1. For context, please provide a brief introduction to Kofluence and the core problem it addresses in the influencer marketing ecosystem.
Kofluence is India's leading Ad-Tech influencer marketing agency, driven by a full-stack AI platform that empowers both brands and creators to leverage the worth of their social influence.
When we began six years ago, the industry lacked transparency and standardization in terms of infrastructure for brands and creators to meaningfully work together. With our experience in the gaming industry, my co-founder Ritesh and I saw firsthand the challenges of scaling campaigns. With Kofluence, we have always led with a first-principles perspective and therefore created an influencer marketplace optimized for scale and diversity. Today, we are connected to more than 7.5 lakh creators, from nano to celebrity influencers, across 30+ categories and 90% of India's pin codes. The platform enables more than 30,000 pieces of branded content per month, in multiple languages and cultural contexts.
What sets us apart is our deep domain experience, complemented with a battle-hardened team that deeply understands the rhythm of digital culture. Interestingly, 80% of our team are Gen Z professionals who naturally move in the creator economy, complemented by 20+ linguistic experts across teams for hyper-local, culturally aware execution at scale.
2. What led Kofluence to launch this Influencer Marketing Report, and how does it contribute to the larger industry conversation?
We launched the Influencer Marketing Report to bring clarity, structure, and credible insights to a rapidly evolving yet largely under-documented industry. As influencer marketing has exploded, much of the discussion has been platform-centric or anecdotal in nature. We identified an obvious lack of data-driven, India-focused intelligence that captures actual creator actions, brand requirements, and monetization patterns at scale.
3. Can you share how the data for the report was gathered — what was the methodology, and what types of participants were involved?
This report brings together primary research, platform analytics, and expert perspectives to map where the industry is today, and more importantly, where it’s headed.
We examined anonymized data from more than 2 million creators across our own platform and networks, and surveyed more than 1,000 brand managers, creators, and agency professionals in three targeted studies. These were supplemented by 50+ in-depth interviews with C-suite executives, marketers, and creators to provide qualitative richness to the data. To achieve validity and application, all findings were confirmed through third-party tools, platform APIs, and compared to global and academic benchmarks. We also incorporated Kofluence case studies on FMCG, D2C, and e-commerce brands to demonstrate actionable, replicable strategies.
4. What were some of the key findings that surprised you or challenged existing assumptions about influencer marketing in India?
One of the clearest takeaways from the report is how concentrated the creator economy is since Instagram alone contributes to more than half of India's active creators, followed a long way behind by YouTube. And yet, despite the rapid growth, we discovered that almost 9 out of 10 creators still can't count on a full-time income from social media, a testament to where the actual monetization opportunities and shortfalls are.
Short-form video continues to dominate as the preferred format for both engagement and revenue, and it’s no surprise that over 50% of influencer marketing budgets are being directed to Instagram. Brands are increasingly leaning on micro-influencers for regional outreach, especially in the 10k–100k follower bracket, which ties in well with India’s multilingual, hyper-local market dynamics.
What's also reassuring is the trend towards form, more brands are investigating automation tools, and there is increasing support for transparency, with the majority of marketers and creators advocating for transparent ad disclosures. It indicates that the ecosystem is evolving, with both parties demanding more accountability and effectiveness.
5. How are brands currently allocating their influencer marketing budgets across major platforms like Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Indian social apps?
According to anonymized feedback from brand and agency decision-makers who are actively engaged in influencer outreach and strategic campaign planning across top Indian brands, our research and surveys suggest that Instagram dominates the influencer marketing budget with an estimated 51 percent allocation. This is because of its flexible content formats and robust engagement, particularly through Reels, making it the favorite platform for product discovery and storytelling.
YouTube comes next with about 28 percent of the budget, popular for long, information-driven content in industries such as finance, fashion, and infotainment. Others like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook get smaller allocations between 5 and 7 percent, usually for more niche or professional targeting. Homegrown short-video applications like Moj and MX TakaTak are now at about 2 percent of influencer expenses. Although these sites have quickly built their audience, brand investments are careful as marketers consider their ROI and scalability.
6. Are brands adjusting their budgeting cycles — such as moving from annual to quarterly planning — to keep up with evolving content and campaign trends?
Brands are certainly getting more flexible and strategic with budgeting to stay in sync with evolving content and campaign trends. Our research indicates that the majority of brands continue to budget influencer marketing on a yearly or quarterly basis, but there is an increasing focus on budgeting more often as required.
For instance, one in four brands boost their influencer spend at the time of new product releases, demonstrating that they can be nimble to take advantage of timely opportunities. Over 70 percent of brands now factor influencer marketing into their overall digital marketing budgets, improving alignment and faster responses to marketplace changes.
That being said, budget issues are one of the largest hurdles in scaling influencer campaigns. To overcome it, we see brands placing trong emphasis on engagement as a primary metric and relying on external collaborations to stretch their spend.
7. What are some of the biggest challenges marketers face when it comes to pricing transparency and ROI measurement in influencer campaigns?
One of the biggest challenges marketers face in influencer campaigns is price transparency. There is no unified price model and rates for influencers differ based on whether brands are communicating directly with creators, their managers, or talent agencies. This leads to uneven pricing and makes it hard to compare campaign costs.
Negotiations tend to be manual and time-consuming, typically conducted by email or phone, which adds operational complexity and delays decision-making. Buried costs like production costs, usage rights, and exclusivity clauses tend to emerge late in the process and ruffle budgets, particularly among those without knowledge of industry standards. These elements make it difficult for marketers to accurately budget and determine ROI.
8. How are brands leveraging hyperlocal creators from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities to reach Bharat audiences more authentically?
Brands are now actively leveraging hyperlocal creators based out of Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities to engage with Bharat audiences in a more genuine manner. As per estimates, 60 percent of India's online users today belong to non-metro locations and thus these markets are of survival importance for growth. Also, we found that over 52 percent of the advertisers prefer micro-influencers with between 10,000 to 100,000 followers for campaigns in regional markets due to their high community credibility and engagement.
Through partnerships with such micro and nano-influencers, brands establish credibility and emotional bonds by mirroring real-life experiences and values of various audiences. More than 28 percent of budget revisions are attributed to localized influencer collaborations, and 26 percent focus on language-specific content, making messaging more relatable to target audiences.
9. What role are vernacular content and regional languages playing in influencer strategy and platform selection today?
Vernacular content and local languages are central to influencer strategies and platform decisions now. Regional language internet users will be a force to reckon with in India by 2025, with increased demand for content in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, and other languages. The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) projects that India will see more than 900 million internet users by 2025, with rural India contributing heavily to the increase.
Brands taking the hyperlocal route emphasize language-specific content and region-specific creative design, which combined represent more than 40 percent of localized campaign changes. This strategy helps them distribute content that deeply resonates within regional dialects and cultural spheres, boosting engagement and reaching last-mile audiences effectively. Using hyperlocal creators helps brands transcend the one-size-fits-all messaging strategy and create real, meaningful connections in Bharat's extensive and varied markets.
10. Do you foresee a future where brands allocate equal budgets to metro-based macro influencers and regional, hyperlocal creators? What would accelerate that shift?
I believe, the vision of having authentic creator voices in every pin code across India is becoming increasingly viable as digital infrastructure reaches even remote localities. Top brands are now realizing that hyperlocal creators, particularly micro and nano influencers, offer unmatched authenticity and interaction within local markets that metros cannot even begin to access. This change is driven by growing internet penetration in Tier 2 and 3 cities, where vernacular content deeply resonates and by growing consumer affinity for relatable, culturally rich narratives.
What will actually drive more even budget spend is the development of influencer technology platforms that yield granular insights on hyperlocal audience behavior and campaign ROI. Brands that make use of these insights in order to maximize spend and creative strategies will release more effective conversion rates and brand loyalty in Bharat. Additionally, regulatory emphasis on transparency and standardized pricing will minimize risk and make investing in more minor creators more appealing. Concisely, metro macro and hyperlocal creator budget parity will be achieved when brands unlock data-driven hyperlocalization as a key growth lever, rather than an experimental strategy.
About Kofluence :
Kofluence is India’s leading Ad-Tech influencer marketing agency, powered by a full-stack AI platform that enables both brands and content creators to capitalize on the value of their social influence. Backed by a team of influencer marketing specialists and cutting-edge technology, Kofluence delivers campaign KPIs at scale, driving results across the funnel, from awareness to action. The platform has successfully powered campaigns for 600+ clients across 30 sectors, including top brands like Domino’s, HUL, ITC, Netflix, Swiggy, Meesho, Flipkart, Bajaj Finserv, and TVS. With a network of over 750,000 influencers spanning 20+ languages and a reach of more than 7.5 billion, Kofluence brings unmatched scale and diversity.
Recognized in Forbes' Select 200 Companies With Global Business Potential, Kofluence is ISO-certified for service excellence and data security, verified by both Meta and Google, and is a proud member of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
Website: https://www.kofluence.com
