HYDERABAD: The year 2020 has shown the connect social media influencers have with the public. This served as the main reason for many advertisers to go out of the box and trust influencers to market their products.
While some social influencers kept the audiences engaged funny videos, others researched and made informational ones. We speak to some of the city’s swish set to find out what it takes to be a social media influencer, and whether it can be a viable career choice.
Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket
Real, authentic, knowledgeable and relatable social media influencing requires immense efforts. One can be working in any domain be it travel, fashion, food, tech, etc. and you must keep up with the trends and even create them. If you are not aware, you will miss the impact and if you are over-ambitious, it might fall flat. Unless you stay up to date with society, you cannot influence them via your media.
The lockdown has thrown up some amazing creators who didn’t have the time earlier and now manage to post more. But there are plenty of quick-influencers around too, who thought, ‘Oh I have a phone, I will post and become an influencer’. I do not think it’s still a viable career. If you are consistent and grow big enough, you might be able to sustain yourself.
The best thing is to not keep all your eggs in one basket. Look at multiple platforms; see what you can offer the followers. Traditional media took a hit in the past few months wherein the brand couldn’t shoot ads or hire photographers for their projects. Hence, the influencers came into the picture who would not only shoot the content, but also help spread it to the public.
Some brands even figured out that this was cheaper than the earlier model. The big influencers in metro cities had a first-mover advantage. Hyderabad still has only about 79 lakh reach on Instagram and the active profile number is around 10 lakh. Whereas Mumbai has 1.5 crores and Delhi has 1.9 crores. The key is to tweak the content for local followers and you could break the code. The change that needs to come in is that we need to ‘Make Influencing Great Again’.
—Shagun Segan, 34; creating content since 2008; Insta: Eattripclick
Audiences and brands want quality influencers
In my case, I became a social media influencer by accident. I started out as a journalist, but later I got more traction on social media compared to conventional media. I think if your opinions on food, fashion or lifestyle matters then you are an influencer. It is becoming an extremely viable career choice because of opportunities presented by brands. It is becoming a career that can be monetised especially on Youtube where you are even paid for the views. In the past few months, there has been an increase in the use of social media, and since conventional advertising dropped marginally, social media advertising was the go-to for many brands.
Brands of sanitisers and designers making face masks have approached me. Many national brands when they want to create presence in a particular city approach influencers from that city. For example, if a Body Shop opens another outlet in Hyderabad, then they will definitely look for local people to promote it. People tend to follow local for local news; it’s like reading your city’s edition of a newspaper. Honestly I feel yes, my career is here to stay. Audiences and brands will only interact with quality influencers.
— Malliha Fatima, Insta: mallihha_; Facebook
Be active on multiple platforms
It takes courage, passion and self-motivation to be an influencer, because the love and support you get from the audience also comes with criticism and negative comments. Once you get the right audience and when you feel you can get the returns, then it definitely becomes a viable career choice, but it is always good to have a backup plan. It is important to be active on multiple platforms for longevity. The lockdown has thrown light on the positive trust audience has on influencers. This gives brands and local businesses an opportunity to reach a wider audience.
The goal is to increase reach and as influencers, we act as a medium between the brands and the users. It’s a win-win situation. Brands follow influencers who can get them targeted audience and people, in general, follow influencers with respect to either their content or the location. So, it is a fair and square opportunity for everyone to grow. Hyderabad has abundance of street food joints, restaurants, pubs, bars etc. This city is doing great and has attracted a lot of traction in the past few years. My career revolves around the strong affinity towards food.
— Sneha Panda, 22; influencing for 1.5 yrs; Insta: thegluttonjournal; Wordpress, Zomato
Don’t blend, Stay unique and stay the course
It does not take much — a keen interest for a genre or creating content, a phone, a tripod, and some quality content-is all that is required. In today’s day and age where voices are so vocal and everything is moving towards digital, it is easier for people to become influencers. Just don’t blend into the crowd, stay unique and stay the course. I would say it’s not really a viable full time career. The sensible thing would always be to have a back up, and never restrict yourself from upping your skillset. Social media has risen during the lockdown, when it comes to advertising it has fallen short, but voicing opinions and garnishing skills and voices on social media has come through.
Now that the market is slowly opening up, I personally see a shift and marketing is the need of the hour to reconstruct and rebuild. Honestly speaking, social media influencing can spring from anywhere. Hyderabad is still finding its way on the blogger maps. We have a long way to go, but I have a feeling we will emerge. I believe in passion, and hard work. If you can get through a pandemic, be it your work or your life you can survive anything. My career as a content creator is here to stay because of my passion and mojo for what I do.
— Aria Krishnamurti, 27, creating content since five years; Insta: stylemearia
Transparent, honest and authentic content
If you feel passionate about any subject, be it fashion, architecture, food, women’s rights, and if you can translate those ideas and thoughts into content authentically, then that’s all you need to start as a social media influencer. Having said that, transparency, honesty, and authenticity will help you grow your digital family and help connect, and relate to and reach more people. The Meraki Project is an impact content creation company, for women, by women. We thrive on a good conversation, difference in opinion, and the idea that everyone, regardless of their gender is equal.
Our objective is to create and curate thought-provoking content around topics that are otherwise considered taboo or hush-hush. We run a women’s club called Locker Room that creates a space for women to pursue growth through connection, collaboration and conversation. We have only recently started monetising our Instagram platform. Whether due to the pandemic or not, the world was going digital, and platforms that help alleviate your brand and your voices digitally are here to stay. Instant access to products, to customer reviews and experiences are what the today and the future is.
— Sonali Pamnani Jhabakh, 29; creating content since 2.5 years; Insta: themerakiproject