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Influencers see surge in engagement, want to help SMBs

Influence Central’s Stacy DeBroff unveils findings of an influencer survey that shows how the coronavirus pandemic has affected their social media, their daily habits and their desire to help brands.

3 min read

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Influencers see surge in engagement, want to help SMBs

Gerd Altmann / Pixabay

Many of us are taking the necessary precautions to ensure we are preserving the well-being of ourselves, our loved ones and others, but in doing so we’ve drastically changed our day-to-day lives. As we adjust to this “new normal,” influencers want to ensure that they are maintaining the same commitment to their work while also conveying socially responsible messages through their sponsored posts.

Influencers, in close contact with trusted audiences, also have emerged as indicators of how the coronavirus pandemic impacts consumers. Whether it be changing what influencers post about to seeing a surge in engagements or impressions as people shelter at home — what do influencers see dramatically changing?

Influence Central surveyed more than 370 of our social media influencers to capture their trendspotting as consumer bellweathers, and here are some key trends that emerged.

Influencers see a surge in social media engagements and impressions

  • Posts on Instagram and Facebook are up 36% for engagements and impressions, while Pinterest is up 37% and blog posts are up 34%.

Influencers turn increasingly to video posts

  • Influencers also share that going forward, 50.2% plan to create and post more video content. In a time where ad studios get shut down, this home-filmed video content offers powerful engagement.

Influencers want to help local businesses stay afloat

  • 88.9% of influencers are actively looking for ways their content can help small businesses and brands during this time of closures

For small businesses that wish to engage influencers, we suggest first looking for highly localized influencers for which they can do a search on Google, such as “Austin influencers.” Local aggregated lists will pop up, and most influencers on their blogs or bios on social media sites share their best contact info. A small business can also direct message them, such as through Twitter.

Influencers’ audiences tuning in for guidance more than ever before

  • Some 73.6% of influencers have addressed coronavirus and the new “stay-home economy” with their audiences, while 26.6% have not and instead focused on their regular content.

  • Seven out of 10 say their audiences are turning to them for guidance on how individuals can help during times of crisis.

Online shopping across multiple categories emerges the new norm

About 87% of influencers expect to be doing more online shopping for themselves and their family in the days to come. The top categories for online shopping are:

  • Groceries and household essentials: 92%

  • Health and beauty products: 83%

  • Over-the-counter medicines and supplements: 62%

  • Games, Toys and Kids’ activities: 56%

  • Clothing and footwear: 54%

  • Home improvement: 51%

With real-time events shut down, stores closing and brands seeking to both reassure their customers or increase e-commerce sales, influencers find themselves at the forefront of reassuring consumers.

Forward-thinking brands will be turning to tap influencers’ passion, desire to help, strong content and trusted connection to consumers.

For more on this study, see the Influence Central blog.

 

Stacy DeBroff is CEO and founder of Influence Central.

 

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