INCA, GroupM’s brand-safe influencer, and content marketing solution unit, launched the Influencer Marketing Report 2.0. With over 467 million active social media users in India, influencer marketing has emerged to be a powerful tool for brands to reach their audience. The report states that the Influencer Marketing Industry, currently valued at about INR 1275cr, representing a 42 pc increase (over 900 cr) in 2021 is slated to grow at a CAGR of 25 pc for the next 5 years to become an INR 2800 crore industry by 2026.
Ashwin Padmanabhan, President – Investments, Partnerships, and Trading – GroupM India said, “Influencers and brands are collaborating on creative campaigns, which is great to see. In this report, GroupM INCA India highlights how brands are using influencer marketing to promote their products and strategies. Brands need to take advantage of these research-backed strategies to ensure that their marketing monies are spent on partnerships and content that are likely to have the greatest impact on their brand. With influencer marketing growing exponentially in popularity and the ability to monetise it through social media, it has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in digital media.”
Commenting on the report, Prasanth Kumar, CEO – GroupM South Asia said, “Brands in recent times have shown immense interest in influencer marketing and it’s a positive sign that many brands are pushing their initiatives through influencers. In today’s world, influencer marketing is proving to be one of the key tools to promote businesses worldwide. Influencer marketing is becoming a data and content-driven marketing strategy due to the collaboration between businesses and influencers that leads to campaign outcomes. This report will be invaluable for marketers, influencers, and brands to understand how influencer marketing is taking shape in the country. They can leverage this to grow their businesses.”
The report states that Instagram reels are the most preferred short format used by influencers and more than 60 pc of the respondents have tried live streaming on social media platforms. 75 pc of marketers have used Influencer Marketing to increase Top-of-mind awareness (TOMA).
According to the report, more than 90 pc of the respondents have pledged to be ASCI compliant and 100 pc of the respondents have said that it’s important to create value/cause-related content. Additionally, about 75 pc of the respondents admitted that they use Influencer Marketing to increase their awareness. 60 pc of the Marketers have mentioned that Influencer Marketing is either a high or top strategic priority in their overall marketing plan and 90 pc have mentioned it as a medium to top priority.
Short format content followed by live streaming and social commerce is the most trending tool used by influencers and most of them have incorporated or want to incorporate short format content followed by live streaming. The most preferred measurement metric is the cost per engagement followed by brand awareness and then sales.
30 pc of the respondents are already using Influencers to create cause-related content, out of which Environment/sustainability, gender equality, and diversity are the top causes; whereas 80 pc of the Marketers are committed to increasing their Influencer Marketing budgets.
Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook are the most active platforms for most of the respondents.
View the report here.
