By Manjul Wadhwa
Why are Influencers Launching Their Own Brands?
Did your favourite influencer’s recommendation suddenly make that new café the top spot on your weekend plans? It’s not just a coincidence. Brands and influencers are tuned into what you want.
With over 75% of brand-related content now user-generated, influencers aren’t just sharing—they’re driving real engagement. Their engagement rates are over 2%, meaning the followers aren’t just passive viewers—they’re liking, commenting, and sharing, sending waves that reach far beyond social media into real commerce.
Okay, you get the gist—influencers are influential. But why is this worth talking about?
Let me share the real kicker: more than 4% of online traffic generated directly converts into sales. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg—it doesn’t even account for the delayed purchases or additional sales from repeated exposure and engagement across multiple touchpoints.
Why does influencer marketing matter for this? Because brands today need to connect with communities, and influencers help tap into those, building loyal customer bases faster than ever.
And, trust me–influencers know the power they hold!
How Content Birthed Concept
I’m sure you’ll agree that influencers have rewired our purchasing patterns. Influencers are guiding you to what clothes suit your body type and how to plan your diet to lose weight and the list goes on.
Spending enough time being the faces and personalities of other brands, they’re now harnessing their creativity and insight from creating content into creating brands.
Influencers know their communities better than anyone else—what they like, what they don’t, and what they’re willing to invest in. To be precise, they have got the edge when launching their own ventures.
Take Malvika Satlani, for example. She didn’t just build a beauty brand, Masic Beauty, because it was trendy—she created it because she knew her followers wanted cruelty-free, vegan and inclusive products.
She had been sharing beauty tips for years, and launching her own line was the next natural step. Her audience was already on board because they trusted her recommendations. That’s the power of leveraging a personal brand.
Are Influencer-led brands Promising?
If you just look around yourself right now, which brands are thriving?
Did you just glance at your Zomato package or check the time on your Boat watch?
Congratulations, you have found your answer! The brands who know how to communicate and connect with their audiences are the ones that make it big. And, who knows their audience better than creators?
It all boils down to trust and community. Influencers have spent years building a direct relationship with their audience. They are not like traditional brands. Influencers have experienced every bit of marketing. They’ve lived the campaigns, real-time connections with followers, engaged in dialogues, shared the message, run promotional content, and beyond.
The X-factor? They’re doing it with a deep understanding of their community’s needs.
This is something brands can rarely tap into as effectively. Think of Aashna Shroff, who launched The Snob Shop—she knew exactly what her fashion-loving followers were craving because she had been curating outfits for them for years.
Her move into entrepreneurship was a perfect example of an influencer using her style and voice to create a brand that felt personal to her followers.
“Creator-preneurs” are Multi-talented
Being in front of the camera for different industries and products, creators have mastered multi-tasking. By working with brands, they’ve learned how to adapt their style to fit different messages, mastered content creation, and developed marketing strategies that work.
The digital platforms are their “Karmabhoomi” and attracting audiences without spending big on traditional advertising is a bonus to their career. This expertise gives them a huge advantage when they launch their own businesses.
Audience? They got it. Trust? They’ve built it. Personal Brand? You bet, they own it.
Middlemen, Who Needs Them?
Influencers have many avenues to earn, why will they not add one more that guarantees a direct opportunity to cash flow? Building a brand gives them the ability to directly monetize their audience without relying on brand deals.
They have the insight into what resonates with their followers, easing their way into launching a new venture on their own.
Bhuvan Bam’s isn’t selling Youthiapa as a clothing brans but like an extension of his personal brand (BB Ki Vines style).
His followers don’t just see it as a product, but as a way to connect more deeply with his humor and persona. By cutting out the middleman, he’s able to keep things authentic, while also making sure his business stays true to what his audience loves.
The Future of Influencer-Led Brands
One excellent benefit of influencer-led brands is that this new kind of entrepreneurs
are creators, marketers, and product developers all in one. And because they have such a strong connection with their audience, they have lower marketing costs and higher engagement from day one. It’s a major win-win!
The “Maalkin”, Parul Gulati, launched Nish Hair and built a brand around high-quality hair extensions, and her audience was on board from the start.
Why?
Because they already trusted her expertise and passion for beauty. What else can bring that kind of authenticity other than a niche creator already loved by thousands?
One PRIME example of that is Prime Drink (See what I did there!)
Logan Paul is a well-known name on the internet. He has a massive following of 27M on his Instagram profile. The Youtuber didn’t just know the game, he created it–building hype through strategic scarcity marketing, generating FOMO among consumers.
Engaging content + active community interaction, fostered brand loyalty. On the other hand, partnerships with entities like Arsenal FC enhanced visibility.
By blending entertainment with marketing, they transformed from influencers to brand owners, demonstrating how authentic connections and personalization can drive sustainable success, making their influence its backbone.
Futuristic Commerce lies in Personalization
Bombarded with options, consumers now look for customization and personalization from custom snacks to on-demand services, we witness it every day.
Consumers await influencer brands even before they are officially rolled out because influencers keep them involved in the creation process, making the products feel unique and personal.
By making followers a part of the journey, creators drive loyalty. When influencers launch their own brands, they’re not just selling products—they’re creating a committed family.
Logan Paul and KSI have a combined 45 million followers across Instagram and TikTok, and over 39 million subscribers on their main YouTube channels. They used their massive online audiences to drive hype and demand for Prime through dedicated video ads, surprise fan giveaways, and going undercover in stores selling the product.
Targeted Marketing to Gen Z
Prime was designed to appeal to Gen Z and younger audiences who are heavily influenced by social media and YouTube. 77% of Gen Z watch YouTube daily, and Paul and KSI have built deep connections with their young audiences through long-form content. Their involvement created a sense of urgency for Gen Z consumers to buy Prime and join the hype.
Leveraging the YouTube Algorithm
The founders’ influence may have triggered YouTube’s algorithm to further recommend Prime-related content to viewers, enhancing the drink’s online visibility and driving more sales. Their savvy use of YouTube’s algorithmic networks contributed to Prime’s rapid rise.
Maintaining Hype Through Scarcity
There were accusations that Prime deliberately kept supplies low in order to create a sense of scarcity and drive up demand. The chaotic scenes of stores selling out of Prime in the UK led to the founders addressing the resale issues, with KSI calling out one store for price gouging
What Brands Can Learn From Influencers
The reason why influencer brands are so exciting is because they make a brand feel human with their identity and personal brand backing it.
Influencer partnerships are at the forefront of almost every effort made for a digital presence by brands. But, influencer-owned brands are the mirror to the future of e-commerce.
At the end of the day, influencers are proof that personal connection and trust are the future of e-commerce. And as more creators realize the power they hold, we can expect to see even more influencer-led brands popping up across industries.
Brands can learn a thing or two about how to better connect with their target audience from the example of these creator brands.
TET