》To influence is to have an effect on someone’s psychology to such an extent that it impacts their choices and behavioral patterns.

The Influencers are the people that have taken up the interest of a large number of people online. They create content of varied spectrums on social-media platforms and have amassed a huge following on the basis of the entertainment or information they are able to provide through these mediums.

With the world witnessing a surge in the number of people on these platforms in recent years, these Influencers are looked up to for fashion advice, product reviews, etc. It has reached to a point where the nature of a review from an Influencer can either bump up the sales numbers or even stoop them down.

》Influencer marketing involves the use of these online personalities to boost the growth of your company or your product. It involves a similar approach like using Celebrities or Models to showcase your finer products, but what has changed? Why can’t we still use only Celebrities for marketing campaigns?

The reasons behind this are numerous, but to simplify this we can take the example of two of these aforementioned reasons –

• Budget – In the current scenario, many people have taken an interest in entrepreneurship. The idea of working for oneself is intoxicating. Choosing the hours and doing something you are passionate about rather than mindlessly wasting time on 9-5 conventional jobs, has been a talking point for people of different age-groups across the planet. This has led to a rise in the number of businesses. Now, using probability and basic statistics it has been clear that not every business reaches the Forbes’ list of the top-tier companies in the world. Hence, not every company can afford to spend 30-50% of their revenue to employ Celebrities in marketing their products. The influencers however charge very less in comparison and garner almost a similar level of interest from the public toward the company. Another benefit is that the companies can hire more Influencers with less money than trying to get a celebrity for endorsements, this results in the company reaching a variegated audience from which substantial relationships bloom between the company and the customer. (There is a psychological basis involved here which has been explained better in the point below.)

• Psychological aspects – With the access of the internet, the personal and professional lives of actors, musicians, etc. – famous personalities have become somewhat available to the public which has decreased the level of trust people put in them, as it is not believable that someone making North of $ 10 million would use day-to-day products and services. Enter the Influencers, most Influencers in India belong to modest families, they were not born into wealth and have been living a similar life to the general public. Hence, when marketing products like shampoo, perfumes, etc. (Except the luxury brands) people trust the opinion of the Influencers more as they feel like being in the same walk of life as them. Another point arises from the fact that Influencers maintain a better level of interaction with their audience on a daily basis, this results in the civilians relating to them more and feeling like a part of their family, which is an added bonus as people trust their family more than anything. This helps in building better customer-relationships.