The ability to influence others and change their behavioural
pattern is a skill that is greatly admired. In the highly competitive world of
marketing, using the services of such an individual can mean the difference
between success and failure. In the rest of the country, brands are utilizing
the expertise of such individuals. The same is increasingly visible in Goa too.
In a small market, competition is intense and corporates both local and
national use the services of social influencers.
Not many get as big as Flexcia D’Souza. A
social influencer with around 1, 23,000 followers all over the world, she
operates in the travel space and a little bit of lifestyle. She started off as
a blogger in 2011 to document her experiences while travelling. This she says
generated a positive response from the readers and then when Facebook and later
Instagram took off she decided to log into these platforms. In 2017, Instagram
caught fire and the number of her followers increased. She started posting a
lot of offbeat travel content about a lot of things people did not know about.
The regular travel websites would not provide such information about that off
the road experience. She did not just stick to Goa but also travelled across
the country and across countries in Asia. People have built a connection with
her over a period of time.
Initially, she would pay for trips out of her pocket; this was
done to create new content of course. However, over the last one year, most of
her trips have been sponsored. There is quite a bit of money to be earned doing
this. Working with brands can be quite a profitable venture. She was in
Rajasthan in January with Royal Enfield, a bike she uses personally. Invited
for a launch of a bike and later for the launch of a tire, she made two films
and posted them on her platforms. She admitted it was difficult to survive
doing only this in a market like Goa. Flexcia says she also worked as a
marketing professional for brands. She says when one made money it was good
enough for the month but it was not a steady source of income. Goa, she says,
was a small economy and not many brands were looking for such relationships in
Goa, even if they did she said their budgets were small. Importantly, there
were several people in Goa doing work like this and this meant hard
negotiations and clients having very specific requirements.
She says it was possible to be a full time influencer in cities
like Mumbai, Delhi or even Bengaluru. It was possible to build a team and
ensure the content put out was of a certain quality. Brand integrations were
more frequent. In a place like Goa it was possible to be paid anywhere between
Rs 5000 and Rs 50,000 per job. She says there were several influencers who did
a lot of generic work like food with a bit of travel. There were no influencers
who worked on super niche categories like bikes or cars or just travel. The
dynamics were so fluid she says and every few years, the style of presentation,
the platforms would change and influencers would have to learn to adapt. It was
important to continue to learn to adapt and stay relevant.
The need for advice can be felt in various aspects of one’s
life. In an age where image matters, anyone giving advice on physical fitness
and ensuring success for those following it can be guaranteed with success. One
time centre back for his professional team, Prathamesh Maulingkar, who was the
first footballer in Asia to be featured on the cover of Men’s Health magazine
is a fitness influencer. With over 3.5 lakh followers around the world, he has
been advising people for over fifteen years.
As a footballer, his focus was on staying fit so he had to stay
fit to be able to play at a professional level. When asked if his followers
listened to his advice, he says, “All I can do is present my case and I then
leave it to them to decide if it was good for them.” He says he would receive a
lot of offers from companies in the health space looking for collaborations.
The monies to be made were pretty decent for anyone operating from Goa. He
could be paid Rs 50,000 per reel that he uploads, then for a minimum story on
one could be paid Rs 20,000 or even Rs 40,000 per picture. He would also get
sponsored by supplement brands.
He owns a gym in Tivim and has also signed up with an agency.
Clients were very demanding and wanted the shoot at a very professional level.
Asked how he perceived this business to evolve, he says this role did not exist
a couple of years ago and he felt the role would continue to evolve driven by
new technology and consumer needs. He said he was open to new ideas and the
social media market was growing by the day and the sky was the limit.
A marketing manager who did not want to be on record said a
social media influencer was an interesting addition in the arsenal of marketing
executives. She, however, advises caution saying that in Goa, the market was
tiny and everyone was fighting for the same rupee. Many influencers, she says,
were more conscious of their looks rather than the content they were
presenting. She also pointed out that many showed numbers that ran into the
lakhs but response was usually from a few hundred if ever. This she felt was
due to the presence of bots.
The presence of bots may be the last thing on the mind of
Scarlett Rose, an influencer whose followers number in excess of 1.5 million.
An actor who was part of a popular show on MTV, she was based in Mumbai. She
now spends time between Goa and Dubai. She has a digital marketing agency with
a team based in both the cities. As an actor, she had to promote the shows and
she gained a lot of attention. This prompted brands to come on board. She
operates in the travel, luxury, lifestyle and fitness space. A person who
follows her, she says listen to her and usually goes out and buy the product
she recommends. She says having a large number of views or followers did not
make them an influencer. She says the trend of being real was coming back. The
use of filters was going out. She did not promote anything that was not real
like plastic surgeries. It was about being happy and genuine.
The rapidly evolving state of the business can be gauged by the
fact that Trevon Dias who operates in the fitness, beauty and fashion space
says the government was now asking influencers especially those in the health
space to show documentation to prove they had qualifications to promote those
products. The business, Trevon says, was growing by leaps and bounds and
business would continue to be good but the attitude of the Wild West where
anything goes would no longer continue.
The
social influencer will continue to remain in the market and will continue to
evolve as the years go by. It should be an interesting time.
