Influencers In India: The Future of Marketing

To reach the bigger market and hit the target audience, Influencer marketing is playing a key role. The Gen Z influencers in India can spread the message about the brand through word of mouth advertising. The brands sometimes find it difficult to pay a hefty amount for traditional means of marketing. Hence, modern methods of marketing like Influencer marketing have come to stay for good. Social media networking sites are the most popular medium for transporting the message to the target audience.

Brands choose top influencers of India based on their number of followers and fans. The charges of Indian influencers also depend on this fact to a great extent. The rate per cost for having more than 5,00,000 followers can vary from 1.5 lakhs to 7 lakhs. Influencers use a variety of platforms to get recognition and fame because their entire work and career are dependent upon the same. So, they make use of social media networking sites in the highest possible way followed by other media. The future of the industry is impressive as the demand for trending influencers in India is growing by the day.

India's best influencer gets attached to the brand to drive sales for the latter. It is a two-way communication whereby the influencer and the brand enter into an understanding that can yield desired results for both. A reputed influencer has a strong followers canvas and networking skills. These are utilised by the brand for their promotional requirements. The influencers charge for their services and the aim of the brand to promote their products or services is easily met.

The segment of the list of Indian influencers has evolved manifolds - thanks to social media networking sites. You can easily find a list of the top 10 influencers in India online.

An Influencer’s decision to endorse a particular brand depends upon the popularity of the latter too.

The segment has immense freedom of expression. There are no set rules and regulations of advertising that need to be followed. Moreover, influencer marketing is no rocket science and does not require reading about customer behaviour. This is because the feedback or results of the campaign can be immediate.

Moreover, it is not compulsory that young influencers in India who specialise in a niche have to be involved in a similar brand. Though it is an advantage but not a rule.

For example; if a company that manufactures women's cosmetics requires to publicise its sunscreen lotion. The brand may try and rope a lifestyle or fashion influencer for the promotional campaign. But there is no hard and fast rule. The brand can engage Indian teenage influencers also for promotional campaigns. Hence, no specific criteria have to be met for influencer marketing.

Brands also realises that big and reputed influencers are not always required for promotions. In fact, smaller or micro-influencers can serve as the ideal choice for a particular promotional strategy several times. Though micro-influencers have a small number of followers, they may not engage in the accumulation of bot or fake followers.

This is one of the major downsides of social media marketing. Many times, popular marketing influencers in India face fierce competition and engage in such tactics to remain afloat in the market.

From a budget perspective also, brands find it expensive to engage India’s top influencers. However, brands can easily find micro-influencers even if they have a restrictive budget. The high payments that the popular influencers demand seem incorrect to the brands at times. Moreover, they too have a budget constraint, especially if the brand is a new one in the market. So, they prefer to squeeze their marketing budget and involve a lesser-known influencer or micro-influencer.

As the popularity of influencer marketing is growing day by day, more and more brands are getting attached to the marketing type.

So, brands feel the need to build long-term associations with the influencers so that they can reap the benefits in future assignments also.

In-House influencer campaigns work better for the brands. It helps them to create better relationships with people and they are set to benefit in the long run. Big companies can easily manage in-house influencer programs and train their employees to become influencers for their products. It works as an excellent strategy for big names in the industry.

Moreover, as the employees receive rewards and commissions for their efforts, they too feel elated. Moreover, the employees also get recognition amongst the audience and earn followers in exchange.

Even influencers have to keep their campaigns transparent. They have to disclose whether they have been paid or sponsored for any recommendation of a brand. This kind of transparency puts the advertising model at a credible level.

This is a good step for the brands as they can visit the influencer platforms and do an in-depth analysis of the influencer they wish to involve in promoting their brand.

It is easy to read about influencer networks online and each platform has the enrolled influencers and their profiles/portfolios. You can go through the details and connect with the one who suits your requirement. It has become the latest fad in the industry and several companies are making the most of the tool that is readily available to them.

All the above-mentioned points state that the future of marketing is bright and as more and more companies are getting attracted to hiring influencers for advertising, the demand is ever increasing.

Moreover, influencer marketing is providing jobs to several newcomers in the industry. It has become a full-fledged profession for the influencers and thus they highly recommend it to the youngsters who want to take such a profession as their career choice.

The market of influencer networks or platforms is a wide one and is based on the size, goals, and requirements of the influencers.

1. The influencers are selected to get enrollment in the credible platforms because the networks also want to attach their name with good influencers only. Association with a bad influencer can get a notorious name on the networking platform. So, the networks have an influencer recruitment process. Using the algorithm engine, demographics, location, and followers; the users can search for influencer profiles on the platform.

2. The influencer campaigns are successfully executed when certain workflow automation is followed by both the company and the individual. A deadline is often attached to the campaign to make the deliverables accountable.

3. The role of analytics is an essential one. The measurement of the marketing campaigns of influencers is another essential milestone that cannot be left unachieved. Metrics help the marketers to validate the success of the campaigns.

If you intend to become an influencer, then you need to follow some practices to evolve as a successful one. There is no guarantee that the personality traits deliver the desired results, but it genuinely helps to get the best results.

Essentially a person needs to be outgoing and interactive to become an influencer. You need to be confident enough to reach out to the people.

The influencer has to impact the buying decision of the buyers if he or she is recommending a brand. Hence, having a persuasive personality is an added advantage and can help you to cruise through the promotional strategy with complete ease.

An influencer has to attract followers and build relationships with the followers; not by individually connecting with them. But building relationships with followers here means that the influencer should understand the kind of content that works with the followers and thus make an engaging interactive so that the repeat value with the follower is maintained.

Yes, you have to be talkative so that when you interact with your followers, you are not at a loss of words. Moreover, if you are making a video that you often release on social media networking sites; then you have to be a great content creator and make interesting videos that can hold the attention and interest of your followers.

Many times, influencers have to work in teams. Thus they need to be energetic and ooze with positivity so that the people around them feel attracted to them like a magnet. Having a magnetic personality works in favour of the influencer.

The communication tone of the influencer can be humorous and yet professional. You have to make it sound informal and maintain the status of professionalism on the other hand.

Final Thoughts

The future of influencer marketing is bright and several brands are getting impressed with the deliverables. So, they aim to engage in such marketing campaigns to reach the target audience for their brand.