Social media and influencer marketing has been a great tool for businesses to promote their products and services. Also, it is perfect for communicating with their customers. Over the past few months, the world has been tremendously impacted by a sanitary crisis and due to this, many businesses are struggling to adapt to the fast-changing economic environment. Due to this, there has been a social media and influencer marketing impact across multiple areas.
Social media and influencer marketing are key assets of many companies. Many of your customers will turn to Instagram or other social media channels to find support. They will continue checking their favorite brands to see how they are working through this crisis. At our influencer marketing platform, we have been tracking social media and influencer marketing impact since this pandemic started and it seems that these channels are becoming more important than ever.
In this research, we will analyze the behavior of users on social media and influencer marketing. We will give you some tips on how to navigate this situation in your business.
Publications on Instagram by country
Since December there has been a constant increase in the number of publications for the main countries affected by coronavirus. With fewer options to do outside, Instagram has become a great channel for people to follow different news stories, online stores, and their favorite influencers. Each person has been covering the impact of the pandemic on their Instagram stories. influencers have used their popularity to start crowdfunding campaigns and to share ways to help the most vulnerable citizens.
Hashtags on Instagram by country
The use of hashtags lets us follow different trends, news or challenges around the world. Since the beginning of the crisis, there have been several hashtags that people and companies have been using. People have used #coronavirus or #covid19 but other hashtags like #Istayathome or #yomequedoencasa have been a powerful message to spread awareness. Fashion brands share messages with their customers on social media, telling them that they can still buy their products online, but that it might take longer than normal. Restaurants are using these hashtags to share that they are taking delivery orders so people can stay safe at home.
Italy and Spain had a higher number of publications with these hashtags in February, while other countries had this increase later in March.
Types of publications on Instagram
Since the pandemic started worldwide, there has been an increase in some types of publications. For instance, Beauty and make-up publications had a 17% increase in Instagram posts. Mainly because people are sharing different ways of how to be creative with makeup while they stay at home. Wedding publications also had an increase of 18% as many companies and couples are struggling to find new dates. Media has been another category with an increase in publications as people are following the news on Instagram more than ever.
Demographic groups on social media
According to our data, most of the people using Instagram throughout these months are Millennials with 29.7% and Gen X with 28.7%. Other generations like Gen Z, seem to be another popular group of users that are spending their free time on apps like Tik Tok. This channel can be a very good tool if your target users fall into that age range.
Influencer marketing categories
The most important categories these days in social media for influencer marketing are Fitness, Gaming, Food, Home decor, and music. Consumers are following their favorite Fitness influencers while they do live streams of their workouts. Spending time at home means more time to play board games. Due to this, the gaming category has been very popular over the past few months. If you have a Food product or business, you probably have seen how people are spending their time preparing recipes they like or trying new ones. Definitely, there is a positive influencer marketing impact around several brands.
Home decor has been another popular category as people follow DIY tutorials to change different parts of their house.
Variation of use in Communication apps
As most consumers need to spend more time at home, their work has been moved there as well. Because of this, video calls apps such as Google Hangouts or Zoom have had an increase of 56%. Friends and family are also using these apps to meet up for a coffee or an after work beer; everything from the home of course. Social media channels also had an increase these past months, like Instagram with 24% or Twitter with more than 52%.
Technology impact
There have been several industries that have increased in searches across social media and the internet in general. Media has increased by over 35% during the past month, as people are more concerned about their economic situations Finance searches increased by 30%, Food by 20% and Pharma by 15%. Other industries are not that popular in terms of searches such as construction, real estate or transportation. Those make sense in terms of consumer behavior and the stay at home situation.
Tips for businesses that have social media channels or do influencer marketing
As every sector is struggling with this, we have compiled a list of tips that you can apply in the coming weeks. Remember that this is temporary and there is still a lot to figure it out. However, it is very important to work together and support each other:
Communicate clearly to customers
In times of crisis, communication is key. If you are a company that has moved its office to work from home, it is important to let your users know. Share how your team is still together and helping each other. If the shipping time is going to take longer than before, let the users know that so they expect their orders with some delays. Details matter so let users know how everything is going around your company.
Associate your brand with the right people
Maybe you are a brand that has done influencer marketing and has built long-lasting relationships. Contact influencers for some support and branding during this time. The influencer marketing impact can be seen with the way your product is beneficial to people who are working from home. Also, for people who want to make plans afterward. There might be a social cause that you want to work together in terms of crowdfunding or helping your local hospital with part of your sales; an influencer can help you to spread the word and communicate your plans to thousands of people.
On the other hand, as we have mentioned in this research, there are many categories that are increasing in the number of posts and people are following them more than ever. If your product or business falls into one of these categories, you can communicate with your users and influencers. Your products can help them during this time. People are spending time on social media more than ever. If your brand can help them in any way, you could partner with influencers so your audience gets the right message.
Track trends and adapt quickly to change on social media
This is changing the way people behave on social media and how the economy works. It is very important as a company to keep track of how other companies are using their social media channels to spread their message and world trends in order to be creative. Also if they are getting any influencer marketing impact. Nike was fast and shared their message “Play inside, play for the world” and was trending on social media within days.
Follow your favorite business and marketing blogs as well as Google Trends. Keep up with the latest news in your field.
Conclusion
As more people are staying in and working from home these days, our influencer marketing platform has been able to confirm that we spend more time on social media than ever. It is important that businesses work together as teams. Consider these tips that we mentioned as influencers and marketing are cost-effective options for those brands that are looking for ways to go back to normal. Even though there is an influencer marketing impact due to this crisis, influencers can be a valuable option for companies that have to reconsider their marketing strategies.
If you are new to influencer marketing, we have several guides and templates that you can use in our blog.
