The online study was undertaken in February and March 2018 with participation from CMOs

YAAP, in association with IAMAI, conducted a study called ‘The State of Influencer Marketing in India 2018’.

The online study was undertaken in February and March 2018 with participation from CMOs of over top 80 companies across categories such as Auto, BFSI, Consumer Durables, E-commerce, FMCG, Media & Communications, Retail and Telecom.

The aim of the study was to understand the role and significance of influencer marketing as an important marketing tool and how brands can leverage it to create targeted marketing campaigns in 2018.

Some of the study highlights:
* 75 percent of marketers measure the success of their campaigns in terms of engagement. With the fight for consumer attention span intensifying, influencers are a key ingredient in the mix to get consumers to engage with brands.

* 7 out of 10 marketers plan to increase their influencer marketing budgets. Marketers have acknowledged that today’s consumers trust word of mouth over brandspeak and so, they are increasingly collaborating with influencers who will help them reach newer and engaged audiences.

* Only 20 percent of marketers currently run always-on influencer marketing campaigns for their brands. With the increase in ad blocking and growing dissonance among consumers for ‘brand messages’, brands will continue to increase their efforts and investments into influencer marketing, from the current event-based approach to a more steady state of influencer marketing.

* Facebook and Twitter continue to be the first choice of dissemination mediums that brands look at. Brands are now also looking at Instagram to engage their target audience because of the ease of creating relevant and visually appealing content.

Nikhil Bapat, partner, YAAP, said: “With growing popularity and evolution of social media, influencer marketing is becoming pivotal to a brand’s marketing mix.  Influencer marketing is enabling brands to bring out creative content which can directly be consumed by the target audience.

"This study was undertaken to understand the various underlying trends and key factors contributing to the growing relevance of Influencer marketing in India and how brands are leveraging it to increase brand awareness and loyalty. With the evolution of influencer marketing in India, this was probably the right time to undertake this study, which not only gives us an insight into how marketers perceive influencer marketing but also showcases the perspective across varied sectors.”

Dr Subho Ray, president, IAMAI, said, “We are happy to associate with YAAP for this study, which I believe will highlight some significant data points for marketers and how they need to align their strategy to the changing times.”  

With spends and focus of marketing campaigns moving in favour of influencer marketing, determining the RoI and the right medium of dissemination continue to be some of the biggest challenges. The execution of the campaigns is now also taking an integrated approach that employs tech and analytics rather than using standalone social media channels.