MUMBAI: MRSI’s Wednesday Webinar for November 2025 ‘Attention to Action: How Influencers Shape Consumer Behaviour’ explored how influencers shape consumer actions and how brands are increasingly incorporating them into their strategies. The panellists included Kalyan Kumar – co-founder, CEO, KlugKlug; Kunal Sawant – Business Head, GroupM WPP, Content and Influencer Marketing, Goat Agency India; and Pramod Pawar – VP – Quantitative Research, Hansa Research Group with Sunder moderating the webinar. Influencer marketing has rapidly emerged as a powerful brand-building channel. Content has merged with commerce, and brands now collaborate with micro, regional, and niche influencers. With India’s rapid digital adoption, this ecosystem has grown significantly and has become a crucial component of the marketing mix.
The session began with the moderator asking: Who is an influencer? Kalyan kickstarted the discussion, stating influencers come from a different spectrum; they are individuals creating content to appeal to audiences on social media. Pramod added to it in simple terms, saying influencers are people who impact decision-making and are accessible through digital platforms. Agreeing with both perspectives Kunal further explained that anyone who, through social media, has the power to influence purchases or opinions can be considered an influencer today.
Sawant went on to explain how influencer marketing has evolved into a strategic priority for almost every major brand they surveyed, with 71% planning to adopt an always-on approach rather than campaign-specific bursts. The study covered sectors like FMCG, BFSI, manufacturing, and utilities, and included senior marketers from legacy companies such as P&G and Tata, as well as fast-growing D2C brands. Using a robust methodology, they analysed 60,000 influencers, posts from 52 brands across 8 categories, and qualitative inputs from followers, marketers, and agencies. Kunal also indicated that they also incorporated a new measurement framework being co-developed with IIT Mumbai.
A key insight from the study was the rising importance of content quality and audience engagement over follower count, especially among manufacturing brands. Companies are increasingly favouring niche micro-influencers for their authenticity and subject expertise. Long-term partnerships are becoming the norm, with 72% of brands; and 95% of manufacturing companies—preferring ongoing relationships rather than one-off collaborations. Despite using discovery tools, many brands still struggle to identify the right influencers, particularly in regulated sectors like BFSI. Among success metrics, engagement rate is becoming the primary currency, while impressions and views are losing relevance. Conversion metrics currently stand at 23% but are expected to rise.
Sawant emphasised that influencers drive trust and credibility across the entire consumer funnel; from awareness to purchase. Micro and nano-influencers build stronger trust for new brands, while established brands prioritise creators with brand safety and high-quality content. He concluded by stating that audience dynamics, clearly defined objectives, brand-influencer fit, and the brand’s lifecycle are essential for influencer marketing success.
Pawar presented the influencer ecosystem from a detailed market-research perspective, drawing from their syndicated “Brand Endorser” study. Covering more than 500 respondents across 36 Indian cities and evaluating over 350 celebrities and influencers across sports, cinema, TV, and social media, the study maps personality traits and their alignment with relevant categories. Pawar highlighted a major shift: influencer recognition among consumers has grown by nearly 50% in recent years. This indicates that consumers are not only consuming digital content but are increasingly aware of who influencers are; showing how influencer-driven strategies have become mainstream.
Regionally, recognition has grown fastest in the West (67%), followed by the North. While the South and East show slower growth, these regions exhibit strong preference for local-language creators, making regional relevance essential. He further noted that although influencers are strongly associated with Gen Z, recognition among millennials has grown considerably, showing that influencer impact now spans wider demographics. Relatability remains a key driver—82% of consumers find influencers more relatable than celebrities, as they share everyday experiences and accessible content.
He also highlighted shifts across content genres: comedy and entertainment remain the largest and fastest-growing; beauty and fashion continue rising among metro women; food and cooking content is booming in smaller cities; podcasts are gaining traction among younger metro men; and tech remains niche but highly trusted. Pramod stressed that brand-influencer fit is crucial. Consumers prefer stylish, creative influencers in apparel; trustworthy, practical creators in finance; and warm, relatable personalities in food. Metro audiences gravitate toward aspirational, polished creators, while smaller markets prefer relatable, culturally rooted influencers. He concluded by reiterating that India has many markets in one, and influencer strategies must reflect regional nuances, category codes, and personality alignment. Success comes from relevance, authenticity, and meeting consumer expectations; not just visibility.
Responding to a question on the role of Influencer Marketing in B2B scenarios, Kumar explained that B2B operates very differently from B2C, although influencer marketing has existed in pre-digital B2B through subject-matter experts and niche channels. The B2B audience largely comprises CXOs and senior decision-makers, making platforms like LinkedIn ideal due to their targeting precision. However, credibility is the biggest challenge. Highly credible voices on LinkedIn rarely endorse brands unless they genuinely believe in them, limiting impact. Lower-tier influencers have virtually no influence in this space. Hence, B2B influencer marketing remains under-explored but high-value, requiring precision and consistency.
Kumar highlighted the scale of influencer marketing today. The influencer-led content marketing industry is valued at ₹10,000 crore, with about 25% managed through organised agencies. Several brands now spend ₹20+ crore annually, and D2C brands are investing ₹6 crore or more, matching previous FMCG digital spend levels. More than 14,000 brands on Amazon have leveraged influencer-driven content to quietly shift market share.
He showcased the strong impact influencers deliver: beauty categories show 2x–5x EMV multipliers, home and kitchen categories show 5x–7x, and influencers significantly boost purchase intent through increased search volumes. Yet, operational challenges persist; brands often achieve only 50–60% of the audience they assume they’re reaching. For example, only 14% of female beauty influencers have more than 50% female followers, resulting in audience misalignment. Additionally, when multiple intermediaries are involved, only 30–50% of budgets reach creators, prompting many D2C brands to work directly with influencers.
Kumar stressed the need to move beyond traditional attribution methods like swipe-ups and link-in-bio, which capture just 8–12% of true influence. He noted that agile brands are already using smarter influencer deployments to outperform larger competitors on platforms like Amazon. With 43% of India’s internet users being Gen Z (and 67% when combined with millennials), traditional media holds little relevance for these consumers, who show 7x higher brand recall for social-first content. This shift has transformed marketing; founder-led brands now prioritise authenticity and performance over polished creative aesthetics. Kalyan concluded that influencer-led content-to-commerce is a massive Rs. 10,000-crore opportunity, and the next wave of innovation lies in helping brands unlock its full potential. Whether in B2C, B2B, or regional markets, influencers are shaping discovery, trust, and purchase decisions at scale.
