By Ambarish Sengupta
As brands shift focus to creator-led storytelling, influencer marketing budgets continue to rise, leading to the exponential growth of India’s influencer industry. What's interesting
is how brands are changing their playbook. It’s no longer just about big follower numbers. They’re now focusing on content quality and creator relevance. The new adage seems to be ‘less reach, more resonance’. Audiences today are quick to see through mass-produced, overly promotional content. They connect with creators who don’t come across as trying too hard. It’s a clear shift towards valuing genuine engagement and true influence over vanity metrics like follower count.
Why ‘Less Reach, More Resonance’ Is Gaining Clout
Reach doesn’t equal resonance. In 2025, audiences are desensitised. They’ve seen the #ad. They’ve scrolled past the “paid partnership” labels. So what actually moves people today? Relevance, repetition and realness. Brands that are not chasing scale; but building communities through creators who speak to the same audience over and over again. Not virality - just consistent familiarity that drives true connection. Because in a saturated market, resonance beats reach. Influencer marketing isn’t a one-time play anymore; it’s an ongoing engagement strategy.
New Metrics Redefining Storytelling
Instagram is changing the game with new Reel metrics like retention rate and skip rate. These analytics go beyond surface-level views to show how long your audience actually stays. So, retention rate reveals how many viewers watched an influencer reel till the end, while skip rate shows how many scrolled away in the first few seconds.
These updates aren’t just about data; they’re about storytelling. They help creators and brands identify their strongest hooks, tighten pacing and understand what actually keeps audiences glued. Because in today’s landscape, content outranks every metric. If the reel isn’t watched till the end, the integration simply won’t work.
For creators and brands alike, it means more control, better storytelling, and smarter collaborations. When intuition meets data, that’s when collaborations truly drive results. A video might get thousands of views, but if people scroll past after two seconds, did it really make an impression?
Creator marketing needs to be seen in a new light. It is no longer influencer marketing as we once knew it. We are moving beyond influence into a space where creators become a brand’s most powerful content engine. It is content marketing delivered through creators who can influence, and that is where brands will find true relevance.
(The author is the Vice President, Business, at Hypothesis by Only Much Louder)
