The ability to influence someone is not a skill that can be learned. Influencer is a force that must be understood and appreciated. Think back to a time when you were influenced by someone else, be it your parents, siblings, teachers, friends, politicians or even celebrities. Their power to persuade you with words and visuals changed your life in one way or another.
In a world dominated by the digital—a world where we spend hours in front of screens— the power that influencers yield is unparalleled. In an in-depth discussion hosted by Entrepreneurs’ Organization labeled ‘The Power And Impact Of Influencer Marketing,’ AiSPi’s founder along with several other industry leaders such as Masoom Minawala, Pinky Reddy and Azam Khan, discussed the topic at hand.
Get to know the fastest rising marketing strategy
Meet The Panelists
"When I started AiSPi, I just wanted to share with the world what I loved."
The Unmissable Discussion
Entrepreneurs’ Organization is the world’s only peer-to-peer network exclusively for entrepreneurs. It was built to connect like minded people together to learn from each other and promote growth. The discussion was hosted by Sanjiv Bajaj, the Managing Director of Bajaj Finserv and he started it by giving the audience a key insight into how the world of social media has revolutionised the entire business industry. “Earlier, I used to read reviews before travelling,” he explained. “Now, I look at my favourite influencer to see which hotels they are staying at and which restaurants they love.”
In this changing world, businesses and consumers have given influencers a role in their decision making process. In this discussion, the four finalists share their individual journeys within social media and tell us the impact that it has had on their careers.
Sharing her personal journey from blogger to influencer, Masoom Minawala revealed her love for the craft of content creation. “Being able to pick a topic you’re passionate about and then share your perspective on it is amazing. Based on the content you create, people from all over the world can start a dialogue,” she said.
Meanwhile, Pinky Reddy confessed that she had been an influencer all her life. Ever since she was in school, she had been driving trends. When she joined social media, she brought this same realness to it. “I only post what I believe in and when I post, people believe,” she explained.
As AiSPi is a platform built on the concept of connecting European designers to the rest of the world, Aisha spoke about building a business on Instagram. “Instagram pushes you to connect with people,” she began. “A lot of businesses these days grow on the power of micro-influencers and real people.”
Azam Khan, the founder of Digitz, spoke about the future of this marketing strategy: “The influencer path is one that will traverse across all industries. If you’re a business, this is the best time to get started.”
Influencer Marketing in the New Normal
It’s no secret that influencer marketing is flourishing. However, Azam pointed out in the discussion: “There are several different kinds of influencers—people who have a large following on social media, people who’ve been influencers in their society, and others.”
As the power of an influencer increases, so does their responsibility towards their audience. “The industry has evolved.It has become so much more about your opinions, perspectives and about informing and educating your audience, almost taking them along with you on your journey,” said Masoom about the new role of influencers in the new normal.
Aisha S Kothari outlined the 4 vital steps to effective influencer marketing that worked for her brand (high end luxury market) after several trial and error runs
1. Have strong product and brand to begin with
2. Understand your customer and see who they follow and look upto. Sometimes it could be in a complementary industry, for example, for us, it is not just fashion but also interior and architecture.
3. Identify an influencer that works for you. Follow them from your personal account, live their account – see their stories and really understand their engagement metric
4. Employ a targeted and well thought out marketing strategy with them that is genuine and resonates with their audience (ie your customer)
Golden rule: When they execute that marketing strategy ensure that your brand page / website is ready with the CTA and reflects the product that is being advertised.
Written by Team AiSPi
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