With the advent of social media and its growth among the youth, the distinction between content and promotional advertisements has become critical and created greater transparency in influencer marketing. In addition, The pandemic has lead brands to turn towards social media influencers. According to Digital marketing agency, AdLift pegs India’s influencer market has grown to $150 million in revenues per year and recorded double-digit growth.
The influencer marketing space has now matured to a stage and contributes well to the economy. With multiple creators and the growing support of people and companies who work with these creators, there is a wide range of monetization opportunities ahead. This maturing will enable it to show higher growth and capture a more significant form of both media and brand investment. Earlier this month, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) released its final influencer Marketing guidelines that focus on disclosure of paid collaboration by influencers. ASCI also aims to take an educational approach to shape the narrative of influencer marketing. On the other hand, influencers are skillfully creating their purpose-driven content along with respecting the current sensitivities.
Varun Duggirala, content creator, podcaster, entrepreneur, and personal development pundit, pointed out, “The core need right now is to use whatever social media reach we have to amplify and help in any way possible. the pandemic is a world crisis, and what influencers have is human reach, and this needs to be authentically utilized to help.”
As the Covid19 second wave hits, we can see a significant shift in the influencer’s content. As people come to social platforms to seek help, influencers began to support these people by posting their DMs and sharing others’ posts to get help sooner. Influencers are now treading a careful path of trying to be sensitive to the gravity of the situation around us while still making content that appeals to their massive audiences. From sharing holiday pictures to sharing and focusing on more serious content, many influencers are now smartly using their platform and fame to spread awareness, populate their stories with critical covid updates, and actively amplify essential campaigns.
Speaking about brand associations during the pandemic, Aakash Ranison, a sustainable and responsible Travel Influencer, Climate Change Activist, and Author, noted, “The whole pandemic has been an incredible journey for my content creation business. Starting from automobile giant Jaguar from the house of TATA for the launch of their new Electric Vehicle I-PACE to the leading alternative dairy brand Sofit for their Soy Milk campaign, to Adidas Original’s Stain Smith’s Premium range, 100% Vegan and made from recycled plastics, or textile industry’s one of the most famous and wide spared brands Pepe Jeans London for their new Wiser Wash Jeans Campaign. This list goes on – of the brands I’vwithind with in the past, many good brands I couldn’t work with for various reasons, and many more are in the pipeline, soon to be rolled out.”
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