It always starts with something small, like a passion project. For Akanksha Redhu, it was a way of sharing her creative assignments while in college. Deeba Rajpal started blogging because she had nothing better to do. Allen Claudius George’s website showcased his writing. For all of them — and tens of thousands of others across the country — this was their foot in the door to building an impressive online following.
The father of advertising, David Ogilvy, said, “If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think.” Now, in a world that increasingly converses in hashtags and emoticons, how do brands talk to their potential customers? Online, of course. That’s where influencer marketing, and people like Redhu, Rajpal and George, come in.
Influencer marketing has been around for as long as advertising has existed. Earlier, it was celebrities selling you everything from soap to shirts, plastered on billboards. Those billboards have moved to our screens, increasingly replacing celebrities with social media stars. While it has been around for close to a decade — Razorfish Social Media Leads put out an influence marketing survey back in 2009 — it has taken on in a big way in India only in the past couple of years.
Your ‘friend’ on Instagram
Rajpal, who has been blogging since 2007 on passionateaboutbaking.com, says, “Popularity grows as you create quality content regularly. Then you get noticed by brands. In my case, being a food blogger, I was asked to show people how their products could be used innovatively.” She has worked with brands like Quaker Oats, Sprig, Tata iShakti dals and Olive Tree Trading.
Some influencers take a different approach. Travel blogger Lakshmi Sharath keeps herself up-to-date on what various brands in her segment are doing. “I then pitch a campaign to them, about what I can do for them in terms of reach and engagement,” she says. Luxury blogger Riaan George of urbaneye.in holds a full time job as a print journalist, and found that he always had extra, interesting information on brands and products that he wanted to share. “I’m able to channel my interests in things like watches, airplanes and clothing into this space.” He says that brands like Celio (a Paris-based menswear company) are leading the pack currently when it comes to online engagement. “In the beginning, it was Van Heusen and Allen Solly who saw the value of reaching out to customers on social media. Now, everyone’s on the bandwagon, but the ones on top include Reebok, Pepe Jeans, Marks & Spencer, and all Arvind Group brands like Gap, Nautica and Sephora,” he says.
Even though most of them post constantly on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, their first love remains their blog. Redhu of akanksharedhu.com, who has worked with brands like Chanel, Tanishq and Daniel Wellington, sums it up saying, “It will always be my blog first because that is what truly belongs to me and is the backbone of my brand. The other media platforms may die out, but the blog will always be there, churning out content as per my preferences.”
Recruiting social media mavens
As with all things online, there are now easy ways to hire influencers. Vikas Chawla, co-founder of influencer.in, says, “In early 2015, we launched a platform to bring bloggers and brands together. At that point, brands were still engaging individually with influencers, and there were issues with payments, understanding the brief, and what they had to deliver.” Now, both brands and bloggers are spoilt for choice, with various platforms offering DIY campaigns or services through which influencers are used to run social media campaigns.
Irfan Khan of Blogmint, which is a platform where brands can run their own influencer campaign, says, “When we started off three years ago, we had 500 influencers on board. Now we have over 40,000. In the last 18 months, a lot of people have moved from blogging as part-time occupation to a full-time job.”
Influencers charge anywhere from ₹10 a tweet, ₹1,000 per Instagram post to ₹2 lakh for a blog post. In all, a top, non-celebrity influencer can earn upwards of Rs 1 crore annually. Apart from these earnings, they also become celebrities offline, with offers for workshops, seminars and public appearances flowing in. Redhu adds, “You can build your own brand of clothing/accessories, co-create collections and collaborate with big brands and earn commissions. Influencers are now writing books as well, so there are a lot of other opportunities — you just have to be willing and hungry.”
To reach these levels, just like any business, a lot of investment is required. This good life isn’t limited to those who come from well-heeled backgrounds or with indulgent families though. Allen Claudius George of bowtiesandbones.com recently wrote a candid post about how it takes a lot of sacrificing, some prudent investments and the occasional loan to maintain this lifestyle (see box on page 3).
Talking money
As their popularity across platforms grow, the amount of money being spent by investors is also growing. Depending on the company size, anywhere from ₹25,000 to ₹1 crore a month, say industry insiders. A forecast by WPP-owned media agency GroupM says that advertising expenditure in India is expected to grow at 10% to reach ₹61,204 crore in 2017. Of this, digital media continues to be the fastest growing medium, registering a 30% ad spending growth rate. In 2016, the ad spend on digital was ₹7,300 crore, and is expected to go up to ₹9,490 crore this year. Out of the total digital ad spend, the amount spent on influencer marketing is not negligible. But in the Indian context, it is far less than traditional advertising. TV ad spend was ₹25,350 crores and print, which everyone keeps writing off periodically, still raked in ₹17,472 crores last year.
Rajiv Rao, of O&M’s national creative director, says, “For most clients, influencer marketing is just an add-on, something to be done in parallel with conventional ads. Although it has been around for a long time, I am yet to see a clever way in which it’s used. It needs something that will change the way people look at influencer marketing.”
To achieve this, Prathap Suthan, the creative mind behind the ‘India Shining’ ad campaign, says that the key to any great marketing campaign is to have a good product and a great idea powering it. “As technology improves, we get to choose if we want to watch ads or not. People want to watch ads to be entertained, rather than to purchase into a brand; so it has to be engaging. When it comes to influencer marketing, people have voluntarily followed these social media stars, and to some extent believe what they say.”
With the number of social media influencers out there, Rajpal says there will be a point where the phenomenon will implode. “Those who are truly dedicated and are passionate about what they do are the ones who will remain. People will continue to follow influencers, if only for the goodwill and trust they have garnered.”
How to be an influencer
1. Stunning pictures: Photos have to be beautifully shot and edited; visuals make the first impression, be it on advertisers or followers.
2. Have a niche: Develop your voice based on what you’re passionate and knowledgeable about, and stick to it.
3. Discipline: Advertisers will look at how regularly you post, and the number of responses you get. To maintain these engagement levels, create quality content and share consistently.
4. Be different from ads: Give your audience the kind of information they wouldn’t get from a conventional advertisement. They could range from admitting that a blender overheats, or that a night cream might not agree with certain skin types, or if the resort you stayed at had a serious mosquito problem.
5. Skip stealth marketing: Always disclose that you are doing sponsored posts or ads. It helps maintain credibility.
Eye on returns
“The hardest part of being broke is perhaps that people don’t believe you. You wear an Omega Seamaster watch, whip out your credit card from your fancy Louis Vuitton wallet, and are in super exclusive (and expensive) Supreme tees and Kanye West sneakers. You must be joking!” says Allen Claudius George.
But one needs to understand that blogging is like any other business. You have to invest time, money and effort in it before you can see returns. As you read this, I am directing all my savings towards clearing my debts because I am trying to get smarter. But I also racked up credit card bills over ₹2.25 lakh. I picked up an Omega Seamaster watch (₹2.45 lakh) and an off-white tee (₹19,000), apart from several limited release kicks like Riccardo Tisci Nike Air Max 97 and the Black Sheep Nike Dunk SB. I invested ₹40,000 of my own funds to attend the Delhi Fashion Week, make videos and shoot street style images. But I considered it an investment in fine tuning my skills and building content for my YouTube channel.
If you’re a trend blogger, then you have to be updated and talk about what is in right now. You can either spend money and buy stuff to talk about it, and wear them or source from brands. Brands may not be all gung-ho about it unless they see potential in you and that, again, boils down to the work you have done with no backing. So, it is safe to say a lot of bloggers start out by investing in what they want to talk about — be it clothes or make-up. And as for the long-term viability, not all businesses succeed or guarantee success. Likewise with blogging. If you have the potential, you make it and you start reaping the benefits.”
Meet the influencers
Akanksha Redhu - akanksharedhu.com
Fashion and lifestyle: Fossil, Chanel, Salvatore Ferragamo, Michael Kors, Hermes
Facebook: 41,719, Instagram: 1,05,958
Deeba Rajpal - passionateaboutbaking.com
Food: KitchenAid, Quaker Oats, Godrej Nature’s Basket, Philips India, Del Monte
Facebook: 16,297, Instagram: 28,719
Riaan George - urbaneye.in
Luxury, menswear, grooming, aviation and travel: Rolls-Royce, Jack Daniel’s, Zegna, Raymond, Shangri-La
Facebook: 54,992, Instagram: 11,567
Anuradha Goyal - inditales.com
Travel: Maharashtra Tourism, Narendra Bhawan, ITC Hotels, Pugdundee Safaris, Club Mahindra
Twitter: 10,537, Google+: 38,412
Allen Claudius George - bowtiesandbones.com
Men’s fashion: Levi’s, Diesel, Adidas, Nike, Dior, Tag Heuer
Facebook: 8,616, Instagram: 7,043
