Influencer marketing involves using key brand advocates to drive your message to the larger market in an organic way. You are accountable for what you put out for your followers to see. Influencers are known for having a big and dedicated audience in a particular market segment like lifestyle, fashion, food, travel, etc. Collaboration with influencers is now more sought after as it is more organic in its reach towards a large number of people and because they have built credibility around them which the followers rely on. This is different from a celebrity endorsing a product for money because influencers are considered more honest in their reviews and only such honest influencers can sustain the long run as they are accountable for what is put out for the followers to see.
Akriti Sachdev, a sought after make-up artist feels that unless you are honest, you can't influence anyone. Honest reviews are what keep followers belief alive in you. "Every influencer has their own market - beauty, health, travel, but unless you like the product and brand and give genuine reviews, then you lose credibility. You have to make sure that you don't mislead or misinform anyone."
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Akriti, who recently launched her new studio of make-up products, was an international business graduate who shifted profession as a make-up artist, instructor, and fashion blogger. A renowned bridal artist, she has worked with beauty brands as the beauty blogger for their website, has attended Miss India pageants and fashion shows across India and has her own YouTube Channel.
"It all started with me posting meaningful and informative content on social media as a model. Soon I had people approaching me", says Pradaini Survas, who rocks her Instagram with anything from yoga, beauty, travel to food. Popularly known as Dawdles, this sassy lady started her profession as a model and is the face of many ads (commercial ad films) and TV plugs for a few leading brands and quite popular in the model industry. "I make it a point to promote cruelty free, leather free, vegan products".
"The amount payable to an influencer depends upon the brands, the deliverables and the package", says Pradaini. "Most people spend their time on their phones and are less on magazines and newspaper. Bloggers have taken over most of the markets and I think its quickly becoming a profession on its own. I think this generation has cooked and created this designation. Influencers play a role in every department and hence this type of marketing really works once the individual credibility of the person is established and they have garnered a large following in that particular segment".
When it comes to PR, some brands go all out. Influencers were flown in from abroad for an International fest that was held last year in town. Speaking on the same Roshni Hemdev a PRO says, "When it comes to this segment, the market is changing constantly change and Chennai is quickly catching up and becoming more open to national and international influencers. Rohan Hingorani, popular TV celebrity, known for promoting veganism, was flown down from Australia along with popular DJ/VJ Nikhil Chinappa, and TV celebrity Shruthi Sinha. A popular beauty product portal recently flew down popular beauty blogger, Anaam C to Chennai as a part of a mall activity. "They charge anywhere from few thousands to lakhs. It depends on the market size, the segment that the influencer has a hold on and on the brand they are endorsing".
As a profession, Roshni feels that it is quite competitive and fluid because it's a game of numbers and the one ruling today may not be at the top tomorrow. "Though this is an upcoming profession for the millennials, one still cannot be solely dependent on it because the trend changes so quickly and if you are not ahead of your game, you can lose your audience in no time".
Having said that, she says she is also amazed at the kind of hold the millennial influencers have on the market and she has seen this work on a personal level. "Some of them put in an enormous amount of hardwork on their content and take their work very seriously".
Take the incidents of Jallikattu and Chennai floods. When RJ Balaji, Raghava Lawrence, Siddharth used this platform to address the youth, the youth actually listened. Not just individuals but even content creators can have a hold over the audiences. Especially while communicating a topic of social relevance, these channels convey the message effectively through their content and the audience is able to relate to it more easily because they identify with it. Brands fight over product placements in such contents to make sure they don't miss the opportunity for brand reach. This also works as funding for small production houses that may depend on such sponsors to cover their production cost.
Influencers are quickly changing the narrative in advertising and branding and have a market of their own. With every age group now present on the social media platform, the reach is more on a personal level and brands are quickly realizing this as an important toolkit to up their game.
C. Aishvarrya Suresh, a musician, model and a make-up artist, feels that influencers play a strong game today in advertising. "It's a difficult job to keep your fans and followers engaged and a lot of hard work goes behind that. You have to understand the mindset of your followers and the algorithm of the media and come up with engaging content regularly else you will lose your hold".
"But as an influencer you also have a social responsibility: you need to make sure you are a positive influence and your posts should always benefit or motivate somebody", she says. Asking her on where she draws the line on promoting brands or products, she says that she has a set of rules for herself. "I don't support animal cruelty products, so I do not endorse leather products. You can't let that take over your belief system", she adds.
But city based popular blogger Asmita Madhusudhanan does not believe in the term influencer. Spotted at every new launch and event in Chennai, Asmita feels, "I am frankly not very fond of the term 'influencer', I am more of a content person. I'd rather be called blogger but influencer is the term used if you want to earn". According to her, micro marketing is the key now. "It's organic, personal and reaches directly to people. But we should check the brand and product, work with them only if we believe in it. Original, authentic, honest information sharing with or without brands definitely leads to wonderful engagement with audience."
