Influencer marketing in the time of COVID-19

Influencer marketing is an emerging platform of digital marketers. The new-age digital platforms have opened numerous opportunities for brands to ease their promotion and communication strategies. Thus, a labor-saving and versatile platform for all. Online marketing is not limited to a single channel. Brands collaborate with online influencer to market their products and services to the target audience being connected with the influencer. The most prominent influential marketing based channels include YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok.

According to a new report by Buzzoka, “Influencers help marketers become more conscious and informed. They even help boost sales more and more.”

Social media influencers are the ones who have a good reputation on social media platforms because they have established credibility in a specific industry. They have access to a large audience and can persuade others by their authenticity and reach. There has been a great surge in the number of influencers (macro & micro) throughout the world. If we talk about India, influencers are generally the youth from Tier-II & Tier-III cities that used social media as a platform to showcase their skills like dancing, anchoring or reviewing a product and resulted in gaining the credibility of millions of audiences. 

Social media influencers can generate two-way communication, drive engagements and target the emotional side of the audience. They disseminate the genuine review of the products based on their personal experiences. Many brands are relying on social media influencers to image their product for better engagement and healthy sales numbers. 

In the digital world, YouTube and TikTok are the two major platforms engaging the Millions of viewers globally. The promotional strategies of each influencer are comparatively different from others which greatly attract the new viewers too. Unlike paid television advertisements, posting a YouTube or TikTok video costs nothing. Therefore, brands have shifted their focus on influencer marketing. According to statistics, it is surveyed that 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations. Whether it is a smartphone review by the famous Tech-head influencer or a PPE kit  tutorial by a health industry influencer, we as consumers directly mend our decisions according to them. In clear terms, influencer marketing offers us a sight of authenticity, building a long-lasting trust over a specific brand. Amidst the COVID-19 breakdown, when conventional marketing is somewhat impossible due to the lockdown state, influencer marketing is the undisputed idea of promoting products or services with almost the same pace and engagement in no time. The great number of audience is inclined towards the digital platforms and in their free time they go for the influencer recommendation on their favorite and available essentials, to safety based guidelines in current scenario, also offering so much support on exercising at home, staying positive etc. Stay home; maintain social distance and promoting the services online is the new Mantra of Brands in Covid19.

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Ayushi Arora Gulyani

A firm believer of, ‘You ought to be very clear about the roadmap because the struggles come when the steps are not aligned with what you want,’ is a prodigious woman entrepreneur - Ayushi Arora Gulyani, Director & Founder of Media Corridors, a Marketing & Branding Agency aimed at making brands build an exemplary image in front of their target audience through engaging brand stories and creatives.