Part one of a two-part series.
Have you ever asked someone what they do and they respond to the tune of, “I’m a [insert vague, generic noun] blogger?”
If you’re anything like a majority of the workforce, you write them off as an unemployed homebody who probably values their own opinion more than any of their perceived online following. And maybe that would’ve been true in the early 2000s, but nowadays you are very, very wrong.
On the brink of a new decade product placement advertising has been reborn as social media influencing. The public has lost interest in the falsity of Gwen Stefani hawking L’Oreal hair dye and claiming “You too can have blonde and healthy hair [just like my extensions]!” In a search for honesty, the consumer turned to social media, where there once was a plethora of genuine nobody’s giving advice on the internet with no agenda expect hearing the soothing cacophony of their own voice. But now, social media is a hub for “natural” product placement and sponsorship; with it comes a new brand of celebrity, hawking the same old products with more discretion.
These bloggers you write off are most likely a part of this elite and secretive world; they are influencers and they’re making a lot of money.
What is an influencer?
Influencers are tied to social media, whether it’s Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, or all of the above. They have pinpointed a niche and gained a mass following from creating interesting content about their relevant and trendy topic. Once they have enough fans, brands within the influencer’s focus approach them with deals, promotions, and contracts.
When I say “mass following,” I mean it. To be considered for social media influencing, your accounts must garner more than 10k followers… and that’s barely making the cut. The top ten fitness influencers of 2017 have a total reach of 106,000,000 followers according to Forbes’ assessment.
These top influencers are household names. While you and your friends probably idolized the cast of Dawson’s Creek growing up, the current youth are going googly eyed for beauty vloggers (video blogger) on Youtube and world travelers on Instagram. This fame shows in their payouts.
Partnerships with top Youtube influencers are generally around $300,000 and Instagram influencers average about $150,000 a deal.
James Nord, founder and CEO of influencer agency Fohr Card says the number of followers correlates to the approximate amount of money fashion and beauty bloggers make yearly. If an influencer has 100k followers he or she is making around 100k dollars every year, 200k followers 200k dollars yearly. And the numbers increase accordingly…
Right now, social media influencers are about a $1 billion industry and it’s expected to more than double in the next two years.
So how do you get a piece of the cake?
Enter the world of influencing
Social media may be the new method of advertising, but one thing will always be the same—only beautiful people need apply.
The easiest way to become an influencer is to be beautiful (surprise, surprise), and although a majority of the influencers are good looking, there’s a shift in the way we define beauty. Now, more than ever, there is a push for uniqueness amongst the beauty. Some of the top influencers gained their following for being downright different.
Leandra (Medine) Cohen goes by the social media persona “Man Repeller” and has made a name for herself in the fashion influencing realm for being offbeat and true to herself.
James Charles is a beauty and makeup blogger who got himself a monumental deal with Covergirl, making him the first male to join the girls club.
The list of unique niche personas that have captivated the world of social media goes on and on, but it’s not as easy as it looks.
These influencers have to keep up a following that demands consistency, transparency, and total access to the most private moments of their lives.
Social media never turns off, so influencers can’t turn off either. A majority of influencers are buying their content from photographers. These pictures are generally pretty generic, something like a breakfast spread shot in whatever style matches a healthy-lifestyle influencer’s theme. But the best typically create their own content.
Nord tells the story of an influencer who turned down a $30,000 deal because the shade of foundation a company wanted her to promote didn’t match her skin tone. She knew that her followers would purchase the foundation. And rather than make a quick buck she wanted to preserve the integrity of the vlog and only sell products she believed in. In a world with millions of people making beauty vlogs the consumers’ trust can make or break you.
Influencers build trust through authenticity, but also by exposing their lives to their followers. For fans, it’s common to see their Youtube idols crying in videos because they’ve had a bad day. This new-wave of social-media celebrity is built on the narrative that “they’re just like you” (except prettier and with more money).
In some ways, this self-made fame is the latest adaptation of the American Dream. The generation growing up with these New Age celebrities, see “normal” people who are worshipped for pursuing a unique idea, and they want in.
Being an influencer isn’t for everybody, but adapting your marketing plan around them should be.
This industry is only growing, and as influencers pop up around the globe. Every industry has their own sea of bloggers, vloggers, and Insta-stars to choose from. Finding an influencer to represent your brand and help build its voice can be the difference between viral success and never crossing the line between startup and established company.
Check out part two of The Hidden World of Celebrity Influencers and Why You Need One to learn how to incorporate influencers into your branding/marketing strategy.
