Influencer marketing and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) go hand in hand. Sociapa is a marketplace for influencer marketing in Noida. The FMCG industry will spend the most on influencer marketing in 2021, up by almost 62% from the average of 40% across all sectors. Fashion, luxury, auto, beauty, and cosmetics—classically high-spend categories—performed poorly in contrast as consumers changed their spending priorities in the COVID era.

Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG)—what are they?

Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) are in high demand, race off the shelves, and are reasonably priced for the majority of people. Every day, these are the items that are swiftly taken from the grocery shelves.

Packaged food, stationery, cleaning supplies, laundry products, personal care items, alcohol, and inexpensive consumer electronics like mobile phones are fast-moving consumer goods. Some FMCG items, such as milk, bread, fruit, and vegetables, will be perishable and may only last a few days. During the COVID lockdowns, several FMCG products were in short supply at supermarkets, causing customers to worry and stockpile products in case they ran out.

FMCG is produced by some of the most well-known corporations in the world, such as Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Coca-Cola, as well as by lesser-known (to the general public) conglomerates that create well-known brands, such as Procter & Gamble (P&G), Unilever, and AB InBev.

Why Would an FMCG Company Collaborate with Influencers?

You may be puzzled as to why FMCG corporations would consider working with influencers. People still purchase these goods, right?

While it's true that individuals need to adjust their demand for many FMCG products more when prices change, brands are increasingly collaborating with influencers to alter consumer behaviour. Particularly these days, many firms work with influencers to persuade their followers to buy FMCG products online rather than in-store. Sponsorship marketing, which has been around for a while, gave rise to influencer marketing. Although Michael Jordan is probably best known for his Nike advertisements, he also worked with Coca-Cola in the 1980s and 1990s before switching to promote Gatorade.

A great approach for sellers of everyday goods like food, drinks, and takeaways to engage with typical customers of these products and direct them to their online platforms is through well-known content creators.

Remember that FMCG consumers are human.

It's easy for businesses to overlook that consumers sometimes judge logically based on facts and research. This is especially true for consumer goods that move quickly. Since the financial stakes are typically low, buyers are unlikely to spend much time researching the finest items. Instead, individuals are more inclined to act on impulse, whether or not their actions result in optimal consequences.

Feelings frequently influence FMCG purchase decisions. How many times have you entered a convenience store on a hot day, seen a freezer stocked with ice cream, and made the decision to buy one? Or perhaps you didn't intend to order anything when you arrived at the McDonald's drive-thru, but after seeing the most recent promotion, you decided to do so.

People's emotions can be significantly influenced by social media and influencers. After all, encouraging the influencers' followers to feel like trying out a new product is the main goal of influencer marketing. Additionally, since fast-moving consumer goods are frequently inexpensive, individuals see following an influencer's advice as low-risk. They haven't lost much if they decide they don't like the product in the end.

Benefits of Influencer Marketing for FMCG Companies

1. Heading up online sales

Over the past ten years, there has been a steady increase in internet sales. After COVID arrived, though, internet sales increased since people were afraid to shop in person (and were deliberately discouraged from doing so during lockdowns). To slow the spread of the illness, many individuals preferred to stay at home; therefore, online shopping became a popular substitute for crowded malls and in-person shopping. Global retail eCommerce sales reached $1,336 billion in 2014. By 2018, it had increased to $2.982 billion. This has risen to a projected $5.542 million by 2022, nearly doubling. FMCG companies have undoubtedly observed this trend and realised they must change their business models to maintain market share. Consumers have also benefited from this development, thanks to influencers.

2. Developing brand credibility

Influencer marketing can help boost brand trust as long as it doesn't come off as overly contrived or poorly calculated (like Kendall Jenner's embarrassing Pepsi promotion). People transfer some of their trust to the company when they witness influencers they respect using or supporting the product. Of course, this holds for every other kind of item or service and for quickly moving consumer goods.

Fast-moving consumer items that consumers previously purchased at their neighbourhood supermarkets, convenience stores, or other local retailers. However, consumer purchasing preferences have changed, and a lot of people now purchase online. Since businesses can now sell in areas that were previously outside of their domain, many brands' reach has significantly increased. Consumers are hesitant to gamble with their money online, especially if they need to recognise the brand.

By supporting the reliability of the brands they collaborate with, influencers can aid in dispelling this concern. However, brand knowledge is a requirement for influencers. Compared to other items, FMCG may make this simpler because brands can easily provide influencers with samples to taste before they take part in a promotion.

3. Creating an Emotional Connection with Your Brand

Influencers should start evoking an emotional response to your business once they have established trust in it and some of their followers are eager to buy it. The influencer should pique consumers' interest in your product so that they purchase it out of habit and brand recognition.

In fact, over time, consumers might even relate your brand to their favourite creators, bringing pleasant recollections of that creator's creations to mind.

Influencers' and supporters' perceptions of a brand are impacted by their associations. This is crucial when brands collaborate with influencers who are recognised for having strong opinions. For instance, if you collaborate with an influencer known for their commitment to the environment and green business practices, their followers would probably see your brand's commitment to sustainability favourably. Environmentally conscious followers would translate their positive ideas toward purchasing your products before your rivals, assuming you aren't merely greenwashing (and the influencer will likely immediately see through you if you are).

4. Adding Value Through Influencers

Influencers have the ability to increase public awareness of a brand's quickly disseminated consumer goods. You may believe, as a consumer, that you are an expert on the kind of product you use on a daily basis. Influencers can still create useful content to draw attention to widespread misconceptions and show better ways to use the product.

Furthermore, marketers can provide a unique selling point to an otherwise homogeneous product by utilising influencers. Influencers can also be used to affect people's perceptions of everyday products.

5. Concentrating on a Specific Expertise

While many FMCG brands have a broad target market, influencer marketing allows them to reach specific demographics. All they have to do is locate a popular influencer who caters to that specific niche. These are frequently micro- or even nano-influencers with small followings, but what they lack in size, they make up for in the quality of their audience.

Every day, a bakery, for example, may sell millions of loaves of bread and pastry products. They may, however, want to expand their product line to include gluten-free loaves, and by working with the right influencers, they may reach a gluten-intolerant audience that would otherwise miss out on the new product line. This campaign would be reasonably inexpensive while running more relevant people than, say, a large-scale broadcast campaign.

Brand Perceptions in Conflict

Given how powerful FMCG and influencer marketing can be, it's surprising that more firms don't make better use of that marketing channel. This may be because many FMCG behemoths, such as P & G and Unilever, continue to rely heavily on traditional marketing media, such as television, for the majority of their advertising. For example, in 2021, P&G will spend $11.5 billion on marketing, making it the world's top marketer. While they do not appear to have published a breakdown of how this marketing spend was disbursed, a large portion of it was likely directed toward traditional media channels.

Brands can repurpose influencer-generated content.

After establishing a relationship with an influencer, an FMCG brand can repurpose some of its customer-centric material in future promotions. This is due to influencers' demonstrated capacity to provide high-quality material that people relate to and value. This content frequently explains how to use the company's products in a real-world environment and appears far more fascinating and genuine than anything a sleek advertising firm can make for your brand.

We have been able to understand the marketing communications for FMCG brands in depth over the last few years and after enabling leading FMCG brands in India to gain attention, brand recognition & digital visibility through effective & brand-specific content dissemination & right influencer marketing treatment.

We, as an agency, believe in delivering brand-centric marketing communication solutions for FMCG brands. Through tried and tested strategies, we have effectively enabled us to be among the best influencer marketing agencies in Delhi-NCR.