Micro Influencers give Wings to Indigo's Customer Experience Strategy

Abstract

IndiGo, one of India’s top low-cost airlines, made micro influencers the soul of their digital marketing strategy to focus more on customer experience than on customer engagement. The no-frills airline leveraged the power of ordinary netizens who had only a few thousand followers but had the power to make or break the brand image. IndiGo used micro influencers to deal with the unpredictability of social media and the negative trolls, especially in times of crisis. It was also an integral part of IndiGo’s positive brand building exercise. The social media came with a diverse set of customers and conversations about their diverse set of service needs. The micro influencers were not only the conversation starters for IndiGo on the social media, but also helped the airline neutralize all negative comments on the social media platforms. They helped intertwine in-flight and offline narratives. In choosing micro influencers over macro or mega influencers, IndiGo added a deeper layer of personalization to their marketing strategy by establishing direct and personal contact with a larger audience of customers and prospects. The conversations were premised on feelings of connection and interactive responsiveness with their audience. IndiGo straddled the micro influencer strategy essentially on two social media platforms. To stay on course with their focus on Tier II and Tier III cities of India, it was critical for IndiGo to have a critical mass of micro influencers and a ready pool of genuine micro influencers to change the course of the narrative. Would Indigo be able to sustain their brand building using microinfluencers? What should they focus on to achieve this objective?