Coronavirus has impacted every corner of our lives, and yet, with strength and resilience, businesses and influencers are looking to find a new normal amid the crisis.
The world is changing in significant ways and marketers need to understand how to navigate the new landscape.
We spoke to British, American and German creators to explore how the pandemic is impacting content creation, what brands can learn from these shifts, and how they should be adapting the way they work with creators both now and in the new reality.
How has your approach to content creation changed since the country went into “lockdown”?
‘‘I am quite lucky that my content hasn’t changed a great deal. I did a lot of interior content before anyway and am still able to take fashion imagery, just at home! I’m actually really enjoying getting more creative at home in my creation. I have upped my posting — with posting on Instagram sometimes twice a day and upping my YouTube content to 3 times a week.’’
“We’ve had way more time to create more ‘at home based’ content. Lockdown has also given us the opportunity to explore different posting times which has worked really well for us. We’ve been able to keep our usual themes across all platforms.”
What are the main challenges you have faced in creating content?
“Not being able to or having the freedom to go outside as much as I wish is truly the crippling factor at the moment. As most of you already know, living in NYC having a spacious is extreme opulence that most aren’t afforded.”
“We shoot a lot of content at home anyway so we haven’t been faced with any huge hurdles, but it’s been a challenge on days when you really want to go into public areas to shoot content with different scenes and aesthetic, especially with the weather being so great.”
How has being in “lockdown” affected your creativity — has it fuelled or stifled it?
@bele.marie 🇩🇪
“Both. On the one hand, you have more time to produce content, and you also have time to be more creative, but it always depends on the mood and how the situation is pressing your mind. But I think I edited more old content too.”
@bsiddlife 🇬🇧
“Creativity is at an all-time high across the globe. Just watching other bloggers put out creative content is inspiring enough. You are being forced to think outside the box which is great. And I think audiences are appreciating that too. For example, I loved doing the pillow challenge but adding my own spin to it in the form of a funny video. It was very well received by everyone.”
How has being in “lockdown” affected your relationship with brands and associated marketing opportunities?
“The opportunities have declined. It felt like a lot of brands are scared to get a bad reputation if they continue to advertise during the crises. Triggered by people like Oliver Pocher (TV Comedian) chasing them. Also, a lot of influencer’s tried to explain themselves why they still pushing brands and products.”
@petiteellie 🇬🇧
“I must say, I think the biggest hit the industry is taking is with brands. I have had SO MANY big campaigns cancelled and so many jobs lost. Loads of brands I’ve spoken to have said that their influencer budgets have gone and the business is taking that money and putting it into loss of sales. It’s really hard and I kind of wish brands would realise that this is such a great opportunity where sooo many eyes are on it at the minute! I’ve done a great deal of gifting and have been sending stats that are through the roof to brands — they seem really happy with it but unfortunately they just have no money to pay which is so hard!”
What measures are you taking in order to stand out from the crowd and keep your content fresh?
“Thinking outside the box, trying to create things more fun and different in a way. Also using photoshop to make my content more interesting.”
“Prior to this lockdown happening, I tried to shoot and keep a back catalog of photos (at least 1–2 weeks of photos) so what I’ve been doing is posting those and mixing them with some oldies but goodies while trying my best to push through this time.”
How have other influencers you know reacted to the lockdown? Is there a surge or decrease of creativity across the board?
@bsiddlife 🇬🇧
“It’s been a mix really. I’ve seen some do exceptionally well & their accounts have grown tremendously especially yoga accounts. They’ve put out really creative & out of the box content. And some are struggling/have struggled. They are still posting throwbacks or stopped posting at all. But overall I think there’s been a surge of creativity across the board as more and more people spend time online & use social media to connect with their content rather than just curate beautiful photos.”
@bele.marie 🇩🇪
“It is difficult to say. I think it always depends on whether you have a main job besides working as an influencer. The influencers, who have a main job and have less to do and are at home, are already doing more and are creative.”
Ultimately, influencers believe that their industry will pull through this pandemic unscathed because of what it provides for their audiences. With one word that repeatedly comes up in conversations the importance of being “creative’’.
We would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to our influencers for their contributions and comments and look forward to seeing more creative content they produce in the future!
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