As the nation struggles with a pandemic and economic uncertainty, fundamental shifts in consumer habits are leading marketers to rethink existing strategies and budgets allocated to influencers and streaming TV.
These significant shifts are nothing new; just as the dot-com bubble reduced landline penetration and boosted mobile phone adoption, the last recession pushed traditional ad spend to digital. It was an option before, but the recession accelerated the trend to targeting select audiences on social media platforms, giving rise to influencers.
Today, social media influencers are so ubiquitous, they risk becoming meaningless.
Prior to the onset of coronavirus, we saw the influencer trend diminishing while the streaming TV trend became more prominent. Today, streaming is still trending up and influencers have actually seen increased levels of engagement, but they face credibility issues, which could lead to a reduction in perceived value to brands.
Streaming has similar, if not more, targeting capabilities as social media, but now it has the eyeballs — the captive audience of quarantined Americans — up 20% this March, according to Nielsen. Marketers on a tight budget will be forced to reevaluate their relationships with influencers as they seek to increase ad spend on streaming TV services.
The evolving realms of influencers
Prior to coronavirus, consumers were reaching influencer fatigue and D2C brands known for social media ad buys were pushing back on influencers while branching out into advanced TV. Coronavirus could accelerate this trend; according to The Digital Brands Architects, more influencers are posting with higher engagement levels since the pandemic started.
Among the 150 macro influencers surveyed, there’s been an increase in content production; posting to Instagram Stories is up 79%. Followers and engagement metrics are also on the rise. However, as social distancing crushes retail, dining and travel — industries most likely to leverage influencers — top brand endorsers have seen their revenue streams drop drastically, even to zero. Additionally, some influencers have received backlash for lack of sensitivity — flaunting travel, privilege and controversial content amid grave global health and safety concerns.
As D2C brands shy away from risky influencer strategies, the budget for these social media gurus could diminish over time. This is not to say that influencers will become obsolete tomorrow, but the relationship is destined to evolve. Prior to coronavirus, influencing across social media had become more obtuse. The regulatory crackdown lead to the inclusion of sponsored tags, like #ad, further highlighting the pay for play nature of brand partnerships. When it comes to brand credibility — especially with younger generations who value authenticity — streaming television ads can actually provide a more authentic, one-on-one experience. Advanced TV presents the opportunity for addressability, like social media, but with more options for brands to customize user experiences.
Streaming influence is hard to deny
With much of the global population staying home to flatten the curve, TV viewing has increased considerably, even more so than social media use. Nielsen reports overall TV viewing is up 20% and HBO claims the consumption of its OTT service HBO Now is up 40%, with daily binge viewing of three or more episodes up 65%.
In the first week of the shutdown, the seven largest subscription-based services (excluding Amazon Prime) saw an average of 75% increase in daily sign-ups; with Disney+ up more than 225%. Free, ad-supported service Tubi reported more than a 50% increase in new app installations and a 22% hike in viewer hours. Quibi, a streaming TV platform that mimics social media influencer storytelling, similar to what one might find on Snapchat, reached 1.7 million subscribers in its first week. As digitally born services, these options have addressability in their DNA, creating the possibility for every ad to be relevant and engaging to the viewer.
Importantly, nearly half of all U.S. consumers view ads on streaming TV as more relevant than traditional TV, thanks to its addressable nature. And with nearly three-fourths of consumers subscribing to one or more streaming services, there is a widespread opportunity to use streaming’s one-to-one environment to share brand messages that resonate.
COVID-19 has increased streaming viewership by as much as 20% and the opportunity for data-driven TV has never been as high as it is now. In two or three months, it’s likely that advertising dollars will follow the audience hike.
As TV has become further fragmented, this granularity opens the door to discuss strategies to connect fragmentation through data-driven targeting and outcome-driven ROI. Advanced measurement and the ability to capture audience guarantees are a critical and complementary avenue to ensure TV advertisers can squeeze every ounce of value out of each dollar spent, in a time when ROI matters more than ever before.
Conclusion
As the economy weakens and viewers remain isolated at home, consumer behavior will continue to change, reaching another tipping point when business and social activities resume. While still being leveraged, social media influencers are facing reduced marketing budgets as brands transition to advanced TV advertising options. Streaming empowers brands to target individuals in a more cost-effective way with tailored ads for people-centered, customizable communications. As a result, streaming TV can and should demand more marketing dollars in 2020 as traditional media and social media face more volatility.
