Influencer marketing has never been more important with years passing by. The consumers continue to trust word of mouth over all other forms of marketing. With the rise in the adoption, brands are increasingly turning to influencers to help get their message across with more passion, creativity and authenticity. From celebrities to the rising class of micro-influencers - experts in a specific topic with smaller, but more highly engaged audiences -- influencers are emerging as a critical marketing tool for brands large and small.  Influencers help brands grow awareness and consideration. Increasingly, they’re also helping drive sales. In order to understand the changing face of influencer marketing, and gain valuable insight into where the Influencer Marketing space is headed, Buzzoka.com decided to survey both sides of the coin. The Brand Custodians and the Influencer Ecosystem.

1. Buzzoka – Influencer Marke ng 2.0
It’s Not Ok, Un l Its Buzzing
INFLUENCER MARKETING OUTLOOK – 2018
India Rises To Inuencer Marketing
www.buzzoka.com

2. Enfluencer marke ng has never been more important with years passing by. The
Iconsumers con nue to trust word of mouth over all other forms of marke ng.
With the rise in the adop on, brands are increasingly turning to influencers to
helpgettheirmessageacrosswithmorepassion,crea vityandauthen city.
From celebri es to the rising class of
micro-influencers - experts in a specific
topic with smaller, but more highly
engaged audiences -- influencers are
emerging as a cri cal marke ng tool for
brands large and small.
Influencers help brands grow awareness
and considera on. Increasingly, they’re
also helping drive sales.
In order to understand the changing face
of influencer marke ng, and gain
valuable insight into where the
Influencer Marke ng space is headed,
we decided to survey both sides of the
coin. The Brand Custodians and the
Influencer Ecosystem.
ABSTRACT

3. Survey Methodology
• B u z z o k a ( w w w. b u z z o k a . c o m )
surveyed over 500+ Brand Custodians
and Content Creators in the month of
December.
• The brand custodians included Agency
and brand folks across the Indian
Ecosystem. This consisted of top
brands, top agencies, startups etc to
provide a more holistic understanding on
the Inuencer marketing Ecosystem.
• On the Inuencer front, Bloggers,
Twitter Inuencers, Youtubers,
Instagram Inuencers and inuencers
across the digital landscape were
surveyed.
• The survey was a tiring one for most of
t h e r e s p o n d e n t s a s B u z z o k a
(www.buzzoka.com) wanted to present a
clear picture in the Inuencer marketing
Landscape.

4. Amit Gujral,
CMO, LG, India
Jatin Madan,
Business Unit Head,
Digital Marketing,
HS Ad
Zeeshanli Ruby,
Head-
Digital Strategy,
DVio Digital
Sumit Sehgal,
CMO,
Comio Mobiles
Rajasekar KS,
GM, Marketing
Matrimony.com
Anandan Pillai,
Associate
Director,
Performics.
Resultrix
Anant Shukla,
Managing
Partner,
DAFUQ Global
Pankaj Sood,
Associate
Director,
Cheil, India
Samir Bangara
Managing
Director,
Qyuki
Guru Mishra,
Media Buying
Head, Isobar,
Delhi
Respondent’s Overview

5. Shivangi Sinha,
Shivangi Reviews
Vidya Sury,
Vidyasury.com
Sudipto De
Salt & Sandals
Jitaditya Narzary,
Travelling Slacker
Princy Mascarenhas,
The Jeromy
Diaries
Smriti Shankar,
Smriti Travelling
Prerna Sinha,
Maa of all Blogs
Neha,
Omni Styles Life
Amit Panchal,
Twitter Inuencer
Monish Chandan,
Monishchandan.com
Respondent’s Overview

6. Amit Gujral, CMO,
LG, India
“In today's evolved and crowded world, the tradi onal sen ment of
hearing the voice of people who ma er hasn't s ll changed. Even
with the rapid changing technology across spectrum of life, the
importance of res ng the believe on influencer's words on a topic
especially new technology things is ever growing and is certainly a
newformof"word-of-mouth"(nowdigitally).”
Guru Mishra,
Media Buying Head,
Isobar, Delhi
“Influencer Marke ng has huge poten al and we are seeing an
upward trend in the influencer space as there is a tremendous scope
forbrandstoini ateconversa onsinathoughtthroughenvironment
, with rising Pla orms like Snapchat, Quora etc. I am sure we are
seeinganamazingyearahead.”

7. Ankur Dey Tarafder
Senior Manager, Marketing
Cipla Health ltd.
“As physical socie es transform into online communi es, influencers
areliketheeldersinthefamilywhowelookforadviceandreassurance
and new informa on. Influencer marke ng is going to be a crucial
pillar for brands from the objec ve of crea ng awareness,
engagement and finally sales. Currently influencer marke ng in India
is skewed towards product launches and trending around that me.
With more strategic choices of influencer partners (beyond followers)
theROIfrominves nginthemwillbefarhigherandsustainable.”
Bhartendra Singh
Product Head,
Wishn
“Influencer marke ng could be good tac cal move provided its part of
overall media strategy. Stand alone influencer marke ng doesn't mean
anything.”

8. Yogin Vora, Partner,
Digital, DDB Mudra
“Influencer Marke ng is a rising game and it has huge poten al to
lead the marke ng mix. Metrics and crea vity will be a differen ator
in2018.”
“Influencer marke ng needs to be treated strategically in line with
brand strategy . The system needs more transparency and ROI
evalua on. ”
Sumit Sehgal, CMO,
Comio Mobiles

9. “A lot of brands and brand managers have endorsed influencers in
2017 as the best way to to humanize the brand. This is essen al in
today's marke ng paradigm since consumers are running away from
the noise and looking for more realiable ways to choose their
associa ons with brands. I forsee the silos of content and influencers
to be merged which is being termed as confluence. This shall have a
posi ve impact on the marke ng budgets moving towards micro &
nicheinfluencerstoreplacecelebrityendorsementsatacertainlevel.”
“The digital superstar phenomenon is here to stay. We strongly
believe that a digital superstar has greater emo onal a achment and
influence over millennials than a tradi onal media star especially in
the online medium. With the worlds largest popula on of young
people, the demographic dividend in the opportunity this presents is
upwardsofa$5bnmarketinIndiaalone.
”Samir Bangara
Managing Director,
Qyuki
Jatin Madan,
Business Unit Head,
Digital Marketing,
HS Ad

10. “Influencer Marke ng has been on a soaring high and I see the
numbers increasing this year as well. But final surviving agencies will
always be those that consider the ra o of authen c content with
organic reach as opposed to personal rela ons and low
remunera ons.
”
“I'm happy to see many new Creators on Board on YouTube in India &
we can have a larger community that is working towards showing their
talent, teaching and helping others through the pla orm. Looking
forward to much more amazing content from the Indian Creators in
2018.”
Amit Bhawani,
PhoneRadar
Shifa Merchant,
Sassy Shif Says

11. “Influencer Marke ng is the future of marke ng across the globe.
With pla orms like YouTube evolving, we are sure the world will be
revolving around the tonnes of content created. YouTube from a
YouTubers perspec ve is the game changer and will rule the coming
daystoo.”
Rahul Vohra,
Irahul Vohra
“Influencer Marke ng has evolved and is moving the right direc on.
The rise is all due to the abundance of pla orms that are adop ng the
wave. Brands have become more than interested to work with
influencers across domain considering the poten al reach and
engagementitdrives. ”
Amit Panchal,
Twitter Inuencer

12. Buzzoka – Influencer Marke ng 2.0
It’s Not Ok, Un l Its Buzzing
Influencer Marketing Outlook – 2018
India Rises to Influencer Marketing
BRAND SIDE ANALYSIS

13. How have you used Inuencer Marketing this year?
1
2
3
4
Over 50% brand custodians considered branding and reach as their
primary objec ve to use influencer marke ng. Interes ngly sustained
engagement and short burst campaign saw a low this year.
51%
28%
15%
5%
Branding
Reach
Sustained Engagement
Short burst

14. Why do you think inuencer marketing is important?
1
2
3
4
46%
23%
15%
15%
Better Reach & Engagement
A Good Alternative For Traditional Advertising
Good Medium For Story Telling
Better ROI Then Other Marketing Mediums
46% Marketers around India a ributed reach and engagement as the
most important factor for using Influencer Marke ng. Interes ngly, 23%
marketers considered it to be a good alterna ve for tradi onal media.

15. What are the top benets of inuencer marketing ?
1
2
3
4
Almost, 69% marketers considered Influencer Marke ng to be a
good medium to generate engagement, drive word of mouth and
create quality content.
69%
31%
26%
23%
All of the Below
Generate Engagement
Generate Word of Mouth
5 15%Higher Brand ROI
Create Authentic Content
(Multiple Selection)

16. Do you feel Inuencer Marketing has potential to drive the digital
ecosystem towards engagement and reach?
1
2
90% brand custodians felt that influencer marke ng has the
poten al to drive engagement & reach.
90%
10%
Yes
No

17. What do you look in Inuencers while nalising them for a campaign?
1
2
3
4
42%
25%
21%
6%
All of the Below
Reach or Follower Base
Content Quality
5 6%Engagement
Cost Of Management
6 0%Brand Collabs In Past
Brands considered follower count, followed by content quality as major
factors behind finalizing influencers.
(Multiple Selection)

18. How do you reach out to Inuencers?
71% respondents said that they prefer reaching out to influencers
on their own vs Influencer Agencies.
1
2
71%
29%
On Our Own
Inuencer Agencies

19. How much on average do you spend on Inuencer
Campaign per year per brand?
1
2
3
4
54%
21%
15%
10%
$10,000
$20,000
$50,000
Above $50,000
The marke ng budgets that majority influencer campaigns get are
less than $10,000 in India.

20. What all platforms have you explored till now for Inuencer Campaigns ?
88%Twitter
Twi er leads as the primary choice of marketers and 88% marketers see it as a
huge poten al. This is closely followed by Facebook at 84%. Pla orms like
Instagram and Blogging s ll remain popular.
84%Facebook
72%Instagram
46%Blogging
38%WhatsApp
36%LinkedIn
22%Quora
20%Snapchat
12%Pinterest
8%Musical.ly
Roposo
Tumblr
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
8%
8%
(Multiple Selection)

21. Reasons Marketers Turn to Inuencers Include
1
2
3
4
78% marketers use influencers to drive meaningful engagement on
brand’s social media handles.
78%
50%
48%
46%
Grow our social media following and engagement
Generate sales
Have content created by inuencers
5 36%Drive SEO value for our brand
Increase site trafc
(Multiple Selection)

22. What is the quality of customers acquired from inuencer marketing vs
other marketing channels?
71% Brand Custodians found be er customers from Influencer
Marke ng Vs Other Channels.
1
2
71%
24%
Better
Same
3 4%Worse

23. What according to you is the fastest growing online customer
acquisition method
1
2
3
4
49% marketers actually voted Influencer marke ng as the best
customer acquisi on method.
49%
20%
16%
12%
Inuencer marketing
Paid Marketing
Organic search
5 3%Email Marketing
Afliate marketing

24. Which inuencer marketing pricing model have you found to be
the most effective?
1
2
3
4
26%
23%
21%
19%
Pay per post/video
CPA (Cost per Acquisition)
Free product or experiences
5 9%CPC ( Cost per click)
CPE (Cost per Engagement)
6 2%Other
49% marketers found payment as per performance to be the be er
payment model when it comes to Influencer Marke ng

25. Where does inuencer marketing sit within your budget? (Select all that apply)
1 75%Brand Marketing
2 54%Content Marketing
3 48%Advertising/Media
4 40%PR/Communications
5 15%Shopper Marketing
6 8%Product Development
7 4%Other
75% marketers categorized Influencer Marke ng as a subset of Brand Marke ng
& 54% categorized it to be a part of content marke ng ac vity
(Multiple Selection)

26. How many hours do you spend managing an entire inuencer
marketing program?
A good 37% marketers spend anywhere between 10-25 hours managing
influencer campaigns which is quite a heavy investment of man hours.
The majority chunk of 43% spent less than 10 hours in Influencer
campaigns as they were backed by professional agencies to drive it.
1 43%Less than 10
2 37%10 – 25
3 14%25 – 50
4 4%75 - 100
6 0%50 - 75
5 2%More Than 100

27. Do you manage programs in house or through an inuencer marketing
platform/vendor?
65% brand custodians manage influencer campaigns on their own
instead of outsourcing it to their digital agency.
1
2
65%
20%
In-house
Managed or “turn-key” service provider
3 15%Automated Platform

28. How do you see the effectivity of YouTubers in the
Inuencer Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
49%
27%
20%
4%
Very Effective
Effective
Somehow Effective
Not Efffective
YouTubers are considered to be effec ve by 96% marketers in
driving desired ROI.

29. What according to you is the most cost-effective online customer
acquisition method ?
1
2
3
4
51% marketers opined that cost of acquiring customers via Influencer
Marke ng is less than other performance marke ng programs.
51%
20%
18%
6%
Inuencer marketing
Paid Marketing
Organic search
5 5%Email Marketing
Afliate marketing

30. What do you see as the top challenges for inuencer marketing in 2018?
More than 55% of the respondents are worried about ROI of
money spent on Influencer campaigns & 45% are struggling to
find the right influencers for their campaigns.
1
2
55%
45%
Return on Investment
Inuencer Discovery

31. What is the percentage of Overall Budget Spent on Inuencer
Marketing in 2018?
1
2
3
4
49%
29%
14%
8%
2-5%
5-7%
10%
Over 10%
Share of Influencer Marke ng budget today is what was a typical
digital marke ng budget in 2008.

32. Are you planning to increase the percentage spends in Inuencer
Marketing Budget in 2018?
78% marketers want to spend more on Influencer Marke ng. The
reason of an increased growth in 2018 will also be a ributed to
new pla orms pitching in the big game.
1
2
78%
22%
Yes
No

33. How do you see the role of Common People in the Inuencer
Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
50%
40%
10%
0%
Extremely Important
Important
Nominal
Not Much
Almost 100% marketers are realizing the role of common people in the
influencer marke ng ecosystem. This is primarily because brands have been
struggling to reach the last mile audience – The Consump on Audience.

34. Do you require that inuencers disclose sponsored content ?
56% marketers are okay if Influencers explicitly men on paid posts
as sponsored. 44% s ll do not consider it to be flowery.
1
2
56%
44%
Yes
No

35. What do you see as the top challenges for inuencer marketing in 2018?
(Select top three)
1
2
3
4
73%
52%
50%
40%
Determining the ROI of my inuencer marketing programs
Choosing which inuencer marketing provider to work with
Determining where inuencer marketing ts in my marketing mix
5 40%
More social network algorithm changes will make content less visible
6 27%The amount of time it takes to manage inuencer marketing programs
Top 3 challenges for a marketer are to jus fy ROI, select right
partner/pla orm & determine a balanced marke ng mix which has a
jus fied share of influencer marke ng.
Rapidly changing consumer behaviors make it hard for brands to stay relevant
(Multiple Selection)

36. The survey has been instrumental in telling us that brand custodians have a very
posi ve outlook towards Influencer Marke ng and they by all means believe that
Influencer Marke ng has the poten al to drive the digital ecosystem towards
engagementandreach.
Through this survey it is evident that good quality of content is one of the criteria
when choosing the influencers. Which kind of ends the argument whether reach of
influence istheonlycriteria.Influencershaveforquitesome menowplayedavery
important role in direc ng the tonality of responses and this is the most important
reason why brands use influencer marke ng. This definitely creates a posi ve image
and the survey tells us that customers acquired through this channel are of be er
quality.
Weseethatmajorityofbrandsarecurrentlydoingitin-houseandROIhasbeentheir
top challenge. Brand custodians are planning an increase spend in Influencer
Marke ng budget so it will be only wise to have a partner whose full- me job is to
worryaboutdoingaqualityjobinalimited meframeandensuringthedesiredROI.
Observation

37. Buzzoka – Influencer Marke ng 2.0
It’s Not Ok, Un l Its Buzzing
Influencer Marketing Outlook – 2018
India Rises to Influencer Marketing
INFLUENCER SIDE ANALYSIS

38. Are you a Full Time Inuencer or a Part Time?
Almost 54% of the influencers who engage with brands are
professional influencers. The number has been rising with the rise
of influencer marke ng adop on across the globe.
1
2
54%
46%
Part Time
Full Time

39. What was the objective of the campaigns that you did in this year?
1
2
3
4
51%
28%
15%
6%
Branding
Reach
Sustained Engagement
Short Burst
Influencers across India a ributed Branding and Reach being the
primary objec ve behind Influencer campaigns they did. Branding and
reach cons tuted over 79% share of campaign objec ve.

40. Why do you think inuencer marketing is important for brands?
68%
46%
38%
36%
1 Better Reach and Engagement
2 A Good Alternative for Traditional Advertising
3 Good Medium for Story Telling
4 Better ROI than other Marketing Mediums
68% influencers felt that usage of influencer marke ng is important for
brands because it gives them be er reach and engagement. Since this
was a ques on where mul ple op ons could be selected, we see
almost half of the respondents felt that Influencer Marke ng is a good
alterna ve to tradi onal forms of marke ng.

41. What are the top benets of inuencer marketing from an
Inuencer Perspective?
1
2
3
4
59%
31%
30%
28%
All of the Below
Generate Engagement
Create Authentic Content
5 19%Higher Brand ROI
Generate Word of Mouth
Over 81% Influencers considered engagement, customized content
crea on and share of voice as the primary objec ve while engaging
with brands.

42. Do you feel Inuencer Marketing has potential to drive the digital
ecosystem towards engagement and reach?
1
2
99%
1%
Yes
No
99% Influencers felt that Influencer Marke ng is full of poten al
when it comes to driving reach & engagement on brand

43. What do brands seek from you while engaging in campaigns ?
1
2
3
4
49%
43%
39%
38%
All of the Below
Reach or Follower Base
Engagement
5 22%
Content Quality
6 15%Brand Collabs in Past
Cost of Engagement
Almost 78% considered that brands seek reach, engagement and
content quality as the primary objec ve while finalizing
influencers.

44. How do brands reach out to you for campaigns?
1
2
71%
29%
Inuencer Agencies / Platforms
On Their Own
Majority of influencers are approached by agencies or pla orms on behalf
of brands, however, s ll a small percentage of brands reach out to them
directly. Over 71% influencers were approached by agencies or pla orms in
India.

45. How do brands pay Inuencers?
1
2
3
4
55%
33%
22%
13%
Pay Average
Pay too Less
Want Just Barter
Pay Handsomely
Only a meagre 13% influencers were happy with their
remunera on paid by brands in India.

46. What all platforms have you explored till now for Campaigns ?
86%
84%
Facebook
78%Instagram
64%Blogging
26%WhatsApp
23%LinkedIn
15%Quora
14%Snapchat
14%Pinterest
7%
Musical.ly
Roposo
Tumblr
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
4%
2%
Twitter
Like last year, Facebook, Twi er, Instagram & Blogging remained top
pla orms. We see new pla orms like Quora, Tumblr, Roposo & Musical.ly as
the new entrant.

47. Why do you think marketers turn to Inuencers ?
1
2
3
4
68%
49%
49%
48%
Grow our social media following and engagement
Generate sales
Have content created by inuencers
5 38%Drive SEO value for our brand
Increase site trafc
As per Influencers, a marketers top objec ve is to grow social media
engagement. This is followed by lead genera on, content crea on and
referral traffic.

48. What is your biggest pain point in the Inuencer Marketing ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
49%
48%
27%
26%
Small Payments
Long Payment Cycle
All of the Above
5 19%Too much changes in brief
Forced Content by brands
Influencers a ributed small remunera on & long payment cycle as
a major pain point in the Influencer Ecosystem.

49. Which inuencer marketing pricing model have you found to be the
most effective?
1
2
3
4
68%
15%
9%
5%
Pay per post/video
Free product or experiences
CPE (Cost per Engagement)
5 3%
CPC (Cost per Click)
6 1%Other
CPA (Cost per Acquisition)
68% influencers found pay per post model to be the most
appropriate remunera on model.

50. How do you see the rise of Inuencer Marketing in 2018?
1
2
3
4
45%
28%
24%
3%
Exploding
Nominal Growth
Static Rise
Going Down
Over 97% influencers see a rise in the Influencer Marke ng space.

51. What according to you will be the rising platforms this year?
1
2
3
4
78%
59%
57%
22%
Instagram
YouTube
Facebook
5 15%
LinkedIn
6 14%Quora
SnapChat
7 5%Musical.ly
Instagram, Facebook and YouTube con nue to be growth pla orms.
Sadly, Twi er goes out from the preferred list and pla orms like
SnapChat, Quora and LinkedIn are on a rise.

52. How do you see the effectivity of YouTubers in the Inuencer
Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
47%
32%
17%
4%
Very Effective
Effective
Somehow Effective
Not Effective
96% of respondents were in favour of YouTube being an effec ve
pla orm.

53. How do you see the effectivity of Instagram Inuencers in the
Inuencer Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
55%
29%
13%
3%
Very Effective
Effective
Somehow Effective
Not Effective
97% respondents felt instagram to be an effec ve pla orm for
influencer marke ng campaigns.

54. How do you see the effectivity of Blogging in the Inuencer
Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
47%
32%
17%
4%
Very Effective
Effective
Somehow Effective
Not Effective
Influencers feel that blogging s ll is the most effec ve medium of
Influencer Marke ng Ecosystem. Over 96% considered it be s ll an
effec ve medium.

55. Do you see a growth in Platforms like SnapChat, Musical.ly,
Quora etc in 2018?
1
2
53%
47%
Yes
No
When it comes to new social media pla orms, opinion is evenly divided over
their growth in 2018. But, 53% consider Musical.ly, Snapchat and Quora
consump on going up.

56. Are you ready to adopt new metrics to Inuencer Engagement like
Cost per click, Cost per engagement etc?
1
2
79%
21%
Yes
No
79% influencers are willing to take up performance metrics as criteria
of evalua ng remunera on.

57. Are you okay to disclose Sponsored Content on your post if brands
seek it?
1
2
93%
7%
Yes
No
Contrary to common belief, over 93% influencers were ready to
disclose sponsored content on their social presence.

58. How do you see the role of Common People in the Inuencer
Marketing Ecosystem?
1
2
3
4
58%
36%
5%
1%
Extremely Important
Important
Nominal
Not Much
Over 94% influencers see the role of Common People rising in the
Influencer Ecosystem.

59. What do you see as the top challenges for inuencer marketing
in 2018? (Select top three)
1
2
3
4
67%
57%
51%
47%
Choosing how to work with brands in a more transparent way
More social network algorithm changes will make content less visible
Determining What Brands Actually Want
Determining the ROI of my work
Transparency is the biggest concern of influencers while working with
the brands. A middle agency brings in confidence to the influencers
for smooth opera ons and execu on.

60. Observation
“ ”
The report suggests that influencers are more than excited to see the growth in the
influencer marke ng ecosystem. Influencers are super excited on the rise of new
social media pla orms like Musical.ly, Snapchat, WhatsApp etc and see them as an
extensiontothegambit.
Interes ngly, influencers are also ready to adopt the new metrics of tracking and
workonperformancebasedcampaignswhichwasconsideredasahitchinthepast.
YouTube as a pla orm has seen a huge rise in the Influencer Marke ng gambit due
to higher consump on of videos. This consump on is primarily going up due to
lowerinternettariffs.
Inall,itwillbeanexci ngjourneyin2018fortheInfluencerMarke ngEcosystem

61. Ashutosh Harbola has been regarded as an Evangelist in the Influencer
Marke ng Space. He has been instrumental in se ng up Blogmint in India.
With over 10+ years of experience is the Content Business he has been a key
pillar behind next-gen startups like Tangerine Digital, Network1Media and TO
THE NEW.
Rahul Puri, highly regarded individual in the digital content business has been
a key pillar behind aFaqs, YourStory and ScoopWhoop. He has mastered the
art of client sa sfac on with his out of the box idea on. Rahul is a content
architect and his 12+ years of experience is at the core of Buzzoka leadership.
Buzzoka is World's 1st Integrated Inuencer Marketing Platform with over
300,000 social media inuencers across the globe. Buzzoka focuses on
driving Word of Mouth through social media advocates. With a vision to
achieve a Billion Dollar valuation in 3 years, Buzzoka is the platform for all
inuencer marketing needs.
Team Buzzoka