Recently, we interacted with Ms Yulia Aslamova, head of Asia, DRIM Global – India’s 1st & only performance based influencer marketing startup that offers end to end management to D2C brands and has over 250k influencers, 200 brands, and nearly 2000 influencer talent managers and develops campaign strategies to help brands like Domino’s Pizza, McDonald’s, Swiggy, Amazon, Snapdeal, and others.
Here are the interview highlights:
1. Enumerate some of the key professional lessons you learnt throughout these years which have helped you in making DRIM a successful venture?
Throughout these years, I have learnt that a successful venture is a result of successful teamwork. What made DRIM grow by leaps and bounds was not a single person but the whole team dedicatedly working towards a shared goal. That is the reason why we are invested into teamwork education from day one. Another lesson that I embrace is to keep good relationships with everyone and that includes clients as well as vendors, regardless of the circumstances.
Professionally, I have experienced that decisions taken with the help of concrete data are more righteous. So I keep myself technically updated with the industry. Lastly, I believe in creating a product that is led by product marketing rather than active marketing.
2. Do you think influencer marketing will be the next big step for brand awareness, visibility and sales?
Influencer marketing today is more than just a trend. It is a proven and effective way for brands to reach their target audience and increase awareness, visibility, and sales. Furthermore, influencer marketing is about finding people who have a strong and authentic connection with their audience and can genuinely endorse your brand. This authenticity is key to the success of influencer marketing campaigns. In fact, a study by McKinsey & Company found that influencer marketing campaigns can generate an ROI of $6.50 for every $1.00 spent. The study also found that influencer marketing is more effective than other forms of digital marketing, including paid search and display advertising.
Additionally, influencer marketing also provides valuable insights and data that can help brands improve their marketing strategies and make more informed decisions. In addition, influencers create demand and the desire to purchase, and with a few interactions with their audience, they ensure a high conversion rate. Therefore, performance-driven influencer marketing meets all brand requirements and has a long-term impact.
3. What are some business challenges that you have had to face in terms of building DRIM Global?
Without challenges, I think no entrepreneur or firm can grow, and we are not an exception. While building DRIM Global, we had to face several obstacles, starting from achieving revenue goals to focusing on unit economics, managing the team, creating long-term relationships with other seasoned players, and many more.
Across the way, we’ve learned that every market has its own recipe—the code to succeed. It may take more time to identify it and come up with solutions to roadblocks. We at DRIM consistently shape the processes, along with giving space to all our team members to make decisions and improve them.
- Building the right team is key for any venture’s success. How did you come up with the idea of building a team with 90% women employees?
We didn’t focus on any particular gender; honestly, we just identified that most of our A-team players are women. So we didn’t have any idea of building a specifically female-dominated team; we just gave everyone equal chances and opportunities. DRIM, as a company, is very result-driven and goal-oriented. We offer complete flexibility in terms of timing, workplace, and more, so that women in India can balance work and family life.
- With the upcoming recession, how do you see the influencer marketing landscape changing in India?
The upcoming recession is likely to have a significant impact on the influencer marketing landscape in India, as businesses across industries look for ways to cut costs and improve their bottom line. However, despite these challenges, I believe that influencer marketing will continue to thrive and evolve in the coming years.
One of the reasons for this is that influencer marketing is a cost-effective way for brands to reach their target audience, especially when compared to traditional forms of advertising. Another factor that is likely to influence the influencer marketing landscape in India is the increasing importance of e-commerce. As more and more consumers move online to shop and make purchases, brands are looking for ways to reach and engage with this growing audience. Influencer marketing provides an effective and cost-efficient way to do just that, making it an attractive option for businesses during a recession.
The influencer marketing landscape in India will continue to evolve and mature as the industry matures. This will likely result in new and innovative ways of working with influencers, such as micro-influencer campaigns and performance-led influencer marketing campaigns.
- How has your experience been working in India, one of the largest creator economies?
I have lived in India for the last 10 years, and I’m a heavy user of social media and a micro-influencer on my own. In the first year, it was challenging to convince influencers to work on performance and accept the CPA model. However, India has a large marketplace and is open to innovations. So, once we have proven to them that working on the cost-per-action model is more beneficial, has a larger scale, and has no cap for their monetisation, the community has just jumped into the opportunities provided by DRIM Global.
The potential for the creator economy is huge, owing to fundamental shifts in consumer behaviour and consumption patterns and the huge proportion of first-time creators showcasing their skills online, particularly in local languages. As a result, the creator economy will prosper in the coming years.
