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<ul><li>Last week, <keyword id="3453455" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="adam-mosseri" source="Orion">Adam Mosseri</keyword>, Head of Instagram announced that Instagram is testing its <keyword id="72984" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="subscription" source="Orion">subscription</keyword> model for select content creators in the US, a news that was received with much enthusiasm by creators across the globe.</li><li>We spoke to a few experts and creators to understand its larger implication for creators and what's in it for the audience.</li></ul>Instagram has finally started testing its long-awaited subscription model to give its creators a ‘predictable’ income, Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram said in a video posted on Twitter. “With Instagram Subscriptions, creators can develop deeper connections with their most engaged followers and grow their recurring monthly income by giving subscribers access to exclusive content and benefits, all within the same platform where they interact with them already,” explained the platform in a statement. Instagram has started testing subscriptions with a handful of creators in the US who will be able to set a monthly price of their choice, unlock a “subscribe” button on their profile and offer the following benefits to their subscribers: Subscriber Lives: Creators can broadcast exclusive Lives to their subscribers, allowing them to engage more deeply. Subscriber Stories: Creators can create stories just for their subscribers, allowing them to share exclusive content and to use interactive story stickers with their most engaged followers only. Subscriber Badges: Creators will see a subscriber badge next to comments and messages so they can easily identify their subscribers. “Over time, we hope to expand these features because it's important that subscriptions are integrated throughout the entire Instagram experience. We also believe creators should own their relationship with their subscribers. So we are working on ways creators can take their subscriber list and bring them off of Instagram to other apps and websites built by other companies," Mosseri said. To understand the larger implications of this move on creators and the overall creator ecosystem, we reached out to a few experts and creators and here’s how they took the news: <keyword id="6575948" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="aayush-tiwari" source="Orion">Aayush Tiwari</keyword>, VP - Talent Management &amp; Music Business, Monk Entertainment Instagram is surely one of the ‘you can’t imagine internet without it’ platform, with a vast user base not just in India, but worldwide as well. This subscription feature will definitely encourage and motivate more creators to get on the platform, make quality content and create a passive source of income. The creators here, unlike working with brands, will have the full content/creative control, thus the conversion factor will solely depend upon the creator. True fans who want to enjoy exclusive content and benefits will be enthusiastic towards subscription models. We’ve seen good community support where users don’t mind paying a certain fees to avail more of their favourite content, so hoping this new feature will be a good start for not just established creators but also for the one’s who have just started their journey. The audience can then be a part of their favourite creators’ exclusive community. <keyword id="3074792" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ishan-jindal" source="Orion">Ishan Jindal</keyword>, Founder &amp; CEO, Wobb.ai Content is the core of any social media or short video app. With the growing number of these apps in the last few years, creators have multiple options today on which they can showcase their talent. Adding a subscription feature will allow Instagram to offer a more complete solution to content creators. Multiple income streams coming from a single platform, in turn, will add to app stickiness. Today, Indian consumers are willing to pay a premium for exclusive content and we have seen this with a growing number of OTT, and subscription-based publications. The model is also validated by players in the USA who currently allow creators to monetize their premium content via subscriptions. Interestingly, we did a survey with Wobb influencers recently on subscription-based content, 42% of the respondents were concerned about not being able to differentiate enough consistently to charge for a premium on the content. Therefore, it may not be the smoothest ride, at least in the beginning. But in the long run, I think the market will adapt to this and we will see many interesting ways in which creators differentiate, and monetize via the subscription route." Aayushman Sinha, Co Founder and Director, BlackCab Adam Mosseri's announcement of subscriptions today is a monumental step towards the creator economy. While Memberships were already available to certain creators on YouTube, the mass of content creators in India actively participate on Instagram and will be the biggest beneficiaries. From subscriber only live streams to subscriber badges, 'fan affinity' will finally be monetized in lines with the current NFT culture. It will be exciting to see how creators use their paid subscriber lists and take them off platform for deeper engagement, for example a musician taking his paid subscribers for an in person album listening party before it releases. Truly exciting times ahead for both creators and brands with a strong following! The audience too can now finally look at more meaningful engagement beyond the simple like and comment and also truly flex their support with superfan subscriber badges, exclusive content and the various subscriber only benefits that will be built specifically for them. The power of community on Instagram can finally be monetized! Gautam Madhavan, CEO, Mad Influence First and foremost, this is not a new phenomenon in the social media sphere. This was previously available on YouTube. There is currently a YouTube subscription service that allows you to subscribe to influencers, channels, and exclusive material. Because only those with paid memberships may subscribe, it offers a new money source for influencers and helps them to establish a more devoted following. Only 5% of a million individuals subscribe to their favourite producers or influencers, demonstrating how much they appreciate and admire their work. This 5% will be converted into actual money, which will become an income stream for the artists as well as a long-term fan following. As a result, the community grows stronger and the creators will also be motivated to create more quality content for their exclusive paid subscribers. <keyword id="8626530" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="raj-shamani" source="Orion">Raj Shamani</keyword>: Digital Content Creator, Investor, Podcaster and Entrepreneur Instagram’s subscription model just proves that Instagram is all here for the support of the creators and grow of the creator economy. With subscription model coming in, many might start taking content creation on Instagram more seriously. Not only as a thing to express but also a career choice. So we can see many creators emerging not only in India but also in the whole world. The best part about the subscription model is that audience will get to interact with the creators directly. They will get to learn from them and as creators will form real bonds with their audience, it will also help them to gain loyal followers in the long run. This will also remove the virtual gap that audience and creators have and that will only develop more trust. As creators will know their audience personally, this will help them create content their audience wants. Abhiraj Rajadhyaksha &amp; Niyati Mavinkurve (Abhi and Niyu)- Digital Content Creator: Instagram testing subscriptions is probably the most exciting news for creators, even in India. Although features are generally rolled out quite late to India as a market, for creators, there is now a viable form of earning from the platform. So, the problem of creating content is two-fold. One, the creators need to find a reliable source of monetization so that they can continue to create content that they love. Two, many people from the audience want to support creators but they don’t know how to. Adding subscriptions will solve both these problems, especially for smaller creators. As of now, monetization on Instagram is limited to brand collaborations and finding the right brands for your vision can be difficult, especially if you are creating content in a narrow niche. The audience will benefit from this move. One, they can get exclusive perks from the creator, like special lives, special interactions, visibility in comments. The audience can be a part of an exclusive community and get directly in touch with the creator. India’s audience at the moment is used to consuming content for free. However, with multiple different OTT platforms, they’re slowly maturing into an audience that will also pay to watch content or get exclusive perks. There will also be creators who use subscriptions as their only form of monetization without any brand collaborations. In such a case, the bond between the creator and the audience willing to pay is even deeper. The audience will know that they’re helping the creator produce content that they love to watch. Arushi Gupta, Head- <keyword id="1864633" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="influencer" source="Orion">Influencer</keyword>.in, part of social beat: <div type="image" title="arushi - Influencer in" msid="89089950" hostid="261"></div> I feel like this is an incredibly exciting time to be a creator and a consumer. Today most people don’t understand that content creation is an extremely time-consuming, full-time job and this feature will provide creators a way to sustain themselves financially. At the same time, creators will also have a certain sense of responsibility and accountability towards their audiences. Though the Indian market will take some time to adapt to this, I anticipate that this will eventually grow on us. If a few years ago someone told me I would be paying to watch movies on the internet, I would laugh it off. But here I am (and 4.4 million other Indians) paying for a Netflix subscription. With creators having more creative freedom, the platform hosting better quality content and audiences not being saturated with ads, the implications it will have on the creator economy are endless. Sounds like a win-win for all!’

Instagram is finally testing subscriptions in the US, here’s how experts feel it will benefit creators

<ul><li>How much <keyword id="2893283" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="content-creators" source="Orion">content creators</keyword> make per post is dependent on a few factors such as their content genre, social media platform that they use, reach, and engagement rate.</li><li>Rates also differ based on the deliverables, usage rates, and exclusivity.</li><li>Indian Influencer marketing agencies and content creators explain how they earn money, how much they make per post on average and if there’s a need to standardise pricing across the industry.</li></ul>It all starts with a barter. Like many of us who started with an internship wherein we were paid in ‘exposure,’ social media content creators know they have arrived when a brand approaches them and requests them to post for free. In exchange for one Instagram or YouTube shout-out, a creator is offered free brand products and exposure/reach/visibility. <div type="image" title="Influencer meme" msid="91254370" hostid="261"></div> Gradually, after a creator hits around 5k followers usually, finds a loyal audience and builds a niche brand image of sorts on the internet, the chances of them finding a paid deal get slightly better. However, if you acquire a huge loyal fanbase and stable engagement rate like cricketer Virat Kohli, you can earn about <a href="https://www.hopperhq.com/instagram-rich-list/">$680,000</a> (₹5 crore) per Instagram post. There’s no upper limit. <div type="image" title="Micheal Scott - high fly" msid="91254447" hostid="261"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Various roads to monetisation" text="Various roads to monetisation">Various roads to monetisation</cmsannotation> There are a number of ways in which a creator can monetise their presence on social media platforms. Mumbai-based digital content creator Rohit Sadhwani is more prominent on YouTube. He has amassed over 628000 subscribers on the video social media platform. He told us that a creator can earn through their monetised content, affiliate marketing, merchandise, branded content and platform-based revenue or in-video ads. For example, YouTube creators can earn through pre-roll skippable ads as per cost per mile (CPM), a metric used to measure the price of an advertisement per one thousand impressions or clicks. “Facebook pays the most in terms of in-video ads and when it comes to branded content, YouTube pays the most among all social media platforms. We get a share of the platform’s revenue as per our CPM. For example, a creator will get ₹10 per thousand ad views. However, more than 70%-80% of a creator’s revenue comes from branded content,” shares Sadhwani with Business Insider India, as he humbly sits on the floor, explaining the process of influencer marketing. Since there are no advertisements on Instagram India yet, content creators don’t receive a share from the platform. They have to rely completely on branded content. They are paid per Instagram sponsored post by a brand. As of January 2022, Google-owned <a href="https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/youtube-now-has-265-million-users-in-india-story-j5njXtLHZCQ0PCwb57s40O.html">YouTube </a>has more than 265 million monthly active users in India and 1,200 of its creators have crossed the one million subscriber milestone. Five years ago, only two creators had crossed the milestone. Meta’s Instagram, on the other hand, had a total of <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/578364/countries-with-most-instagram-users/#:~:text=As%20of%20January%202022%2C%20India,Instagram%20audience%20in%20the%20world.">230.25 million</a> users in India in January 2022, the largest Instagram audience in the world. As per analytics and research firm <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1268168/number-of-content-creators-worldwide-by-platform/#:~:text=Instagram%20was%20by%20far%20the,Facebook%2Downed%20platform%20that%20year.">Statista</a>, YouTube had the highest number of professional creators globally at 1 million in January 2020, which means more than 1 million creators earned a living completely from publishing content on the platform. Instagram was the most popular platform among creators, with 30 million amateur creators monetising content on the Facebook-owned platform that year. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How is a creator shortlisted?" text="How is a creator shortlisted?">How is a creator shortlisted?</cmsannotation> After a brand finalises its budget for its campaign, influencer marketing platform Deckster.Live’s founder, Shivam Agarwal says that there are a number of factors that are involved in shortlisting a content creator later. “It is not just the number of followers that matters when zeroing down on the cost. Many other factors like the type of influencer’s content, genre, engagement rate, and audience matter equally,” he clarifies. As per the cofounder of influencer marketing and digital agency IPLIX, Jag Chima, brands appreciate a good return on investment (ROI). “Brands generally want to see insights and track record for conversion. Ultimately, it comes down to ROI [return on investment], so, a good return on investment can be around 3:1 meaning a 3 dollar return for every dollar spent.” Telling us how a creator’s value is calculated by brand on the other side of the table, Arushi Gupta, business head, Influencer.in says, “It depends on metrics of their account like average reach, engagement, views of their recent content created. Secondly, credibility. Type of content created: How is the quality of the content created and its alignment with brand values. Relevancy of the audience and how aligned it is for the brand's objective and the product.” GroupM’s influencer marketing and analytics agency <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/media/article/influencer-marketing-will-be-inr-900cr-market-in-india-by-the-end-of-2021-report/articleshow/86289325.cms">INCA </a>estimates that influencer marketing is poised to grow at a CAGR of 25% for the next decade, reaching a size of ₹2200 crore in 2025. It further said that nearly two-thirds of the Indian population already follow an influencer. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How much do influencers earn?" text="How much do influencers earn?">How much do influencers earn?</cmsannotation> There’s a battle raging on social media. It is a war of likes and attention. On the battlefield are your favourite content creators fighting to find a space on the internet. Whoever takes the lion’s share of public attention and offers something unique, earns more money from brands. According to <a href="http://www.hypeauditor.com/">hypeauditor.com</a>, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based influencer marketing platform, micro-influencers in the 5000 to 20000 group occupied a <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1122194/india-share-of-instagram-influencers-by-tier/">larger </a>share of 54.3% on Instagram across India in 2020. Influencers with over 1 million followers, also known as mega influencers, only had around 0.41% share on Instagram. <div type="image" title="Distribution of Instagram influencers" msid="91254483" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Distribution of Instagram influencers&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Influencer marketing agencies that Business Insider India spoke to mentioned that while the rate varies from influencer to influencer, on average, a mega-influencer with more than 1 million followers can charge over 4 lakh per post on Instagram. <div type="image" title="influencerrs-2-Artboard-1-copy-4" msid="91290128" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;How much Instagram influencers earn&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> These costs are subject to various other factors like engagement rate, follower base, content quality, genre, timelines of the campaign and duration of the Reel. As per Pranav Panpalia, founder of influencer marketing agency OpraahFx, “the charges may be higher on YouTube depending upon the number of subscribers and content duration.” “Instagram and YouTube both have fair opportunities for revenue growth. However, what few <keyword id="4726280" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram-influencers" source="Orion">Instagram influencers</keyword> earn via 3-4 paid posts, a YouTube creator earns in one deal. Although the content frequency on YouTube is lesser as it requires long-format content production. Therefore, in terms of effort and revenue generation, both stand equal. However, YouTube creators have added advantage via other means of revenue generation like adsense, super-chats, super-thanks, subscription cost, etc,” adds Panpalia. Influencer.in is currently beta-testing a new tool on its website called ‘price index.’ It evaluates the potential cost for different types of influencer collaborations based on profile performance analytics. As per the tool, Tier I digital creator Dolly Singh can charge ₹5 lac-₹6 lac for an IGTV and ₹3.9 lac-₹4.7 lac for a Reel. <div type="image" title="How much does Tier I influencer Dolly Singh charge per post" msid="91254571" hostid="261"></div> Most talent agencies try to get some percentage of this money in advance for their creator as there have been cases when brands have backed off after confirming the campaigns. At times, mega-influencers demand full payment up-front. It all boils down to an agency’s negotiating technique and repo with the brand. Digital creator Sadhwani says that most influencers get 50% in advance and the rest 50% is disbursed after the campaign goes live, within a month. A few influencers, even with less number of followers, are more valued in the brandverse than others. So, what do brands prefer: mega or nano influencers? “Influencers with niche target audiences are approached by dedicated brands and are paid higher due to the ROI that they are able to convert. Brand prefers a bunch of micro-influencers over tier I creators with huge followings, as that helps brands reach multiple targeted audiences and have higher engagement as compared to signing up with a creator with a huge follower,” says Vaibhav Odehkar, managing director, India and the Middle East at AnyMind Group, a brand enablement platform. Creators with a loyal fan base also enjoy more attention from brands. Aayush Tiwari, vice president of talent management and music business at Monk Entertainment says, “A loyal audience equals a significant trust factor. A dedicated audience would interact and want to buy the product their favourite influencer is endorsing. A loyal audience will always try to back the creator and show support. Thus, greater ROI from influencers who have successfully built a dedicated audience around them.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Does the influencer marketing industry need to standardise its prices?" text="Does the influencer marketing industry need to standardise its prices?">Does the influencer marketing industry need to standardise its prices?</cmsannotation> Most nano-creators with a follower count of less than 10,000 start with a barter deal. As they climb up a tier, they charge anything between ₹25000-1 lakh per Instagram post. Some creators can afford to hire an external management agency and find up a better deal for the same deliverables. However, a creator who is starting from scratch, will stick to barter for a longer period of time. Sadhwani says that while it would be difficult to standardise the pricing system in this industry, “There should be a minimum bar set for all creators — prices below, which may not sell their content, so that they don’t get exploited. However, setting an upper limit would be unfair and rather challenging.” Content strategy and development agency Yellow Seed’s associate director of new business and growth, Angad Saimbi was enthusiastic about the idea of standardisation in influencer marketing. “This will mean that marketers would need to quantify the value of a “like,” putting influencers in a very defined slab. This will push the influencer community to ensure that they continue to build quality content that not only resonates with their community but also builds their credibility as an influencer.” Vipasha Joshi, country manager at Jellysmack, a global creator company, says that ‘standardising pricing in any industry is always a move in the right direction.’ “This also helps set a framework; where the creators and influencers can get more clarity on the structure of how the brand collaboration works and it would be democratised and the same for all.” Agarwal of Deckser.Live believes it is difficult but not impossible. He highlighted a prominent challenge that the industry might face if it were to standardise its prices. “The question really is what’s the right price? What a ₹100 crore brand is willing to pay or what a startup with a few lakhs in revenue is willing to pay. Standardising will not only benefit the brands but it will be beneficial for the creators. In this extremely dynamic industry, the biggest challenge is to find one common ground or parameter to segment influencers.” Influencers marketing experts are conflicted on this. Some said standardisation would increase transparency and ensure that creators are remunerated fairly by brands, while others called it a pipe dream.

From brand deals to selling merchandise, this is how much Indian social media influencers earn

<ul><li>As we enter a brand new year, we want to crystal gaze into what the year holds for us.</li><li>The global pandemic has spawned strong growth in influencer marketing and creators have cemented their position boosting consumer trust in 2022.</li><li>In our first year-ender, we take a closer look at the year gone by, speak to influencer marketing experts to understand what does the future hold and how is the ecosystem shaping up.</li><li>They also shared with us a few key trends and opportunities that the industry will bring forth as we move forward in 2022.</li></ul>After brands and advertisers slashed their marketing budgets for traditional mediums in 2020, digital marketing took the center stage. Within the hemisphere of digital marketing, social media became a leading channel that drove brand discovery and purchase decisions last year. Influencer marketing also got its due recognition as brands looked for affordable and niche options to reach out to GenZ and Millennials. Marketers also realised that the influencer marketing model is well-suited in a time in which the audience is looking for some inspiration to keep going on, searching DIY videos as they turned home chefs, learning new recipes or focusing on self-care. Creators played an integral role in building a sense of community -- something people searched for when living in isolation. Bolstered by prolonged stay-at-home periods, consumers also steered away from pictures and text and started consuming more videos than ever before. According to Bain and Company, the online video user base in India has increased to more than 350 million people, growing 24% in the last three years. Today, Indian smartphone users spend about 4.8 hours on their devices daily, of which a staggering one hour on average is spent consuming videos, said the report. So, as video consumption scales and attention span reduces every day, influencer marketing offers quick turnaround time and personalisation. Another key factor that attracted brands to this medium is the bond of trust and authenticity that creators share with their fans, giving brands an opportunity to reach out to a niche audience. As a result, the influencer marketing industry has gone through a severe transformation in a short time, becoming a mainstream marketing vehicle. Brands have started looking for agencies that can provide them with interesting campaign ideas rather than just a list of influencers and expected reach. They are more involved in their marketing campaigns and have started exploring creative ideas collectively with the influencers to create engaging content. So, in 2021, we saw brands moving away from ‘one-time associations’ for single posts to actually collaborating with influencers for long-time deals. GroupM and INCA’s study conducted earlier this year also proves how significant influencer marketing is to a marketer today. It said that influencer marketing has become a top priority for marketers this year, as every other leader indicated a budget growth of more than 25% in 2021. INCA’s report further went on to predict that the Influencer Marketing industry is poised to grow at a CAGR of 25% for the next decade, reaching a size of Rs 2200 crore in 2025. As per the report, celebrities corner only 27% of the marketing dollars while a bulk of 73% are taken by digital influencers. Keeping in mind how 2020 and its aftermath in 2021 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: Neel Gogia, Co-founder of IPLIX Media: The upcoming year is bringing a plethora of opportunities for existing as well as aspiring influencers and creators. The first and foremost are long-term partnerships. With each passing day, more and more brands are realizing that ROI delivered by influencer marketing is unparalleled. Therefore, they are increasingly investing in influencer marketing, and especially in long-term partnerships. Long-term partnerships help them build advocates and ultimately, increase trust amongst the audience. Apart from that, the regionalization of content will increasingly be gaining momentum in the upcoming years. In fact, global brands and platforms are already experimenting with it. Recently, LinkedIn launched its regional version after almost every major global networking app available in the country across Facebook, Twitter and Clubhouse have already introduced it to support the multiple Indian languages. In this wave of regionalization, the local languages that are gaining popularity are Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Malayalam, etc. Dharika Merchant, COO, WORD and Alchemy Group: The influencer marketing industry in 2022 will see a huge rise in the demand for micro influencers. Micro influencers' share in the total industry increased drastically last year due to brands favouring them owing to their higher engagement rates &amp; affordability. The industry is expected to shift to a more data-driven approach which will become the primary reason for the rise in demand for micro-influencers. Brands are now willing to work on branded content with micro influencers due to favourable data and better insights. It also leads to an effortless long-term relationship between the brand and the influencer thereby ensuring an always-on marketing approach. This always-on influencer marketing approach portrays brand loyalty from an influencer point of view and adds onto credibility of the brand and better brand recall. Without a doubt, focus on micro influencers will be one of the leading trends for the industry in the coming year and we’re excited to see how this changes the face of branded content. Pranav Panpalia, founder, OpraahFx: ‘Live streaming’ is all set to emerge as one of the widely accepted and used influencer marketing tools in the coming year. Live-eCommerce as a concept was started in China last year during the pandemic and got popularized amongst other nations. Live-eCommerce is a great way to connect with the right set of target audiences and turn them into ‘customers’ of the brand the influencers are vouching for. This is one of the best ways for brands who are focusing on ‘ROI’ driven campaigns and not on awareness or brand-building. In India, with many start-ups and MSME brands now focusing on performance-driven influencer marketing campaigns, the concept of live-eCommerce will be practiced and this shall disrupt the influencer marketing industry. Brands promoting highly accessible and affordable products and services are more likely to make use of this new concept. Alongside, live streaming is known for enabling better connections between creators, brands, and consumers as it is a more authentic and real-time content piece. It also provides an opportunity for consumers to interact with their favorite creators, thereby there is a larger scope for personalisation, feedback, and results-driven conversations. Currently, the live-streaming concept is highly dominated by gamers, and this trend will soon see a shift. The live-stream feature provides an equal opportunity and benefits to influencers and content creators of all kinds if used strategically and creatively. For eg: Content creator, Viya from China live-streams about beauty, cosmetics, real estate, cars, and rockets; and is gaining immense out of such brand deals. Likewise, we too are soon to witness such a trend in India. Apaksh Gupta, CEO and Founder, One Impression: While there are going to be plenty of emerging trends that we are expecting to take over the influencer marketing economy in 2022, one particular trend that is going to stand out is the mainstreaming of the metaverse. The way the world of content and social media is evolving, we can easily assume now that the metaverse is here. While the pandemic forced brands to jump on the digital marketing train, newer technological innovation and integration of various platforms to build a virtual ecosystem is bringing the dream of Metaverse closer every day. 2022 is going to witness a lot of investments from brands into mainstreaming the metaverse. We have already seen in 2021 that bigger brands like Nike and Verizon are already initiating their strategies to get a head start in this league from their competitors. Gucci has also launched its limited collection for Roblox letting players customise their avatars in Gucci products. In 2022, we will be witnessing an increase in these numbers of brands who will be deploying technologies like AR/VR with influencers and content creators at the centre of them to promote their products and services. Rohan Tyagi, VP Strategy and Operations, India - Triller: The advent of technologies like NFTs, Crypto has opened up new engagement and revenue channels for brands. In fact, there is great affinity toward it among GenZ and millennial buyers. Through NFTs, brands can disrupt their markets with new strategies to raise awareness, develop new consumer journeys and increase customer value and loyalty. However, In the decentralized world of Web3, the power has shifted back to creators, and brands looking to leverage technologies like NFTs know that they cant simply buy into the space. Community interest today is driven by creators as a result there will be an uptick in brands partnering with influencers to leverage the opportunities afforded by NFTs. While influencer marketing is a fairly young industry with Metaverse becoming mainstream there is a huge likelihood of it taking off quickly and becoming a multibillion-dollar economy in the virtual world. In fact, this may happen much quicker than we think. Aayush Tiwari, VP - Talent Management &amp; Music Business, Monk Entertainment: One pretty evident trend is the dominance of short video content. We’ve noticed a wave of crisp crunchable 15-30 seconder bites taking the internet by storm in 2021 already, bound to multiply in the coming years. Factors that act as a catalyst are low entry barrier, easy to make, large-scale consumption. What drives the short video ecosystem is the ability of it getting recreated under the banner of ‘trends.’ Every week, there are hypothetically ten new trends which garner lakhs of videos lifting the consumption and UGC levels to higher levels. Dominant social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube launched their verticals, and new players like MOJ, TakaTak, Chingari entered the game encouraging regional tiers to showcase their talent. Even Netflix launched a short vertical that features the best scenes from their series, which people are binge-ing on the go. Vaibhav Odhekar, Managing director India &amp; Middle East, AnyMind Group: Influencer marketing has seen few major changes from the consumer approach towards the whole marketing and influencer segment and monetization of platforms. With the rising social media consumption and engagement, D2C brands across segments have moved towards influencers marketing. As per 'State of Influencer in Asia 2021' report by Antag, the most popular are Art &amp; Entertainment, Food &amp; Beverage and Fashion &amp; Beauty while Finance, health &amp; wellness are also attractive eyeballs and set to become trendsetting in 2022. One of the trends that stood out this year was Influencers creating and launching their own brands, driven by their expertise in a certain field, passion or life experience. Along with Direct-to-consumer and e-commerce, Consumer behavior shifts driven by the pandemic have accelerated trends. We've also noticed a trend of rising social commerce which will stay. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter have already made such features available in some parts of the world. The report also found out that Youtube is the most used social media platform in India. As we move towards 2022, more trends will see a spike and the ongoing trends will keep growing with the brands' demand. Sagar Pushp, Co-founder and CEO, ClanConnect: Two major trends are emerging in the influencer marketing sector and will likely dominate in 2022. Firstly, the creator economy will move towards a subscription-led model wherein true fans will be able to pay a sum of money to access exclusive influencer content. Such premium content will not be available on public platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Secondly, the use of NFTs is going to skyrocket over the next year. With NFTs, users can assume ownership of content such as images, videos, or sound clips, unlocking more revenue opportunities for creators. Pulkit Agrawal, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, Trell: Two words: Social Commerce. While the pandemic has given a massive push to India’s creator economy, the industry will thrive in 2022, with newer shopping and engagement models being adopted across the ecosystem. India’s GenZ and millennial shoppers are now harder to reach through traditional media channels and prefer social media networks to make purchase decisions. Hence, brands now want to integrate social and commerce to drive higher awareness, consideration, and sales. Further, Vertical videos are bound to take the centre stage in the coming year, which means long-form or episodic content will create opportunities for influencers to integrate brands into their content with the help of data-driven insights- brands and influencers will churn more personalized content for their followers’ The rise of social commerce in India will also give a fillip to digital-first brands while opening up newer avenues for influencers to monetize from brand collaborations, making it a full-time profession. With this, the industry is all set to create transforming shopping experiences and become more interactive, immersive, and entertaining. Live commerce is one of such innovations where an influencer demonstrates product usability in a live video setting, driving higher visibility, excitement, and loyalty for consumers. Gautam Madhavan, CEO, Mad Influence: Short Video and Live Stream will dominate in the influencer marketing industry. Consumers are becoming restless in watching long format videos - hence they want to consume on-the-go type of content. Original Content will be one of the key factors driving this. Content Quality and content authenticity is something consumers will be wanting.

Influencer Marketing: Trends to watch out for in 2022

<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.

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