The Momentous Shift From Media Houses to Influencers in the Post-lockdown Business World

Ever since this pandemic has impacted the world on such a global level, brands have understood the importance of influencer marketing and they have started to increasingly incorporate influencer engagement into their marketing campaigns. There has been a conspicuous shift from investing the entire budget solely on media houses to actually going ahead and shelling out a fair share on influencers too. This enables their business and marketing strategies to get a holistic and integrative frame of reference.

In the pre-covid era, brands did a lot of on-ground marketing and promotion by organising launch events and other activities. However post-lockdown, brands have started to integrate influencer engagements by taking the game online. Not just that, what once used to be a niche, restricted industry for only beauty and fashion segments has now expanded to include influencer activities from the tech, sports, lifestyle, home & living, FMCG sectors. Following is a list of reasons that could be attributed to such a revolutionary transition:

Firstly, influencers bring a ton-load of credibility to the table. They ideate, improvise and implement content that is not only authentic and creative, but it is extremely relatable too. Nowadays, brands don’t depend solely on celebrity endorsements; they have now started shifting to influencers who are both popular and credible. Brands have started to readily leverage influencers for their star power as well as their voice which is trustworthy and authentic.

Secondly, a brand invests in an influencer not only for his audience, credibility and popularity but also for their creative artistry. Influencers spend years to build their following and network, so they know the kind of content their audience would consume as well as relate to. They understand that mundane and hackneyed ideas find no place in today’s time and age; hence they come up with content that is realistic, ingenious and bona fide.

Thirdly, since most of the activities happen in real time, brands can evaluate the success of the influencer campaign by focusing on various quantifiable parameters—likes, views, comments, shares, followers, etc. Moreover, since most influencers are present on social media, finding and networking with them has become quite simple and hassle free.

Lastly, brands have started to realise that people like to jump on the bandwagon by hearing, seeing and doing what everybody else is doing; influencers are the most suitable people to evoke such a tendency.