Introduction to Influence Selection

Learn about the outcomes you can expect from the Foundation of Influence Selection

In 2023, Indian brands spent ₹1,875 crore on influencer marketing. This number is estimated to grow to  ₹3,375 in 2026. 🤯

In fact, an average series A plus company is spending as much as 10% of their marketing spends on influencer marketing.

If so much money is being spent on a channel, it must be working for brands, right?

Only a handful of brands have been able to achieve an ROI on influencer marketing. In fact, a survey conducted by EY showed that getting an ROI on influencer marketing is the biggest challenge Indian brands face.

Fundamentally, whether an acquisition channel works or doesn’t work for your brand isn’t a channel problem. It’s a 

And this is exactly what we are going to solve for in this Foundation.

🤔 So, what outcomes can you expect from this Foundation?

 First, you will learn how to think about 'influence'

 Next, you will learn how to define the JTBD of an influencer

 Then, you will learn how to design an influence framework around your brand.

 Lastly, you will learn how to select the right influencer/s for your brand campaigns.

This Foundation is going to change the way you look at influencer marketing. After you finish consuming this Foundation, you will be taking decisions for your influencer marketing campaigns with a lot of clarity and structure.

This Foundation is for influencer marketing specialists, brand marketers & growth marketers who want to use 'influence' as a key lever to drive revenue growth.

Prioritizing learning while also managing a full time job is tough. It takes a lot of effort. Learning always tends to take a back seat when you have a million other things going on in your life.

But now that you're here, let's do it right. 

Don't think of this Foundation as a blog article or a YouTube video that you can consume passively. Sit with a pen and note pad. Read through every line & take notes. Lot of them. Pause to reflect how you would apply a particular concept to YOUR product.

Set up your work desk and sit there (We know, the temptation to be on your bed is real)

Put your phone on silent, switch it off for the next hour if possible. 

Grab your favourite cup of tea or coffee and settle in. 

Outcomes from the Foundation of Influence Selection

Learn about what this guide covers, the outcomes you can expect and who is it for.

Influence Selection Foundations

Learn how you should think about 'influence' & the JTBD of an influencer.

Do you know who were the first influencers? The Queen and the Pope used to advocate the use of medicine by common people. Then there were thought leaders like Socrates & Plato, artists like Leonardo da Vinci & books like The Gita. 

The impact of the above sources of influence has lasted for centuries. But today, the world of influence works differently. Your memory of an influencer’s work is shorter than the life of a firefly. 

You might be wondering this is all too theoretical. Keep reading, it will all tie together beautifully by the end of this Foundation.

Your brand should change the way your audience thinks about something. It could be a different angle, could be something trivial or something that most of your users have a myth about. Until you do this, you won’t be able to hook them for a longer duration.

Changing the way your audience thinks about something: 

MyMuse is changing how people perceive intimacy and sexual wellness. 

Ariel's #TheLoadShare campaign focuses on the angle of how men and women should take equal responsibilities when it comes to household chores. 

Gilette Venus busts the myth that hair grows back thicker after you shave.

Now, let's hit pause. Take out our pen and notepad and for YOUR brand, write down:

 for your brand? Think about the problem your brand is solving.

2. 'What' exactly do you want to influence? E.g. A fintech company that stands for “helping Indians create compounding wealth” would want to influence “money decision” especially on how they “save or invest their money". Doing this will help you decide how do you want to 

This again ties back to what problem your brand is solving.

Next, we will learn what is the JTBD of an influencer for a brand.

How should you think about 'influence'?

Understand what 'influence' means at the core and how it compounds.

Influencer Marketing lies on one fundamental truth: 

We want to feel psychologically close to our idols. 

 like our idols, we feel closer to them by consuming every piece of content about them. Or by keeping an eye on what they wear, eat, drink and drive.

The greater the psychological distance between us and our idol, the more we look up to them and the greater our appetite for large, belief-changing statements from them.

In this Foundation, we will only focus on celebrities and Youtubers/Instagrammers are they're relevant to us.

Because our psychological distance from a YouTuber or an Instagram influencer is lesser, we find it easier to buy-into the everyday products and recipes they tell us about. 

The trick to influence here is quantity. 

When many influencers repeat the same message, the credibility increases. Take the classic example of the Dalgona coffee that was trending during lockdown. It is very likely that you yourself tried it out because you saw a lof of influencers on the internet making it. 

The core of external influence only works when the brand is smaller than the influencer itself. 

If you don't personally know me, the only reason you will be influenced into buying something is because I am better off than you either financially or socially. 

A celebrity influencer of the likes of Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone or Ranveer Singh will help improve 

 But there needs to be a level of compatibility between the brand and the celebrity.

A really good example is that of Deepika influencing the purchase of the Levis jeans. Levis positions itself as a new-age fashion brand for people who are very conscious about their taste in fashion but at the same time like comfort. Deepika's free flowing spirit, glamour and sense of fashion blend beautifully into what the brand stands for. 

Deepika Padukone celebrates moments of instincts 'for now, for a lifetime'  with Levi's, ET BrandEquity

At the same time, a bad example of brand <> influencer fit would be of the 

The ad shows that the delivery person does not wait at the door for Katrina to bring back cake for him as he has to deliver another order somewhere else. Although Zomato wanted to portray the idea that for them 'each customer is equally important', the audience found the ad to be patronizing.

With that we've completed this section. Consider this a V1 and if you have any recommendations, resources, or information you’d like to contribute, 

, and we’ll be happy to add. Alternatively, you could also email us on learn@growthx.club

In the next section of this Foundation, we will learn how to design an influence framework around our brand.

What is the JTBD of an influencer?

Learn what is the core JTBD of an influencer

How to design an influence framework around your brand?

Learn a structured approach to build an influence framework that suits YOUR brand.

You can’t just magically create an influence network in a day, it’s slow & non-sexy, but it compounds. Designing an influence framework around your brand is a 

Influence is driven by what your brand stands for, what your customers say about your brand & what 3rd party influencers say about your brand.

Before you even think about investing in influencer marketing or any marketing channel under the sun, you need to nail your brand narrative. This is the easiest lever to control.

Customers creating influence is the most important part of controlling influence in the target market, especially if you are selling either a social (network effect product) or selling a high ticket first purchase product (that demands a word of mouth push). And you can only nail this if your brand narrative is on point. When you think about customers influencing your category or perception of your brand, the 

2024 Tesla Model S Prices, Reviews, and Pictures | Edmunds

”Drive a luxury vehicle while reducing my environmental impact.”

See Tesla imbibes extremely specific words into its customer's vocabulary. Especially the ones related to “luxury, environment friendly, clean energy” & more. It’s no accident that when you speak to Tesla car owners, they will use these specific words. 

Time to pause again. Take out your pen and notepad and answer these 2 questions:

2. What words do my customers use to describe my brand?

These notes will be an extension of the notes you took previously.

The stronger the brand narrative & right vocabulary given to existing customers, the better you will be able to borrow influence from external 3rd party influencers.

But, this has an even further nuance. Your external influencer only works provided two conditions are met. First, your external influencer should be aspirational to your potential customers. Second, the influencer should be in the top band of their category. A lot of brands make this mistake of plunging head first into influencer marketing before doing a brand tear-down.

Alternatively, you could also email us on learn@growthx.club

In our final section, we will learn a 3-step approach to select the right influencers for our brand & specific business goal.

Understanding & controlling the levers to influence

Learn about the fundamental levers that affect influence and how to control them.

How to choose 3rd party influencers for your brand?

Learn the 3-step approach to select influencers for your brand that will bring you maximum ROI.

So far, you have clarity on what your brand narrative should be. But how do you select influencers for your campaigns? What parameters do you look at?

Step 1 → The purpose of building external influence

Most brands measure 3rd party influencers to drive distribution. This is such a narrow mindset. Distribution is important, but what is more important is the “right kind of distribution” that will help you with a specific business goal.

First JTBD is to ask yourself: Does our product need to build a personal / professional / social influence over the target audience? (If yes, proceed to step 2)

As a rule of thumb, your 3rd party influencing person / organisation / community should be an aspirational figure for your target audience. They are typically older to them or at a exceptionally higher life stage - personally / professionally or socially.

But again, there is a nuance. When you are a brand that's just starting up, you don’t need influence over a really large market, correct? Imagine when Ola started in India and they would have taken Shah Rukh Khan within the first year of building the business, it would be too early to build that kind of influence.

The stages of influences are dependent on 

Let's understand this entirely with the example of 

 It’s a community-first brand, crafting technical apparel for working professionals. It’s an interesting wedge to get into a super crowded market like women apparel.

Now if we had to choose influencers for BlissClub, it’s in early scale of it’s growth story. 

Most early stage brands miss this point of what’s your “right to win” about 3rd party influence circle.

BlissClub is targeting early adopter audience. Its right to win is to use this third party influence over a really small set of audience & monopolise that market first.

It doesn’t need to get the trendy Bollywood actress to begin with. I’m not saying they wont have a Bollywood actress ever in their influence circle strategy but this is not the stage of BlissClub’s product to make use of it.​

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BlissClub’s niche market will be influenced by their top customers who are also socially ahead of most of their target audience. For example, picking top women customers who have good enough social distribution (1000+ followers each) is key to make early adopters give your product a try.

But things change as you enter the “early scaling stage”. 

The key here is to understand user motivation. Would you take advice/recommendation from a random person on Instagram who in no way is personally/socially/financially well off? We only take advice/recommendation from people who are ahead of us in life. 

 For Harvard, it’s doing well post life at Harvard. Someone who has already been to Harvard & now makes $1 million dollar a year can influence you more about your applying to Harvard decision than anyone else. 

A few examples of how your product's goal changes from PMF to early stage scaling:

4 things that make a good vs great 3rd party influencer.

Influence is similar to human relationships. 

Early on, it requires a great hook to be interested in each other. Then it requires high frequency of deep conversations and then it requires nourishment over a really long period of time.

We hope this guide has been full of value for you. Consider this a V1 and if you have any recommendations, resources, or information you’d like to contribute,