Successfully exiting lockdown through influencer marketing: the challenge for brands

The lockdown is easing! For brands, the challenge lies in bringing customers back to their stores, but also in adapting their communication strategies to reach consumers whose behavior has been significantly impacted by the health crisis. Good news! To win back their target audiences, brands can rely on a powerful tool: influencer marketing and influencers. Why this approach rather than others, and above all, how can brands successfully implement influencer campaigns capable of creating a "new" connection between their brands and their audiences? Trends and insights from the So Bang team of influencer experts.

Influencer marketing as a strategic lever for brand recovery

After nearly 60 days of lockdown following the historic coronavirus crisis, May 11, 2020, marked the return of a certain degree of freedom in France. This was also true for brands and businesses, even though this unprecedented period had an unparalleled business impact on them.  

Thus, at the national level, each month of lockdown resulted in an estimated €60 billion loss in wealth creation, according to the OFCE (French Economic Observatory). In total, the COVID-19 crisis could therefore cost France 3% of its GDP, with some sectors suffering more than others, such as air transport, automotive, and clothing. Finally, along with the health crisis, we must not forget employment, which has also been severely impacted. Today, in the midst of the easing of lockdown measures, everyone is working hard to plug the gaps.

Far from instantly solving all the problems, the easing of lockdown measures also raises new questions for brands. How can they win back customers who are both eager to resume their routines but irrevocably marked by the past period? What messages and tones should they adopt to engage with those who are said to have become more distrustful, or even outright resistant, to anything related to consumption and marketing? And finally, which channels should they use to communicate?

As we will see, for advertisers, influencer marketing is an even more strategic solution today than ever before. With the introduction of necessary physical distancing in society, social media has become a preferred channel for building closer relationships with others. Thus, by relying on carefully selected influencers and building creative campaigns around newly identified insights, brands have everything to gain by investing in influencer marketing. Because yes, the positive signals are there; you just have to know how to recognize them.

Emerging from the crisis, a favorable context for reinvention

Despite the prevailing gloom, there is indeed more than one reason to be optimistic about the long-awaited recovery. The positive upheavals brought about by the health crisis can be seen in many sectors of society. This begins with a fundamental rethinking of salaried work and a significant reassessment of the role of remote work. As Jocelyn Jarnier, president of So Bang, points out in an interview with CB News, these changes have allowed for a welcome step back to reflect on creative challenges and thus, to " let inspiration flow ." 

This creative and renewing atmosphere is precisely what brands need to embrace to reinvent themselves, but also to reinvent their relationships with their customers in this post-COVID context. In short, it's a form of "marketing resilience" that needs to be found. And what better way to help them succeed in this delicate undertaking than with influencers? These same influencers, who are increasingly watched and have benefited from significant exposure recently, thanks to the lockdowns, are providing brands with the ideal conditions for a fresh start after the trauma of the past few months by delivering their messages with commitment and sincerity to their communities. 

Refocus on the essentials and useful topics

So where do you begin to launch a successful post-lockdown influencer campaign? During this period, researching and analyzing new insights must be a key focus for brands. This is essential for them to reconnect with their customers and offer promises and values ​​tailored to the current context.

Beyond its devastating economic consequences, the Coronavirus crisis has indeed triggered a shift in mindset for the vast majority of people. This begins with a desire to refocus on more essential and valued issues such as health, solidarity, and the environment. These are all trends on which brands and businesses can focus their messaging even more than before in their influence strategies.

Prioritizing expertise and quality over superficiality

As we at So Bang have always believed, whether it's luxury brands or not, advertisers' communication must also emphasize craftsmanship and quality, rather than superficiality, appearance, or the celebrity endorsement phenomenon. The fact that a product is modeled by a particular star should resonate far less with post-lockdown customers. 

On the other hand, what will certainly have more impact in the eyes of consumers will be manufacturing processes that are genuinely environmentally conscious (and not just a greenwashing influence campaign), or partnerships that respect artisans at all levels of the sales process.

Influencer marketing strategy and the easing of lockdown: towards greater authenticity

Lockdowns and the easing of restrictions have also accentuated a trend that was already gaining momentum: the search for authenticity by internet users. For influencers, it's no longer the number of followers that should determine the opportunity for a partnership, but rather the engagement of their communities.

This is particularly true on TikTok. When we think of TikTok and influencer marketing, we often picture young, superficial influencers, all molded according to the same formula. Wrong! Brands will have to rethink their approach and seek partnerships with micro-influencers or even nano-influencers—content creators with a smaller but much more engaged community, and therefore a higher quality community in terms of the impact of their messages.

In short, TikTok and the easing of lockdown measures = a potentially radical reorientation of influencer marketing strategies on the network! As an influencer agency, and even well before the crisis, So Bang was targeting this social network to build creative campaigns for its clients. 

So Bang, the influencer agency that helps brands emerge from lockdown

As we've seen, while the easing of lockdown measures brings with it a great deal of uncertainty, it also presents brands with a very real challenge: the need to consider new issues when designing their communication strategies. Influencer marketing is no exception. Customers and internet users are no longer fooled by fake accounts, purchased followers, or inauthentic influencers. The past period has significantly altered their understanding, and brands can no longer afford to underestimate this reality when launching an influencer campaign.

Collaborating with an influencer agency is a way to ensure you don't make mistakes during this pivotal period. At So Bang, our platform of 10,000 influencers provides us with a pool of top-tier ambassadors, allowing us to select the most suitable talent for each brand in the current context. Content creators are increasingly aware of their influence and therefore more demanding, and it's essential to know how to convince them to create the best strategies.

Finally, to further support brands in their post-lockdown recovery efforts, our influencer agency also offers tailored influencer solutions like Social Reboot. Specifically designed to help brands revise their influencer strategy during this unique period, this unit is entirely dedicated to them. With Social Reboot, the key message remains the same: it's now absolutely essential to review editorial calendars and engage the right influencers to win back customers who are now focused on what truly matters. You can't say we didn't tell you…