D2C brands have emerged as one of the most popular shopping hubs for millennials and GenZ consumers in the past few years. These brands have revolutionized the online shopping space by eliminating the traditional intermediaries and selling their products and services directly to customers. With changing consumer dynamics and an increasing shift to online purchase, the customers expect a seamless purchase experience, convenience, and authentic brand experience. The D2C brands have emerged as one of the best mediums to fulfill these expectations by offering a delightful shopping experience to the customers.

Post pandemic, the rise of D2C brands on social media platforms is on an upward trajectory and is projected to touch the whopping value of $100 billion by 2025. Their promising growth has also grabbed the attention of the established e-commerce giants. For instance, Flipkart’s Boost program is focused on enabling growth opportunities for D2C brands on its platform through investment encouraging the growth of homegrown SME brands.

It is worth pondering what defines the success and growth of these new-age e-commerce platforms and how they reach out to their target audience. The majority of D2C brands have backed up their sales through social media marketing strategies such as content marketing, online ads, social media marketing, and social commerce to attract customers on their platforms. The growth of start-ups and entrepreneurs flocking up the D2C retail segment has increasingly intensified the online competition hence compelling brands to explore and adopt new ways of marketing. One of the proven and most successful amongst them is Influencer marketing which helps them in reaching out to the customers at breakneck speed. Regular influencer campaigns also help in the consistent growth of brands.

The top benefits of Influencer Marketing for D2C brands in the retail segment:

Access to Millennials & GenZ Consumers - Influencer marketing is one of the most sought-after marketing strategies to reach the target GenZ and millennial consumers who majorly define the follower base of influencers. They post interesting content on their social media accounts enhancing brand visibility and conversions. Since the customer base is already created, brands do not require to invest their time and resources in researching and creating a customer base for marketing.

Enhances Brand Credibility - Influencers have built a strong community of followers based on mutual respect and trust over the years so if they endorse a product or service, followers trust its credibility and authenticity. It does not feel like paid advertising by a big celebrity further enhancing the trust and credibility of a brand. Today’s customers are knowledgeable and expect brands to be honest and authentic. 

The fact is backed by a Trustpilot report indicating that around 9 out of 10 consumers check online reviews before finalizing a purchase, especially a high-value purchase. Brands are leveraging this consumer behavior trend by collaborating a review with the influencers. Hence, the reviews posted by an influencer have a greater impact on the audience as compared to the traditional marketing techniques.

Increases Brand Awareness and Audience Reach - The immediate result of using Influencer marketing is enhancing the brand awareness and augmenting its reach on social media as they have a strong network of followers helping brands to reach out to their potential customers at a fast pace.

Faster Conversions and Customer Acquisition - Influencer marketing is rated as one of the fastest-growing marketing strategies for customer acquisition and sales conversion by the marketing experts. Other methods such as affiliate marketing, display ads, email marketing, etc. are no longer the first choice for brands as they are expensive as well as too mature to catch up with the yearly growth potential offered by the influencer marketing deliveries.

Enhanced ROI - Influencer marketing delivers impressive ROI on the endorsed brands and their products. A study by Burst Media says that on every $1 spent on influencer marketing, a brand generates $6.85 in revenue which is a significant ROI for the D2C brands. According to a 2019 study on Influencer marketing, around 50 percent of the marketers feel that ROI from influencer marketing is higher compared to other marketing platforms whereas 41 percent of them believe that it is equivalent to other channels. The facts suggest that Influencer marketing is one of the best marketing mediums for D2C brands providing them with high profit on their investment.
 
Making Customers Influencers

Customers are the primary influencers of brands. They should leverage the purchase journey of customers and develop a mechanism to incentivize them for endorsing the brand and their experience through written reviews and video testimonials. Brands can run customer focussed campaigns such as featuring their reviews and videos on their social media pages, celebrating top customers through special events, and offering them discount coupons for their next purchase to strengthen long-term brand loyalty for customers. The ratings and reviews of new customers play a crucial role in influencing the customer’s buying behavior and help brands in increasing their revenue and customer base.

Generate Organic Content Through Micro-Influencers

Nano and micro-influencers comprising the follower range of 5,000-10,000 followers constitute as excellent business partners for the brands in the initial years of setting up their business when they are hard-pressed on budget and resources. Even though their reach is limited yet they help brands in generating organic content and developing a strong presence on the internet which plays a crucial role in appearing on Google searches by potential customers.

Engaging Celebrity Influencers

As the D2C business is thriving, even the big-time celebrities are interested in joining the bandwagon as promoters however it will happen only if customers find the connection between brand ethos and celebrities. For example, Sara Ali Khan endorsing brands like Libaas and Mamaearth is slightly different from promoting big brands such as Puma or Fanta.  

Influencer marketing offers brands an excellent opportunity for reaching out to millions of potential customers and developing real-time connections with customers. However, the success of campaigns depends upon choosing the right influencer and target audience for the brand.