Cutting out agencies, going direct: Are D2C brands rewriting influencer marketing rules?

India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands are increasingly moving away from traditional agency-led influencer marketing, opting instead to work directly with creators in a bid to improve cost efficiency and drive measurable sales.   

The shift marks a structural change in how influencer marketing is executed, with brands prioritising speed, control and return on investment over layered campaign planning and agency retainers.

Direct deals gain ground

The trend is most visible on platforms such as Instagram, where brands actively identify creators through their content and initiate partnerships via comments and direct messages.

Danish Mapari, Founder of Creative Agency working with D2C and lifestyle brands, said the change has already impacted agency-client relationships. “We lost two D2C clients last year. Both went in-house with creators,” he said, adding that nearly 75% of D2C brands in India do not engage social media agencies.  

Market size larger than estimated

Industry players suggest that influencer marketing in India may be significantly larger than commonly reported. While the market is often pegged at around ₹3,000 crore, newer assessments suggest it could be closer to ₹10,000 crore, with a substantial share of spends flowing directly to creators.

Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO, KlugKlug, said only about a quarter of the market is currently managed through organised agencies. “Several brands now spend ₹20+ crore annually, and D2C brands are investing ₹6 crore or more, matching previous FMCG digital spend levels. More than 14,000 brands on Amazon have leveraged influencer-driven content to quietly shift market share.”

He added that influencer-led campaigns continue to deliver strong returns across categories. “Beauty categories show 2x–5x EMV multipliers, home and kitchen categories show 5x–7x, and influencers significantly boost purchase intent through increased search volumes.”

However, inefficiencies remain. “Brands often achieve only 50–60% of the audience they assume they’re reaching. For example, only 14% of female beauty influencers have more than 50% female followers,” Kumar said.

Budget leakages through intermediaries are also prompting brands to rethink agency involvement. “When multiple intermediaries are involved, only 30–50% of budgets reach creators,” he noted.

Kumar also pointed to limitations in measurement frameworks. “Swipe-ups and link-in-bio capture just 8–12% of true influence,” he said, adding that newer deployment strategies are enabling smaller brands to compete more effectively on platforms such as Amazon.

Cost pressures and control

For D2C founders, cost efficiency remains a primary driver. Bala Satish, Co-founder of travel-wear brand Nobero, said direct negotiations often result in significantly lower spends. “We closed influencer deals at half price agency charges,” he said, adding that agency models tend to become viable only at large scales.

“At mid-scale, under 100 influencers a month, the retainer cost or commission structure outdoes your in-house team,” he said. “At 500 influencers a month, agency makes sense, but only a handful brands have that kind of budget.”

Early-stage brands also cite lack of customisation as a limitation in agency-led approaches. One D2C founder said agencies often rely on broad creator lists rather than nuanced audience matching. “Agencies work great when you’re big, but at early-stages they fail miserably. It’s the lack of personalisation and customisation that hurts,” the founder said.

Palka Kejriwal, a growth marketing consultant for FMCG, fashion and D2C brands, said operational constraints within agencies often limit strategic input. “Agency doesn't work because they have to give multiple projects to one team or person, and all the time goes into execution and fire-fighting,” she said.

Shift towards performance-led content

Brands are also rethinking the nature of content itself. Instead of high-production campaigns, many are working with a smaller set of nano creators to produce frequent, unpolished videos that mirror real consumer experiences.

Mapari said such approaches are delivering stronger outcomes. “No deck. No strategy call. No brand guidelines document. Just a real person showing the product in real life,” he said.

This shift aligns with changing consumer behaviour, particularly among younger audiences, where authenticity and relatability are increasingly driving engagement and conversions.

Despite the shift, industry executives said agencies are unlikely to become irrelevant, but their role is evolving.

Awanish Sharma, COO at HKI Media, said brands are becoming more involved in creator discovery and selection. “It’s no longer about outsourcing the process. Brands are getting hands-on and more data-driven,” he said.

He added that agencies are moving towards strategy-led functions. “The focus is now on campaign thinking, storytelling, compliance and measurement rather than just sourcing creators,” Sharma said.

At the same time, direct engagement is changing creator dynamics. Influencer Aanam M R Chashmawala said brand collaborations tend to be smoother without intermediaries. “Each time I work directly with a brand, the collaborations are more seamless and require negligible back and forth,” she said, while noting that few agencies demonstrate a deep understanding of brand requirements.

As D2C brands continue to prioritise efficiency and outcomes, direct creator partnerships are expected to remain central to influencer marketing strategies, particularly at early and mid stages of growth.

Agencies, meanwhile, may need to reposition themselves around strategic advisory, campaign integration and measurement to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving ecosystem.