I want you to recall once: when was the last time you heard the word “influencer”? Or what name comes to your mind when someone asks you about the first influencer name?
I am sure many of you must have heard it today or yesterday or most people must have heard it at most a few days but under this week.
Today we are going to read, know, recall, and understand only this: ‘How did influencer culture start in India?.

History

Beginning from the very first thing how did this word come to us? So it all started from ancient times when earlier kings and rulers for example of Rome and Italy used to wear/use the products and their followers used to get influenced by them as it used to become desirable for the people to have the same product.

An influencer is something or can be anything that influences people

Notable incidents that happened related to the same were those of the company Coca-Cola in the 19th century when it used Santa Claus to promote the business. That’s how influencer marketing came about.

Role of Celebrities and Stars

An influencer is something or can be anything that influences people
In India it all started with celebrities and stars as they started to endorse the products. We have seen celebs like Amitabh Bachchan and many stars in ads.
In the year 1990 Shah Rukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar and many more started promoting the products and brands. That’s how influencer culture started basically in India as celebrities and stars used to create a lot of hype in terms of followers.

What exactly is influencer culture?

Influencers have that face value where people know them their audience follows them and even gets influenced by them.
Individuals have a strong presence to promote the product or the service. Unlike traditional advertising, influencer marketing is something where brands use the face of influencers to endorse their product or service.

It somehow builds more trust and authenticity as it is coming from such relatable voices and famous personalities. Now this has been divided into two parts. We have got micro-influencers who cater to niche audiences and mega-influencers like celebrities.

The time of the Rise of YouTubers and Blogging

That was the time when people like Mumbaikar Nikhil, Nisha Madhulika, and Sejal Kumar started making content in their particular niche, and this was the early stage when people started following someone outside of the Bollywood and cricket world.
Deep connection the audience felt with influencers as they found them relatable common like them and authentic. That’s how the word of social media influencers came to notice.

Whether it’s repeating the same dance by following them or purchasing the same brand of lipstick that is applied by them, influencers have started having such a huge impact on people’s lives.

Brands also started giving their products in exchange for promotion/shoutouts.

2016-2017 rise of Instagram and influencers

Jio’s revolution in 2016 made things easier for people who wanted to become content creators and cheaper smartphones made them do so instead of just planning. Relatable posts and inspiring stories attracted more audiences.

During this time brands started approaching influencers; they started getting sponsorships and recognition so from just content creators to digital entrepreneurs they came a long way in that time.

TikTok and Pandemic

This was the changing point for many people as people had time and no option to go out, which eventually became the cherry on top for people who wanted to become content creators, as the consumption of digital content, YouTube videos, and TikTok videos has really increased very much in this time, and as viewers were also free, so the virality became easier even. Remember Carry Minati’s roast video on TikTokers?

Influencer culture evolution

In the modern era of influencer marketing, influencers in different niches are starting to boom like fashion, beauty, lifestyle, tech, and more. It all started as the trendsetter, but now, somehow, they are industry leaders.

Brands started to collaborate with these influencers to make content and promote their brand value by using trust and authenticity factors.

However the future holds so much for us when we see the evolution of the influencers.
The future of influencer marketing is going to be AI-driven and target real stories and the growing importance of authenticity.

It is for sure that the approach could be different, but the power of influence on people is surely always going to play an important role in the lives of people.
These were the steps where the influencer culture has significantly evolved. Let us know what your take is on this culture.

Follow Ytviews.in to know all the insights of social media and social media marketing.