34% Indians choose brands based on social media influencers' suggestions: iCubesWire Survey

iCubesWire conducted a survey on the consumption patterns of Indian social media users, getting responses from 1,455 respondents.

In a recent survey conducted by iCubesWire, 34% of respondents buy products or services after watching influencers' posts, reels and videos on popular social media platforms including Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter etc. 

In addition, 43% of respondents are at least checking out the recommended product/service by the influencers

This trend is on the upswing and is expected to further grow as 5G will lead the next wave of growth for social media in India, especially content that would be consumed on mobile phones. 

The survey was conducted pan India among 1,455 respondents in the month of December. 

“The rise of social media has changed the way people and businesses interact. People's means of communication, which used to be limited to people they knew personally, have now expanded to include people all over the world. Traditional marketing techniques are being rapidly replaced by modern offerings such as reels, blogs, vlogs, and live streaming via digital media platforms. Influencer marketing has definitely changed the way people think about modern marketing and is now a mainstay for all brands across industries, especially consumer-centric products and services,” Sahil Chopra, CEO, iCubesWire, said.

Influencer marketing is most popular on Instagram as it is followed by 40% of the respondents followed by YouTube influencers at 34%.  

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Today, India has nearly 80 million content creators, including video streamers, influencers, bloggers, and essentially anyone building a community around their niche. As of 2022, the influencer marketing industry in India was valued at over INR 12 billion. It was projected to grow at a CAGR of 25 % over the next 5 years.

Key Findings: 

• According to the survey, 32% of respondents spend 2-4 hours each day on social media, compared to 11% who spend 4-6 hours and 11% who spend more than 6 hours.
• Nearly 40% of respondents said they use Instagram, while 3%, 13%, 4%, 31%, 7%, and 1% of respondents said they use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Snapchat, respectively.
• 40 % of respondents follow their favourite social media influencer on Instagram, compared to 18 %, 7 %, 34 %, and 2 % who follow them on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn, respectively.
• Further, the survey indicates that 34% of respondents buy products after watching influencers on social media using them, Conversely, 33% occasionally, 18% consider it for future buying, and 15% never give it any thought.
• In addition, the survey found that 58% of respondents thought influencer marketing had a bigger impact than traditional marketing, while 19% disagreed and 19% said it depends.
• 54% of respondents, a sizable majority, concurred that they enjoy seeing branded material on the accounts of their favourite influencers, while 19% disagreed and 21% stated they did not always.
• 73% of respondents said they wanted to be influencers, compared to 26% who said they didn't.
• 30% of respondents visit the brand's website or social media pages in response to the question about the influencer marketing effect. Conversely, 42% occasionally, 18% infrequently, and 10% never give it any thought.
• Further, the survey indicates that 49% of respondents are in favour of influencers taking over celebs for OTT platforms, while 29% disagreed and 22% said it depends upon the content.
• 29% of respondents said they frequently follow influencers' advice to buy something, while 43% at least look at the suggestion, 15% only think about it when there is a sale, and 12% don't give it any thought.
• The majority of respondents about 54%—agreed that they are eager to watch influencer content on social media, followed by 32% who are only somewhat interested, 24% who are interested purely for entertainment, and 8% said that they are not interested.