• by Maria Bailey , Columnist, November 3, 2021

When Instagram went dark last month, it not only left influencers clamoring for a back-up plan, but brands asking, “What if?” What if Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or other popular social media platforms were to go away permanently or at least for an extended amount of time?  What if you lost the ability to have an influencer post a photo of product and drive sales online? What if brands had to launch Plan B? (And just what is your Plan B?)  

For marketing professionals over the age of 45, using consumers with influence without Instagram doesn’t seem so alien. Believe it or not, the word “influence” was a verb long before it was a job title for many.   Here are five ways to use influencers if and when the most popular social platforms go down.

Use an influencer’s influence offline. According to our research, 90% of online influencers also have influence offline. Brands forget this. Supplying samples to influencers allows your product to be passed in real life, with implied peer recommendation.

Use Pinterest.  Millennials, particularly female Millennials, use Pinterest as a search engine for solutions. Every good product is a solution to some consumer pain point, so allow influencers to create Pinterest Pins for your brand. 

Spread your message via social audio. It’s the fastest growing type of social media -- many influencers are active in podcasting and audio apps like Clubhouse.  Ask your influencers how they are participating in the audio space and find a way for them to integrate your product messaging into it.

You might also consider booking your internal brand influencers on popular podcasts as a guest.  Recently I heard a roller coaster designer for a major theme park describe his job designing rides on a podcast. Everyone loves to hear a story from behind the curtain of their favorite brands and products.

Feature influencer content in your CRM emails.   Influencers produce great content -- and if it can’t be shown on their feeds, why not share it with channels the brand owns?  Profiling an Influencer who loves your product in an email is a great way to promote the influencer and demonstrate a strong partnership between the two of you.

Go live on Amazon. Many Influencers are affiliates on Amazon and have the ability to use the Live Streaming technology that allows them to link directly to your product. It’s the influencer marketing tactic of the future, so discovering it now will only put you ahead of your competitors.

Keep in mind, influencer marketing should not be confined to one platform or one type of content.  Putting all your eggs in one basket is never a good idea and that includes influencer marketing as well.  The opportunities to use influencers in a variety of ways is as far-reaching as the influence they distribute over a vast community of followers.