s social channels. Influencers used authentic storytelling relating to COVID-19’s impact on their lives and discussed how Recipe 21 helped brighten their time in quarantine through photos, stories, and drink recipe videos. Influencer content received:

• 2X the engagement when reshared to the brand’s social channels
• High-quality, cost-effective content (all influencer partnerships were for-product)

Although many industries across the global have been negatively impacted by COVID-19, social media and influencer marketing has seen a significant rise since the crisis began; influencers have seen engagement and audience growth that will sustain even when the pandemic has ended. There is no better time for brands to integrate influencer marketing into their strategy as consumers are glued to their screens more than ever.

Need a refresher on engaging influencers? Check out our discussion: Follow the Thought Leader: How Influencers Shape Opinions and Build Brands as our in-house influencer experts share the tips and tricks of the influencing trade.