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<ul><li>56.7% of respondents (influencers) said that they found the <keyword id="10323570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="asci-guidelines">ASCI guidelines</keyword> to be helpful and 35.3% admitted that it needs more structure and transparency.</li><li>43.3% of influencers were unsure about the penalties or the repercussions they may face for not adhering to the guidelines.</li><li>Before ASCI guidelines, 48.3% of influencers revealed that only 10% of brands they worked with opted to tag content as sponsored.</li><li>In terms of content categories, Fashion &amp; Beauty (54.2%), Comedy (20.9%) &amp; Travel (18.9%) are the top 3 categories of the respondents.</li></ul>IPLIX Media, an <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword> and talent management agency, today released insights from an independent survey on influencer sentiment post-release of ASCI guidelines 2021. The pan India survey that included metros and tier 1, 2, and 3 cities across 200+ influencers revealed that ~89.5% of influencers witnessed a dip in engagement on their content since ASCI guidelines went live. However, over 56.7% of respondents (influencers) said that they found the ASCI guidelines to be helpful and 35.3% admitted that it needs more structure and transparency. 43.3% of influencers were unsure about the penalties or the repercussions they may face for not adhering to the guidelines further indicating the need for more clarity. Interestingly, when it came to brand associations, 34.3% influencers rated ‘relevance’ at the top with consistency closely following behind. With a more aware audience set, content creators are generating content, even branded, that sticks, builds loyalty, and represents their true self. Before ASCI guidelines, 48.3% of influencers revealed that only 10% of brands they worked with opted to tag content as sponsored. On the survey that drove insights from micro, macro, and nano influencers across the country, <keyword id="11300089" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="neel-gogia">Neel Gogia</keyword>, Co-founder of IPLIX Media LLP, said, “ASCI guidelines are a welcome step forward in introducing transparency and authenticity across the content creation ecosystem. However, there were certain aspects on which more clarity was required. The insights from the survey clearly reveal demand for a structured approach to put this into motion and a better understanding of the penalties.” Sharing her insights, Social satirist Saloni Gaur, said, “I agree with the fact that ASCI guidelines are still not clear to many of us. But, from an audience’s point of view, I feel it’s a good step although I would say the audience these days is smart enough to figure out what’s sponsored and what’s not even before adding a paid partnership tag. So, I would say this is just one extra layer and yes it definitely adds more transparency. As for the revenue part, I certainly thought that some brands would not undertake associations because they don’t want the paid partnership tag on our posts, but I’m glad to say they have adapted really well to these guidelines. In addition to this, I also thought that this will reduce the engagement significantly as people tend to leave the video as soon as they hear any brand name, but this hasn’t been the case for me. To conclude I would like to say, if you put in a little effort and try to make your sponsored content more engaging then people will certainly watch it. I feel like what they don’t want to see is those completely sell out branded posts so if we avoid those we’re still good.” On the survey findings, Manager &amp; Partner BB Ki Vines- Rohit Raj, said, “I believe that guidelines are necessary to bring in more structure to the content creation and monetization ecosystem. However, having worked with some of the top creators in the industry, I believe that we need to approach this in phases. This will help iron out the creases and create a more holistic approach.” When it comes to content format, in 2020, both long-format and short-format garnered engagement for creators with the latter slowly taking lead. In terms of content categories - Fashion &amp; Beauty (54.2%), Comedy (20.9%) &amp; Travel (18.9%) are the top 3 categories of the respondents. The majority of these influencers are creating somewhere between 20-40% of branded content. Led by Neel Gogia, Co-founder, IPLIX Media LLP, the agency has witnessed a 400% growth in revenue in the last financial year. The firm’s success can be attributed to two primary areas of focus, firstly, building a creator’s brand that goes beyond social numbers and deals. Secondly, enabling brands to identify the right creator basis metrics which are beyond superficial information like a blue tick or million followers.

55.7% influencers witness a significant dip in engagement post the ASCI guidelines: IPLIX Influencer Survey

<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>After Twitter’s Super Follow, Meta-owned social media app Instagram is expected to launch subscriptions on its platform soon.</li><li>This subscription-based model will allow users to access exclusive stories, live videos of their favourite content creators for ₹89 per month in India.</li><li>We speak to content creators and influencer marketing agencies to understand what this means for the ecosystem.</li></ul>After the huge success of OnlyFans and Twitter’s Super Follow feature globally, Meta-owned Instagram is now testing monthly subscriptions priced at ₹89 per month in India. This feature will allow creators to earn money for their exclusive stories and live videos and users to support their favourite creators. Instagram has already rolled out the update for iOS users. Priced between $0.99 and $4.99 in the US and ₹89 in India, the ‘Instagram Subscriptions’ feature is available under the “In-App Purchases” section. So far, Instagram influencers were earning money from sponsored content, affiliate links, selling products or merchandise, getting tips and now there’s an additional option for them to explore. According to Instagram’s Reverse Engineer, Alessandro Paluzzi, the platform has been in the works for months now.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/instagram-testing-monthly-subscriptions-for-exclusive-stories-live-videos/articleshow/87598117.cms"> Media reports </a>suggest that Instagram is also testing a subscribe button that will appear on a creator’s profile. A special member badge will appear next to their username whenever they DM (direct message) the creator or comment on their posts. Once live, this new feature will not only provide the creator an opportunity to earn an extra buck but also allow them to prioritise certified fans. With this new feature, Instagram can target its power users such as news organisations, verified creators, brands and marketing agencies. It’s still in the early stages, but it looks like it is definitely coming. In the recent past, social media platforms like Twitter, Medium, OnlyFans have embraced the tactics of the old legacy media companies by launching subscription-based models. But will a subscription-based model work in a price-sensitive market like India, will users pony up for exclusive content and what will this mean for creators and the platform? Here’s what experts had to say. Ranveer Allahbadia, Digital Content Creator, Entrepreneur, Podcaster and Investor: I am personally not very bullish on subscription or memberships being offered for a specific fee on public platform's like Instagram or YouTube. This is because there is a lot more onus that comes on to the creator to deliver extra value than they already are, when they provide content for free. Many creator's are not up for that or don’t have the bandwidth to provide it, hence, may not end up using the subscription form of medium at all. I personally don't feel like I will be using this medium of charging my community at all. This is similar to the membership feature provided by YouTube and many creators have successfully used this. Where a lot of their followers, subscribers have ended up paying a monthly fee in order to get access to exclusive content or merchandise from their favourite creator. So it totally depends on the creator to create a basis. Arushi Gupta, Head- Influencer.in: The subscription feature is a great tool with respect to monetizing the platform - influencers have so far been making money off of instagram via brand collaborations and instagram shop feature. Overall it fits in with Meta's vision of creating ecosystems and communities where creators can monetize through multiple methods. This new feature is in the same direction and will motivate influencers to keep their content engaging. It would be interesting to see how Indian Social Media users react to this as most users would prefer consuming content for free, so it will take quite some time for the audience to warm up to this concept. There are some third party apps and websites offering subscription solutions to creators but they are all at a small scale. The super chat feature on YouTube is on the similar lines, and the key to having your exclusive audience is solely based on how engaging the content is. Keeping this in mind, The Indian market is also subjected to a lot of pirated/copied content, so users will prefer to share the subscription or get the said exclusive content through other means that do not involve money i.e via recording the story content and sharing it on other platforms. Sagar Pushp, Co-founder and CEO, ClanConnect: Premium or paid content is a popular revenue generation method for creators in developed markets like the US and the UK. Platforms like Patreon, Twitter, and even youtube have used this model, and Instagram is now jumping on the bandwagon. This shows that social media platforms are beginning to understand the content creator economy and are building new revenue streams to ensure influencer earnings are not limited to advertisement revenues. This, in turn, will give creators the push to create more high-quality content. Since Instagram has not rolled out specific deliverables and pricing details for the Indian market yet, we will refrain from commenting or predicting its projected impact. Currently, it is only available on IoS platforms, and we are yet to see how this model will be shaped for Indian users, a majority of which use Android phones. Holistically speaking, however, the subscription model holds a lot of potential for India. It has worked in international markets and has a future here as well. Apaksh Gupta, CEO and Founder, One Impression: This is an interesting move by Instagram which will further boost the creator economy. We have already seen the willingness of the Indian consumer to subscribe to OTT platforms and premium services of apps like Spotify and YouTube. This move by Instagram will further bring us closer to the future of premium content. It can be compared to and is quite similar to the OTT subscription model. Considering India is a price-sensitive market, it will be upon the creators to justify the cost for accessing the premium content, focusing on quality and exclusivity. Moreover, we have witnessed the Indian consumers supporting content creators monetarily through platforms like Twitch, Patreon, or via YouTube "super-chat". Primarily this was limited to the gaming enthusiasts, but recently vloggers and other creators are also getting their fair due of monetary recognition. Henceforth, this move by Instagram could bring about a change that will alter the creator space, as well as content consumption pattern, in India." Neel Gogia, Co-Founder, IPLIX Media: With the creator economy booming, more and more platforms are coming up with unique monetization models to attract creators. However, I think this model in particular will not be as useful for the large spectrum of creators as audiences might be skeptical of buying subscriptions for the content that they had once free access to. Especially, in a price-sensitive market like India, it is difficult to ascertain whether or not the audience will shell out the money for this. But, definitely, creators with an extremely loyal audience will reap the benefits out of this as their audience would not like to miss out on updates shared by their favourite creators. In fact, in the past as well, we’ve witnessed audience pay for platforms like Spotify, YouTube, Patreon and even OTT platforms. Without a shadow of doubt, initiatives like this will aid the growing popularity of the influencer marketing industry as it’ll lure more talented people to choose this field and will push existing creators to make their content even more engaging.

As Instagram tests its subscription-based model across the world, influencers and marketing agencies share what the new update means for the ecosystem

<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>Due to the ongoing festive season, advertisers and brands are going all out to connect with consumers.</li><li>This year, the number of brands approaching influencers is significantly larger than last year, and there is a good mix of startups and well-established companies.</li><li>From fashion to home decor creators, brands have partnered with social media influencers to promote their new festive launch before Diwali.</li><li>So, with Diwali around the corner, we speak to <keyword id="2540701" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="influencer-marketing" source="Orion">influencer marketing</keyword> agencies to find out how important is the festive season for creators, what kind of uptick in demand can we expect due to the festive season, response from advertisers so far and trends we can look forward to during Diwali.</li></ul>If you are sprucing up your house on a small budget or planning to buy new accessories or ethnic dresses for India’s biggest festival -- Diwali, are you using a search engine for inspiration or are you following social media’s top influencers for ideas? If you are active on Instagram, then chances are you are also turning to influencers for festive advice. We all have at least a 100 bookmarked posts on Instagram for rangoli ideas, DIY home decor, or ethnic dress inspiration. According to Facebook’s Festive Marketing Guide for 2021, social media has now become a leading channel to drive brand discovery and purchase during the festive season. Facebook’s report further reveals that half the people said that influencers help them discover new products and 45% added that influencers help them make a purchase decision. The year 2020 accelerated influencer marketing’s growth, perhaps by a decade, and revolutionised the Indian marketing ecosystem completely. It is because of the pandemic and the consumer’s heavy reliance on social media platforms that the influencer marketing industry has undergone a severe transformation in a short time, becoming a mainstream marketing vehicle. According to the latest figures in the Global Web Index (GWI), the average Indian spent 2.29 hours per day on social media in 2020 and as always, brands are following consumers where they spend the most time. So, this Diwali, from fashion to home decor creators, brands have partnered with social media influencers to promote their new product launches. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Growth so far and predictions for this festive season" text="Growth so far and predictions for this festive season">Growth so far and predictions for this festive season</cmsannotation> GroupM and INCA’s study revealed that influencer marketing has become a top priority for marketers this year. Every other leader indicated a budget growth of more than 25% in 2021. INCA’s report further said 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. So, with India’s biggest festival around the corner and to leverage the increasing demand, brands have also increased their budget for influencer marketing. “Influencer Marketing is set to be one of the top choices for brands to enhance the brand value this festive season. In fact, brands have culled out almost 30% of the overall budget for influencer marketing. It has been on an all-time high this year. According to an industry report, brands are likely to spend around Rs 600 crore on influencer marketing. Thus, one thing is definite about influencer marketing this festive season: It’s going to take a big leap from 2020. The primary reason for the rise in influencer marketing is the personalization of content along with the disruption in cost and speed. Influencers are real and relatable for consumers and can deliver real value for brands by offering exciting ways of sharing a brand’s message,” said <keyword id="11300089" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="neel-gogia" source="Orion">Neel Gogia</keyword>, Co-Founder, IPLIX Media. Festive season has given a further push to the industry’s growth. Experts are expecting to see 50% more brands exploring influencer marketing this festive season as marketers look to solidify their social media presence and reach out to the group with highest spending power, GenZ and millennials. "The festive season is already looking very positive for the influencer marketing space. We expect a 50% uptick in brands leveraging influencers to connect with their audiences during this season,” said Sagar Pushp, Co-founder and CEO, ClanConnect. “Since the consumer sentiment had plummeted gravely in 2020, brands are looking forward to explosive growth and pent up demand that will translate to greater sales and revenues this year. Brands are likely to capitalize on this positive sentiment by tapping into the influencer marketing space, which will in turn provide a significant fillip to our industry,” added Pushp. Apaksh Gupta, Founder &amp; Chief Executive Officer of One Impression also said that brands have increased their budget by 50% this year. “Last year, brands had spent very little on their marketing efforts because of the pandemic restrictions and other factors, but the curbs are now eased out and traders are expecting a boost in sales. To put things in perspective, last year we saw brands spending about Rs 20-25 lakh [average] on their influencer campaigns, but this year we expect it to go beyond Rs 50 lakh [on an average] during festive seasons. Additionally, during the pandemic, we also witnessed a boom in the creator economy, and brands have taken note of it. Social media platforms have enabled brands to reach out to a wider audience with the help of influencers who help in putting their messages across, in a more personalized and creative manner, what we nowadays call as snackable content.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="This festive season, a diverse set of brands are upping their spends on influencer marketing" text="This festive season, a diverse set of brands are upping their spends on influencer marketing">This festive season, a diverse set of brands are upping their spends on influencer marketing</cmsannotation> After going through a lull for a year and a half, startups like MamaEarth, Slurrp Farm to established brands and FMCG giants, all key players are leveraging influencer marketing for better visibility and consumer attention. There’s another interesting shift in the industry after the pandemic. Brands are leveraging influencer marketing not just for brand awareness and engagement but also for performance marketing and driving customer acquisition through relevant targeting. Sharing which categories are the biggest spenders this time, <keyword id="7372416" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="viraj-sheth" source="Orion">Viraj Sheth</keyword>, Co- founder and CEO, Monk Entertainment said, “FMCG brands, e-comm players, and FinTech clients I believe will be massive spenders. Brands that are selling products that are best suited for festive gifting will be heavy spends and FinTech clients that help buy digital gold or provide buy now pay later schemes will be in demand as well.” Avantika Mohan, Travel, Lifestyle and Fashion Influencer, represented by WORD Talent, has also seen more lifestyle brands coming her way lately. She said, “I’ve noticed an influx of briefs focusing on fashion (particularly festive wear), online shopping portals and jewelry; brands across these categories along with technology and cosmetics are investing heavily in this festive season, which should go on till the end of the year. Festivals also become an excellent opportunity for brands to offer additional discounts and offers to drive up sales hence brands work with creators to spread the word on the same. It’s an exciting time. Brands are willing to not just work but also allow the creativity of the influencer to drive the content. Brands now understand that the content that creators push can drive real value for them and their products. Our niche allows them to connect with their target audiences directly with content that is fun, relevant and most importantly seasonal. The air is already abuzz with celebration and brands are pushing their seasonal marketing ideas and products that creators are exhilarated to deliver.” Brands with smaller budgets are also partnering with nano-creators. <keyword id="3630874" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dharika-merchant" source="Orion">Dharika Merchant</keyword>, COO, Alchemy Group &amp; WORD said, “Brands are now dedicating special budgets for their influencer marketing campaigns which have resulted in a lot of new brands entering the space. Brands earlier would focus only on large creators but now they’re happy to have smaller spendings but are willing to explore relevant nano or micro influencers for the same. So as we move forward, we are forecasting a more focussed approach towards influencer engagement as compared to before. Brands are now becoming conscious of which creator they want to work with, what kind of content they want to push out and majorly why the creator’s creative process shouldn’t be hampered with. Secondly, we are expecting more brands focussing on micro or nano influencers. These influencers usually cater to a very specific niche and have a higher rate of engagement. As brands start to realise the importance of content over numbers, this is a trend we’re very excited about.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Instagram or home-grown apps, which medium is getting the biggest piece of pie?" text="Instagram or home-grown apps, which medium is getting the biggest piece of pie?">Instagram or home-grown apps, which medium is getting the biggest piece of pie?</cmsannotation> As brands vie for consumer’s attention this Diwali, which is divided into different mediums, where are brands investing the most? “2021 is seeing comparatively more inclination towards influencer marketing strategies. We are seeing a growth upwards of 75% in the influencer marketing industry. Instagram is still the leader when it comes to influencer marketing promotions. YouTube would be the other platform that has gained momentum over time. Even some of the newer short video apps like Josh, Taka Tak and Moj are also being experimented with, by the brands. Increasingly we are also seeing brands leverage content created by creators for performance marketing with Instagram Branded Content Ads and Youtube Creator Promotions for maximum reach and conversion,” Arushi Gupta, Head - Influencer.in told Ad and Media Insider. GenZ and millennials do not consume a lot of television. They either spend their free time scrolling on social media or on an OTT platform. They are looking for authentic content that keeps them engaged, entertained and informed, which happens to be influencer marketing’s core offering. Therefore, influencer marketing is becoming a pivotal marketing tool for brands and its significance is only likely to grow in the future.

As brands turn to influencer marketing for the festive season, experts are optimistic about seeing about a 40-50% growth in ad spends

<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>Twitter joins the likes of Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp and Facebook by introducing Fleets, stories that disappear after 24 hours. </li><li>We reached out to digital agencies and <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword> experts to understand what it means for the industry, how brands and influencers can weave snacky, visual content on a micro-blogging platform. </li></ul>On June 8, Twitter India launched ‘Fleets’ for its users, which allows them to share momentary thoughts as it disappears after 24 hours. With this, Twitter has added a visual element onto its platform that will now allow users to express their opinions with videos, GIFs and images. The micro-blogging giant now joins the likes of Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp and Facebook. Before launching Fleets, Twitter did some social thinking. It came to realise that people hold back from tweeting because sharing your thoughts publicly can be intimidating and if someone else retweets, it is like writing on the walls that never erases its digital footprint. Therefore, the platform wanted to encourage its audience from sharing their fleeting thoughts which they would otherwise withhold from tweeting due to social pressure. <div type="twitter" handle="kayvz" handlename="Kayvon Beykpour" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1096175091300200448/APDWZUMo_normal.jpg" favoritecount="276" retweetcount="78" status="People often tell us that they don’t feel comfortable Tweeting because Tweets can be seen and replied to by anybody… https://t.co/na9AOunHQN" createdat="1583341208000" id="1235248675149869057"></div> While Twitterati made fun of the platform for serving an old product with a new packaging and following the bandwagon just because every other platform had it, experts opine this will open up a new way of sharing snacky content. <div type="twitter" handle="sagarcasm" handlename="Sagar" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1097493758071828480/YUYN2p1J_normal.jpg" favoritecount="2402" retweetcount="330" status="Monisha beta, fleets bolo, stories is so middle class. https://t.co/HnBjIafGK2 https://t.co/Nho0nE5kUk" createdat="1591713188000" id="1270363304410648576"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="Rt7778" handlename="Teja" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1216754833308487681/QnK-LdYF_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1532" retweetcount="356" status="Year 2022:Ms Excel now supports stories#fleets https://t.co/iublZjgw3q" createdat="1591751952000" id="1270525892083593216"></div> It brings more opportunities for brands and content creators to engage with their audiences, add more value to their overall content plan and bring in a sense of urgency to make a buying decision. We reached out to experts to understand what it means for the digital world, what kind of content will work on Fleets, and how brands and content creators can reap benefits from this feature. Here is what they said: <keyword id="2705388" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Heeru-Dingra">Heeru Dingra</keyword>, CEO, WATConsult: <div type="image" title="Heeru Dingra WatConsult" msid="76316057" hostid="261"></div> Twitter’s ‘Fleets’ or ‘Fleeting Tweets’ is yet another add-on feature for the platform to generate more conversations and engagement amongst its users. With this update, the micro-blogging giant will now join the league of Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Just like other platforms, this feature would help brands to add a relatability factor in their communication on Twitter, too. Brands will definitely come up with interesting content for this platform as well, utilising this as a new opportunity in their sales funnel. And with the 'Fleets' disappearing in 24 hours, a sense of urgency will be curated amongst users in terms of purchasing the product or grabbing a coupon or more, depending upon the nature of the content. Also, having interactions via direct messaging might add a more personal feel to the conversation. From the users point of view, I would like to add that this step by Twitter will surely enable more people to join the platform as they would be able to state their opinions without any social pressure. Therefore, the increase in consumer base would be a boon to both, the brands, and digital marketers. Though it's still in a testing phase, it will be exciting to see how it unfolds in disruptive times like these. Shradha Agarwal Co-founder &amp; COO, <keyword id="3195906" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Grapes-Digital">Grapes Digital</keyword>: <div type="image" title="SHRADHA AGARWAL." msid="76316075" hostid="261"></div> Twitter is a platform used for opinions and arguments and that's one of the main reasons we see news channels and opinion leaders in the frontline; unlike Instagram, where we have more aspirational content. Keeping a <keyword id="618493" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-marketing">Digital Marketing</keyword> perspective in mind, it is a new feature that every brand will absorb in three steps: 1. Announcement - Will be an integral part of their moment marketing strategy 2. Campaign - Creating an engagement campaign only using <keyword id="8870221" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Twitter-Fleets">Twitter fleets</keyword> 3. Social Strategy - Making this format a part of the overall Twitter strategy. Sudeep Lahiri, VP - Content and Strategy, One Digital Entertainment: <div type="image" title="Sudeep, One Digital" msid="76316198" hostid="261"></div> From an Influencer perspective, this will become a platform to announce their Unfiltered and Behind the Scene thoughts. The former cannot go viral quickly and the latter becomes additional content to add value, like Insta stories. Firstly, it's great that Twitter is testing this feature in India. It shows the importance that the Indian market has earned for itself in determining product features in the technology and content industry. Fleets is definitely an interesting feature for a platform that is focussed on expressions and conversations through words, so far. With regards to the influencer marketing industry, any new social media feature is a new addition to the influencer inventory. So for influencers, it is always a positive game. Fleets will help them to get more innovative in engaging with their fanbase and we will see interesting content pieces on Twitter in the times to come. I am eager to see how the world of Twitterati puts Fleets to use to express themselves but for influencers, this feature will strengthen their visibility more. Neel Gogia, Co-founder, IPLIX Media: <div type="image" title="Neel Gogia" msid="76316252" hostid="261"></div> Stories have become common in every video/photo dominant platform and Instagram stories are already a huge business opportunity for influencers and brands. Fleets will provide a new way of connecting with the followers, since tweets are mostly text dominant. It will be more interesting to see how content creators will make use of this as a different form of expression. Fleets could offer a new method of brand interaction, whether to share announcements or handle customer grievances and Fleets could become a new channel for Twitter influencers.

Twitter Fleets: How digital creators and brands can reap its benefits

<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>The ban on Chinese video apps has left a void in the life of <keyword id="7904555" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tiktok-stars">TikTok stars</keyword>, who are now looking for a new home to showcase their talent.</li><li>We reached out to <keyword id="9603566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="celebrity-pr-managers">celebrity PR managers</keyword> and influencer marketing agencies to understand how they are helping former <keyword id="8637178" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="tiktokers">TikTokers</keyword> in navigating the challenges of finding another platform and what is the strategy that PR managers are following to help TikTokers gain users from scratch. </li><li>Experts said they are advising TikTokers to not lose hope and just keep doing what they do best -- create crispy content on new mediums. They also said that so far, <keyword id="8322765" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram-reels">Instagram Reels</keyword> is the most preferred medium. </li></ul>After the ban on TikTok, many replicas like Instagram Reels, Mitron, Chingari, Bolo Indiya, Roposo, have cropped up. It opened up an opportunity for Indian video apps to come to the forefront and they have seen millions of downloads in the past two weeks. However, former TikTok influencers who worked really hard to build their profiles and widen their reach on the medium -- some of them even quit their job to pursue video making as a full-time career, are still looking for a permanent home. We reached out to celebrity PR managers and influencer marketing agencies to understand how they are helping former TikTokers in navigating the challenges of finding another platform, what kind of response they are seeing from brands and what is the strategy that PR managers are following to help TikTokers gain users from scratch. Parul Parmar, Independent PR Professional said that the recent ban has come with a silver lining. It has made influencers realise the importance of staying platform agnostic and that it's the manager’s prerogative to always ensure that the creators don't place all their eggs in one basket. Parmar said, “Some of the smart ones have already started to replicate their clout on other apps such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and so on because regardless of the platform, it's the creator's talent which will always pave the way to success. A creator's identity and value is solely basis the content and stories they produce and the communities that they have built across platforms. In the case of TikTok creators (given the situation), PR will be a defining factor now to boost their visibility and credibility. Especially for the following categories: Superstars with insane numbers and following -- the likes of Riyaz, Mr. Faisu, Radhika Bangia, Jannat Zubair. The unique ones like Hydroman, Yusuf BMX and Baba Jackson.” While many apps have been launched to eat into TikTok’s void, Neel Gogia, Co-founder, IPLIX Media opines that every influencer marketing agency must be trying to take former TikTokers to Instagram Reels. “Instagram is a go-to platform if you consider in terms of fan base. With the launch of Reels, this is a perfect opportunity for all TikTok influencers to take advantage of this because they have more experience and expertise of creating short 15 second videos and they know the successful recipe for a short video, since they have already achieved that success on TikTok. Whereas for Instagram influencers, it is comparatively a new thing and they are still trying it out and seeing how it works,” said Gogia. He also stressed that timing is an important factor that can help TikTokers gain back their followers. “If TikTok influencers can quickly step into reels and follow what works on Instagram, this is the perfect opportunity for them to regain their follower base. Though it will take some time, this is a good lesson for them as well to not invest their content only on one platform and they should be using different platforms for their content based on the criteria every platform has. They will have to stay consistent, have trust on their content and give it 4-5 months. If they still create good content that is relevant for their audience on these platforms, they can quickly come back to the game," added Gogia. Talent management, PR and Influencer Marketing Agency, Peoplekind’s Founder - Praachi Kapse said every digital creator should be agile and open to change as digital is the most dynamic medium that there is. Kapse said, “The digital world is a dynamic space, one which keeps creators on their toes. It keeps that rush of ideas and creativity going. Content curators have over the years harnessed the ability to tune in to a platform’s ethos and understand and drive consumer engagement. Content is king, and change is constant; The digital world has seen the rise, fall, plateau effect and innovation of everything from blogging, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook profiles and Instagram, to even snackier content like Snapchat, Insta stories, Musically, TikTok and now Instagram Reels. It is a challenge that drives content curators to constantly keep innovating themselves. That’s both the charm and the tipping point of social media platforms” But have TikTokers stopped receiving brand deals? Experts said no. The mediums might change but the empires of influence they built on TikTok remain unaffected by the ban. However, Gautam Madhavan, Founder &amp; CEO, MAD Influence told us that investing ad monnies on TikTok was cheaper than Instagram or YouTube. It will be a task for media planners to come up with a budget-friendly solution that offers as massive reach as TikTok did. “TikTok Influencers have not really lost anything. Most of them have a follower base on their other channels i.e., Instagram and YouTube. Hence, their loyal fans are still there and brands are still willing to work with them. The only difference is the duration of content - be it branded/non branded. What TikTok had to offer in terms of reach and visibility at an affordable cost is now a task for all media planners. Instagram and YouTube are expensive when compared with TikTok. But we are committed to working a way out on Instagram and YouTube as well, because at the end of the day every brand has to promote itself irrespective of the platform,” said Madhavan. Parmar also highlighted how visibility and reach are two important factors for any influencer to woo brands. She said PR can prove to be a very effective tool in getting that back. “Visibility is of utmost importance to them than ever before at this point. Their success stories on TikTok/uniqueness of content or rather just their presence in the content ecosystem should reach the right ears in the industry via traditional as well as new age mediums to sustain their brand. These creators should now be busy creating interesting narratives of their adaptability, resilience, innovation and community building. This is enough material for their proactive PR. Most of them have stayed away from reactive PR and it's understandable. But coming back to visibility with a robust strategy to tell their story is vital going forward. It is the age of disruptions and there will be enough opportunities for everyone at hand,” said Parmar. Celebrity Managers and influencer marketing agencies are advising TikTokers to not give up and keep creating content to grow on whichever medium they are on.

Instagram Reels and upping content game: suggestions from Celebrity PR managers and Influencer Marketing Agencies for TikTokers

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

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As brands turn to influencer marketing for the festive season, experts are optimistic about seeing about a 40-50% growth in ad spends

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

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Twitter Fleets: How digital creators and brands can reap its benefits

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Influencer Marketing: Trends to watch out for in 2022

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Instagram Reels and upping content game: suggestions from Celebrity PR managers and Influencer Marketing Agencies for TikTokers

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How TikTok’s ban in India might impact influencers and brands

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