Let’s be honest! Nobody woke up today saying, “Wow, I can’t wait to see what this new brand is selling!” In fact, most people don’t care about your brand at all. Painful truth, right? But think about it: your customer is busy rushing to the office, stuck in traffic, watching reels, planning dinner, or simply scrolling memes. And in between all that, your “50% off” post looks about as exciting as a WhatsApp forward from an uncle. Imagine moving into a new colony and banging on your neighbour’s door shouting, “I am the best, please like me!” They’ll probably shut the door and gossip about you later. That’s exactly how people react when a brand only talks about itself.
Now, the brands people do care about? They act human. Zomato cracks jokes like your foodie friend, Boat makes headphones feel like a lifestyle, and Mamaearth sells emotions around trust and family. People remember them because they made them smile, nod, or feel something. And here’s the spicy part, influencers and creators are now the shortcut to making people care. When a small creator says “I use this and love it,” it feels real, not forced like a banner ad. For startups, this means stop begging celebrities who charge your yearly revenue, and instead focus on micro creators who actually reply to comments and engage their followers. Sometimes, 5,000 genuine followers can beat 5 million ghost ones.
Of course, the big headache for founders is “Where do I even find these influencers?” DM-ing random people on Instagram is like fishing with your eyes closed. That’s why collab platforms are blowing up. Trendly, Collabstr, Upfluence, Tagger etc all are tools that help brands connect with creators. And closer home, Indian apps like upfluence, trendly and influish are cutting out middlemen and giving small brands a way to directly find influencers without commission drama.
So here’s the real answer: people don’t care about your brand… until you give them a reason to. Tell stories, show your human side, make them laugh, make them feel, let real people talk about you. Because at the end of the day, nobody wants to follow a brand that sounds like a loudspeaker. They want to follow one that feels like a friend.
