Intimate Talks: 14 Things We Learnt About Influencers in 2023 Zoom interviews, discussions, panel discussions and fireside chats- in our varied interactions with influencers we spoke to them about their personal journeys, views on the influencer industry, growth tips, mental health and much more.

Zoom interviews, discussions, panel discussions and fireside chats- in our varied interactions with influencers we spoke to them about their personal journeys, views on the influencer industry, growth tips, mental health and much more. We cull out some of the most insightful inputs we received from them over the year and collate it below for you.

1. "With a deep dive and intensive search on a variety of factors such as audience demographics, engagement rates, and relevance to the client's brand we pick the best influencers for the campaign. Once the campaign is launched, we closely monitor its performance, tracking key metrics such as engagement rates, reach, and conversion rates. This enables us to make real-time adjustments and optimizations to the campaign's components, ensuring maximum impact and ROI" says Prashant Nagar, Founder, DigiWhistle.

2. "With millions of people now following and engaging with influencers and content creators online, brands have recognised the value of partnering with them to reach their target audience. Additionally, the pandemic has accelerated the shift towards e-commerce and digital channels, creating new opportunities for DTC brands and influencer marketing" Jag Chima, Co-Founder, IPLIX Media.

3. "In the comments section people would ask me about stock market, finances and other issues, which I had always assumed that everyone knew just like me" Finfluencer Neha Nagar.

4. "I was always the go to person in my family for any tech related issues, for example if the PC wasn't functioning they would come and ask me about it": Tech influencer Tejas Patil.

5. "We also did not want to limit ourselves to Instagram, like many other creators were doing. So we created a community on Telegram which has lakhs of members where they can directly ask me anything and I am in touch with them on a personal level" Influencer Ashutosh Pratap Singh.

6. "I would make my friends and family follow accounts of top influencers so that they could tell me what they were doing and what I was missing out on, so that I would improve myself": Tech influencer Jai Arora.

7. "It's important for everyone to talk about mental health and therapy but for individuals like me there is an added responsibility to use our platforms for getting the message out. Of course, I'm one of the privileged ones, who has access to therapy and has friends who have been taking therapy. And I know even finding a good therapist is hard, but the more we talk about these things the more it will get normalised" Influencer Dolly Singh.

8. "My experience with Playboy was so positive, so fun and something I will always look back on with a smile. For me it was super exciting because I was straight out of college at Florida State University studying to become a CIA agent. I have always had to pay for literally everything in my life and worked several jobs since I was 13 to be able to do so and get that college experience. I am also a person that is very adventurous, open minded and spontaneous which always leads to some exciting and unexpected opportunities. I randomly reached out to an email on the Playboy website after the suggestion of two of my high school friends. Then I received an email requesting me to fly out for an all-expense paid test shoot in Los Angeles. Getting a free trip to Los Angeles to be able to shoot for a historic and iconic magazine and be a part of history and get to meet Hugh Hefner… I of course said yes!": American Influencer Amanda Cerny

9. "I celebrate the appreciative and acknowledge feedback too. I reply to some in a funny manner but otherwise, I stay positive and look to better my content. I post what I like and what entertains me," she explains. ruhee dosani

10. "After college I didn't get placed, so I started freelancing with a radio channel, after which there was no looking back as I found it to be a fascinating industry and got a lot of recognition. The appreciation was great, and after two years I also started making videos on YouTube since I wanted to utilize my acting skills. Although now when I look back at my earlier videos, it's what the present generation would refer to as cringe content!" RJ Abhinav

11. "The most amazing one was in Dubai when some Indians and Pakistanis were clicking photos with me. An individual from a third coun[1]try came and also clicked a photograph, although he didn't know who I was. I found this hilarious. Another thing which I find interesting is when someone is 10 feet away from me, isn't saying anything, but just by looking at him I can understanding he's trying to ask me that its RJ Naved standing near him or not": RJ Naved.

12. "Currently we have maybe around 100 finfluencers. Tomorrow these numbers could go upto 500. What is important for each of us as content creators to remember, however, is that why the audience is sticking to us. What is our distinguishing factor from the rest? You know you have a loyal audience when they feel that they would want to hear you everyday. So this a code that we all individually need to crack and keep working on as the years go by. That is the only way to be sustainable" Finance content creator Chandralekha.

13. "First you need to pick a niche and stick to it. Second is always have something apart from content creation that backs up that content. Personally I don't resonate with those create content about a topic that they personally don't practice. We preach a lot online but also need to ensure that we are practicing it too. Thirdly, content creation in itself is very simple, but if you can combine and education and entertainment, which equals to valuable content, then you have a very good mix. If you pick any successful creator and backtrack their journey, you will see a mix of these three": Ayush Wadhwa, Founder of OWLED and a podcaster.

14. "I have identified the kind of audience I want to target and instead of me chasing them I let the algorithm do that for me. What happens because of this is that tomorrow if there are 1,000 other finfluencers it will not worry me, as there is only going to be one of me. At the end of the day as a creator you are creating a community, and that's what brands come to you for. Brands do not come to you for attention, and even if they do, tomorrow they will end up going to someone else:" Finance influencer Anushka Rathod.

The author can be reached at bkabir@entrepreneurindia.com and Instagram.com/kabirsinghbhandari