Next big thing in India’s influencer marketing universe—IIM classes, LinkedIn to ShareChat

avatar
by Jacob Solomon Jan 29, 2023 News
Next big thing in India’s influencer marketing universe—IIM classes, LinkedIn to ShareChat

There is a group of people in a small studio. They look through a lot of videos on the internet. Even though the office looks like a college lounge, it's still serious business. There are millions of dollars at stake here. One of India's top marketing agencies is this one.

Shlok Srivastava, better known as Tech Burner, is one of the creators who use the internet to get lucrative deals.

The space used to be occupied by model/talent agencies. Everyone wants to be a creator or a collaborating person. The returns are high and the work is interesting. People want a slice of pizza. The agencies that are making the most money are the ones that make the most money.

Even as Indians wrestle with the huge amount of money being earned by creators, the booming popularity of influencer marketing is still going strong. In an industry that is still unstructured but is handling hundreds of millions of dollars, Vavo Digital is a game-changing company.

Three employees in their early 20s sit in a co-working space in the capital of India. The College of Vocational Studies at Delhi University had two of them. After working for Vavo for a year, they became permanent employees and pitched big-budget campaigns to various brands. They are part of a group of young people who are involved in the world of social media.

No one saw the Korea- India boom coming.

Upcoming game-changers

It is possible to create content on other platforms as well. People from lower-income brackets who have access to the internet with cheap phones and data plans are being targeted by brands. There are groups where products are promoted.

There is a misconception that only Gen Z is using the internet. Jain says that even older people, like their parents, might not know the jargon. He said that he was asked if he could "rely on" a guy who made videos for various stores in Delhi. He didn't know he was consuming a creator's work. He was being influenced by it

Vavo has already claimed a piece of the pie as one of the fastest growing content creation platforms. Palak Rathi, Punita Parekh, and Siddhant Garg are some of the people managed by it.

The creators ofLinkedIn are already accomplished in their fields. Jain said the brand placement felt more authentic.

Regional audiences are the bigger game-changers. Regional is the new word. The interest in south Indian film industries has helped it.

Money can be minted by keeping it real.

Young workforce

Most big brands, bigger talents and the game of content creation are handled by people who are avid content consumers themselves.

The age group of 15 to 29 years make up 27.2% of the Indian population according to the Youth in India report. Companies want to hire young guns to lead their campaigns and brands want to target Gen Z as much as possible.

The business has 70 employees with an average age of 22%. The CEO and co- founder of the company devotes his time to setting up a training school. He wants to help the industry grow and wants upcoming talents to understand the tools that can help them grow.

Gogia began his career in influencer marketing when he was a student. He offered to be the manager of a fitness YouTuber and help him land deals. He charges Rs 5000 per month.

He and Jag Chima started a new business together. The company grew from Rs 5000 to Rs 15000. The revenue in the next financial year is expected to be around Rs 75 cr.

Vavo Digital was founded in 2020. The duo saw that there was a lot of content being created. Once Covid hit, we had to shut it down. At that time, we decided that we could build something around it.

The creators rely on these agencies to build their presence. The departments of operations and talent management are found in ad agencies. The founder of Mamaearth, Ghazal Alagh, and the founder of Dr. Vaidya's are some of the entrepreneurs who are building their social media personas.

Money matters

Digital or internet marketing modules include case studies about influencer marketing. Anirban says that influence marketing is not a new form of marketing but a new means of communication.

There are people making their mark regardless of whether or not B-schools pay attention. A financial content creator was invited to speak at the IIM-Bangalore. What's the catch? Four years ago, Hegde failed to get a seat at that college, which is where he is now.

Making money that is difficult is one of the easy parts of influencing. No matter how many followers you have or how engaged you are, there is no fixed income. Those with between 5,000 and 20,000 followers can earn almost Rs 15,000 per post, while those with more than 1 lakh followers can make more than Rs 5 lakh per post.

These are the places where marketing agencies come in. They act as a middleman between brands and creators.

The government is only starting to introduce amendments and guidelines because the industry is still being structured. 10 per cent tax was deducted at the source for PR gifts that are given to influential people. It took effect on July 1st, 2022.

The Department of Consumers Affairs released new guidelines for influential people. Fines that can reach up to Rs 50 lakh are included in these.

What does it mean for this industry, which is projected to reach a valuation of more than $2 billion by the end of the century? The success of brands in generating revenue through social media has been found. The importance of adhering to the guidelines of the Advertising Standards Council of India has increased as a result.

It was also read that attention was paid to influential people. You could be fined tens of thousands of dollars for false ads or not revealing paid content.

Fickle loyalty

There is a desire on the part of brands to enter the space ofinfluencer marketing. It is a form of marketing that the startup usually goes for.

Advertisers decided to adapt when they realized that they had captured the audience. The budget allocation for ads is one of the easiest indicators. The majority of traditional ads are given 50 per cent and the rest are taken up by influencer marketing.

If a creator is inconsistent with engagement, they might be dropped by a brand. Gogia says the loyalty term is up to four months. The same thing happens to the audience.

Srishti Garg said in an earlier interview that her life is ruled by numbers.

For brands, loyalty is constant. The product that will decide the profits is what the business development manager at Pollen says.

influencer marketing agencies are here to stay, even if they are short term.

It's because of social media that we end up buying products endorsed by our favorite creators. Is that a sign that TV ads will soon be gone? Gala doesn't believe in that.

He believes that the trust factor still resides in traditional ads because of the endorsements of competing brands by influencer marketers. People still watch a lot of television. Traditional ad-making might evolve, in terms of the talents they hire, but they won't die out.

Theres Sudeep edited it.