How Indian ShareChat Influencers Find Brand Deals in Bangladesh

Since 2022, Indian influencers on ShareChat have been reaching out to brands in Bangladesh in an attempt to secure promotional deals.

Almost all of these influencers create content exclusively in Hindi. Their Bangladesh contacts say that unlike Urdu or Arabic, Hindi is easy for Bangladeshis to understand.

As a result, these Indian influencers find it easy to engage Bangladeshi users. They reach audiences who are already informed about Bollywood events and Bollywood celebrities.

This article explains how Indian influencers on ShareChat are marketing their services to brands in Bangladesh.

📱ShareChat is Popular in India

Launched in 2015, ShareChat is a social media app that is available in 15 Indian languages. The app has become popular with Indian influencers due to the monetization opportunities it provides.

According to a report from Business Today, “ShareChat and Moj (ShareChat’s sister company) together account for 40% of the influencer market in India.” The report goes on to say that “Moj led the [short video app] space with a 55-60% share, while ShareChat came second with a 20-25% share, and Instagram followed closely with 15-20%.”

The vast reach and strong traction of ShareChat among Indian audiences makes it a great launching pad for influencers looking to expand into less tapped markets.

🇧🇩Bangladesh’s Growing Youth Market

With a population of over 160 million, Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country in the world. Approximately 40% of the population is under the age of 25, and a staggering 53% of them are internet users.

These figures show that Bangladesh has a vibrant youth market that is ripe for influencer marketing.

According to a report from Statista, “the share of respondents who use social media in Bangladesh stood at 82 percent in 2022, and that figure is expected to increase to 87 percent by 2025.”

The report goes on to say that “as of February 2023, there were nearly 49 million social media users in Bangladesh, and that figure is expected to grow to 64 million by 2028.”

💪Bangladeshi Users Prefer Hindi Content

While Bengali is the official language and spoken by the majority of people in Bangladesh, English and Hindi are widely understood.

Many Bangladeshi users follow Indian celebrities, and Bollywood films and Indian television dramas are popular. This provides a cultural overlap that makes it easy for Indian influencers to engage and grow their Bangladeshi audience.

ShareChat influencers who have created paid partnerships with brands in Bangladesh say that they typically find Bangladeshi customers easy to deal with. They say that Bangladeshi brands are typically upfront with their requirements and pay punctually.

Others have reported similar easy partnerships with Bangladeshi resellers of Indian products, such as sarees, jewelry, spices, and cosmetics.

While the popularity of Hindi is a major factor, it is not the only consideration for Indian influencers approaching Bangladesh.

🚩Regulatory Challenges of Working Directly in Bangladesh

In recent years, the Bangladesh government has prohibited a number of Indian TV dramas and films for showcasing values and lifestyles that are contrary to their customs and beliefs.

In 2022, speaking at the annual conference of the Bangladesh Film Directors Association, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, “It is true that Indian films are coming in, but I have already directed the authorities concerned to stop it. This is our country, and we will keep our culture alive.”

Despite this sentiment towards Indian films, Indian actors are still popular among Bangladeshi youth. Films that are considered objectionable are often aired on YouTube.

By creating paid partnerships with Bangladeshi brands via intermediaries, instead of working directly with these brands, Indian influencers can limit their exposure to regulatory scrutiny. They can benefit from the commercial opportunities in Bangladesh while minimizing any potential backlash from the Indian government.

👆Payments to Influencers from Bangladesh are Easy to Process

For Indian influencers, the ability to receive payments from Bangladesh is another factor that makes working with Bangladeshi brands attractive.

Bangladesh is considered a high-risk country for Indian companies due to regulatory issues with cross-border transactions and money laundering.

As a result, it can be difficult for Bangladeshi brands to pay Indian influencers through traditional banking channels. But for Indian influencers, the good news is that they can receive payments with services like Payoneer and Wise.

Both of these platforms let Bangladeshi brands make their payments via credit card, which turns a major obstacle into a minor inconvenience.

🎭Bangladeshi Brands Targeting Youth with Indian Influencers

As of 2023, the majority of Indian influencers on ShareChat who are marketing their services to Bangladesh audiences are period drama, makeup, and dance influencers.

While the overwhelming majority of their content is Hindi, some influencers add subtitles to their videos while others simply speak Hindi, Urdu, and Bengali interchangeably.

Bengali is one of the languages supported by ShareChat, and this has helped some Bengali influencers stand out from their Indian counterparts. Bengali influencers are often heavily promoted by ShareChat, while Indian influencers are sometimes hard to find due to their sheer numbers.

This variation in promotion has resulted in many Bangladeshi users erroneously believing that most ShareChat influencers are from Bangladesh.

Like Indian influencers, they create content exclusively in Hindi or Bengali, and they have become very popular.

Bengali influencers have also created a ShareChat community to help them mutually grow their audiences, and they are now looking for ways to generate revenue from their content. According to a report from Jagran Josh, “ShareChat has witnessed a more than 300% increase in influencer registrations from West Bengal and Bangladesh in the past year.”

This shows that Bengali influencers on ShareChat are responding to the growing demand for influencer marketing in Bangladesh.

👑ShareChat Influencers Are Royal

Despite the setbacks, the opportunities for brands and influencers are simply too good to ignore.

For example, here are some examples of successful engagements by ShareChat influencers who had help from intermediaries.

In June 2023, ShareChat influencer Jaadu Kaur was paid 1,400 Bangladeshi Taka to promote an online portal for Bangladeshi sarees.

Jaadu Kaur is a period drama influencer who regularly showcases her sarees and jewelry. She also provides tutorials on how to wear a saree, which are popular among her followers. Promo codes are also common.

In the capture below, the saree brand advertising to Bangladeshi audiences can be seen at the bottom of the image.

In June 2023, ShareChat influencer Shahnawaz Kalpana was paid 2,000 Bangladeshi Taka to promote a Bangladeshi lipstick brand.

Shahnawaz shares beauty tips and creates makeup transition videos. This style of video is especially popular among Bangladeshi women.

In the capture below, the lipstick brand can be seen at the bottom of the video.

In July 2023, ShareChat influencer Aishwaryameshsharma was paid 3,000 Bangladeshi Taka to promote a Bangladeshi educational institution.

Aishwaryameshsharma is a dance influencer specializing in dance covers of popular Bollywood songs. In the capture below, the logo of the institution can be seen at the bottom of the video.

🤝Intermediaries Connecting Indian ShareChat Influencers with Bangladeshi Brands

Several Indian influencers using ShareChat have stated that they are being approached by Bangladeshi brands via Indian intermediaries.

Often, the intermediaries are also Indian influencers. They connect brands in Bangladesh with Indian influencers on ShareChat.

Typically, Bangladeshi brands will approach an Indian intermediary influencer and request promotional services. The intermediary influencer will then share this request with Indian influencers on ShareChat, who will express their interest.

Finally, the intermediary influencer will connect the brand and the ShareChat influencer, and often take a cut of the payment as commission.

It is difficult to accurately assess the size of this market or the exact number of intermediary influencers in India. However, we do know that it is a thing.

In January 2023, ShareChat influencer Shama Parveen shared that she had successfully completed a paid partnership with a Bangladeshi brand. In the caption, she tagged two well-known Indian influencers who are popular on ShareChat, and said that they are responsible for introducing her to the brand.

One of the two influencers mentioned in the image above is Kesarika, who is popular for her period drama content. She has also been featured in this article.

In the image below, Kesarika shares a list of Indian influencers who are reaching out to brands in Bangladesh.

In addition to period drama and makeup influencers, Kesarika’s list also features comedy influencers.

🔚Conclusion

With a growing youth market and a booming influencer marketing sector, Bangladesh is an emerging country that is attracting the attention of Indian influencers on ShareChat.

From makeup and dance to storytelling and comedy, influencers are vying to connect with Bangladeshi brands who are looking to use influencer marketing to promote their products and services.

Despite challenges with regulatory issues and payment processing, innovative influencers, including intermediaries, are finding ways to work with Bangladeshi brands.

With the help of intermediaries, Indian influencers on ShareChat are marketing their services to brands in Bangladesh. This has opened up an exciting new frontier for influencers in India to explore.