Rise of the “Influencer” | Why COVID-19 Forever Shifts Advertising
Photos By: Josh Lucky Peters
Three years ago, I was meeting with a couple of Senior Executives who were part of a top global advertising firm. They had several fortune 500 corporations within their portfolio and had managed to garner a beautiful selection of awards for innovative ad campaigns conceptualized within their four walls. At the time, I had interest in jumping into the ad space. I was eager to learn from the best and the brightest. We were having a great conversation when I asked a simple, so I thought, question around social media. The room was silent. You could hear a pin drop. I continued smiling and speaking with high energy and hungry anticipation, as if they didn’t understand the question. I kindly repeated my question, “what are your thoughts about the space of influencer marketing and future trends for the industry?”. Again crickets. The response was a jokingly laugh and statement, “David, we don’t know anything about social media.”
Fast forward to 2020, COVID-19 strikes and the light bulb goes off. According to a recent article by AdNews, “36% of influencers are seeing a significant increase in impressions and engagement within their audiences.” Although the rise of influencer marketing has long been a reality, the evidence of their power and demand is clearly seen now more than ever after the world was called to stay home. There are now few marketing options to reach consumers.
No Malls
No Billboards
No TV (Well there is TV but Oprah is on IGTV for most of her programming these days)
In a report by 99 Firms 82% of consumers are likely to follow an influencers recommendation in their purchasing decisions. Not a bad stat considering the report also shares 49% of consumers reporting an annoyance for traditional commercial brand ads (AKA the golden statues I saw earlier in the ad agency I visited).
I recently called a friend and expert in the influencer marketing space to gain his perspective.
Eric D. Boyce Jr. is the CEO and founder of sociaLebs, a boutique digital management company that develops marketing partnerships between influencer content creators and top companies desiring to reach their 40+ million monthly audience reach. SociaLebs has successfully developed and executed campaigns for major brands such as Google, Sephora, and L’Oréal. A native of Queens, New York, and on the stride to become a digital legend in LA his client base spans the globe, in major markets including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and the UK.
I asked Boyce a few questions in a Q & A recapped below.
David: Let me start by asking you this question. You’re from New York and have been in the entertainment industry for decades as a marketing leader and artist. Can you speak specifically to the culture pains happening in the city from your perspective?
Boyce: Sure. Obviously there’s a lot of challenges directly with COVID-19 as many lives are being lost. But beyond lost physical lives there’s been a realization of lost identities. Here’s what I mean. The reason why so many New Yorkers are suffering so much beyond the physical state is because they’ve built their entire lives outside of the home. The person they really are is often never projected to whom they’re trying to impress in that “big apple.” You can be the biggest networker, party night goer, and have all the connections in the world and come back home to reality. What I think quarantine has done is remove the ability to put materialistic facades up. I feel like right now we’re meeting real people. There’s no fluff in between to distract in who we really are. When all you have is four walls and you’re stuck in your house for God knows how long, there is nothing else left to give the world besides your authentic self.
David: That’s a powerful revelation and thought. So you’re saying some good can come out of this? Let’s talk about that some more. I completely agree on the personal side. What do you see as an opportunity for your company?
Boyce: We have closed more deals in the last month and a half than ever before. My influencers were already working from home and so in many ways not much has changed. I think a lot of leaders are going to realize the power of the influencer voice and the reality that a lot of large ad agencies with massive corporate buildings waste a lot of money and can be more lean. Many of the leaders on my talent roster were nervous about how COVID-19 was going to affect the future. We did lose an in person event activation in conjunction with Coachella for example but for any live event lost we had other brand partnerships come through for activations offsite.
David: Love that and I see it. I just said the other day, and I truly mean, your company SociaLebs is one of the most authentic brands in LA!
Boyce: Appreciate it.
David. Yessir. I’m excited to hear about your success and not surprised. You’ve always been ahead of the trends my friend. As I look at the culture you’ve built at SociaLebs, I’m curious how you’ve built a healthy culture and continue to keep it strong during these challenging times?
Boyce. For me it comes down to mental elevation. I see a lot of people running into the trap of fear. When I walk outside of my house it feels heavy. I make sure first and foremost to encourage my leadership team and then give them the direction, tools, and freedom they need to execute. I told our team at the beginning of this that we have to be faithful because we’re in an industry that’s thriving right now, while many unfortunately are struggling during this time. In this moment like a lot of companies I could micromanage the heck out of my people. Instead I choose trust. I think many companies that had a toxic culture pre-COVID19, those firms will struggle from underlying mistrusts that won’t allow their employees to be aligned, intentional, or unified in their impact. I always have viewed my main job as the CEO to serve and ask where they need my help. We have, in many ways, a built in accountability system and so I feel comfortable primarily with streamlined weekly updates for communication.
David. Good stuff! I have one more question and that’s around 20/20 vision. What do you see being the future trends as a result of what we’re experiencing today?
Boyce: I think this is going to open up the mind of young and old. People are going to realize that they don’t have to be physically present somewhere to make money. Celebrities are realizing the power of social media. Instagram wasn’t prepared when DJ D-Nice blew up on Instagram Live 160,000+ attendees. Everyone is adapting for growth. I think a lot of marketing companies are going to realize they don’t need 500 staff. There are going to be people like you and me that work with companies on a consulting basis. There will be more satellite offices. When you think about it, I've been working with my talent from there home. I think there’s going to be a massive change in the way people do business which will necessitate some downsizes. People will be asking, “is this role necessary to have and hire.” Unfortunately I think one of the first things that’s going to happen after this is a huge amount of layoffs. That’s the scary part about all of this. I think that’s going to happen. Colleges won’t be the same for marketing majors. Students will demand specific expertise and if they can’t get it from that one academic institution they’ll go somewhere else. Anyone in the digital revenue space currently is winning right now. They’ve already been doing this and people weren’t taking them seriously. And now the opportunity comes.
I’m always thinking about what I can build to create something that makes people feel part of a bigger story. I build exclusivity. I think every business person out there needs to have this mindset when they’re building their businesses. You’ve got to love your brand so much to the point where you live it out so that it drives people to you. You’ve got to think, “my level of service is so good that you’re not going to get it anywhere else.” Clients, partners, vendors, and affiliates need to feel like they’re missing out on the best thing that ever happened to them if they don’t join in. Entrepreneurs have to have this mindset. It’s building FOMO (fear of missing out). That’s what Facebook did, , YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and the list goes on. Example, now people are saying “I don’t need TV, cable. I have Netflix.” This is the original form of marketing. It is all about the experience and community. A lot of people jump into business and they lack confidence so they can’t market effectively. They fail to create something people want to feel part of. If a CEO loses his ability to believe in his own product as the brand voice the business will never reach its full potential. Influencer marketing is the hottest marketing channel in the world right now because influencers are promoting products they believe in and the audience knows it.
Thanks so much for reading - David Alexander
http://smarturl.it/TalkToMeHH
https://www.socialebs.com/
