PR & Influencer Marketing Coming Together in a Crisis situation
It is no wonder that Influencer Marketing has become an indispensable part of the PR and crisis management approach for most brands.
Here are five ways to make PR and influencer marketing work for your brand during a crisis.
1. Rebuilds trust in your brand
Data shows that 62% of consumers trust influencers more than they do celebrities. Therefore, in addition to being so instrumental when building your brand, influencers can also help you rebuild the brand by winning back some of the trust lost after a PR crisis.
2. Helps promote your improved products
Brand awareness is essential, especially for small businesses and emerging brands. Brand awareness is also vital in managing a crisis, especially if it was the company’s own product that damaged the brand’s reputation.
3. Moves the conversation away from the crisis
An essential part of PR crisis management is the ability to gauge public perception of your brand in real time. Social listening tools such as Sprout Social make this possible and efficient, so you can take control of a crisis situation before it spirals. When you know what people are saying about you, you can find ways to change the narrative in your favor if needed.
Coca-Cola knows a thing or two about shifting convos away from a crisis. In July 2021, football star Cristiano Ronaldo snubbed the company’s drinks during a presser for the Euro 2020 competition.
Negative searches about Coca-Cola dominated the internet. Coca-Cola had nearly $4 billion wiped off its equity valuation.
In the immediate aftermath, Coca-Cola introduced the “One Coke Away From Each Other” and #RealMagic campaigns, partnering with micro-influencers, gamers and athletes alike.
With this successful campaign, Coca-Cola was able to quickly shift the conversation away from the PR embarrassment they faced just a few weeks prior.
4. Get support for your cause
Influencers can help rally support for your cause which may have been deemed controversial.
In 2018, Nike teamed up with Colin Kaepernick for an ad with the tagline “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.” Before the collaboration, Kaepernick, then a professional US football player, had received backlash from some Americans after repeatedly refusing to stand for the national anthem in protest of police brutality. He ended up losing his position in the National Football League.
Nike ended up taking some heat for the controversial ad, but instead of backpedaling, the brand used influencer marketing to drown out the noise made by the few who accused Nike of collaborating with someone they believed to be anti-American.
Casey’s Tweet in support of Nike’s ad garnered over 12,000 retweets and 72,000 likes. It certainly earned Nike credibility points, cementing its reputation as a brand that stands up for what it believes in.
5. Improves search results for your brand
The relationship between search and social media is tough to ignore. When a PR crisis hits, the first inclination for anyone interested is to Google your company/brand name and news.
Influencers can boost your visibility on their networks, helping improve search results for your brand.
Influencers and PR: A powerful combination during a crisis
Marketers shouldn’t hesitate to look outside their own organizations to mitigate a crisis. Used the right way, influencers can sway public opinion in their favor, however bad the crisis is.
Influencers can do this in many ways with their huge following. They can help your brand weather the storm by improving trust and awareness about your brand, building on audience engagement, and boosting positive search traffic. Prospective influencers can also help rally support for your cause and promote your improved products.
Take some time to research the best influencer marketing platform and find the right influencer for your brand. With PR and influencer marketing combined, you have a powerful tool that will help you weather any crisis and ensure you remain in the good graces of your customers and the public in general.
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