The Business of Working with Influencers Amidst COVID-19

According to the Influencer Marketing Hub’s State of Influencer Marketing 2020 report, the influencer industry is set to grow to approximately $9.7B in 2020. Countless brands are starting to harness the power of influencers, and companies are investing more money into tapping these tastemakers to drive bottom line results. 

 As the industry continues to grow and evolve, influencers are adapting their content and publishing habits. Specifically, COVID-19 has greatly shifted the social media landscape, and our team wanted to get a handle of how the pandemic has changed the way that influencers:

• Shape their content and partnerships

• Alter their trade and paid partnerships

• Add value for their audiences

• Find revenue opportunities

• Travel and beyond

To get a better sense of the current state of influencer marketing, from July 15-August 14, 2020, Zapwater Communications surveyed 420 U.S. influencers about their content, publishing, affiliate program and travel preferences. As a result, the survey provided tangible takeaways to better inform agencies and our valued clients on how to work with influencers amidst the pandemic.

45.1% of the participants were micro influencers with between 1,000-25,000 followers on social media channels. Furthermore, 50% of respondents were Millennials and lived within the top 75 DMA markets.

TITLES MATTER
Respondents varied in how they prefer their title to be. Instead of “influencer,” the majority of participants want to be called “content creator” or “blogger.” 

ORGANIC CONTENT 

Instagram continues to dominant as the top preferred publishing tool for respondents (79.9%). The most popular content categories include travel, food and beverage, and beauty and skincare. At the same time, it’s clear the pandemic has impacted the evolution of influencer content categories with respondents pivoting towards home, design and fitness. 

PAID COLLABORATIONS

Amidst the pandemic, sponsored content is still alive and prevalent with half of the influencers posting sponsored content at least once a week. While TikTok is rising in popularity and downloads, most influencers did not list it as one of their top three platforms that they prefer to post to themselves or for paid collaborations.

GIFTING + TRADE

45% of influencers are open to gifting, with the top categories being fashion, travel, food/beverage, beauty/skincare, and home/design. As more influencers require paid campaigns for guarantee coverage, there’s still an interest in getting to know brands and experience what they have to offer. 

 AFFILIATE MARKETING

77% of respondents said they use some form of affiliate marketing. Most of these links are done through monetization platforms versus actual affiliate networks themselves. This statistic continues to highlight the importance of brands offering affiliate opportunities for both clients and brands, and it’s a reason why Zapwater continues to strengthen our services within this area.

 TRAVEL

44.4% of influencers are ready to travel once travel restrictions are lifted. Additionally, 67.3% of influencers are open to going on a non-paid trip and campaign with an additional 28.4% responded “maybe.”

 For more information about Zapwater’s Influencer Survey, please visit www.zapwater.com or email Jenn Lake at jenn@zapwater.com for more information about our Influencer Marketing services.