So how can brands know which influencer is right for which campaign? With digital content creation being a relatively new profession, almost 90% of all influencers on the major platforms are between 18 and 34 years old. And when it comes to influencer advertising, age isn’t just a number. ‘Engaging influencers of the right age on the right platform can pay off when you’re trying to reach your target audience,’ the report states.

Nielsen outlines 28 categories to identify what intrigues and motivates Instagram followers. Analysing the top five audience interests per influencer type, it found out that Nano (1k-10k followers) and Micro (10k-50k followers) influencers’ followers are mostly interested in clothes, shoes, handbags and accessories. ‘Apart from influencer demographics, brands need this in-depth knowledge of audience interests to develop effective influencer marketing strategies. Because if your influencer’s followers don’t have a basic interest in your product, your campaigns will struggle to produce optimal results, even with a mega influencer,’ it asserts.

It is also important for brands to understand that different social media platforms focus on different types of content and different ways for audiences to engage with that content. Nielsen highlights, for instance, that Instagram is primarily a photo-sharing App with likes and comments as the primary engagement actions, while YouTube is a video content publishing platform — on which sharing plays a larger role in determining engagement levels, and views are the main indicator of identifying potential reach. There has now been a shift in preference toward shorter videos and vertical formats.

Hence, with social platforms only gaining in popularity, it’s clear that influencer marketing can be a major revenue generator. And brands that are able to dial in the right combination of influencer, platform, content and interest can create connections that drive engagement—and ROI.

The post Is Your Influencer Influential Enough? first appeared on PHYGITAL RETAIL CONVENTION (PRC).

The difference is obvious, and so is the importance of clear communication as it is important in marketing too, to communicate the product with the right audience. With us spending a significant portion of the day on the internet and living our lives at the mercy of smartphones, what better way can there be for retailers to communicate other than through digital medium. Meme marketing emerges itself as one of the types when it comes to retailers marketing their products digitally. Meme marketing thus has become the go-to marketing option for many brands in India.

According to a global data insights (2022) report by datareportal.com, India currently has 467 million active social media users among 658 million mobile internet users, with an annual growth of 4.2% in active social media users, India poses itself as one of the fastest digitally growing countries among the world.  The same report also claims that among the active social media users, 76.5% are Instagram users followed by Facebook (74.7%), Twitter (44.9%), and Linkedin (37.2%). Memes, circulating at a fast rate over the internet, gain huge popularity on social media platforms. Several brands in India are largely into meme marketing to successfully keep themselves relevant in the minds of their audience. Slim Jim for example, India’s first online hemp lifestyle store started using memes as a part of their marketing strategy even before it was a trend, then Slay coffee, Paws India, Yogabar, etc. are some of the retail brands that use memes regularly as part of their marketing strategy which relates to recent trends or relatable linkages.

With social media usage being hugely dominated by Gen Zs and millennials, memes have become a funny, attractive yet cost-effective way for brands to communicate. Memes are relatable, short, and perfectly compatible with the low attention span of new generations yet carry a great recall potential. To catch up with the constantly evolving scenario in the retail sector, brands need to incorporate a dynamic strategy as well, and meme marketing is just that. It can help brands acquire huge brand value as well as a customer base. Traditional marketing and digital marketing are now becoming simultaneous strategies that brands are adopting, whereas memes on the other side are winning the hearts of the audience, bringing back memories, making people laugh, and bringing customers closer to the brand.

— Sayan Mukhopadhyay

The post The trend of memes: what does it ‘meme’ for retailers? first appeared on PHYGITAL RETAIL CONVENTION (PRC).

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp business, enable social commerce by integrating a buy button. The predominant format of social commerce that has emerged in India is powered by social reselling platforms such as Meesho, Shop 101, Bulbul, etc.

The explosive growth of social media has made direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands rise to success. There are more than 800 D2C brands in the country today. The D2C sector is worth $44.6 billion currently, projected to touch $302 billion by FY 2030. Social commerce sites are emerging as a major sales avenue for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands. Brand stories on social platforms aided by influencers are significantly increasing discoverability and sales. In the last couple of years, several D2C brands such as mCaffeine, Arata, WOW Skin Science, Plum Goodness, etc. have clocked crores in revenue by occupying unique niches and building a strong brand experience for the consumers through social media platforms.

While many brands are available on the standard e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, they don’t allow them to create unique customer experiences for their consumers whereas, social commerce platforms create customer experiences tailored to a buyer’s social media preferences and usage habits. This creates more cohesive brand experiences across channels, driving deeper loyalty and increasing customer lifetime value for D2C brands.

But what has made social commerce platforms so lucrative for D2C brands to adopt them as a medium for their retail operations? Social commerce brings content, community, and commerce in one place which solves for discovery, trust, and convenience for the consumer.

Social commerce in India is still in its nascent stages and shows great promise for growth. While there are certainly existing and emerging companies in the sector, there are still large white spaces that exist that make the sector attractive.

— Sadaf Anjum 

The post How Social Commerce is helping India move from Interaction to Transaction first appeared on PHYGITAL RETAIL CONVENTION (PRC).

Major brands in the D2C sector are leveraging this route to create a strong bond with customers which can eventually generate high revenue for the company.

Shivam Soni Founder & CEO, Beyoung shared his thoughts on this and said that their brands don’t believe in selling products directly but also believes in creating a bond with the customers. And, for this they have a prompt customer support team to organize frequent contests for the consumers to shop as well as enjoy their online journey. Using social media, they’re able to understand customers better and begin working to cater to their changing requirements. With following all these innovative approaches, the brand is able to grow its customer base exponentially by recording a growth of 250%.

Meghana Narayan & Shauravi Malik Co-Founders, Slurrp Farm shared with us, “Being an internet first brand, we are agile with social media and have built a digital first way of thinking about our new age consumers. We are in direct contact with them through various platforms – Instagram, Facebook, Events and WhatsApp”. They further added, The process of interaction with the customers is the daily routine and they are building a connection through customer feedback calls. Everyone from the founders to the company’s driver have to participate and listen to it and continue to strive to deepen the understanding and know how they can build customer love and stick with their products.

The post Social media – an advanced route to reach the customers first appeared on PHYGITAL RETAIL CONVENTION (PRC).