How are the top influencers of India changing the game?

In the always evolving world of content creation, the one thing that one needs to understand is to not go into the technicalities and rather stay simple and enjoy the process and in cases where one faces a creative block, one should take a break and pick themselves up and try to find the one thing that not only they but their audiences can also relate to, say top social media influencers. 

Kickstarting the session on ‘How are the top influencers of India changing the game?’, Kunal Sawant, Business Head, INCA (A WPP company), pointed out that external factors such as the internet penetration coupled with cheaper data and affordable smartphones have fuelled the use of social media to an extent that today, there are over 500 million+ people on social media, of which 450 million+ people are already following influencers.

In fact, most of the people spend over two hours consuming content on social media every day and on an average one person follows over seven influencers on social media, with three out of five saying that these influencers have an influence on their purchase decisions, as per Sawant.

He also went on to cite that as per the latest GroupM INCA report, the influencer marketing industry is already a Rs 1275 crore one growing at a CAGR of 25% which means that it will be a Rs 3000 crore industry in the next five years.

Speaking at FICCI Frames 2023, Viraj Ghelani, a content creator, pointed out that what he does to stay relevant is think less and be one's own self more when it comes to producing content.

Adding to Ghelani’s point, Kamiya Jaani, CEO and Founder, Curly Tales, and a content creator, also stated that for her, relevance becomes a problem when one thinks that one has arrived after gaining virality and think that he/she will only do certain things and that stage she believes has not come for her as she constantly believes that she wants to learn more and gain more knowledge and understanding so as to do something better.

“I really enjoy travelling and that is my passion and I feel like most content creators out there are following their passion and that’s what makes it easy and simple. I don’t think relevance has to do anything with age or how you look, but more about how you’re constantly evolving yourself as a creator. I think for me that’s been a challenge also, but I enjoy the process also,” she said.

Similarly, Saloni Gaur, aka salonayyy, also shared that it is the audience who know how relevant a creator is, which is why one should always be open to feedback from them. In fact, in her views, the perfect example of staying relevant is Tanmay Bhatt who started with sketches, took a gap, came back and began vlogging and then gaming by reading and understanding the market.

Furthermore, Ghelani also shared a candid advice for the brands and influencer agencies through an example. Since everybody knows that Valentine’s Day falls on February 14, one should not approach the creators on February 12, asking one to upload the video the next day.

“If you want us to give out good content or campaign videos, approaching the creators a few days in advance would be the best fit. When it comes to branded content, we should be given our creative freedom as content creators because we know what’s working with our audience,” he suggested.

In addition, Jaani also shared the viewpoint that audiences come to a creator for the kind of story that they produce, and therefore, when brands come to creators for their audience, they should let the creators create it in the style suited to their audience.

“Everytime when there is a seamless connection between the brand, the creator and his audience, the video will see virality. But if the case is so that the brand is everywhere in the content, it would just put off the audience,” she said.

With this, she also stated that when a branded content doesn’t perform well even after trying to put together a story as a creator, it hurts, even though creators are paid for it.

Gaur also said that when it comes to branded content, brands should keep in mind the creator’s element, which is what the audience follows or likes them for rather than forcing ideas on them.

Commenting as to what does she think about the various regulations or guidelines imposed on content creators, albeit through ASCI or Consumer Affairs Ministry, she said that in her views, these regulations do not hamper the creativity of content creators and only require the creators to put a paid partnership tag which makes it clear for the audience who’s consuming the particular creator’s content that it is an ad.

Upon being questioned as to how does she deal with the creative block, Anisha Dixit, aka Rickshawali, content creator, shared the viewpoint that sometimes when a creator hits a creative block, one should go and take some time out to arrive at things which seem relatable, because if the case is so, the audience would also be able to relate to the same content.

“Honestly, for me, there have been moments where I wanted to stop, but then, I again picked myself up. In fact, it is all a part and parcel of every creator’s journey and we’re all in love with the process,” she said.