The truth behind the glam – a look into India’s Influencer Ecosystem

Authored by Rohit Pande, Co-Founder, Habitat 

Along with A-listers and celebrities, today Influencers too are headlining and marketing brand launches.  For the uninitiated, ‘Influencer’ are individuals who create social media content and whose opinions can influence the actions of their followers on various social media platforms. They form the crux of the Influencer/Creator Economy, which is estimated to be an INR 900-crore business. 

Being an Influencer is clearly very rewarding as it opens doors to opportunities, which, until a couple of years ago seemed unobtainable.  The last decade has seen thousands of content creators launch themselves on social media, looking for one significant brand collaboration to mark their name in the industry and set them up for a steady stream of endorsements and money. While the biggest names in the field do achieve this level of success, the truth is that very few influencers make it that far. 

For every influencer with a million followers and dozens of brand associations a month, thousands of hopefuls struggle to market and monetize their content successfully. The ground reality is that only one per cent of content creators make money. The rest spend most of their time struggling to be seen. 

There are many reasons for this enormous gulf between the top layer and the rest of the ecosystem. Most of them concern the many myths and misconceptions surrounding content creation.

Here are some of the biggest ones:

A higher follower count means more money

While getting as many followers as possible seems like an obvious path to success as an Influencer, follower numbers are only one of the metrics brands use when determining whether they want to associate with an individual. The quality of content and the engagement it drives are far more important to brands that want to work with Influencers who truly capture the brand essence and principle. 

Hence, Influencers are better off focusing on improving their content to get more watch minutes on YouTube and increasing engagement. For example, a creator with 100,000 loyal followers and a 10 per cent engagement rate is far more likely to get an association than one with a million followers and less than a one per cent engagement rate. 

Brand collaborations are consistent

Getting brand collaborations as an influencer may seem easy. Most observers don’t see the immense work that creators put into their profiles. From contacting a brand, creating content on their behalf, getting the content approved, and finally getting paid - brand collaborations are the most challenging part of the job. In actuality, while many companies are keen on influencer marketing, most of the work goes to a few top creators. 

Getting consistent work from brands is a daily struggle for the rest of the pack. In the end, creators should never limit themselves to one model. Other options, such as direct monetisation, help creators create value for their subscribers and monetise their content by charging them a subscription fee. This model yield high outcome without relying on brand collaborations solely.    

The money will eventually happen

There is plenty of advice online on how to make it as a creator. Perseverance is at the top of the list. They will say - never give up on the dream; post content consistently; use trending hashtags and reels; money will eventually start to flow. Unfortunately, while perseverance is undeniably vital to succeeding in this industry, there is no single tip, trick, or suggestion that will guarantee monetary success. 

This state of affairs can largely be attributed to the fact that most social media platforms promote the top creators because they’re the ones who drive traffic and engagement. The same can’t be said of smaller influencers struggling to get their content picked up by platform algorithms. And even when they do make money, most platforms take a cut of the proceedings. As a result, entry-level creators end up being the worst hit, with the algorithms failing to drive either reach or monetization. 

The playing field must be levelled for the Indian influencer ecosystem to continue on its upward trajectory. It is up to influencers to express their creativity on more supportive platforms. Several tools exist in the market that help creators monetize their content and maintain control over it. As a result, they’re empowered to build their own brand and directly connect with their audiences.