Ahead of the festive season this year, value e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal surprised its customers with a rap video, written and performed by one of its employees. The video was its first step towards integrating employee generated content into the brand’s marketing playbook. Since then, the company has worked with its employees to create in-house fashion shows for its flagship Bharat Swagotsav Sale and everyday reels for social media.
The idea was to not put all its eggs in one basket. That is, not rely completely on external content creators and influencers.
“When we looked inwards, we realised that our teams reflect the very diversity of our customers across cities, languages and styles. Our team members are not just marketers but also real users of value fashion,” says Achint Setia, CEO, Snapdeal. The company has over 60 such employees-turned-creators across functions from buyers and category managers
to data analysts and customer service teams.
Fashion and lifestyle are a major focus for the brand, with over 90% of its business coming from these segments, largely from tier-II, tier-III markets and beyond. With fashion seeing its growth triple year-on-year on Snapdeal, it is only logical that the brand is bullish on the category.
“The primary objective was to make Snapdeal’s fashion universe feel accessible, real, and culturally grounded. Many in our team admit they never imagined looking or feeling so stylish until they participated in these campaigns. Several even ended up buying and wearing the looks they showcased,” adds Setia. The move has helped create a cultural shift in the organisation, allowing its employees to become effective endorsers, he says.
Influencer marketing experts agree. Says Ramya Ramachandran, founder & CEO, Whoppl, “User-generated content drives the highest engagement today because it feels real, relatable and human. When employees become content creators, the storytelling feels authentic. It builds trust, strengthens brand culture, and turns employees into true ambassadors.”
It’s cost-effective too. Working with employees can reduce or re-allocate budgets typically spent on external creator fees, agency production, or influencer marketing contracts, bringing down content generation cost by as much as 65-70%.
“Since the talent is internal, the brand may only need to invest in training, tools, and coordination rather than large external fees. Over time, the organisation builds internal assets with content skills, which lowers dependency on external suppliers,” says Vaibhav Gupta, co-founder and chief product officer, KlugKlug.
Upping the content game
Over the past few years, e-commerce players have made content a major focus in their marketing strategy, which is where creators play a key role. According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, 2-2.5 million content creators are currently influencing over $350-400 billion in consumer spending in India. Other e-commerce firms like Nykaa, Myntra and Flipkart are also strengthening their content play in their effort to particularly engage with Gen Z and millennial audiences around the country.
According to Tusharr Kumar, CEO at Only Much Louder, content and creator-led strategies work across the funnel from awareness building to actually driving consideration and purchase. When organisations rope in their own staff as creators for that content, it makes the approach that much more effective. He adds however, that brands need to have clearly defined objectives when adopting this approach.
“The strategy is impactful because it offers consumers an insight into the organisation’s workplace culture. When an employee makes content for their company, the advantage is that they are also subject matter experts,” Kumar points out, adding that this sort of expertise can seldom be replicated by an external collaborator. However, he adds that a creator from outside the organisation also adds value to the brand, beyond what an employee can offer.
Setia adds that Snapdeal will continue to work with external creators that represent real Bharat audiences, fashion beginners, cultural translators and those that maintain an authentic tone while extending reach. After all, large influencers can bring in audiences and reach that employees rarely match.
However, brands will need to budget for training, measurement and content governance. Even with the budget allocations shifts, Gupta maintains that the ‘employee as creator’ strategy only comes with ROI benefits while making content creation more frequent and agile.