How COVID pandemic has impacted the earnings of Instagram influencers?

In recent years, Influencers have been dominating the online market and emerged as a class of their own. They curate quality contents in order to depict beautifully crafted lives. They are paid by the sponsors which make up for the majority of their income derived from product sponsorships. Instagram has played a vital role in bringing these influencers to the bigger stage. With over a billion active daily users on the platform, Instagram has emerged as one of the biggest platforms for digital marketers. Many people try to become influencer, but it is not easy to gain many followers on Instagram and become an influencer. Sometime people try to buy Instagram followers to become popular quickly and earn living by promoting products of top brands. But it is not that easy, it requires lot of hardwork, and it is never recommended to buy when you are just starting. You need to formulate strategy when to buy and when to use organic methodology.

From GUCCI to Starbucks, most of the biggest brands prefer to sponsor their products via top influencers on Instagram. But with the times we have approached, the world is still reeling from the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the countries are under total lockdown. Claiming thousands of lives across the globe, the virus has become one of the deadliest in the history of mankind. With millions of people affected across the globe, the end does not seem to be in sight. Hunger, unemployment, financial turmoil etc all of these factors make the times even tougher for the world. With most of the influencers locked indoors, they are unable to churn quality contents for their followers which is causing a huge toll on their earnings. With some even thinking of some creative and fun ways to keep the followers engaged while staying indoors. A great loss of online revenue is being reported from all corners of the globe. Adjusting to this present captive lifestyle will definitely pose challenges to the influencers.

First identified in the Wuhan district of China in December 2019, the virus is responsible for causing SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in those with lower immunity. So far, the virus was able to wipe out more than two hundred thousand people from the face of the earth. The World Health Organisation or WHO declared the outbreak of this virus to be a Public Health Emergency on 30 January 2020.

From changing the style of their contents to straight out opting to choose a different revenue stream, influencers have had to take some drastic measures to ensure they survive during these dark times. Let us take a deeper look at how these influencers were affected by this COVID-19 pandemic and how has their income streams been dampened.

New Contents:

Most of the biggest influencer’s business on the platform make their contents by travelling to different exotic locations and show these wonderful places to their followers. Even the users wait to find new contents on their homepage which they can interact with. Restrictions on travel and public gatherings have led to the elimination of the production of quality contents as they are not able to shoot quality videos and pictures for their followers. In order to swiftly incorporate into this global response, Influencers are left only with their wits to craft new and innovative contents for the followers. As they are no longer allowed to go to most of the places and are stuck at home, they are slowly losing touch with the latest advancements as well causing them a huge backlash in their total earnings. Those influencers who use a team to get their videos shot or edited are not also able to come in to finish their jobs as well adding a lot of financial burdens for these influencers. As a part of their marketing strategy, many influencers had scheduled in-person events, which were also cancelled in lieu of this pandemic. From tech events to film festivals all these have been cancelled. Take the example of a tech blogger. His main jobs are to cover contents based on the latest happenings in the tech world. With most of the big tech events cancelled, they are left with absolutely no content to work on.

Cancelled Campaigns:

According to a recent survey, about 20 per cent of the influences have reported that almost all of the promotional campaigns and events have been halted due to this pandemic. And they are also forced to work at lower prices in order to retain a part of their normal income. Some have reported having lowered their charges as much as 40 per cent and still, they are incurring losses. Some of the influencers also had to change their focuses to keep their followers engaged. If influencers are looking to stay on top of their game, they will need to adapt to this current emergency and respond accordingly. Almost every other influencer has gone online to spread awareness about the virus and also to encourage social distancing which encouraging their followers to stay at home and follow strict rules of hygiene.

What to Avoid?

With the world being at such a sensitive stage, influencers need to be wary of what they post on the platform if they want to avoid any backlash from the internet. As more and more people are working from home, taking care of everyone’s sentiment becomes crucial. Making sure that their posts are not against the sentiments of the affected is crucial for the influencers at this stage. Not having access to quality pieces of content is a serious hurdle that almost every influencer on every platform is facing right now. The posts need to align with the sentiments of the global population if they want to keep their relevance on the platform. Influencers have to now either re-negotiate their deals or forge new ones with sponsors if they don’t want to keep the deals on hold. Multi camera setups and big teams have to be content with working from home over a server in their own homes, which further adds to the degradation of the quality of the contents as they are no longer allowed to work in their offices and some are even in full isolation adding more burden to their costs of productions.

Influencers who are doing well:

Not all the influencers of every niche have felt the wrath of this pandemic. Many influencer has adopted to the lockdown and gained some benefit. There are certain niches that have burst into the limelight. Some of these include niches like food, physical and mental wellbeing, fitness and lifestyle have made huge strides during this emergency. With most of the world’s population stuck in their homes, now would be the best time to focus on what is good for them. People are more inclined to make new dishes and learn new exercises when they are locked inside their homes. According to a recent survey, more than 55 per cent of the online users are searching for new food recipes while 42 per cent admitted following fitness related contents. As more and more people are staying at home so does the number of engagements these pages receive tend to increase. Influencers also need to be careful about the types of contents that they are posting for their visitors in order to reduce any sort of backlash. As an example, influencers who have moved to a luxury location outside of the hotspots have received severe backlash from their followers. In times of emergencies, public opinion becomes very vulnerable and influencers need to keep that in mind if they are looking to retain their followers and possibly face harsh criticization. Huge reports of such incidents are pouring in every second on the internet.

Other sources of Income:

As most of the influencers on Instagram are finding less and fewer contents to publish, most of them are finding alternative sources to supplement their income deficit. While some are looking to enter into new deals or re-negotiate on their existing deals, others are looking for different avenues to leverage the power of the internet. Many fashion influencers who churn out contents by travelling to international fashion shows around the world have resorted to live streaming to ensure that they are able to keep their followers engaged. Some have turned to affiliate marketing on special e-products which helps them to earn a passive income. Other influencers have started online classes to teach their followers some valuable skills which can help them in their lives. Many have also resorted to keeping their followers informed about the happenings around the world and some have also partnered up with several health organisations to raise funds for those in need. For example, many influencers have also raised funds to support the World Health Organisation’s CIVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. Feeding America also received donations of about a million dollars towards their response.

Photographers teaching about the basics of photography, fitness trainers organising live classes, chiefs churning out new delicious dishes etc all of these influencers have switched to different types of contents to keep themselves relevant during these times of pandemic.

On the brighter side, influencers will be able to rebrand themselves granting them full freedom from the reliance of big sponsors proving them with an opportunity of a lifetime.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes