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<ul><li>Till the very end of 2020 and for the beginning of this year, creators had a captive audience tethered to their devices clamouring for more content. </li><li>Then hit the second wave, and creators had to pivot again.</li><li><keyword id="184778" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ankit-Agarwal">Ankit Agarwal</keyword>, Founder – <keyword id="8371701" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Do-Your-Thng">Do Your Thng</keyword> writes how <keyword id="1746818" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Content-Creation">content creation</keyword> has changed after COVID. </li></ul>Change is not always a bad thing. It sometimes can be an exciting opportunity that allows people to walk down new paths. The manner in which influencers adjusted content creation as a response to the pandemic is proof of it. Facing a creative and for a majority financial burden, they had to restructure how content was generated and published. Moreover, they had to heavily exercise the innovation muscle because the content-hungry consumer wanted to be educated, inspired, and entertained even in a pandemic. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="A race to creatively repurposing content" text="A race to creatively repurposing content">A race to creatively repurposing content</cmsannotation> There is not much one can practically do in the confines of a living room. But content creators put paid to that thought. Starting March 2020 until now, they’ve shown us just how much is achievable within four walls. All it takes is pivoting the mindset and looking at content creation through a new lens. The first change was easy. Creators published unused content they had in their bank. This was the case with most travel creators, who’ve had their feet tied due to travel restrictions. For other creators, it was repackaging already published content. Most experimented with new platforms like TikTok (before it was banned) or YouTube. Others dived into new formats like <keyword id="8322765" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram-reels">Instagram Reels</keyword>. The second change required coming to terms with the fact that the status quo was indelibly disrupted. A food content creator couldn’t hop over to the new place in town. A fitness creator couldn’t post another in-the-gym session. So, after the unused content repository got depleted, they started repurposing old content. But resharing previous content was not enough. They needed to add a hint of realism. With a carousel of images of places, a travel influencer visited once or a food blogger tried in the past, they included captions with everyday thoughts. Placing a filter of quotidian themes made the content relevant. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The dawn of generating inventive content" text="The dawn of generating inventive content">The dawn of generating inventive content</cmsannotation> The third pivot required more planning and creative flex, like branching into a completely new niche. It became necessary to shift the focus from what they used to do to something more imaginative since they had little opportunity to create new content within their usual niche. So, we saw a wildlife photographer taking up an indoor photography challenge. With no access to gyms or parks, fitness enthusiasts began vlogging about at-home workout routines or how to boost the immune system. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The risk with change in content" text="The risk with change in content">The risk with change in content</cmsannotation> This third path that a bulk of content creators seized - entertaining people stuck at home with content that is not as per their usual - came with an inherent risk. Don’t forget that creators are able to earn a living through their channels because of the type of content they produce. Altering can often hit the viewership and not because the audience may not like it. Alienating your current viewers is always a peril when expanding content. More worrying is the fact that platform algorithms may rank the creator differently after the switch in the content type. However, for most influencers, the gamble paid off as they were savvy enough to realise real-life, authentic content consumption was on the rise. So that’s what they produced, ensuring enrichment and engagement never became an issue. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="A shift to reactive content" text="A shift to reactive content">A shift to reactive content</cmsannotation> Till the very end of 2020 and for the beginning of this year, creators had a captive audience tethered to their devices clamouring for more content. Then hit the second wave, and creators had to pivot again. Instead of the usual content that worked around the boundaries set by COVID-19, they began amplifying SOS calls. The lion’s share of their content became a loudspeaker for those in need, but a small portion offered an escape. Funny, ironic Reels or videos posted once a week or even less helped maintain a sense of normalcy while the world was going to hell in a basket. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The bedrock of relatable content" text="The bedrock of relatable content">The bedrock of relatable content</cmsannotation> Once you peel all the layers of transformation that creator content went through due to the pandemic, it is apparent there is one common thread. Influencer content is more genuine, earnest and relatable. Pre-covid, the content was edited, photoshopped and filtered down to a pixel. <keyword id="9208211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="post-Covid">Post-covid</keyword> creators have finally understood that audiences want to engage with content that solves everyday problems, makes them laugh, cry or simply nod their heads in agreement.

The pivot in influencer content creation post-COVID

<ul><li>The <keyword id="91743" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="lockdown">lockdown</keyword> that made people stay at home, brought businesses to a halt, paused travel and let to cancellation of events.</li><li>So what will be the future of <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword>, on the other side of the lockdown? <keyword id="184778" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ankit-Agarwal">Ankit Agarwal</keyword>, Founder, <keyword id="8371701" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Do-Your-Thng">Do Your Thng</keyword> (DYT) tries to find the answer.</li></ul> While nobody can pull a Nostradamus, it is clear that the <keyword id="43587" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="pandemic">pandemic</keyword> has changed influencer marketing. These changes are not temporary or short-lived. They are fundamental. Since we began battling the unseen adversary, travel has paused, events are cancelled and, worst of all, businesses had to close shop. No sector evaded the disruptive tentacles of the novel <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword>. And it is the most sobering of realities that there is no going back to normal. What we will face after we win the fight is a “new normal.” This much is clear from the actions brands are taking. Airbnb’s co-founder articulately wrote “We don’t know exactly when travel will return. When travel does return, it will look different,” while announcing that 25% of the company has to be laid off. Closer to home, Zomato’s founder has shared an uncannily similar email. The company is letting go of 13% of their workforce, and they’ve “decided to make partial or full work from home a permanent feature of (their) lives.” So, like the rest of the world, creators and the influencer industry have felt the winds of change, and these will only gain momentum post-COVID-19 catapulting creators into overdrive. The Future Face of Influencer Marketing While the true implications of the pandemic are far more enormous than anyone can predict, what we have seen over the past two and half months are two core learnings. One, how the audience wants to receive communications has altered. Two, the pandemic gave birth to a stronger sense of community. Make these factors the lens through which you view influencer marketing and then carry forward any strategy in the coming time. The change for creators Travel creators got grounded, and fashion creators were out of Insta-worthy locations for photoshoots. So, they pivoted and started generating content that helped their community. This change - diversification of skills and content - will carry over post-COVID-19. If you are a creator who wants to thrive in the future, broaden the type of content you generate. The two niches that are rising and will continue to do so are wellness and home life. Think cooking, fitness, mental health, cleaning, nutrition, DIY, etc. Another shift for creators is more control over the content. Before the coronavirus, brands governed campaign guidelines. After the lockdown, the creator became the artist, producer, director, and editor, giving them an upper hand. Furthermore, brands realised that the creator knew better how to develop and deliver a message that fetches higher engagement. This shift in the balance of power, which built a more equal partnership, will persist. The adjustment for brands We already know online screen times soared due to people being home-bound. Since the traditional means of entertainment (movie theatres and TV soaps) are not restarting anytime soon, the consumer will continue to spend more time online. Now couple this fact with a Google Insight – “YouTube is 3X more effective than TV in driving incremental impact” of a campaign. For a brand, it means one definite marketing adjustment – go digital and leverage the power of its natives, i.e. creators. It’s the only option to stay on top of your consumer’s mind as we move through the next few months. Since the pandemic has also switched purchasing habits and limited discretionary spending, brands need to modify product positioning too. You have to show the consumer how your product fits into their everyday lives. The last refinement brands must address is reframing their message to resonate with the consumer. A campaign will get more traction when the audience sees themselves in it. For instance, a celebrity advocating a home cleaning appliance will not work. A micro- or nano-influencer, who the audience knows does actual housework, will get better results. The about-face of content Typically, people see just two sides of influencer marketing – the creator and the brand. But it’s the content that balances both, and that too has done an about-face due to COVID-19. In the past few years, Facebook and Instagram veered into highly curated and contrived content. From selfies with perfect lighting to postcard-worthy vistas of far-flung destinations, there was a steady stream of polished aesthetics. The lockdown was a game-changer. Spontaneous content, and content that gave a view into every day, messy life became more popular. In the ensuing time, this revolution in the type of content published and devoured will persist. Both brands and creators should keep in mind that there is no more room for staged or heavily edited content. Keep it raw and authentic. An endnote. The novel coronavirus outbreak did make creators the biggest channels for brands to influence consumers. Expect this trend to continue. Having said that a change in influencer marketing strategies is necessary to gain scale in eyeballs. Pick the right creator or brand, one whose synergies match with yours; craft authentic and resonating messages; and finally, don’t create content just for the sake of it. Every piece must inspire, entertain or educate, adding something meaningful to the conversation. -- This column has been authored by Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng

Will Covid-19 catapult the future of influencers into overdrive?

<ul><li>After India embroiled in a border dispute with China in the Galwan Valley region last week, a cloud of negative sentiment for China emerged on social media. </li><li>There have been talks of people uninstalling <keyword id="6022999" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="chinese-apps">Chinese apps</keyword> and calls for boycotting Chinese products.</li><li>We speak to experts in an effort to find out how this negative sentiment might impact ad spends on some Chinese platform. </li></ul>The last week saw mounting tension on our borders with China following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley. Owing to the violence and the loss of life, anti-China hashtags such as #BoycottChineseProducts, #IndiaChinaBorder and #LadkhBorder surfaced on social media. For weeks now, anti-China sentiments have been escalating in the country. People have started boycotting Chinese apps and products. The video where a group of people break a television set of Chinese origins together, went viral on social media. The sentiment has now reached Chinese platforms like TikTok and VMate. People are either making anti-China content on a Chinese app or deleting the app altogether. Another app called ‘Made in India’ was launched on June 12 to help people recognise if the product placed in front of them is manufactured in India or not by scanning the barcode on its packaging. With this escalating resentment for our neighboring country, we reached out to experts to find out if Indian brands have already started pivoting their marketing monnies away from Chinese platforms like TikTok and VMate to avoid getting caught in the middle and here is what they said: Karthik Srinivasan, Independent Communications Consultant and Former National Lead of Social, Ogilvy said: <div type="image" title="Karthik sri 4_3" msid="76498762" hostid="261"></div> Yes, I would assume so. It's just terrible from a perception point of view, to be seen on TikTok, given the border-related issues that have surfaced now. For brands, perception is everything. Even if they hesitate or merely pause their campaigns on platforms like TikTok, it is highly possible that users would target brands and ask them pointed questions to boycott campaigns on TikTok. For users, since TikTok is free and is merely a source of entertainment, dropping the platform would be the lowest hanging fruit to showcase their sentiment. For power users who are used to their fan base on the platform, given the negative sentiment around China, they may need to take the painful decision to start building their base on other, non-Chinese platforms. This wouldn't affect celebrities and actors, though, since they have teams that have built their fan-bases on multiple platforms. So pausing content sharing on one (like TikTok) won't be an issue since they have other options like Instagram and Facebook anyway available to them. Preetam Thingalaya, Director of Media, Mirum India: <div type="image" title="Preetam, Mirum" msid="76498811" hostid="261"></div> My Immediate answer to this will be – NO, but will pause for a bit and will wait &amp; watch. However, we will keep a close eye on the development of this situation. Negative sentiments towards China are on an all-time high currently and it’s easier to delete an app than break your mobile phone or your television. But as we see it, new ideas and new plans for brand on Tiktok will take a back seat for some time, and we might see some decline in new campaigns going up on Tik Tok, other apps might see the same trend – for now, I see this as a temporary solution only. Once the situation cools down, I feel it will go back to normal like always. If TikTok actually gets banned and out of India, then it’s a different story. Also, my recent observation has been that #AntiChina hashtags/videos are trending on TikTok, now isn’t that ironic. Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng (DYT): <div type="image" title="Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng" msid="76498783" hostid="261"></div> Despite the internet wars in May that led to #BoycottChina and #BanTikTok, TikTok is back to its 4.4 ratings, and one of the top downloaded apps on Google Play, ahead of Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. It visibly proves that TikTok’s slip in rankings doesn’t adversely affect brands or their influencer marketing campaigns because it was temporary. A solid example is Emami’s #NavratnaCoolChampi campaign on TikTok using influencers Nagma Mirajkar and Awez Darbar, among others. There are valid reasons brands will not shy away from the ByteDance owned app any time soon. One, it puts them in front of Gen Z, a hard to catch demographic. Two, it offers potential sales across Tier II and III markets. Three, it’s vernacular and creative content provides entertainment value to users that other social media can’t.

In the wake of mounting Indo-China tension, are Indian brands pivoting their money away from Chinese platforms like TikTok, VMate?

<ul><li>Over the last few years, <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword> has grown exponentially in India.</li><li>The Advertising Council of India has now launched <keyword id="6586390" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-guidelines">new guidelines</keyword> for the <keyword id="11333696" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="influencer-marketing-industry">influencer marketing industry</keyword> to increase transparency.</li><li>We reached out to experts from the influencer marketing ecosystem to understand how it would impact the industry and help shape its growth in the coming years.</li></ul>The Advertising Council of India (ASCI) has launched new guidelines for influencers, brands and talent agencies in a bid to make influencer marketing more transparent for consumers. The lines between influencer’s personal content and paid content have become blurry, almost indistinguishable from regular posts. As per the guidelines, all advertisements published by social media influencers or their representatives, on such influencers’ accounts will be expected to carry a disclosure label that clearly identifies it as an advertisement. Disclosure is required if there is anything of value given to mention or talk about the advertiser’s product or service and it is supposed to be placed in a manner that is hard to miss. Influencer marketing has been witnessing an exponential growth in India in the past few years. According to digital marketing agency AdLift, India's influencer market is estimated at $75-150 million a year, as compared to the global market of $1.75 billion. And the year 2020 pushed businesses of various kinds and sizes to further experiment with digital solutions as all activities from attending concerts and birthday parties to fitness sessions moved from the physical realm to digital. Today, Indian audiences are watching more online videos than ever before. Nielsen studies show that home-bound consumers have led to a 60% increase in the amount of video content watched globally. So, as more and more Indians get connected to the internet, they discover and interact with a multitude of brands on a daily basis. ASCI’s new guidelines, experts said, will help give a structure to the industry, will elevate the level of trust between customers, influencers and brands. We reached out to experts from the influencer ecosystem to understand the implications of the guidelines and how it will impact stakeholders, and here is what they had to say: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Varun Mayya- Digital Content Creator and CEO &amp; Founder of Avalon Meta and Scenes by Avalon:" text="Varun Mayya- Digital Content Creator and CEO &amp; Founder of Avalon Meta and Scenes by Avalon:">Varun Mayya- Digital Content Creator and CEO &amp; Founder of Avalon Meta and Scenes by Avalon: </cmsannotation> The reach of influencers and media is much wider than ever before and thats one of the reason why the digital economy has disrupted the traditional economy. The consumers' mindset has changed massively over the last few years and they're much more sophisticated now. This change calls for changes in the advertisers approach with regards to ethics and openness. Influencers should be mindful of the products and companies they advertise and be upfront about the fact that they're paid to promote them. When you see TV, you know Shah Rukh is paid to do the ad but on Social Media this is mostly absent. You're following a person because you find them genuine and helpful but all of a sudden when they're promoting some fitness or haircare product and you don't know whether it's genuine or not. These guidelines should be able to bridge that gap and I hope that advertisers also take this as seriously as the creators." <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Viraj Sheth- Co-Founder and CEO at Monk Entertainment:" text="Viraj Sheth- Co-Founder and CEO at Monk Entertainment:">Viraj Sheth- Co-Founder and CEO at Monk Entertainment:</cmsannotation> I believe the ASCI Influencer Guidelines are a welcome move within the industry. The influencer marketing industry definitely was in need of regulation considering how size-able it has become and will keep getting in the near future. Influencers and creators have the onus of ensuring complete disclosure with regards to all their endorsements and brand deals in order to make sure their audiences know of the paid partnerships and they can then evaluate their decision about whether or not they wish to still buy the product/service. The introduction of these guidelines is only half the battle won, the latter half would have to focus on correct implementation and enforcement of the same with both brands and creators. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder and COO, ClanConnect:" text="Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder and COO, ClanConnect:">Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder and COO, ClanConnect:</cmsannotation> Influencer marketing has been witnessing a steady growth in India in the past few years. As digital media consumption is growing, the distinction between content and promotional advertisements is becoming important. Influencer marketing has now become mainstream. Therefore, consumers have a right to know what content has been paid for by brands and the guidelines intend to bring this transparency to influencer marketing. The guidelines are crucial at this moment considering the rapid growth in branded communications to consumers via social media. Wherein there are guidelines for traditional media advertising, now, with the boom in influencer marketing, these guidelines have become essential. The guidelines seems to have addressed all the necessary angles. These have been finalized after extensive evaluation and consideration of suggestions by industry players. With these guidelines, consumers can expect much more transparency as they navigate through the social media universe. These will not only streamline the space and offer a direction but also ensure that there is an added sense of social responsibility amongst the influencer community. On our part, we are geared up to guide influencers through the intricacies of the newly-launched guidelines, helping them meet all the requirements so they can focus on what they do best – create impactful content. We trust this will regulate &amp; filter out the misleading content, creating a transparent and healthy digital world! These guidelines will align the Indian online advertising industry with international markets. If influencers want to be followed by their audience, it is necessary for them to stay interesting, honest, creative while managing the art of storytelling to keep consumers engaged. While these new guidelines will promote transparency, it will also elevate the level of trust between customers, influencers and brands. So it will be beneficial across the stakeholders in the ecosystem. These guidelines will help the consumers to identify promotional content and also guide digital influencers. Ultimately, it will unlock a wealth of new opportunities for the fast-evolving segment that will result in positive outcomes for the sector in the long run. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Neel Gogia, Co-Founder, IPLIX Media:" text="Neel Gogia, Co-Founder, IPLIX Media:">Neel Gogia, Co-Founder, IPLIX Media: </cmsannotation> The <keyword id="10323570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="asci-guidelines">ASCI guidelines</keyword> are a welcome step forward in introducing transparency and authenticity across the ecosystem. However, every new initiative will face questions on its practicality. That debate is necessary to create a sustainable solution. Hence, in my opinion, the current recommendations might not be applicable to every influencer or every tool of influencer marketing. The lines are a little blurred. For instance, a non-monetary association under which an influencer shares an unbiased product review will be labeled as an AD, leaving consumers in a tough spot. This will be difficult to implement for a tech or an auto influencer as they cannot buy every product for review as they are of high monetary value, and in fact, not all the reviews are positive as well so they cannot be labeled as an AD. Furthermore, organic and value-added content creation with genuine product integration is being given priority by the brands, agencies as well as influencers at the moment and the current recommendations might not be aligned with this objective. For a YouTube content creator with long-format vlogs labeling the entire integration section as an AD will lead the audience to ignore the content even if it is adding value to them. A mention of 5-10 seconds should suffice rather than a full-length mention. I believe platform labels like ‘Includes paid promotion’ and ‘Paid partnership with’ on YouTube and Instagram respectively, offer that clarity for sponsored posts. This is sufficient to highlight that the integration is paid. However, additionally, the creators can put a supplementary hashtag to make it more visible. So, we will have to wait and watch how this unfolds.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Rajni Daswani, Director, SoCheers:" text="Rajni Daswani, Director, SoCheers:">Rajni Daswani, Director, SoCheers:</cmsannotation> The guidelines are a good guardrail in the industry that has been unregulated so far. The fact that the guidelines are not extremely stringent and do rely on influencers to see that they do justice, leaves room for brands to explore ways to circumvent around it. A lot will depend on how influencers &amp; brands adapt to it. Many brands are averse to the whole #Ad &amp; #Sponsored and may now start drawing parallel compares to paid media, which might see the investment in influencer marketing take a slight hit, after the phenomenal growth year that it has had. These guidelines will be like a double-edged sword for creators as well. While they will get a lot more say in putting out content that will work on their pages, influencers/creators who are doing a lot of branded content might see a hit in their engagement &amp; reach numbers. Quality content will continue to win nonetheless. For brands, would suggest to give influencers a little more freedom in designing the content in a way that will bring out the brand benefits, as well as get content to perform better on their channels. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng:" text="Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng:">Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng:</cmsannotation> This was a long time coming. The blurring of the line between ads and simple user-generated content needed to be corrected. Users not only have the right to know the difference between the two, they all but demand it. Disclosure labels are unquestionably a step forward in that direction. Besides helping bolster the trust audiences were increasingly hemorrhaging in content creators, the guidelines will hold brands and marketers more accountable. I am gratified ASCI has moved the needle in organizing a niche where entropy was just about beginning to reign supreme.

How ASCI’s new guidelines will impact influencer marketing industry: Experts share their opinion

<ul><li>As we enter a brand new year, we want to crystal gaze into what the year holds for us.</li><li>In today’s feature, experts from the <keyword id="2540701" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">Influencer Marketing</keyword> Industry tell us a few key trends and opportunities that the industry will bring forth as we move forward in 2021. </li></ul>2020 pushed businesses of various kinds and sizes to experiment with digital solutions as all activities from attending concerts, and birthday parties to fitness sessions moved from the physical realm to digital. After the COVID-19-induced lockdown, with TVC shoots on hold and people stuck at homes, brands realised that the influencer marketing model is well-suited in a time in which the audience is looking for some inspiration, searching DIY videos, learning new recipes or focusing on self care. This posed a good opportunity for brands and influencers to engage with their audiences with impactful messaging. Brands realigned their strategies, opened up their budgets for digital media to leverage the rising demand for influencer marketing. Today, Indian audiences are watching more online videos than ever before. Nielsen studies show that home-bound consumers have led to a 60% increase in the amount of video content watched globally. The number of live video sessions conducted on social media platforms by content creators also hiked in 2020. As per Facebook US, in the first months of the pandemic alone, the number of users watching live video increased by 50% and the platform launched additional features to support video creators. There was also a shift in perspectives and communication tone -- driving away from superficial, in-your-face, sales-driven content to a more meaningful, two-way and purpose-driven conversation. More content creators and brands started talking about the causes they believe in. To weather the storm of trimmed advertising budgets in the first half of the year, influencers turned to alternative revenue sources like selling merchandise or launching direct-to-consumer products. As a result, COVID has spawned strong growth in influencer marketing and creators have cemented their position boosting consumer trust in 2020. Keeping in mind how 2020 revolutionised the digital industry, we reached out to a few influencer marketing agencies to understand what does the future hold and how is the ecosystem shaping up. Here is what they said: Anuja Deora Sanctis, Founder and CEO, Filter Coffee Co: <div type="image" title="Anuja Filter Coffee" msid="80100767" hostid="261"></div> Influencers this year have used a variety of features to promote brands. There was an increased focus on short Video content, especially Reels, as it is being heavily promoted by Instagram and is cost-effective compared to long videos, providing more authenticity and engagement. Driving brand advocacy through genuine users and exploring varied types of influencers from different walks of life also saw great engagement and growth. For example, for one of our clients in skincare, we collaborated with Face Yoga Expert, Nutritionist, Chefs, and that benefited the brand a lot. The one trend that will grow massively in 2021 will be the rise of Micro &amp; Nano influencers. This is mainly due to high engagement, authenticity, and low-costs and is relevant in the current scenario as most brands have slashed budgets. Apart from the trends in general for influencers, one area where it is really working is skincare and cosmetic brands. Influencers are able to display the benefits and usage of products, so in a lockdown situation, where people cannot go and try the product, they are totally buying what the influencer is saying. Also, because of the way lifestyle e-commerce has developed, like Nykaa, Amazon, etc, to drive traffic to these platforms, you need swipe-up links through stories. Since not many brands have 10,000 followers, they are dependent on influencers to push traffic to their website and drive CTA. This trend is termed Influencer Commerce and I foresee it being one of the most demanded categories next year. Viraj Sheth - Founder and CEO, <keyword id="9491005" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="monk-entertainment">Monk Entertainment</keyword>: <div type="image" title="Viraj Sheth Monk-e" msid="80100797" hostid="261"></div> The biggest trend in influencer marketing in 2021 is going to be creators becoming founders and brand owners. So far, creators have only been resorting to platform revenues and brand deals as major sources of revenues. Although, in 2021, we are going to witness a huge wave of content creators building value-adding brands which are not just selling merchandise but products and services of all varied kinds. We are also going to start observing big brands partnering with creators on equity deals which will incentivise creators to build much deeper, valuable relationships with the brands. Neel Gogia, Co-founder, <keyword id="9617651" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="iplix-media">IPLIX Media</keyword>: <div type="image" title="Neel Gogia" msid="80100803" hostid="261"></div> 2020 has been like a catalyst for the growth of Influencer Marketing in India, not only we explored lots of new content creators but more brands also showed interest in working with influencers for their respective goals. We can expect a trend where more brands heavily focus on the strategies of their influencer marketing campaigns. Gone are the days where you can just hold a product and click a selfie to promote a brand. I feel both influencers and brands will evolve and explore creative ideas collectively to create engaging content. Brands will work with agencies who provide them interesting campaign ideas rather than just a list of influencers and expected reach which happens most of the time. This will make them stand out from other branded content which is already out there and might not be engaging to the audience. Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression: <div type="image" title="Apaksh Gupta, CEO, oneimpression" msid="80100881" hostid="261"></div> 2020 has changed the perspective of both brands and influencers, leading to a paradigm shift in functionality of influencer marketing. A trend that the ecosystem is harping on and that undeniably is gaining momentum, is the content consumption pattern. Steering away from pictures, people are consuming more videos than ever. They like to be updated with influencers’ lives, which creates space for smart product integrations that brands are now leveraging! Well established platforms like Reels, YouTube, Facebook coupled with new-age ones like Triller &amp; Moj have attracted avid video lovers to create and share short-format videos. In fact, live sessions have been devoured all the more, due to the content relatability and authenticity. Additionally, audio format content (podcasts) has started booming, and we may see it becoming as powerful as videos, in 2021! Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng: <div type="image" title="Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng" msid="80100887" hostid="261"></div> 2020 was the most sobering of realities. It was also the year the rest of the world discovered Dalgona coffee, TikTok got banned, and influencer marketing went to its grassroots. The black swan of 2020 awoke businesses to the power of social platforms and content creators. Creators restored their focus on delivering content that adds genuine value. They also played an integral role in building a sense of community; something people searched for when living in isolation. From a marketing standpoint, we saw a momentous shift from sales-driven campaigns to social good and charities. The lockdown and work from home, which we took to like ducks to water, pushed the needle on one more front. Marketers started bringing in influencers into the creative conversation earlier. Something, we’d been pushing for years. Brands also recognized that creators are more than a vehicle for sales. They can be credible communicators and excellent platforms to listen to changing consumer desires. As our co-founder, who we onboarded recently, Hemant Dua, Ex-CEO of Delhi Daredevils, affirms, the year was a bellwether for what lies ahead. We have ventured through the backwoods, and are finally headed to a more well-travelled path. Both our product and team saw dramatic growth. We’re closing at almost 4 times to what we were last year. As for 2021, I feel it will be a content and creator moment. Till now, brands gave credibility to creators. In the time to come, creators will bring credibility to brands. Shahir Muneer, Founder and Director, Divo: <div type="image" title="Shahir Muneer, Founder and Director, Divo" msid="80100899" hostid="261"></div> Divo has been at the forefront of influencer marketing since the beginning of this segment around 2017. While we have seen tremendous growth ourselves in excess of 100% growth year on year since then, here are few trends for 2021 that we see around the corner. Outcome or engagement-based model: There is a good number of brands/advertisers who have been using influencer marketing for well over 2 years now, and while influencers have so far been limited to scrutiny on their creative or content and their basic stats like followers, reach. We will see multiple advertisers look at the historical data and see what outcome like installs or sales they got via these influencers, and set the price or even inclusion into campaigns. Engagement rate will be a key parameter going forward and purely a high follower count won't suffice. While a shift from paying upfront to an affiliate or performance-based pricing model is not likely immediately, but that is where we are headed to in the future, and this is the beginning for it. Hence it's not enough for influencers to make interesting content, but also be able to engage with their audience and make it a 2-way conversation. Ramya Ramachandran, Founder &amp; CEO, Whoppl: <div type="image" title="Ramya Whoppl" msid="80167495" hostid="261"></div> It is interesting to note how influencer marketing was such a defining phenomenon in the year 2020. Now that brands have fully realised the kind of credibility and cachet that influencers bring to the forefront, one can only wonder how they will now spread their eventual overarching bosom and become an indispensable must-have for a holistic marketing endeavour. 2021 will see the rise and prominence of commerce-led influencer marketing, which will make it imperative for influencer-curated content to drive a relatable conversion. Brands would now like to see how an influencer churns out content that is authentic, and how that content is so relatable that it will lead to a sure-shot, subsequent conversion. If content was King all this while, 2021 will be a game of chess where ‘relatable content’ is the Queen. Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder, ClanConnect: <div type="image" title="Kishore ClanConnect" msid="80113607" hostid="261"></div> Gone are the days of creating content just for the sake of it. 2021 will be all about content with context. The number of influencers in India has witnessed explosive growth over the past year. Content which is not relatable, won’t get the desired engagement. So, the trick is to understand the context, get the background, and then create content that hits just the right mark. How can influencers gain this context? By getting the right insights through data analysis. The purpose of influencer campaign, at the heart of it, is creating engaging, interactive content for the consumers on behalf of a brand. Data analysis can present a wealth of insights about the audience base, the kind of content that has worked for them in the past, popular topics keywords searched by consumers, and more, allowing influencers to create content that will have a deeper impact and achieve the highest ROI. Context backed by data will, then, be the mantra of influencer activity in 2021. Prashant Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Nofiltr Group: <div type="image" title="prashant-sharma-nofiltr" msid="80118072" hostid="261"></div> Influencer marketing was a highly likely outcome of the pandemic, not only because of the availability of the campaign but also because of the changing way among the audience to receive communications. Demand is shifting, and both brands, as well as content creators, need to understand more about the value of content and what needs to be out in the market to captivate the attention of their targeted audience so as to thrive in a post-covid world. We are expecting that influencer marketing is here to stay and grow more and more. Brands have started relying more on content creators now to communicate their message to consumers in a more natural way, to maintain their relevance and meet their target audience online. Just because of this, content creators will have an upper hand. The industry of Influencer marketing is on track to become a $15 billion dollar industry by 2022 and it shows no sign of slowing down at all. Influencer marketing is going to be a game-changer in the times to come. 2020 literally gave a platform to several new content creators and brands also did not shy away from leveraging their skills and popularity to their own benefit. A massive trend that we can expect to witness moving forward is how brands will merge content marketing, influencer marketing and social media marketing. They will focus more on finding and partnering with those influencers who share similar values as themselves and will enter into long-term relationships with them, rather than onboarding them on a contractual basis. As for the content creators, they will be creating more audio and video content. So podcasts will become the next big thing along with the likes of Instagram Reels. Also, micro-influencers will emerge in huge numbers who do not have many followers but enjoy the popularity amongst a niche audience. Such influencers will help brands find their foothold with the specific group of people who would align with the goals of the brands. And the best part about such micro-influencers is that their audiences frequently engage with them. How events unfold will be interesting to watch.

Influencer Marketing: Trends to watch out for in 2021

<ul><li><keyword id="169284" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ASCI">ASCI</keyword> released <keyword id="8325366" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-draft-guidelines">new draft guidelines</keyword> to help consumers identify promotional content from user-generated content. </li><li>We reached out to brand experts and <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword> agencies to understand what it would mean for the industry.</li></ul>To help consumers understand social media a little better, and in an attempt to make sure they understand what content posted by an influencer is an ad, the <keyword id="120108" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Advertising-Standards-Council-of-India">Advertising Standards Council of India</keyword> (ASCI) has released draft guidelines for influencer advertising on digital media. Influencer marketing has been witnessing a steady growth in India in the past few years. Today, Indian audiences are watching more online videos than ever before. It was time to take a step forward towards building a transparent advertising ecosystem. <keyword id="6456080" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="nielsen">Nielsen</keyword> studies show that home-bound consumers have led to a 60% increase in the amount of video content watched globally. ASCI, in its statement said that the guidelines for influencers advertising on digital media will be available for all stakeholders, including industry, digital influencers as well as consumers for feedback till March 8, 2021. Based on the feedback and inputs, the final guidelines will be issued by ASCI by 31st March, 2021. This guideline will be applicable to all promotional posts published on or after 15th April 2021. We reached out to experts from the influencer ecosystem to understand the implications of the guidelines and how it will impact stakeholders, and here is what they had to say: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Arjun Mohan, CEO – India, upGrad" text="Arjun Mohan, CEO – India, upGrad">Arjun Mohan, CEO – India, upGrad</cmsannotation> A much-welcomed move by the ASCI, which has the potential to create a profound long-term impact affecting consumers’ trust in the overall concept of advertising. We realise the influencer marketing sector has seen exponential growth over the past decade and has also become a core of our brand-building efforts at upGrad. We look forward to the newly drafted guidelines which I’m sure will further make influencer marketing more transparent and also bring-forth better opportunities for brands to create responsible advertising for their audience, at large. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Co-founder &amp; Director" text="Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Co-founder &amp; Director">Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Co-founder &amp; Director</cmsannotation><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Wakefit.co" text="Wakefit.co">Wakefit.co</cmsannotation> We believe the new draft guidelines for influencer advertising on digital media suggested by ASCI is an extremely encouraging move. As more and more Indians get connected to the internet, they discover and interact with a multitude of brands on a daily basis. While these new guidelines will promote transparency, it will also elevate the level of trust between customers, influencers and brands. Given that brands and influencers are required to do a thorough due diligence about aspects like using filters and technical or performance claims made by a brand, it is likely to instil a sense of accountability and provide clarity to customers. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder &amp; Director, Elephant Design" text="Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder &amp; Director, Elephant Design">Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder &amp; Director, Elephant Design</cmsannotation> An influencer garners a large follower base because of consistent &amp; aligned content for the kind of audience he/ she is aiming for. If the influencers want to continue getting followed by their audience, it is necessary for them to stay interesting and honest. Influencer marketing has reached a critical mass in India and it is the right time to have these clear guidelines from ASCI that protect consumers from being misled. The draft guidelines by ASCI which are open for public discussion for the next few days, have transparency at its core and should be welcomed by the advertising industry. The most important guideline on prominent labelling has been rightfully specified for each social media channel – will help the consumer from getting misguided by influencer advertisements. The guidelines have ensured three prominent things: • Any content where the brand has paid the influencer and has had reasonable control over the content needs to be called out as 'advertisement'. • Influencer must make it obvious that the content is an 'advertisement'. This should be a clear indication to the follower that the content has bias. • If the influencer is making some specific claims, they should be diligently substantiated by the advertiser or brand owner. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder, ClanConnect" text="Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder, ClanConnect">Kunal Kishore Sinha, Co-founder, ClanConnect</cmsannotation> ASCI’s newly issued guidelines for influencer marketing will unlock a wealth of new opportunities for the fast-evolving segment that will result in positive outcomes for the sector in the long run. When a major industry body such as the ASCI deems that there is a need to introduce guidelines for influencers and the influencer marketing community, it shows how the market has evolved and has assumed a mainstream stature in the larger advertising space. These guidelines will not only streamline the space and offer a direction but also ensure that there is an added sense of social responsibility amongst the influencer community. Needless to say, we welcome this move by the ASCI for the segment as it will act as a guiding light for new and established content creators, who will now be more mindful of the kind of content that they are bringing to their target audiences. An extremely positive move from the ASCI, these guidelines will act as a catalyst for more organized and structured platforms such as ClanConnect to set new benchmarks for the industry as a whole. Platforms such as ours will play a major role in assisting content creators in navigating through the various regulations and conform to them without any inadvertent missteps. With ASCI introducing these guidelines, the influencer marketing segment also joins the league of recognized and celebrated domains of the advertising ecosystem and indicates further growth and evolution for this space. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression" text="Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression">Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; CEO, One Impression</cmsannotation> We're elated to have been partners with the entire ecosystem and the regulatory body that is fostering a holistic approach towards digital advertising. Observing the paradigm shift from traditional to digital, it only coherent to have a transparent &amp; clear ecosystem laid out via the proposed ASCI guidelines, that is beneficial to both digital influencers &amp; consumers. We trust this will regulate &amp; filter out the misleading content, which is suggestive of a much healthier digital world out there! <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ankita Chauhan, Group Head Strategy, Tonic Worldwide" text="Ankita Chauhan, Group Head Strategy, Tonic Worldwide">Ankita Chauhan, Group Head Strategy, <keyword id="3671421" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tonic-Worldwide">Tonic Worldwide</keyword></cmsannotation> As the word opinion leader suggests, influencers are leading opinion and influencing purchase decisions, across categories. A lot of time the content is promoted as a part of the larger story and seeded in subtly, making the whole placement look rather organic. However, consumers have full right to know what is paid and what is organic. It’s quite basic. I’ve observed several influencers labelling sponsored content and I think industry bodies making it a mandate only benefits the consumers at large. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Aayush Tiwari - Head of Talent Acquisition, Monk Entertainment" text="Aayush Tiwari - Head of Talent Acquisition, Monk Entertainment">Aayush Tiwari - Head of Talent Acquisition, Monk Entertainment</cmsannotation> I believe that the latest issued ASCI guidelines is a good step to secure the future of now one of the most popular ways of brand promotions - influencer marketing. As the guidelines states, consumers, here disguised as a follower, should have all the rights to know what's being uploaded organically and what's a paid advertisement. This declaration also will motivate the influencer to study about the brand/product and investigate their claims before they go all out publicizing them. Post formulation we'll surely see less cases of misleading advertisements, safeguarding both the consumer spends and influencers getting caught off guard for their claims - <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng" text="Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng">Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng</cmsannotation> USA’s FTC and UK’S ASA both issued regulations years back outlining explicit do’s and don'ts for influencers. It was high time influencer marketing in India followed the same path. The lack of guidelines gave more oxygen to damaging content, and it chipped away the hard-earned trust in creators. When consumers know an ad is an ad or content just that – mere organic content, which is one of the rules in the draft: upfront labelling on ads; the confidence in a creator is not broken. When creators are authentic, including being straightforward about sponsored content, they make more impact and deliver deeper engagement. That’s why I have been vocal about the necessity for the entire niche to abide by advertising rules from day one. With this framework from ASCI, that hopefully comes into play in April, we finally move the needle on streamlining the sector that has been unorganised for far too long. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ramya Ramachandran, Founder &amp; CEO, Whoppl" text="Ramya Ramachandran, Founder &amp; CEO, Whoppl">Ramya Ramachandran, Founder &amp; CEO, Whoppl</cmsannotation> In line with the latest regulation imposed by the ASCI, the need for total transparency in the realm of influencer marketing has been rightfully reaffirmed. In today’s time and age, when influencer marketing is growing at an unprecedented pace and almost everybody wants to become an influencer, it is the need of the hour to safeguard a consumer’s right to information and transparency. With major fiascos like the Fyre Festival, it has become urgently crucial to come up with influencer marketing strategies and content that are 100% credible and verified. Here at Whoppl, content is the hero for us and we have always ensured transparency by fully disclosing the influencer’s professional contract with us—by getting the sponsorship tag in place, for instance, wherever required. In fact, we always strive for a strategy wherein we ask the influencers to first try out the product/service, make their opinions and create authentic content as per their tonality, while also ensuring full disclosure of their partnership with the brand. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Jo Broner, WIBA Spokesperson (Paris)" text="Jo Broner, WIBA Spokesperson (Paris)">Jo Broner, WIBA Spokesperson (Paris)</cmsannotation> At the heart of it, ASCI is recognizing the digital influencer space as part of the mainstream industry now, which is very good news for the influencers. It is going to build more trust between the artists and their audience with increased transparency. It also means the marketers have to channelize verifiable information and not unverifiable marketing claims. Influencers connect with curated communities, who listen to them for the credibility they bring, so they have an inherent moral responsibility to not breach the trust of their audience, ASCI is bolstering it with new laws, and that is going to bring in due discipline in the environment, so it's a welcome move. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Divyanshu Damani, Co-founder of TagMango" text="Divyanshu Damani, Co-founder of TagMango">Divyanshu Damani, Co-founder of TagMango</cmsannotation> In this digital-age amid a plethora of marketing platforms, influencer marketing has carved its own niche. However, there was a need for guidelines that further enhances the trust of consumers in influencers. As the influencers also need to understand that when they partner with a brand, they share their own trust in the brand with their communities and audience. So, it becomes highly critical for them to only undertake the partnerships that they believe will positively impact their audience. Therefore, in my opinion, it is an extremely vital move. The guidelines issued will allow them to deeply evaluate the offering and the trust that they’re sharing. Furthermore, it would reduce the overall funnel of their brand partnerships and thus, push them to think about opting for sustainable monetary options which we are building at TagMango. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Pranav Panpalia, Founder, OpraahFx" text="Pranav Panpalia, Founder, OpraahFx">Pranav Panpalia, Founder, OpraahFx</cmsannotation> The ASCI guidelines are simple and easy to adhere to. The guidelines are more or less similar to the west. In the past couple of years, this has been thoroughly implemented by international influencers and I am happy to see India leading in the same direction. This will definitely make the digital ecosystem more responsible and streamlined. I am in complete agreement with all the points of the guidelines, especially with the fact that images and videos should not be altered or beautified by influencers while advertising on social media. Since digital media caters to a much more aware audience set, keeping it real is the only way to connect with them. Looking forward to a more transparent digital world. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Rajni Daswani, Director at SoCheers" text="Rajni Daswani, Director at SoCheers">Rajni Daswani, Director at SoCheers</cmsannotation> Influencer marketing is a $100 million industry in India now, and brands of all kinds - big or small - are benefiting from using influencers &amp; content creators to drive their business objectives. The fact that it’s been unregulated so far, we have seen some brands sneakily get away with things that would not be considered ethical if it were to be shown in a TVC or an OOH. The guidelines will serve as a good guardrail in these cases. However, on the flip side, the popularity of influencer marketing in a brand’s marketing budget is due to the flexibility of communication that allows them to showcase the benefits of their products &amp; services in different ways without it looking very promotional. Digital consumers today are smart enough to understand what is an Advert vs what is organic, and hence brands are willing to pay more to get their promotional material to look as organic as possible. With these guidelines kicking in, we might see the overall engagement and reach with influencers drop and might see it get the same status quo as a paid media ad on digital. I think while these guidelines are necessary, they should not be extremely stringent so as to avoid creating a dent in the overall influencer marketing industry that is growing at a faster pace than ever. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ambika Sharma, Founder &amp; MD, Pulp Strategy" text="Ambika Sharma, Founder &amp; MD, Pulp Strategy">Ambika Sharma, Founder &amp; MD, Pulp Strategy</cmsannotation> The influencer industry is growing fast. According to digital marketing agency AdLift, India’s influencer market is estimated at $75-$150 million a year as compared to the global market of $1.75 billion. This is an industry that has become mainstream within the advertising space and is only expected to grow as more and more Indians are going online. It’s no wonder that brands across sectors are associating with influencers to get across their marketing messages. So, much of what influencers post is promotional and a lot of it is not identified as such. Such non-disclosure is a disservice to consumers and is misleading. With the guidelines, ASCI will assist consumers, brands and content creators to ensure all stakeholders’ interests are preserved through a self-regulatory approach. The digital space is huge and promotional content is often indistinguishable from regular posts. Consumers have the right to easily recognise promotional content. These guidelines will help the consumers to identify promotional content and also guide digital influencers. These guidelines will benefit the consumers and the digital influencers. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Gautam Madhavan, Founder &amp; CEO, MAD Influence" text="Gautam Madhavan, Founder &amp; CEO, MAD Influence">Gautam Madhavan, Founder &amp; CEO, MAD Influence</cmsannotation> I'm very happy with the new set of guidelines set by asci. It's good for business and shows Influencer Marketing in India is just going to grow more aggressively. This also helps consumers identify which content is commissioned and which is not , and accordingly their buying decisions is more rationale.

Here's what experts think about ASCI’s new draft guidelines for influencer advertising

<ul><li>As the government banned 59 Chinese apps around talks of data privacy and security, many influencers and brands have been left in the lurch.</li><li>Since apps like <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword> have a huge influencer community and brands also have their marketing monies invested on the platform, we spoke to experts to understand how things might pan out in the near future.</li></ul> For a while now, there have been increasing debates around <keyword id="145060" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-security">data security</keyword> and privacy in India. Amidst these conversations and also mounting tensions between China and India, the government of India on Monday announced the ban of around 59 Chinese apps. These apps include popular video-sharing social networking platform TikTok, WeChat, UC Browser, SHAREit, Baidu Map, Shein, Helo and Likee, amongst others. The government, in its official announcement said, “The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking it’s power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 59 apps ( see Appendix) since in view of information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.” Hours after the announcement was made, TikTok India’s head <keyword id="47432" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nikhil-Gandhi">Nikhil Gandhi</keyword> released a statement.It read, “The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity. TikTok has democratized the internet by making it available in 14 Indian languages, with hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers depending on it for their livelihood, many of whom are first time internet users.” TikTok enjoys a huge following in India and has a dedicated fan base as well as innumerable users who have become influencers on the platform. India accounts for a huge chuck of TikTok’s global installs. According to estimates by Sensor Tower, when TikTok crossed 2 billion global downloads, India was at the forefront of this growth. The country accounted for 611 million lifetime downloads or 30.3% of the total. This opened up the opportunities for both content creators and brands who started looking at the platform as an effective way of reaching out to audiences. We saw quite a few brands come up with innovative campaigns on the platform. TikTok has also been strengthening its offerings for advertisers. However, this ban will put a lot of things on hold. We wanted to understand the impact of this ban on the influencer community and reached out to a few experts. Here is what they had to say: <keyword id="2705387" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shamsuddin-Jasani">Shamsuddin Jasani</keyword>, Group MD, Isobar South Asia We don't know how long this ban is going to last for. But if it lasts for a few months it certainly is going to have a big effect on the curated video space, YouTube for sure will be the big gainer as well as Indian apps on the space. Ashutosh, CEO and Co-founder, Buzzoka The ban on Tik-Tok definitely calls for brands to rethink their influencer marketing strategies. Undeniably, the platform saw a spike in interest in the recent past however it must be noted that it formed only a part of brands' influencer marketing spend. On the contrary, mature platforms like Instagram and YouTube have always had an edge over the former. As a result, the impact of its ban will be lesser on brands and more on the content creators who were only present on Tik-Tok. I believe there's always a silver lining. Disruption will take place in the market. There is no dearth of platforms hence, brands will increasingly turn to them to reach similar audiences. Similarly, influencers will be able to make new identities on other platforms as far as they are good and confident about their content creation. Moreover, this will create new avenues in the ecosystem for emerging Indian platforms like Mitron and Chingari and will encourage them to invest more in enhancing their respective platforms and see rapid growth from here. Premkumar Iyer, National Operations Head, Gozoop This ban is a very big move for Indian M&amp;A. It will be interesting to see how the whole ban eventually plays out. Of all the apps banned, TikTok ranks highest on potential due to its hinterland dominance, which led brands to make investments on the platform, both in terms of time and money. Brands will probably press pause and see how this culminates before attempting any major course correction. However, the real game here is for the influencers who have built strong communities on the platform. We are witnessing a shift as most are moving towards Instagram as it is natively closest to what TikTok enabled for these creators. Cross promoting communities have always been the norm for influencers and since the ban was announced creators have started posting content asking their community to follow them on Instagram and YouTube so that if the ban continues fans can still watch their content. What's going to make this even more interesting is if Instagram's Reels and Facebook's Lasso short video format app launches in India as the timing could not be better.I think for most it is going to be like JayZ says “On to the Next One”. Harikrishnan Pillai, CEO and Co-founder, TheSmallBigIdea Digital platforms across the world are facing tremendous pressure from governments and advertisers to bring in more data transparency and content filtering. This move is led by public outrage and both, the government and brands are quite conscious of their imagery basis their stance. The 150+ brand boycott of Facebook or the Chinese platform bans are clear indicators of this phenomenon. The question is what does it mean to the advertisers, agencies and platforms. In a short to medium term, advertisers and agencies will look at alternate platforms to help them meet their marketing goals. Some of the banned platforms are sizeable, so it would be difficult to find an immediate apparent replacement. In this case, a combination of replacements or an increase in presence in existing platforms can be an option. Also, the ban is still a little unclear from an implementation standpoint. The downloaded apps are still running, though new downloads are at a halt. If the government calls for a complete ban, things will go south for these platforms. Even then, I don't believe brands will advertise on these apps, fearing public outrage. For influencers, from a short term POV, the business will be affected if they have had a single platform focus. From a long term perspective, Indian apps have a great opportunity to grow. ‘Revenge Download' will lead to a sudden spike of Indian apps. Whether they manage to be sticky and effective, time will tell. <keyword id="7372416" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Viraj-Sheth">Viraj Sheth</keyword>, Co-founder and CEO, <keyword id="9491005" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="monk-entertainment">Monk Entertainment</keyword> The TikTok ban, if it stays for perpetuity, will prove to be a big dent in the life of many young and budding influencers. TikTok has given rise to an incredible number of influencers who rose to stardom through the platform and earned their bread and butter due to the audience earned from the app. While most of the established TikTokers will see a dip in their branded content earnings because of this ban for a few months, they've been smart enough to build their audiences on platforms like Instagram &amp; YouTube. When brands divert their spends from TikTok to other platforms, this ban will not affect their earnings over a period of time. TikTok had been a huge catalyst in enabling talent from the farthest nooks and corners of India. The ban will leave a gap in the market for Indian short video platforms to come through and make their mark. I hope they make their moves right. Neel Gogia, Co founder, IPLIX Media This step will impact thousands of Tiktok influencers who are dependent on brands for their survival. Brands will be impacted as well. They have already started reaching out to us to understand how they can realign their strategies to reach similar audiences. It will be interesting to see how influencers and brands change their strategies to adapt to the other platforms. We feel in 5-6 months influencers can build their audience in these platforms (if they create relevant content). Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng The ban is more of a statement right now - a comma rather than a full stop. That’s evident from the clarification updated by TikTok India. If, and that’s a big if, the block becomes permanent, it has the potential to change the influencer landscape significantly. Right now, for marketers, TikTok is the space to target Gen Zers as 41% of its users fall in this age bracket. I feel it is one reason why brand custodians place it in the top 3 three platforms for influencer marketing [Instagram (94%), TikTok (52%) and YouTube (52%)]. On top of it, the app has higher engagement rates and average time spent per day than Instagram. When you take away something so effective, brands are bound to feel the pinch. To compensate, they’ll redirect their influencer marketing efforts to other platforms – trigger the said change. On the creator side, the impact will be more substantial and devastating. As Nikhil Gandhi correctly points out, TikTok gave a voice to hundreds of creators generating vernacular content in India. While most creators are savvy enough to diversify to other platforms, there will be few who stand to lose their entire body of work. But all this is contingent on a permanent block, which in my opinion will most probably not happen. Not just because TikTok has been given a chance to submit clarifications, but because executing a ban is not simple with plenty of workarounds available. Honey Singh, CEO &amp; Co-Founder, #ARM Worldwide Content creators have already started nurturing their other platforms like Instagram and Youtube. After this ban, I feel there will be a significant spike on Instagram. These content creators will also face monetary losses since brands have already started pausing their planned TikTok activities for now. At the moment, we are already in touch with many content creators and figuring out how to finish ongoing campaigns. Lastly, this ban will also allow these content creators to think about building a uniform fan following. Post anti-China sentiments have already started depleting the wallets of influencers. After the ban, all the scheduled campaigns from the brands are on pause until further clarity from the government. Creators having large followings on other channels like Instagram/Youtube may recover, but there will be a significant loss for them. The silver lining is that content creators should realize that nothing is permanent. They should start working on an omnichannel presence. Aside from nurturing an audience on a platform, a community beyond a single rented house is a must. The thumb rule for any brand is to know exactly where their audience is. Long-term solutions can include developing platforms such as forums, websites, blogs &amp; newsletters to nurture their audience beyond a single platform. Sandeep Sreekumar, Managing Director, Media Moments Over the years, apps like TikTok, Helo and the likes had caught the eye of various brands and had developed into strong marketing mediums. Now, with the recent update, there will be a shift in the platforms used by the influencers while the overall approach will remain the same. This move will also open new opportunities for many Indian apps.And it will be interesting to see how Indian apps like Chingari, Mitron and Roposo will come into the foreplay and cash in the situation. For instance, many apps experienced a massive increase in the download rates soon after the announcement. Having said that; thorough understanding, planning and research will be required before associating with these apps to deliver right message and content. But as long as quality content is being created, audiences will follow and as long as audiences are there, brands will invest regardless of the platform. Piyush Kumar, CEO &amp; Founder, Rooter We have seen a 250% increase in new users joining Rooter in the last 12 hours and we are estimating 1 million new users on our platform in the next 15 Days. This surge will be organically driven by our users and content creators. The ban on Chinese apps like TikTok opens up a huge opportunity for Indian apps to come to the forefront. There will be a huge drop in user acquisition costs as Chinese apps may no longer invest their money in our homegrown apps money. Moreover, the advertising business for the Indian apps will also increase in the absence of TikTok. TikTok might have been a source of income for thousands of content creators, but there were only 1-1.5% of users creating content on it. The rest were the consumers. With the emergence of alternate local platforms, creators will automatically shift their content dais, enticing the brands to partner with them for engaging with the audience. It will be a win-win situation for both. Divanshi Gupta, Director, The Marcom Avenue The recent geopolitical events on Indo-China borders have resulted in the Indian government banning TikTok and other 58 apps in the light of protecting the privacy and sovereignty of its residents. This action may have its repercussions on both the governments, but it is definitely going to have a significant impact on the brands and advertisers who had set aside the quarter budget for influencer marketing campaigns on TikTok social media. This short-form content media app had begun to attract a considerable number of users. And now, the advertisers will have to undeniably shift their strategy and focus on creating long-form content on platforms, like YouTube and Instagram, with already established and known faces by bidding adieu to TikTok influencers.

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