LOS ANGELES—ImLive’s new social media campaign #StayHomeDontDate has been a rousing success thanks mostly to Riley Reid’s rabid Instagram fanbase, which outperformed those of Bella Thorne and other influencers who were also tasked with publicizing the company’s stay home message.
The campaign, which rolled out two weeks ago, aims to publicize the company’s petition on Change.org, called #StayHomeDontDate, which encourages people to use social distancing and abstain from dating and dating apps by instead going to cam sites during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reid’s Instagram posting, which featured her nude backside along with the simple message “Stay home with me. #StayHomeDontDate @imlivenet,” earned nearly 555,000 likes and 4,340 comments from fans. The posting bested fellow influencer and mainstream actress Bella Thorne, whose Instagram posting earned the second most interactions for the campaign with nearly 453,000 likes and 1,300 comments, despite having 22.2 million Instagram followers, compared to Reid’s 2.3 million on the platform.
To see Reid’s post, click here.
Thorne’s posting featured the former Disney star in a yellow crop top and jeans holding a sign with the hashtag #StayHomeDontDate message, along with her message encouraging fans to use physical distancing and support the campaign.
“When you look for social engagement, Riley’s stats speak for themselves. They are absolutely first class, she knows how to create maximum impact and give great value for money,” said Adrian Stoneman, ImLive VP. “Obviously a campaign using influencers has many different levels and angles of approach, including mainstream media.”
He added, “Not everyone is capable of achieving the same results and it is of utmost importance to choose those who fit with the brand values and have the right character and intelligence to properly represent it. Riley has proven herself to be the right one for us.”
The campaign featured 16 influencers, including rappers J Almighty and Justina Valentine, radio personality Angela Yee, models Rachel Cook and Khloe Terae, and others who encouraged their fans to support the effort.
But none came close to Reid’s ability to create high numbers of engagements or interactions with her social media posting, which the 18-time AVN Award winner attributed to her fans' intense loyalty.
“My fans are really responsive to the things I post and they love to interact with me and show their support,” she said. “I picked a nude photo for this and it really translated well with the aesthetics which were pleasing to the eye. ... But I wish I was more responsive to my fans and had more time to interact with them. They are so amazing, I try to do free memberships and giveaways for them and do special things for them.”
Reid’s interaction numbers for #StayHomeDontDate prove that adult stars are more effective at connecting with fans than mainstream influencers, said Cyndi Pham, marketing expert and head of Agency Bardo, which helped recruit the influencers for the campaign.
“We were really surprised to have these celebrity names attached to this and that an adult star was really able to get us amazing results,” she said. “It’s the fact that with adult stars they’re more approachable and relatable. They’re more open with their sexuality and by being more open in general they’re more approachable and willing to talk to their fans.”
And the numbers seemed to bear that out: Maxim Model Rachel Cook, who has 2.6 million followers on Instagram, earned about 84,000 likes and 439 comments for her posting, while fitness model Khloe Terae, who has 2.3 million followers, received 12.9 thousand likes and 271 comments for hers.
“The results are remarkable and the comparison there shows there is something to be said about the value of influencer marketing and where people should put their money,” Pham said.
