June 13, 2020

The Everything In-Between Influencers react to brand behavior during coronavirus in SmartBrief editorial.

BL’s Social Media Director, Emily Mazurek, and EIB Influencers @jonathan_irish, @thekingstonhome and @fortbirthday stress influencer quality for brands coming out of the coronavirus pandemic.

Brands and influencers alike are navigating a new marketplace in reaction to the country’s coronavirus outbreak. Contrary to early predictions, influencer marketing strategies haven’t been hit as hard as expected. In fact, the shutdown has led to increased time spent on social media and has paved the way for social media influencers to flourish as we all seek relatable content in our feeds.

“When we created The Everything In-Between Influencer Network, which has about 200 members, our goal was to bring brands influencers who were different from the celebrity product-pushing types. We built our network with micro-influencers living outside of the top ten metro areas, influencers who are authentic and reflective of real people.”

—Emily Mazurek, Social Media Director

Bailey Lauerman and PR agency Raven hosted virtual focus groups with several influencers whose online activity has been directly impacted by the pandemic. They shared their views on everything from stories of big brands fishing for free work to how their content has changed and the new class of influencers who are coming out of the woodwork.

Key Takeaways

• Brands have been engaging in bad behavior
• New challenges for content creators to provide an escape
• New influencers have flooded the space, but quality wins

Read the full article.