'Influencers need traditional media’s validation to create trust and credibility'

On Friday, May 3rd, the Indian Magazine Congress took place in Mumbai where many industry leaders spoke about the future of print. One such session was by influencer CA Sarthak Ahuja who spoke about the collaboration between traditional mediums like magazines and influencers in his session titled: ‘Magazine content in the world of influencers’.

Starting his speech he said, “I hate the word ‘influencer’ because it is reductionist from my identity. Despite having run an investment banking firm for the past eight years and raising millions for startups, today most people know me as someone who creates content online. Not realizing that it is not my whole identity. Content is just a top-of-the-funnel marketing exercise to get leads and generate business, for my business which is into investment banking and consulting.”

“If you analyze the semantics of 'influencer' or 'content creator,' they carry positive connotations. I don't view them as derogatory. However, the real issue lies in the low barrier to entry. Once you're thrown into the pool, anyone can start creating content without expertise, credibility, or a background in a particular domain. They share it with an audience, often portraying themselves as self-proclaimed experts. That's where the problem arises. When discussing this with individuals who identify as content creators or influencers, they often acknowledge the issue. Publicly, they may boast about cracking the algorithm, but deep down, they understand their success often hinges on luck. They live with the insecurity that their popularity could vanish as quickly as it appeared, at the mercy of platforms they have no control over”, he continued. 

He went on to speak about the creation of trust and credibility that influencers need through traditional media. He said, “This apparel brand decided to partner with influencers, but instead of paying them, they offered that the pictures taken would be put up as hoarding across the city. So what this says is, despite having the reach and the audience, the influencers need the validation of traditional media to build their credibility, and trust which is built over consistency, background, and depth.”

“If I explain a business model in sixty seconds online, I know what I am purposely leaving out to trigger people to get them to interact. Social media is a game where people play on disclosing information, putting out polarising content, to divide people, which is why when the influencers launch their digital products the audience does not buy because they don’t have credibility”, he explained. He also said that magazines give a platform to influencers to create that credibility and by building trust amongst their audience. 

He concluded his speech by advising magazines to collaborate with influencers and create a revenue funnel. “The right way for publishers and magazine distributors to leverage on what they’ve built is consistency, credibility, and trust. By partnering with content creators who are big on social media, they could find a way to launch digital products, you would be incentivizing the creators to share the magazine on social media and create a top-of-the-funnel with brands like yours.”