A year down the line and the global pandemic is still affecting everybody’s lives on a daily basis. But, what has changed for businesses, and for most people, is having learnt how to adapt to this new way of living. For some, working from home is even being praised as the new way forward in terms of productivity. However, others certainly can’t wait to get back to the office.
But, for influencers, working from home isn’t all that new. Of course, many influencers create content away from their home, like the obvious one – travel influencers, but for other categories too, content is frequently shot in varying places for new and creative purposes.
How have influencers been affected?
Specifically, for travel influencers, there has been the most notable change, and no doubt they will be returning to their jet-setting lifestyles as soon as possible. At the moment, we have been seeing travel influencers posting ‘throwback’ content, as well as using their voices to engage in current affairs issues, and by inspiring their followers.
But, influencers that might not pop straight to mind could be from varying categories such as lifestyle, fitness, food, and more. When you think about it – a lot of the regular content we like to see would include your favourite influencers hopping about cafes to give you their best recommendations or hitting the gym to show you some new exercises to try. There is so much content that we wouldn’t instantly think would require influencers to be out and about!
How has influencer content changed?
One of the greatest benefits of working as an influencer is the flexibility that it offers. They can often work from different locations, and whatever time they choose, as they are not set to a 9-5 working day in the office. This means that influencers generally need to be adaptable personalities, hence have changed their content well during this pandemic.
As mentioned above, travel content has quite possibly been the trickiest to do from home, as this has resulted in a lack of new content being created. However, these influencers have not become irrelevant and have used their voices well during this time.
For categories such as fashion, influencers and brands have collaboratively adapted to make their content continue to work. For example, UK influencer Poppy Mead has an audience of 266k, that enjoy seeing her pose in new clothing, visiting new places, and joining in on her daily lifestyle activities. But now, Poppy has brands send her products to post at-home content such as clothing hauls, or videos on how to style an item. A partnership with clothing brand PrettyLittleThing has Poppy modelling these clothes in the comfort of her own home.
A clear adaption that we have seen from clothing brands would be how we have seen clothes being modelled from home, instead of during a professional shoot. With new lines being added regularly, these companies had to find a way to get their regular modelled images up on their websites. Brands will send their items out, and a lot of models will have their own camera equipment or be sent this by the brand too. As we can see, with a little bit of good lighting and a quality camera, models are managing to adapt to home photoshoots too.
Another great example of influencers making the most of being at home for their content is those from the foodie category. We have always loved to see mouth-watering Instagram photos and recipe tutorials, but also enjoyed recommendations on restaurants and where to eat out. But over the last year, the foodies have adapted to all things home-cooking!
As a result of this, some brands have really benefited from working with Instagram influencers. For example, Gousto is a meal-kit delivery subscription service based in the UK. Of course, this has been all the hype during lockdown when we can’t go out to eat, but still want a delicious and easy home-cooked meal. Gousto has partnered up with influencers like the foodie couple Sarah and Steve, to spread brand awareness and show followers how to create these tasty meals themselves. We may not need restaurants after all!
For good cause
On another note, influencers have also been working throughout the pandemic to use their platforms towards good causes. Many governments have worked with influencers to create content that will encourage people to join the fight against coronavirus by following necessary guidelines and inspiring others. For example, Spain asked influencers to help fight coronavirus by sharing these important messages about precautions that can be taken to stop the spread.
In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS), hired influencers to spread messages which could keep their followers up-to-date with new regulations and requirements, as well as asking followers to download the Test and Trace app on their phone. Below, we can see a post from British Sports Presenter, Josh Denzel, asking those to get tested and follow government guidelines.
Another influencer that got involved with encouraging influencers to take part in campaigns for a good cause during this time, was Saffron Barker. In April last year, she began the #YouTubers4NHSHeroes, where she encouraged other YouTube influencers to take part by donating profits made from one of their videos towards the NHS Heroes charity, dedicated to NHS frontline workers.
YouTube Vlogger Rosie McClelland took part in this campaign with her video 10 THINGS TO DO when your stuck at HOME in LOCKDOWN. This video followed a similar theme to her usual content, such as posting her ‘morning routine’ or pranking her little brother at home. She covered some ideas for those that are feeling demotivated at home, with the profits made from this video going towards the NHS Heroes charity as part of Saffron’s campaign.
Conclusion
What we can take away here is that influencer marketing is only on the rise. Although the pandemic has had a drastic impact on businesses across the globe, with a sufficient level of planning, marketing efforts do not need to be lost. Influencers are easily some of the most adaptable people and the advantages that they can bring to brands are incredible.
Whether you are interested in working with influencers for your regular type of marketing content or to spread an inspirational message, Heepsy can help you to find influencers to do this.
