E-commerce brands have undergone a transformation in their approach to influencer marketing, evolving it from a sporadic, one-time effort into a continuous, year-round endeavour. There are plenty of e-commerce/D2C (direct-to-consumers) brands that have been built with influencers as the foundational element and many brands still exist because of them.

As per Business Insider, 118 million people in India have tried products that have been pushed by influencers and its growing leaps and bounds. And one way they’re doing that is by going on live streams on e-commerce platforms to help push a diverse range of products, as we’ve explored before.

Anshul Garg, Managing Partner and Head, Publicis Commerce India, notes that these brands spend a large part of their budgets on the creators and influencers, and less on media/marketing. “With more than 80 million content creators across different geographies and genres, there is a growing interest across a range of brand segments to work with influencers and engage with their customers. It provides brands a huge opportunity to expand their reach beyond the usual channels i.e. Google and Facebook/Instagram.”

According to a report by McKinsey & Company, live-commerce-initiated sales could contribute up to 20 percent of all e-commerce transactions by 2026. India's e-commerce market is expected to touch $220 billion by 2025, out of which live commerce could touch upwards of $50 billion in terms of Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), as per a report by EY India.

Multiple D2C brands specifically in segments such as beauty, personal care, food, fashion etc have built initial traction using influencers. On the other hand, few traditional brands across sectors such as electronics, automotive, and home cleaning, etc are also leveraging influencers to enhance their reach to desired customer cohorts.

Ritika Taneja, Head of E-Commerce, GroupM India, says that Indian e-commerce brands are increasingly leveraging influencer marketing to boost visibility, credibility, and sales. "Collaborating with influencers taps into wider audiences through social media, using posts, blogs, and videos to engage and generate leads. As influencer marketing and UGC prove effective, diverse industries like travel, fashion, beauty, and food are also adopting these strategies. This dynamic landscape will likely see more brands across sectors embracing these methods to enhance audience connections and competitiveness.”

Brands such as Nykaa and Amazon are doing live commerce and getting creators onboard to conduct 30 to 60 minutes of live streaming where they discuss products.

“Here, influencers highlight certain features and discounts that consumers can take advantage of. There are brands that follow the traditional model and onboard creators to create short form videos for Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. These platforms are often used to raise awareness and educate consumers about specific offers or new launches,” says Karan Pherwani, Vice President, Chtrbox.

Different strokes

Shashank Rathore, Vice President, E-commerce, Interactive Avenues (the digital arm of IPG Mediabrands India) says to ensure profitability and efficiency, these advertisers have implemented a nuanced strategy, categorizing their campaigns into three distinct phases: Burst, Pulse, and Always On.

“In the Burst phase, the primary objective is to generate excitement and publicity by collaborating with well-known, mass-scale influencers. In this phase, the primary emphasis is placed on extending the reach of the brand message, prioritizing the broad dissemination of content over its precise alignment with specific audience segments. Burst campaigns typically occur once or twice annually, often timed to coincide with significant events such as festive seasons or major product launches,” he says.

Conversely, the Pulse phase sees brands engaging with micro-influencers who possess highly relevant and niche followers, often synchronized with particular moments in the monthly calendar, such as payday. True to its name, Pulse campaigns introduce a rhythmic cadence into influencer activities, synchronizing them with the financial patterns of the target audience.

And in stark contrast, Always On initiatives are primarily fuelled by nano-influencers who are overseen by communities and third-party aggregators. These continuous campaigns maintain a perpetual presence within the influencer ecosystem, ensuring an uninterrupted and sustained engagement with the audience while assuring ROI and sales. A number of D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) brands have constructed their entire brand identity primarily by leveraging influencers successfully.

Different Folks

Prachi Bali, Executive Vice President and Business Head, Saatchi & Saatchi Propagate, also observes that ecommerce is of course a unique category by itself where click to purchase can be incentivised in a substantial way using influencers and user engagement.

She says, “It is a credible way for them to drive traffic to their own platforms. Other brand segments haven’t really entered the space in a big way since they don’t necessarily have e-commerce enabled platforms or are not really discount oriented. The gaming industry has also been using live streams for new product reviews and launches to capture and showcase the excitement of new products or levels.”

Kunal Khandelwal, Group Head - Outreach, SoCheers, says e-commerce brands like Amazon and Myntra have already strengthened their fort in this area, offering genuine product reviews, unboxings, and lifestyle endorsements that customers find more authentic than traditional advertising.

“Apart from this, brands are encouraging customers to share their experiences through reviews, unboxing videos, and social media posts, thus encouraging user generated content. They might even run contests or campaigns to incentivize UGC creation. By featuring this content on their platforms, e-commerce brands not only showcase genuine user experiences but also create a sense of community. It's about turning customers into brand advocates. So, I'd say we can expect to see more diverse brands embracing this strategy to build stronger relationships with their audiences.”