Influencer marketing is booming in India on social media platforms and is estimated to be worth between $ 75 million and $ 100 million according to digital marketing agency AdLift.
Influencer marketing is ready to be regulated in India. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the industry body that regulates advertising communication, has developed a set of guidelines for influencer marketing on digital media platforms. The guidelines will go into effect at the end of March after consultations with industry stakeholders.
Influencer marketing is booming in India on social media platforms and is estimated to be worth between $ 75 million and $ 100 million according to digital marketing agency AdLift. “Brands allocate 10 to 15% of their digital media expenses to influencer marketing. The market is now growing at 40-70% YoY, ”says Prashant Puri, CEO and Founder of AdLift.
Brand categories that involve advocates have also grown. “Influencers are no longer limited to beauty, food or travel categories. We work with influencers for products like paints, laminates, etc. ”Says Ankita Chauhan, Group Head of Strategy at Tonic Worldwide.
The concern with influencer marketing is that the lines between advertising and content have started to blur on digital platforms. “Consumers cannot distinguish between what they pay for a piece of brand communication and a simple post on social networks.
Since this form of marketing is important, it is important that ASCI protects the interests of consumers and informs stakeholders about best practices in the industry, ”says Subhash Kamath, President of ASCI.
ASCI says influencers will need to use tags like #ad or #collab, and add tags to posts and videos to reveal in advance that a post is an ad. ASCI is assigning the responsibility for disclosure to the influencer and the advertiser whose brand the ad is.
Bringing influencer marketing to the ASCI realm will mean that the regulator must strengthen its monitoring team to handle complaints and check for violators. Kamath says ASCI is taking several steps to reduce the time it takes to review complaints, including frequent meetings of the Consumer Complaints Council and automating the review process.
The nature of social media is such that anyone can aspire to become an influencer or advocate in their field of expertise. The market is wide and varied. Kareena Kapoor with 6.1 million followers and a beauty blogger with 10,000 followers on Instagram are ‘influencers’ who relate to brands like Ariel or a small company that sells handloom clothing. “Big brands and influencers with a large following are more likely to be accountable to consumers than smaller ones,” says Manika Juneja, EVP of WATConsult Operations. This means that while large corporations or celebrities can responsibly self-regulate, it could be an uphill task for ASCI to enforce its guidelines on micro or nano influencers and SMEs.
In addition, the platforms on which influencers publish content are innumerable. YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a host of short video platforms and OTT platforms carry user-generated content that could be paid for. “Of these, the majority of influencer marketing posts are shared on Instagram and YouTube,” observes Sagar Pushp, co-founder of ClanConnect.
Of these two platforms, Instagram is the only one that offers a dedicated branded content tool. This allows creators to reveal when a post is a paid association and allows advertisers to track the performance of branded content campaigns. Other platforms don’t have that option yet and place the responsibility of declaring a fully paid engagement on the influencer or brand as they write their posts. However, the problem with even having a branded content tool like Instagram is that “posts that are tagged as ‘paid partnerships’ get less engagement than organic posts,” says Juneja. In addition, it adds that the absence of a sanction for violations combined with countless influencers, small and large, makes it difficult for the industry body to regulate the market.
Also read: Will the draft ASCI guidelines negatively affect an influencer’s influence?
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook
Get Live Stock Prices from BSE, NSE, US Market & Latest NAV, Mutual Fund Portfolio, Check Latest IPO News, Top Performing IPOs, Calculate Your Taxes with Tax Calculator income, learn about the top market winners, top losers and the best equity funds Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
BrandWagon is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay up-to-date with the latest brand news and updates.
–
