The rising tide of Influencer Marketing & trends anticipated further

Nothing better showcases India’s true vastness than the simple figures. With over 700 million active internet users – a figure that’s estimated to cross 970 million by 2025 – our country is home to the second-largest population of internet users in the world. While the last decade has witnessed these numbers rise at a steady pace, it was the onset of COVID-19 that truly sent this trend into overdrive. Practically overnight, people were confined to their homes for months at a time. And for many, going online proved their only salvation.

Faced with this massive societal upheaval, brands wasted no time in making the most of the situation. Consequently, the last year has seen the digital ecosystem boom. Across industries and sectors, businesses new and old have recalibrated their business models to capitalize on this new state of affairs. And nowhere has this change been more apparent than in the marketing sector. With traditional tools of the trade such as outdoor advertising, exhibitions, and tradeshows no longer a viable option in an era of social distancing, the internet, and its many social platforms have proved the only alternative. Presented with a captive audience eager for distraction and entertainment online, brands found a recipe for success in launching and marketing their products digitally.

This shift has best been demonstrated by the growing popularity of influencer marketing. Brands are increasingly turning to KOLs, community leaders, and influencers on social platforms in lieu of traditional marketing methodologies. But, as India gradually recovered from the first wave of COVID-19 in early 2021, that led to traditional marketing avenues coming back into action. Even then, influencer marketing was still gradually and swiftly on the rise. But, as the second wave tore through the country and lockdown restrictions returned in force, it’s become clear that influencer marketing is here to stay. Looking back over the last year, several key trends have emerged that only serve to highlight this change:

Increased budgets for influencer marketing

Money always talks, and nothing better exemplifies the newfound importance of influencer marketing than the budgets it commands. With so many avenues of marketing no longer feasible under current circumstances, many brands have rerouted this surplus budget to the digital ecosystem. As a result, marketers have been given the leeway to collaborate with bigger influencers on massive campaigns. This has seen the industry grow multifold. From innovative start-ups like MamaEarth and Upstox to entertainment giants like Netflix & Disney+ Hotstar, virtually every brand has formed associations with a network of relevant, brand-centric influencers. This trend is only expected to grow going forward, both due to the ongoing restrictions and because of the phenomenal response seen thus far.

A wider selection of brands entering the ecosystem

In its early days, influencer marketing was the niche preoccupation of a select set of businesses. Fashion, beauty, and technology brands dominated the field, with most influencers specializing in one or the other. But, as the field developed (aided and abetted by the pandemic), this narrow categorization ballooned and grew to encompass a huge array of other categories. Today, you can find an influencer who specializes in just about anything. Gardening, infotainment, gaming, education, finance– each have transformed into a category unto themselves, with a thriving set of knowledgeable and professional influencers. Even Korean TV dramas, which exploded in popularity during the lockdown, now have a dedicated subset of influencers who frequently tie-up with OTT platforms to promote new shows and releases.

In 2021, this trend is expected to extend to education, finance, and gaming. Stuck at home and with time to spare, many people have started taking online classes or begun dabbling in the stock market. This has led to a surge in the popularity of influencers who teach the basics of finance and investing to their audiences. Similarly, the online gaming market is expected to grow at a rapid pace over the next year, from $1.1 billion in 2019 to $2.8 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of over 40 percent.

A new breed of influencers and their next-gen tools

Instagram has always existed in a state of constant evolution. Upon its introduction, it was touted as a place for static images. But as new competitors with new ideas entered the scene, Instagram was always quick to respond. It tweaked its offerings and adapted its services to remain relevant. Stories were introduced as a direct counter to the short-lived popularity of Snapchat, while the launch of Reels last year was meant to counter the growth of Tiktok. And just as Instagram has continued to keep pace with the latest market developments, so too have the influencers who use it. With millennials and Gen-Z increasingly favoring Instagram over even Facebook, both influencers and the platform have stepped up their game to produce content that is relevant, engaging, and likely to keep viewers hooked.

Heightened visibility of digital engagement

One aspect of digital marketing that has helped drive its popularity has been the abundance of data it offers marketers. A digital campaign enables brands to clearly view and analyze its impact. Likes, comments, and views are all easily quantifiable figures and offer an immediate understanding of the success of a campaign. Affiliate links on an influencer’s page tell a brand exactly how many units were sold. Marketers also gain an understanding of the ROI involved, enabling them to further refine and tweak future campaigns. By contrast, traditional marketing initiatives offer no such assurances. Tracking and measuring their impact is an imprecise science and doesn’t offer real-time insights into the public’s reaction.

The emergence of regional content creators

Since it began, the digital revolution in India has been dominated by a select class of individuals. Generally English-speaking and living in the nation’s metros, they came with a select set of content tastes and preferences. But as digitization has slowly made its way across the country, by way of cheap data and affordable smartphones, the newest wave of social media users is composed of regional language speakers from Tier II and III cities. With them have come a new set of content creators. Catering specifically to this audience in their own language, many of these influencers has rapidly built loyal fanbases. Brands looking to expand beyond their traditional urban strongholds have quickly recognized the importance of these regional micro-influencers and begun to collaborate with them to promote their products and services. The growth of this tier of influencers has further been fuelled by various Made in India apps. Chingari, a short-form video app that acts as an alternative to TikTok, boasts over 56 million users in 20 Indian languages, while live streaming platform Bolo Indya has almost 3 million users from Tier II, III, and IV cities and towns nationwide.

So, it can be anticipated that with the second wave of the pandemic, the spending on digital will further increase and influencers will find newer and innovative ways to connect with the consumers. Influencer Marketing will take a front seat in the marketing budgets and the brands will be further ramping up efforts on digital. Newer categories and tools are expected to be mushrooming. Furthermore, with ASCI guidelines now being implemented, transparency and authenticity across the universe will increase.

About the author:

Neel Gogia, Co-Founder, IPLIX Media