The proliferation of platforms and formats like short-videos have changed the influencer marketing game for marketers, brands and creators. In this fast-evolving space, keep up with the big trends and hot topics that matter in Storyboard18’s Weekly Shorts in collaboration with affable.ai, an end to end AI-powered influencer marketing platform. Track how creators, communities and brands are engaging with users and disrupting marketing to get a sharp and fast insight into present and future trends.
Brands and marketers in India have a tremendous opportunity to realize the benefits of influencer marketing in 2023. While the popularity of micro-influencers and mid-tier influencers peaked in 2022, nano-influencers with less than 10k followers drove the maximum engagement on Instagram, according to affable.ai‘s data.
Various metrics suggest that influencer marketing potential for raising brand awareness and producing an ROI is still untapped. Even though the various influencer categories are developing at a strong engagement rate, the number of influencer posts have mostly stayed the same in 2021 and 2022.
In this report from the affable.ai platform, you will find aspects such as audience demographics, the number of influencers under each category, their engagement rate, and a list of the most engaging influencers in India.
Influencer demographics
In 2022, male social media users dominated Instagram in India, comprising 67.62 percent of the user base. On the contrary, females made up only 29.90 percent of the audience, which is the lowest percentage among APAC nations.
Among all users, millennials (aged 26-32 years) used Instagram the most, making up 37.43 percent of the total users. Genz Zs (aged 19-25 years) come at a close second, accounting for 30.82 percent of the users. About 15.46 percent of the audience is above 32 years, indicating the platform’s popularity among the younger generation. (The data may show variations because most females in the country have private accounts)
Number of influencers by follower count
Micro-influencers, with a follower count between 10k and 50k, make up many Instagram influencers in India. At least 24,459 content creators fall under the micro-influencer category, followed by nano and mid-tier influencers. Macro and mega-influencers dominate, indicating social media users like to follow their content. Equally, nano-influencers with 5k-10k followers are emerging as the high-engagement influencer category.
Influencer engagement rates
Nano influencers lead in engaging social media users directly, with an engagement rate of 5.09 percent in 2022. Micro-influencers had the largest audience compared to all influencer categories, but their engagement rate was only 3.72 percent. The data demonstrates why companies and marketers can turn to nano-influencers in 2023 to get the maximum conversion rate.
Between mega and macro influencers, the rate fluctuates between 3.04 percent to 2.95 percent. Followed by them are celebrity influencers having an engagement of 2.63 percent which shows that marketers who want to generate mass brand awareness and have the budget collaborate with celebrity influencers in India. Altogether, Instagram influencer marketing drove more than a 4.8 percent engagement rate in the country.
Influencer Posts: 2021 Vs. 2022
Compared to 2021 influencer posts, the influencer posts in 2022 show a drop of 0.42 percent. In 2022, influencers in India published only 91 lakh pieces of content, less than the 92 lakh posts published in 2021.
Top 10 nano-influencers with highest engagement rates
1. Rupal Singh Chauhan (@rupalsinghchauhan, 23.1k followers)
Rupal Singh Chauhan is one of the top Indian Instagram influencers, creating content in the fashion and accessories, lifestyle, and food and beverages sectors. She is currently a marketing manager with L’Oréal India and simultaneously manages an engaging profile on Instagram. Almost 73.6 percent of her audience comprises Gen Zers and millennials. Collaborating with brands like Farmley, Thela Gaadi, B Burger, KIA India, Vogzy, and more, she generates nearly 178 percent engagement rate. Besides India, she also has followers from the US, Australia, South Africa and multiple countries.
2. Mehak Arora (@meh_chali, 16.1k followers)
Mehak Arora is a digital marketer and an influencer who creates content in the fashion, lifestyle, and beauty niche. Nearly 82 percent of her audience is over 21 years of age, out of which 70.5 percent are male, and 29.5 percent are females, mostly interested in clothing, fitness, food, and fashion-related content. Arora has collaborated with Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, Lotus Herbals, Fab India and H&M in the past and gained an average engagement rate of 172 percent.
3. Akshata (@akshxtx_pagar, 15.1k followers)
Akshata is a vlogger and influencer who talks about all things fashion and lifestyle and puts together decent outfits for her 10k female followers. Her brand mentions include Sula Vineyards, Revlon, Cosmo Street Style, Myntra, Jockey India, H&M, e.l.f Cosmetics, and many more. Having a 94 percent engagement rate, Akshata knows the pulse of her audience and how to create engaging content for them. Almost 49 percent of her audience is between 19 and 25 years.
4. Yash Chokshi (@yash_chokshi, 14.6k followers)
Yash Chokshi is a photographer based in Mumbai who creates mostly photography-related content capturing the landscape and people of the city. Besides photography, he posts lifestyle and travel-related content on his Instagram page. Data shows that over 90 percent of his audience is above the age of 21, out of which 71.84 percent are male followers. In addition to catering to an 82 percent Indian audience, he engages followers in the US, Brazil, France and more. He has worked with top brands, including Apple, Sony, Lonely Planet and FujifilmX India, and has generated more than 145 percent engagement rates.
5. Lavanya (@lavanyalifestyle, 11.2k followers)
Creating content in the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle niche, Lavanya is one of India’s top Instagram and YouTube influencers. Her content generates an engagement rate of 150 percent, higher than similar influencers. A large portion of her audience comprises male followers who fall between 19 and 15 years of age. She created 79 percent non-branded and 21 percent branded posts in the last three months. Lavanya has collaborated with some of the top names in the fashion industry, Meesho, Zara, Lulu & Sky, Converse, Westside, Max Fashion and Decathlon.
6. Anusmya Sivan (@anusmya_anjal, 8.7k followers)
Anusmya is a video content creator and Instagram influencer who discusses cosmetics and fashion brands on her page. With an 89 percent audience in India, she caters to a significant number of male followers. Among them, 82 percent of her audience is above 21 years of age, which shows more Millennials are interested in her content. According to affable.ai’s analysis, she generates 9k total engagements per post.
7. SURBHI (@surbhirohra, 7.01k followers)
Surbhi is an Instagram actor and influencer, creating reels and posts related to her lifestyle. Although most of her content is non-branded, she collaborates with some companies, including FIAMA India, Nature’s Essence and Graaga Bags. Surbhi made it to our top influencers with a higher engagement list due to her 192 percent reach. She generates a total engagement of 13k per post. She is followed by 44 percent of millennials interested in the clothing, fashion, food, fitness and music niche. A large portion of her audience (90.5 percent) lives in India.
8. Venu Rasuri (@venurasuri, 6.8k followers)
Venu Rasuri, a Mumbai-based celebrity photographer and director, engages more than 67 percent male audience on Instagram. Most of his audience is between the ages of 26 and 32, which means he interacts with many Millennials through his content in the lifestyle, beauty, photography, and travel niche. Out of 6.8k followers, he has 76.5 percent audience in India, 3.2 percent in the United States, and 2.8 percent in Indonesia. His content generates an overall engagement rate of 119 percent, higher than similar influencers in his niche.
9. Food_ft_love (@food_ft_love, 6.2k followers)
@food_ft_love is an Instagram page managed by Haya KShipra. The page is dedicated to food recipes and displays snippets of content from her YouTube channel. Haya KShipra is a food and beverage influencer with a large number of followers from India, Spain, and Brazil. Among her followers, 83 percent are above 21 years, and 58 percent are male. Her content generates an engagement rate of over 103 percent, which shows the quality of her content and how well she knows her audience.
In addition to food, her audiences show an interest in clothing, fashion, and beauty. affable.ai’s data displays that she has posted only 7 percent of branded content in the last three months, showing the authenticity of her content.
10. Vrindzzzzy (@vrindakhurana02, 6.09k followers)
Vrinda Khurana specializes in beauty and health and wellness content. Her audience comprises more than 38 percent Gen Zers aged 19-25 years and 36 percent millennials (26-32 years old), showing that both the younger generations equally consume her content. A significant portion of her audience also includes people between 33-39 years of age. In addition to India, she interacts with US, Iran, and Myanmar followers. With an engagement rate of 92%, she collaborates with well-known businesses in her niche, including Canabys, NEA, T.AC – The Ayurveda Company, Belora Cosmetics, The Coffee Brewing Co., Berina Cosmetics, WOW Skincare, Jubilant Nutrihance, etc. Vrinda’s brand mentions that her audience is also interested in healthy food and lifestyle content.
This week’s Influencer Marketing Short is written by Pooja ParasuRaman, director of marketing, affable.ai, based on data from the platform.
affable.ai is an end to end AI-powered influencer marketing platform. Used by over 5000 marketers and agencies manage, collaborate and analyze their influencer marketing strategy, at scale, with speed. affable.ai and Storyboard18 are collaborating to get you weekly insights into the disruptive world of influencer marketing.