In times of pandemic, Influencer marketing is the one guaranteed solution to sagging sales! Find tips to survive Coronavirus!

Coronavirus is emptying airports, theaters, sports arenas, tradeshows (See SXSW and Expo West), local sports events, healthclubs/gyms, supermarkets, restaurants and so many of the other staples of our lives. Sports superstar Lebron James of the LA Lakers when asked about playing in empty arenas didn’t question the interviewers sanity, he actually addressed it as a possibility (although he said he would never). The ederly are staying in. Moms with young children and infants are not venturing outside of their own home cocoon.

I checked yesterday and you can get a flight to Italy for $200 from LaGuardia but do you really want to go? Is wearing a surgical mask really helping you? Fear of the unknown. Concern over a pandemic (whatever that is) and the media turning this serious flu into every minute BREAKING NEWS is scaring the shit out of young and old! So what does this all mean?

Well, in the short term it means that advertisers that have vested billions in advertsing at stadiums and arena, billboards and out of home advertising, sponsorship of events and tours are essentially going to get HORRIBLE ROI! If the massess are staying home, then these forms of advertising are going to get all-time low results. This would be a fair assumption correct? Of course. So is this Force Majuere? Can a pandemic be considered an Act of God under most contracts? Maybe, maybe not. But digital, PR, Marketing, Brand and Ad managers for companies heavily invested in the above have to move fast if 2020 will not become the beginning of the end for their illustrious careers!

Delivering a message to impact a consumers decision has never been more acutely important as it is now. The margin of error is miniscule. You may have one shot to change the fortunes of your company/brand’s 2020 results before the Company stock price plummets and the executives start to rumble that they are no longer ok with excuses or sub-par performance. What in the world are you going to do?

Double, triple, quadruple down on INFLUENCER MARKETING AND DIGITAL ADVERTISING! Think I am kidding? I am not. Think about it, if you are sequestered in your home, what are you doing? Well if you are over 40, you are going to watch more TV and spend more time on your computer and secondarily your mobile device. If you are under 40 you are definintely going to spend a ton more time watching streaming content and living on social media. People, these are facts!

During WWII those at home gathered around their radios to hear of the days events, the President’s message and news of the day. Well in 2020, with a pandemic in the air people will hunker down and gravitate to places where other like minded people are. Communities of people sharing content, insights, feelings and thoughts. Hmm, well doesn’t that sound like social media platforms? And if that is the case, who better to deliver your messaging better than social media influencers! If you are a food company and everyone is eating at home, look at TikTok phenom Sonny Hurrell @thatdudecancook. In 2 weeks on TikTok he has over 250,000 followers and almost 2 million video views!

Make no mistake about it, social media influencer investment and digital ad spending is about to get the massive push forward to become the predominant delivery system of brand and company’s messages. Branding will take a significant hit in times of desperation. Sales, sales, sales are what will be required. And this combination of social media influencer marketing paired with a massive increase in digital ad spending will get us all through the pandemic. But here is a little truth about that, it will NEVER go south again.

Social media influencers will replace celebrities. Did you hear that? Its true and here is why….. Celebrities, athlete, actors, experts, etc., dabble in branded partnerships as part of their fame. Social media influencers are entrepreneurs and brands are investing in their start-ups to help them grow and stablize their new businesses. Because of this, social media influencers will feel the love in a way they never have before because desperation make odd bed fellows. Instead of brand and digital managers talking about influencers like indentured servants, they now will speak about them in glowing terms as “vested partners”, “brand warriors”, “digital geniuses” etc.

Ahhh, how the industry has changed. Don’t be a dinosaur waiting for the meteorite to hit. Make moves now before the price becomes so expensive and the talent is signed with your competitors!