Without proper crisis planning, reputation, followers and dollars can vanish in no time
Social media influencers continue to flex their muscles through TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and other social media applications, while garnering widespread attention and millions of followers, and to influencing purchasing decisions and other behavior. What happens to this kind of influence in a crisis? Because they are under constant scrutiny, a comprehensive crisis management planning is a must for influencers.
Growing Market Share
According to a recent report, the influencer market for Instagram alone will reach $5 billion this year, with many influencers earning upwards of $100,000 per post.
Influencers are usually distinguished by the topic or their area of authority and the number of followers they have. Mega influencers (one million+ followers) are mostly celebrities who have attained fame outside of online circles and can attract up to $1 million per post on behalf of their corporate sponsors and partners.
Most of the up-and-coming influencers, however, are instant online sensations that have developed a large following in a short period of time through TikTok, Instagram and other social media vehicles. While traditional celebrities have been expertly trained in publicity tactics, many of the new influencers that attain fame online have not had publicity or crisis communications training, and have been thrust into the public eye with no strategic plan to tackle the curveballs that are inherent with celebrity status. Several recent controversies highlight this, and the potential fallout can destroy reputations and take millions of dollars off the table.
Recent Social Media Star and Influencer Controversy
One of the most recent influencer controversies happened a few weeks ago when 19-year old TikTok star Zoe LaVerne, who has nearly 18 million followers, found herself the victim of leaked video showing her engaged in inappropriate behavior involving a fellow TikToker, a minor with around 400k followers. This is one of the more serious influencer infractions, yet the TikTok star delayed responding and was not serious enough when she did. Additionally, it didn’t help matters that her mother recorded a livestream defending the activity. While it took some time, LaVerne finally did issue what might be called an apology. But not before a lot of damage had been done, since the video spread like wildfire across social media channels and throughout the mainstream entertainment media. The lack of planning and serious response proved to be damaging and led to accusations that Zoe manipulated the younger influencer.
Other recent controversies have included large house parties hosted by social media influencers and celebrities, leading the potential to be COVID-19 superspreader events.
Different Kinds of Influencer Crisis Management
It’s important to distinguish between different crises that can happen:
- Self-inflicted crisis where an influencer makes offensive comment over social media or is involved in improper behavior.
- Hacked smartphone.
In most cases, these circumstances need to be treated differently, and each case needs to be assessed to determine the proper response directed at the influencer’s unique group of stakeholders. The case involving Zoe LaVerne blends the two categories—it happened due to a leak and it involved inappropriate behavior, setting up a difficult to navigate crisis response.
Tailoring a Crisis Management Plan for Social Media Influencers and Stars
With disparate stakeholders, influencers attract a variety of attention that goes beyond their loyal audience and can include traditional media, corporate sponsors, and the public. The Zoe LaVerne incident got wide attention throughout the mainstream media, and we have all seen the TV coverage of some of the influencer house parties.
Given their wide-reaching audience, these influencers must have a crisis plan that is prescriptive and addresses each stakeholder category, while providing the skills necessary to tackle mainstream media inquiries and coverage. While many of the same basics apply to influencer crisis communications as they do to corporate crisis communications, the unique audience segments call for crisis management beyond the basics.
As with all crises, the accuracy, speed and consistency of the response is important and can help mitigate the loss of reputation, money, followers, and sponsors.
Saving the Bottom Line
Given the lucrative direction the influencer market is going, a new influencer will be made each day and suddenly wake up with a huge following. How these influencers and online celebrities navigate tumultuous times can a have a huge effect on their audience and their ability garner additional fans and potential sponsorships. Mishandling such a crisis can lead to the loss of sponsorships, followers, and potentially millions of dollars.
Please reach out to get started on your crisis planning today.
Adam Waitkunas authors the column “Anecdotally Adam” and is President of Milldam Public Relations.
