A marketing consultant turned reality show star is now minting money on the internet

• In February 2019, Alugh won a popular reality TV show Splitsvilla XI along with Shruti Sinha.
  
• The journey started in 2016 when he left his job as a marketing consultant in Delhi for a TV show called Roadies.
  
• But his marketing background gave him an idea about how to put his fame to good use.
  

What’s life like for a social media influencer?

Thousands of followers, free food at luxurious restaurants, free travel to exotic places, lots of gifts and glitzy brand endorsement deals. It certainly looks like they are living it up.

“That’s true,'' said Gaurav Alugh, a reality TV show winner and a social media influencer with 140k followers on his Instagram.


In February 2019, Alugh won a popular reality TV show Splitsvilla XI along with Shruti Sinha.

MTV’s Splitsvilla features a group of men and women who participate in a series of tasks to find true love. It is on the same lines as Australia’s Love Island. Whether he found love or not is not known but Alugh found his pot of gold.

Even as his TV career took off, yet another source of money came from brands that he endorses to his many followers. He recently promoted a range of male grooming products StudioX got 5,759 views. His average monthly average views ranges between 25000- 30,000.

Gaurav has been a social media influencer since five years. He endorses fashion and lifestyle brands along with his own acting projects.

The journey started in 2016 when he left his job as a marketing consultant in Delhi for a TV show called Roadies. He did not win the title but made it to the grand finale. But his marketing background gave him an idea about how to put his fame to good use.

“My Instagram followers who were about 500, skyrocketed to over 55k as soon as I appeared on Roadies. Guess appearing on television adds a lot of followers. People want to follow you and know everything about your life. So I thought why not monetise it. I started endorsing brands,” he told Business Insider India.

In 2016 he promoted several brands. But fame is fickle. After he left the show, thousands of followers quit him too. “Everybody wants to follow you as long as you are on a reality show. But as soon as the show wraps up the engagement number shrinks,” Alugh said.

Gaurav hired a marketing agency One Impression later which helped streamline his income. He also shot back to fame again when he participated in Splitsvilla XI. When he was on the show—- his follower base increased to 100k.

Currently, Gaurav promotes fashion and lifestyle brands including Bata India, Paresh Lamba Signatures, U Tropicana Resort Alibaug, and Swatch India. He has also done several acting project with top production houses including Qayamat ki raat with Balaji. "Latest is Alt Balaji’s Ragini MMS Returns 2," he added.

View this post on Instagram

A cup of coffee to start my day and these blue derby shoes from @bata.india to complete my 9 to 9 look. #NewArrivalsEveryFriday #SurprisinglyBata #NewYouEveryFriday

A post shared by Gaurav Alugh (@gauravalugh) on Oct 22, 2019 at 1:16am PDT

“Influencers with a transnational audience and millions of followers charge 6 to 7 digits for a marketing campaign. A micro influencer whose audience is in thousand charges nearly ₹6,000 for their services. On an average, influencers earn ₹20,000-30,000 a month. However, there are people who earn ₹800,000 or even a crore in a month,” said Apaksh Gupta, Founder & CEO of an influencer marketing solution One Impression.

In just a few years Gaurav’s income swelled by 4 times, said Gupta. Social media influencing has turned is the lucrative for influencers, brands and way to earn big money for influencers, marketing agencies and brands alike. In 2019, as much as brands spent $8 billion was spent on influencer marketing. The global influencer marketing is expected to hit $20 billion by 2020, with India accounting to about $75 -100 million.

But for an influencer, it is not as easy as clicking and posting. “When someone starts influencing digitally, they may not make any money but you will have to invest a lot more time and dedication towards what you are giving to your audience. But I know many Instagram influencers who are not able to differentiate between virtual and real life. They suffer from mental illness and depression when they lose follower,” Alugh told Business Insider India.

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