How Can Influencers Help Communicate During COVID-19?
In 2019, Eurostat reported that 89% of people aged between 16 and 24 use social media. Influencers have the power to reach out to this age-group across social media channels. Influencers are therefore ideally placed to communicate the messages in the Government’s ‘Living with Covid’ plan to encourage other young people to follow the guidelines that have been put in place to manage the COVID19 virus.
Influencer promotion is one of the many industries which have been unsettled by the pandemic. With trips being cancelled, sponsor deals disappearing and events getting postponed, the once busy influencer is going through an unpredictable and strange time. Social media influencers and brands have to quickly adapt to these new circumstances. For travel influencers, it is finding a new niche that can abide by public health guidelines while still promoting similar content. Influencers who can adapt to this ‘new’ world, will have a better chance at growing their audiences.
When using influencers to promote the plan for ‘Living with Covid-19’, there needs to be a clear strategy as to how they can influence young people’s behaviour. Each social media channel, such as Snapchat and TikTok holds a different purpose and messages can be communicated differently across these channels. Campaigns which are led by relatable people, in this case, young people will attract an audience who can associate with that influencer. In the United Kingdom, the Government is using influencers to promote the NHS’s track and trace system. Their campaign involves collaboration with Love Island stars, Shaughna Phillips, Josh Denzel and Chris Hughes. Shaughna Phillips, who has over 1.5 million followers on her Instagram, posted a photo of her and her friend with the caption “the best way for us all to get back to doing the things we love”. She reminded fans that the test and trace service is “totally free, quick and is vital to stop the spread of coronavirus” through recounting her own experience of using the testing service.
Back in Ireland, T.D., Neale Richmond is on record as saying that Irish social media influencers should be paid €20,000 to educate young people about Covid-19 and several high-ranking politicians have agreed that the Government needs to strengthen their communications targeted at younger people by using social media. Irish TikTok influencers, who are a part of the recently formed GOAT House, have already jumped quickly at this opportunity and expressed their interest in working closely with the Irish government to send communications out to young people. There are several different ways they could do this. For example, one key powerful message is the danger of participating in risk-taking behaviour which puts not only the health of the rule breaker but the health of others at risk. This message is one that resonates with younger people and could be communicated through a creative video uploaded to the influencers Snapchat or TikTok. Alternatively, they could upload a video of themselves creating or wearing stylish homemade masks or lip-synching funny content related to guidelines or even choreographing a socially distanced TikTok dance. On Instagram, maybe influencers could show a ‘haul’ of their favourite face coverings, offer ideas of things to do in isolation or put up photographs of themselves and family emphasising the importance of reducing their contacts and following the Government’s advice. Twitter stars, who have a younger following, should prioritise promoting short messages about the government’s guidelines in a way that is easy and engaging for their audience. Jedward for example are already pioneering in this area.
There are also many influencers online who are also health advocates and are followed by young people with an interest in supporting good causes and in protecting public health. For example, Orla Tinsley has shared her experience online with her pinned her tweet: “Ventilators are not fun. ECM0 is not fun. Believe me when I tell you, wearing a mask is so easygoing compared to a machine breathing for you.” A heartbreaking video, which has been circulating social media since April, shows video-journal from a nurse in America of her experience of coping with Covid-19 up until her untimely death.
Content production has changed during this pandemic. Influencers are beginning to engage with brands who are following a ‘stay at home’ narrative. It is important for businesses to examine how their social mentions have changed, for example, the use of phrases like ‘staycation’, ‘new normal’ and ‘quaratini’. These insights will help inform a company about where it will strategically fit in with this new content. Examining data to find out which influencers are creating the most engaging and creative content will be important for brands who want to maintain their high engagement rates and to stay active during this pandemic.
Ensuring that everybody works together in the fight against Covid-19 is important for the resilience and recovery of Ireland. There needs to be accurate, informative communication across all media. By Merriam-Webster’s definition, ‘influencers’ main role is to ‘inspire’ and to ‘guide the actions of others’ and they should be used as a tool to reach younger people to encourage ‘Living with Covid-19’.