In India, there are an estimated 190 million online shoppers. The burgeoning class of Gen Z and Millennial shoppers is being serviced by more than 6200 D2C brands and the addressable market size of this industry will be USD 100 Billion by 2025.
These D2C brands must be agile about social media and build new relationships with their new-age customers. A young D2c brand with limited resources at its disposal can employ influencer marketing to penetrate the market and capture the consumer base.
For a new D2C brand, there are five ways to make influencer marketing work for their business:
Make Customer the Influencer
A brand should consider a customer’s purchase journey and build mechanisms that incentivize the customer to spread the word about the product and drop video testimonials about their experience.
Specific campaigns to celebrate the top customers through meet-and-greets and special events can translate into branding and long-term customer loyalty.
Generate Organic Content
Nano and micro-influencers with 5,000-10,000 followers make excellent partners for a brand at the beginning of its journey when the marketing budget is limited.
The brand itself may be placed better to utilize user-generated content and promote it through its own social media channels.
Thrive in the Niche
D2C brands, by their definition, exist as niche categories. For a D2C brand, it is essential to have a brand story that engages the core target audience. The brand’s marketing campaign should reflect who the customers are and who they want to be which can sustain the business now and in the future.
For such a business, it makes sense to find and collaborate with niche influencers who resonate with the brand’s philosophy and can deliver an effective campaign rather than working with the influencers with a larger following base.
Avenues beyond social media
A new customer is likely to purchase a product from a brand they know and admire rather than an advertisement or a generic influencer.
For a new product, breaking into a niche category may mean going beyond Instagram and Facebook and targeting WhatsApp groups dedicated to the lifestyle that the product supports.
Celebrity Influencers
As D2C brands are picking up steam, big-time celebrities are engaging with them. But the only way such endorsement will feel authentic is if there is a connection between the person and the brand ethos.
A D2C brand looking for a celebrity influencer should look for someone who exemplifies the brand’s ethos. In fact, it is a better strategy to partner with a lesser-known influencer who has more in common with the brand than with a bigger celebrity who is not relevant to the brand.
Influencers have millions of followers on social media. By collaborating with them, D2C brands can promote their product or service to the influencer’s followers. This influencer marketing is more lucrative than traditional marketing. Influencer marketing gives D2C brands a tremendous opportunity to reach millions of potential customers. Consumers connect better and are more likely to purchase when they see real people with relatable content. The success of the campaign depends on striking the right chord with the audience and choosing the right influencer for the brand.
Read the entire article at ETBrandEquity
