How brands are leveraging influencer marketing to ‘up their game’

How brands are leveraging influencer marketing to ‘up their game’

People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic,” author and entrepreneur Seth Godin famously said. Stardom and brands have been companions for a while now. Athletes have endorsed sports giants, movie stars have backed skincare and F&B products, while other celebrities have helped drive a plethora of customers to banks and other brands. The marriage was a happy one. But as digital connectivity and content curation exploded, advertising mediums grew and social media donned a new face of engagement and connectivity, the concept of modern endorsement shifted. Marketing arenas, once restricted to celebrities and famous people, beckoned individuals who deployed social media platforms to exert a certain ‘influence’. This shift came as ‘influencers’ started to become a trusted presence within their communities while engaging customers in a more personalised fashion. Drawing on the connect and its benefits, brands began to leverage the concept to market their products and services via digital creators. But is an influencer’s value restricted to just their following? “In 2021, I’d go as far as to say that the size of an influencer’s following is one of their least valuable assets. Brands have realised a big following does not equal big