Influencers Amid The Corona-Crisis

In this podcast, Public Relations students Nathan Mehring and Rhonda Baldwin discuss how influencers are faring during the Coronavirus Crisis.

First, Rhonda explains her grad-student project focuses on nano-influencers, so she authority on the subject. Look out for Rhonda's project on her social media (rhonda_denise1 on Insta), but in the meantime, here's some more information on nano-influencers: https://mediakix.com/blog/what-are-nano-influencers/

After discussing her project, Rhonda and Nathan go into the current state of influencers amid the Coronavirus crisis. Sales are down, which means money spent on online advertisement is down. This means influencers, who rely on this ad money, are struggling to make money - or at least some of them are. Travel influencers lost many opportunities, but, as Rhonda made the case for, other influencers are thriving.

Some influencers are thriving because of their resourcefulness (making diverse content), while others are essential to spreading health information. This is often where governments rely on influencers; however, all influencers during this time have to make sure they are being responsible. Nathan brought up the example of one who was not, because she put lives at-risk by traveling with her family while having the virus (more details on her story here: https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-covid-19-influencers/).

Lastly, they discussed the future of influencers. They both have optimism that influencers will thrive after this is over, but no one really knows what will happen. Will popular influencers continue to be relevant? Will they become irrelevant? Will nano-influencers take over the market instead? You just need to keep an eye on the trends.

Here's where some of the statistics used in the episode can be found:
https://www.chiefmarketer.com/majority-marketers-use-influencers-survey/
https://influencermarketinghub.com/coronavirus-marketing-ad-spend-report/
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-04-17/coronavirus-has-wiped-out-these-influencers-brand-deals-but-are-finding-new-ways-to-engage-online

Here's some resources for further reading on the subject:
https://insights.digitalmediasolutions.com/social-media/influencer-marketing-krasinski-covid19
https://www.vice.com/en_asia/article/5dmvzz/coronavirus-social-media-influencers-effect
https://wwd.com/business-news/media/influencers-coronavirus-escape-social-media-1203550224/
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/04/influencers-coronavirus-arielle-charnas-escape-new-york
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/how-influencers-have-adapted-to-the-coronavirus-lockdown.html
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-influencers-are-milking-the-coronavirus-for-clout-and-money
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/10/coronavirus-instagram-influencers-try-to-slow-covid-19-spread.html

Wash your hands everyone!