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<ul><li><keyword id="6131169" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ashutosh-harbola">Ashutosh Harbola</keyword>, CEO and Co-founder, <keyword id="6131171" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="buzzoka">Buzzoka</keyword> writes how becoming is an influencer is not just all glamor. It involves a lot of multi-tasking and working around-the-clock. </li><li>He further shares how influencers can strengthen their content strategy and stand out in the clutter. </li></ul>To an everyday observer, the life of an online influencer may seem glamorous and great. Confined to a regular 9 to 5 job, when regular office-goers scroll through their social feed to find influencers sharing content, running campaigns or collaborating with well-known brands, it all seems like a perfect lifestyle to them. But what lies beyond the glitz and glam is a story that isn’t told often. Being an online influencer isn’t driven by the timings of a work schedule. There isn’t any set time to check-in and check-out. Instead in this profession it’s a round-the-clock routine. Influencers always need to be active and on their toes on the lookout for the next piece of engaging content. Once they have built a base of followers who trust the influencer and their perspective, the task to retain them is an even tougher one. In today’s social age when there’s so much content to consume across so many platforms, how does a particular influencer stand out? This must be a question haunting every online influencer. This thought in turn also makes them strive to understand their potential follower base and craft relevant content for them. While we as followers may just see the follows, likes and shares, it took the influencer hours and years of strategic planning and constant experimentation to arrive at that level of popularity. Other than the constant challenge of coming up with the appropriate content strategy, a social influencer dabbles with multiple tasks. One also has to understand that the role of an influencer dictates that they take a call on more than one roles. Design, content, copywriting, business development, billing - many a times influencers end up filling those shoes and many more. While donning so many hats surely does make the influencer a jack of all trades but it may also lead to work related fatigue. And in an industry which thrives on presentability and always being your best on camera, one has to keep that at bay. Also, not to forget that influencers need and always appreciate clients who understand their perspective and potential. But finding the right client is not always the smoothest of processes. It involves the external factors of finding and working with brands with the right reputation. And also, internal factors like brands with the apt promotion budget, ones that make payments on time and trust creators and their work. An influencer is tasked with the responsibility of influencing a consumer’s decisions. And when the modern consumer has so many options served on their plate, that’s definitely not an easy profession to pick. Behind the lights, camera, glamour, polished appearances and online follower base lies tons of hard work, dedication, research, successful implementation of key insights and sometimes failures too. So, the next time you stumble upon a social influencer on your online feed, do consider and observe on what makes their content and campaigns a little different from the others. Because that’s what got them to the limelight and they deserve every bit of it.

Job of an online influencer: A round-the-clock gig

<ul><li>Buzzoka, an <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword> company, launched the third Edition of Influencer Marketing Outlook</li><li>According to the report, Instagram leads as the primary choice for brands in 2019 at 82%, followed by YouTube at 41%</li><li>Buzzoka surveyed 237+ brand custodians including agency, marketers and brand folks across the Indian Marketing Ecosystem</li></ul>Buzzoka, an influencer marketing company, launched the third Edition of Influencer Marketing Outlook. According to the report, Instagram leads as the primary choice for brands in 2019 at 82%, followed by YouTube at 41%. The brand custodians chose Instagram (94%), TikTok (52%) and YouTube (52%) as their top three platforms for Influencer Marketing needs in 2020. 80% of the brands are also planning to spend more on influencer marketing because of the high business impact of their past campaigns. When asked what would be the top challenges that brands are expecting to face in 2020, they rated ‘content control, influencer discovery, and finding new ways to work with influencers’ on the top. Sharing what else we can expect in 2020, <keyword id="6131169" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ashutosh-harbola">Ashutosh Harbola</keyword>, Co-Founder Buzzoka, said, "The world of influencer marketing is evolving faster than we could ever imagine. Today’s strategy is tomorrow’s tactic in this new world. We are glad to unveil our third annual survey that provides some unique insights about influencer marketing industry in India. We believe that the key for future brand custodians will be not to follow any set template for their influencer marketing campaigns but keep discovering what more each partnership can offer.” The annual survey looked at today’s influencer marketing landscape and its impact on consumer-facing brand communication and marketing, as viewed by brands, agencies and startups across India. Buzzoka surveyed 237+ brand custodians in the month of December 2019. The brand custodians included Agency, Marketers and Brand folks across the Indian Marketing Ecosystem. Look Back at 2019 and how it shaped Influencer Marketing<ul><li>64% brands spend less than $100,000 per year on influencer campaigns. However, 18% brands went above $1,000,000 per year</li><li>76% brand custodians feel that influencer marketing has ironed its position in the digital marketing mix </li><li>43.8% percent brand custodians believe that influencer marketing helps in generating word of mouth. Another 31.2% consider it a good way for subtle brand placement. </li><li>45% brand custodians use a combination of metrics such as reach or follower base, content quality, engagement, past brand associations, and cost of engagement while finalizing the influencers for a campaign</li></ul>Link to the full survey: <a href="http://bit.ly/InfluencerMarketingOutlook2020">http://bit.ly/InfluencerMarketingOutlook2020</a>

Top three social media platforms to be used for Influencer Marketing in 2020: Report

<ul><li>What changed suddenly that <keyword id="819905" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Instagram">Instagram</keyword>, one of the leading social media platforms, decided to take a bold move and remove the ‘Like’ feature from its platform?</li><li>Ashutosh Harbola, CEO and Co-founder, Buzzoka, pens down the answer and the reasons why coming out of the vicious circle of <keyword id="7546046" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram-likes">Instagram likes</keyword> was important for the industry.</li></ul>Like — the word strikes a positive connotation and a cheerful mental image at its very mention. It’s a positive word and perhaps that’s the reason that various social media platforms have been tapping its immense potential by having the ‘Like’ feature on the posts drafted by people. So what changed suddenly that Instagram, one of the leading social media platforms, decided to take a bold move and remove the ‘Like’ feature from its platform? Well, it is the need to promote quality content over numbers and ‘Like’-chasing scenario; that the social media giant started with testing a Private Like Counts feature earlier this year, whereby only creator of the posts were able to see the number of their likes, but the same was not visible to their followers and others on the platform. Instagram launched this feature as a pilot test globally, including in India and started removing ‘Like’ counts on several Indian Instagram accounts in order to depressurise Instagram and reduce fierce competition. And now, after the successful project testing, Instagram is set to be the first platform to remove the feature completely in the US, soon spreading out the move to India as well in the next few months. This has created an uproar in the market as ‘Likes’ have always been an important metric for influencers’ businesses, especially in India. Well, there is no doubt that the influencer marketing community on Instagram, which is one of the many communities that practically thrive on the ‘Like’ feature on social media posts, has shaken up completely with the sudden announcement, however, this has come as a blessing in disguise if looked at in detail. Impact of the move on Instagram influencer marketing community in India The move has incited a set of mixed responses from the Instagram influencer marketing community. Of course, there are some who feel that it would gravely affect their incomes and survival because their brand business till date, largely depended on the ‘Like’ metrics. However, there are also some who seem to be elated at this move of Instagram, feeling optimistic about how it may put an end to the cut-throat competition and poke content curators to focus more on high-quality content instead of just likes. Here is a look at the benefits of this move- 1. Content which took a backseat due to ‘Likes’ would come to the fore: This move would bring the focus back on good content and stories which cannot be merely judged by the ‘Likes’ and followers they receive. Here, it is to be noted that no doubt, ‘Like’ was a tool to measure the effectiveness of the content but it also brought in a lot of fake practices such as increasing ‘Likes’ by unfair means. Thus, this step by Instagram would help in putting an end to all these unethical practices and motivating the influencers to create engaging content. 2. The focus would be shifted to triggering actual brand building and longer audience relationships instead of just mere ‘Likes’: A part of the influencer marketing community believes that ‘Likes’ are not, and actually should not, be the sole basis of assessing brand performance. Instead, it is needed that businesses shift their focus to authenticity, higher quality content creation and building longer and deeper connections with their followers through influencers, all of which can eventually facilitate actual transactions and business growth. Hence, this move by Instagram would help in doing so. 3. The social media-depression issue would be sorted: This move to remove the ‘Like’ feature will also create a less stressful environment for the users. Till date, users where highly affected by the competitive environment and were constantly questioning and judging themselves on the basis of the ‘Likes’ that they received as compared to others, however, not so after this move. Thus, this step would highly reduce the number of depression cases in the country and thus can be considered as a good move in the right direction. In a nutshell Instagram’s decision to remove ‘Like’ feature is actually a boon for the influencer marketing community in India. This is because influencer marketing is much more than mere numbers and appreciative gestures. In fact, it is a relationship of the brand with its existing and potential customers through good stories and engaging content drafted by the talented influencers. Thus, this move of Instagram will definitely boost fruitful relationships and create happy and healthy users. - By Ashutosh Harbola, CEO and Co-founder, Buzzoka

Why removing Instagram likes is a blessing in disguise for the industry

<ul><li><keyword id="99676" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shilpa-Shetty-Kundra">Shilpa Shetty Kundra</keyword>, who has been missing from the big screen for the past 13 years has become the face of yet another brand. </li><li>She has 13 brands in her kitty from varied categories like Food &amp; Beverages, Telecom, Skincare, FMCG, Chocolates, and more. </li><li>As Shilpa signs another brand, we try to decode what still makes the actor relevant and how she has become an example of breaking age-disparity in the industry. </li></ul>Shilpa Shetty Kundra, the 43-year-old Bollywood actress, has bagged yet another brand in her kitty. She is now the face of home decor brand, Stellar Homes USA and represents 13 brands in total. Shilpa was last seen on the silver screen in the 2007 film Apne but she never really left the limelight. She continued judging various TV reality shows, became an entrepreneur by starting her own fitness channel called The Shilpa Shetty app and invested in a start-up called Mamaearth. Shilpa has over 1.6 million subscribers on her YouTube channel, which covers fashion tips, her fitness regime and a cooking show. While on Instagram, she has gained more than 6 million followers in a short span of time. According to media reports, she has a net worth of $20 million. This year, her long sabbatical of 13 years will also come to an end as she will be seen in two movies -- Nikamma and Hungama 2. Brand Journey Shilpa was 16 and a part of the modelling world when an aerated drinks brand approached her. Today, she regrets falling for money and choosing shortcuts. Shilpa is now wary of the kind of brands she chooses to work with. She has walked out of the meeting rooms if she doesn’t resonate with the brand. “Earlier, I really didn't think about whether I suited the brand. It was only about whether I was getting paid enough to leverage my name. But in the last five years, there has been a change in my thought process. When people take you seriously as a brand or rather someone synonymous with health and fitness, you become more responsible. So if something doesn't resonate with my personality or something that I can't use at home for my family or me, I won't endorse it,” admits Shilpa. Before her big release lined up this year, Shilpa turned down a Rs 10 crore offer from an Ayurvedic Slimming Pill brand because she did not want youngsters, who look up to her, to fall for fad diets. “There's so many brands I have turned down, I can't sit down and list those,” she breaks into a chuckle. She says she would have bagged a lot more brands and made more money had she not been so fastidious. Pan Masala brands and Aerated Drinks are completely off her list and she says she wouldn’t consider endorsing them ‘for all the money in the world.’ Explaining her modus operandi of choosing deals, she says, “I'm very particular and there's a lot of due diligence that goes into the brands that I work with. And I really believe that there is no shortcut in life. If you were to tell people that by popping pills you will lose weight, I think people who actually work out the right way will start losing faith in what they're doing. And I just feel that though we stopped focusing on mental health, and we will be talking about prizes and losing weight, fitting into a certain size, I think mental health is equally important. And I can't endorse something that doesn't fall into line with my philosophy.” The secret behind her relevance in the industry It was during her post-pregnancy period that Shilpa was asked a lot of questions about her fitness regime on the internet. She joined social media to help people out and realised that the audiences’ love for her hasn’t changed. She used that to her advantage and started her own application. It is her penchant for fitness and strong social media following, that brands still find her relevant. “After all these years, I feel like I stayed relevant. Today, I'm doing two films after 13 years but people still know me, not only because of television, but also because I stand for propagating good health. I want to bring about an awareness and want to play the role of a catalyst. As actors, we are always looked up to, and we have the power of social media. I used that to start my own YouTube channel,” shares Shilpa. Now, Shilpa Shetty is in-between meetings, looking for a fundraiser for her application to expand her reach further. Experts Speak Ashutosh Harbola, CEO and Co-founder, Buzzoka thinks that Shilpa had a strong influence on the industry since she made her fortune in Big Brother; her brand image changed after that and IPL, he says, added a cherry on the cake. “Shilpa Shetty is an ever-blooming social media star and her constant touchpoint with her audience makes her relevant even when she doesn't have too much in her kitty. From a brand's perspective, it's the right fit. Since the social and digital-first audience is always on social media, their appetite for relevancy is much filled. Also, Shilpa has been testing a couple of other platforms too which is keeping her both busy and buzzed. We all saw her entry on TikTok and it's a perfect example of being in the news for the right reasons,” says he. “Post her marriage, she is amongst the rich kids of Instagram making the world drool on her cuteness and the lavish lifestyle,” adds Harbola. N Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research, highlights how strong her social media currency is, which is one of the reasons why brands still love her. “It is not easy for an actor who has been out of an active acting career for over 10 years to continue to stay relevant. However, Shilpa Shetty has reinvented herself in many new avatars to do what she is good at. She is a fitness icon, TV reality show judge, fashionista, partner in a spa chain, has over 1.6 million subscribers on her Youtube food channel, 6 million followers on her Instagram, among other things. Guess that's more than enough to keep her relevant with new-age millennials and others,” says Chandramouli. Social Media and Brand Expert, Karthik Srinivasan thinks Shilpa’s relatability factor for millennials and Gen Y has worked in her favor. “Shilpa Shetty, I believe, appeals to and can be recognised by a whole lot of middle-aged and older women unlike an Ananya Panday or Alia Bhatt. That relatability is what perhaps works in her favor. Ditto for actors like Vidya Balan. To some extent, it's also a factor of a 40+ woman actor to continue to want attention, work and assignments. Some may choose to shun the limelight and live a more obscure life surrounded by people close to them, as a way to escape the excess attention of earlier times. Shilpa Shetty has been in the limelight long after her exiting the film industry, including her foray into owning teams and so on. So, modeling and films continue to help her position her brand,” explains Srinivasan. An inspiration for other actresses The Khans of Bollywood and actors like Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan, still continue to be the Top 10 celebrities. Senior actresses, on the other hand, struggle to find film projects. As they vanish from the limelight after they get married, brands stop approaching them. Shilpa is unhesitant to agree that she found her calling much later in her career arc and feels women are finally stepping up to turn the tables. “I found my calling very late but I guess better late than never. Also, times are changing. You see actresses are far more daring today. It's also a more egalitarian world now. Women are given far more opportunities. I think women today are willing to take risks. And yes, it's a different world. And I think that's the only thing that's constant - change,” says Shilpa. Srinivasan also thinks the situation is changing, thanks to actresses like Shilpa Shetty and Vidya Balan and script writers that are breaking the age stereotypes. “I think as an industry, Bollywood (and the regional film industries, in particular) have moved definitely away from age-limits for women actors. While there's always (and still) a demand for young women actors, there are scripts being written for older ages as well, who do not fit the conventional stereotypes of a leading woman in films,” says Srinivasan. He adds, “From a branding point of view, I was very pleasantly surprised to see Tapsee Pannu featured in a Horlicks ad where she was specifically called out as being 30+. Or a Kangana Ranaut playing a mother of a boy in Panga. This scenario was unheard of a few years ago when only men had the freedom to be called 30+, 40+ and still get away with conventional roles in films. 40+ Shilpa Shetty is a variant of the 30+ Tapsee and Kangana.” Chandramouli, on the other hand, feels the onus also lies on actresses. “Brands take endorsements from 53-year-old male actors endorsing colas, and 77-year-old males endorsing everything. When it comes to women celebrities, there are occasions when you will see someone like Madhuri Dixit, who is above 50 years get endorsements. But many don't get as lucky as her. And this age-related aberration is one of the strangest as many times when choosing actors playing an older role, directors tend to cast younger actors. To correct this is the responsibility of female actors as also it is of brands and advertising agencies. Many times due to the paucity of opportunities, women celebrities above 40 tend to start focusing on other areas of their interests in work and personal life. In a highly competitive world, they must continue to stay relevant in their interest areas, stay connected with audiences, and find new interests which find newer fans. Since all endorsements are a commercial arrangement, the fee of endorsement also matters, for the potential endorsers must be willing to adjust fees in line with market demand. For the brands and agencies, it is important to have greater acceptance, to try the different, reink campaigns with such potential endorsers.” While many actresses have come and vanished with time, Shilpa Shetty Kundra has never left the showbiz, setting an example for other female actors in the industry.

What continues to make Shilpa Shetty Kundra relevant for brands

<ul><li>Instagram announced Wednesday it was rolling out ads to creators' longform IGTV videos, providing them with an opportunity to monetise it.</li><li>Digital experts share what it could mean for the <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword> industry and the platform's growth. </li></ul>For the first time, Instagram has made an announcement that is making the influencer community happy. It announced that it will start sharing revenue with creators through ads in IGTV along with badges that viewers can purchase on Instagram Live. Instagram said in its announcement, “Starting next week, we are introducing ads in IGTV, our long-form video destination. We want to support creators’ investment in IGTV by sharing advertising revenue with them. “<keyword id="9313266" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="igtv-ads">IGTV ads</keyword> will initially appear when people click to watch IGTV videos from previews in their feed. The video ads will be built for mobile and up to 15 seconds long. We’ll test various experiences within IGTV ads throughout the year - such as the ability to skip an ad - to make sure the final result works well for people, creators and advertisers.” Explaining how badges will work, Instagram said, “Badges will appear next to a person’s name throughout the live video. Fans who have purchased badges in Live will stand out in the comments and unlock additional features, including placement on a creator's list of badge holders and access to a special heart.” To understand the implications, we reached out to some experts who told us what this could translate into, in the future and how it could help influencers. Here is what they said: Ashutosh Harbola, CEO and Co-founder, Buzzoka: It is a very positive move for the influencer marketing industry as it is rolling out new ways for creators to make money directly from their content on IGTV. With this initiative, Instagram will become as one of the most preferred medium for creators and will enable them to propagate their content to the niche audiences like never before. Shrenik Gandhi, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, White Rivers Media: "While Instagram has a billion+ downloads, IGTV has less than a single digit percentage of stand alone downloads. While the journey of IGTV began two years back, I think this move will add fuel to the fire and the real growth will be seen now. Adding advertisements might make the experience slightly off, but a social network survives on advertisements. What IGTV can do is, they can take steps to enhance the quality of advertisements to make sure it doesn't get intrusive. Also, when influencers are motivated beyond applause and likes, read: real cash, they will be motivated to create IGTV special content and better content will attract more audience which eventually will motivate creators to create more. So sharing advertisement revenue like youtube started almost a decade back, is a tried and tested way to make the platform grow. Essentially it creates a win win win situation. Win for the platform - because it will have more time spent, more users and more quality engagement Win for the influencers - because their influence clout will grow and they can earn Win for the customers - because they can consume better content. Hence, overall, it's a welcome move." Sumera Dewan, AVP - Account Management, Dentsu Webchutney: Just ahead of the pandemic, IGTV was struggling to survive, with the company even deciding to remove the icon from Instagram. However, now with all of us confined to our homes, our content consumption is increasing and IGTV is slowly starting to gain momentum. The recent announcement to monetise it didn’t surprise me – it was always aimed at taking on YouTube, which without monetising wouldn’t ever be a reality. I remember two years ago when IGTV was launched, I was chatting with a client on the merits of it. And the first question he asked me – How do I promote my brand’s content via it? Brands even today are not embracing this feature for its native strength simply because of no promotional opportunities. And while creators are more inclined to reach out to their communities via IGTV, it hasn’t been enough to drive its discoverability. Some people might feel that monetising will dilute the user experience. Yes, while that might be a reality initially, but then don’t we all get used to it? Look at YouTube. The platform has experienced unprecedented growth in India in the last few years, all while being conducive to branded promotions. And let us not forget Twitch and TikTok. Both are video first community platforms, with a loyal base, consuming and responding to promotional content all the time. Moving into monetisation was the only way for IGTV to survive. It not only increases discoverability of branded content to a wider audience via the base app, but also encourages further adoption of the feature within the creator community. It would be interesting to see how the ad formats evolve over a period to keep the user experience intact. Viraj Sheth, Co-founder, Monk-E: With regard to <keyword id="9313265" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="igtv-monetization">IGTV monetization</keyword>, I think it's in its very initial stages of beta testing in the US right now. While it will take a fair amount of time to reach Indian markets, I feel this will come as a very, very welcome move from the influencer community. A large chunk of brands in the Indian market are still in their nascent stages in terms of adopting influencer marketing, thus not all creators are able to draw significant paycheques from brand deals. This move will come as a relief for a lot of young and budding creators who put in serious effort and have taken up content creation as their primary job. For established creators, it's a win-win situation. I feel Instagram for a creator has always been that one platform you cannot miss out on. While this move will definitely attract more creators on Instagram, I believe both TikTok and Instagram can coexist as platforms. Every big TikTok creator is active on Instagram. The major difference we will begin to see now is the mass-adoption of the IGTV feature on the app. Apaksh Gupta, Founder and CEO, One Impression: This is something that we had already anticipated. Instagram will also play a big role in how creators function, and make money. We see it as a strategic step where the platform and creators will come together as a team, and moderate content that is going up for the viewers! Having said that, it will also lead to a huge influx of creators on Instagram as well as proliferation of IGTV long format content, thereby, making the platform much bigger for influencer marketing &amp; monetisation. The brands too will see this step as an opportunity to create more long format content for their campaigns on Instagram, and engage audiences strongly. It will be interesting to watch ads on a vertical screen, which otherwise, we have mostly seen on YouTube in horizontal frames, so we are already used to the experience. Rajan Navani, MD and CEO, JetSynthesys: It’s really no surprise because ads have been a primary source of revenue for most social and streaming platforms. All business models require a strong revenue stream to survive and some incentive for creators as well. While there may be some initial shock from users, especially for an already struggling platform like IGTV, they are somewhat habituated to ads by now and will move on. The benefit is 2 fold, not only does it open up a new revenue stream for IGTV, but this could also help boost the quality of content by creators on the app which currently is nowhere near at-par with other platforms like YouTube. The greatest advantage for IGTV is that, with over a billion active users on Instagram, their reach is already far superior to other platforms, so if this strategy works to lure in better creators on the platform, it has the potential to become the next big thing in video content.

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Job of an online influencer: A round-the-clock gig

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Why removing Instagram likes is a blessing in disguise for the industry

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