Influencer Impact: Reshaping PR Strategies Effectively

The fusion of traditional Public Relations (PR) strategies with the contemporary influence of social media has given rise to the integration of influencer marketing into PR campaigns. Combining these two strategies strengthens brand messaging and connects with a wide range of people across many channels by utilising the influencer's reach and authenticity.

“We all are buying products based on references. Just that, we are not realising that we are all influencers,” emphasised  Anup Sharma, Independent Communication Consultant.

Opening the panel, Sharma delved into the evolving landscape where distinctions between creators and influencers often blur, shedding light on the profound impact of influencer marketing within PR campaigns.

Regarding the evolution of PR and the involvement of influencers, Ashim Gupta, Chief Brand and Communication Officer, Minda Group stressed, “When I was in Samsung, we were handling the communication mandate for the brand. In about 2014 or 2015, that’s when influencers were coming up in a big way in the consumer electronics category. Sometimes influencers led the entire communication narrative.”

Gupta noted that there has been a very gradual transition from influencers being a part of a PR campaign to being mainstream and still going strong in certain categories even today.

Defining influencers and underlining the need for influencers, Gaurav Singh, Head – Corporate Communications, DLF Home and Assistant Vice President - Marketing asserted, ”Every brand whether big or small, DLF or some other brand. It’s also about understanding who an influencer is for each category of product, industry or brand. In the case of DLF, we don’t use conventional influencers. We are not selling a cheap product, we are selling a home. We need influencers who can convince people to make the biggest decision of their lives, buying a 1, 2, 3 crore home. A lot of my marketing spend and communication effort goes into constantly engaging with our homeowners who come back to us to buy again and again. Our buyers become influencers for us, engaging with them not only brings them back to reinvest in DLF but also brings back 10 other people from the same fraternity. This is a very credible set of influencers because I am not giving them any extra benefits or I am not paying them.”

Measuring the Return On Investment (ROI) on something like an influencer campaign can be a tricky task.

Talking about measuring ROI when working with influencers, Tehseen Zaidi, Head, Communications, Syngenta India remarked, “We see how the content is being created and the reach of the influencer, we also see what kind of technology is being utilised to create that content. After the campaign with the influencer, we measure impressions on social media and then we sit with our marketing and sales team who do an on-ground survey. This survey checks how many people were inclined to buy our product because it was promoted by that particular influencer. This research helps us get an estimate as to our ROI from all these different numbers.”