Instagrammer – still influencer or billboard with adverts?

For many years, businesses have actively been talking about professions of the future. Experts have been analysing what competences and profiles will be required in the years to come.  What are the  skills companies will be paying the most for? Universities are creating new faculties to match the job market trends and educating young people required by companies. This approach has evolved over the years due to the differing jobs of the future. Discussion concentrates on profiles mostly from IT, e-Commerce, cybersecurity, engineering, medical, biotech or even dietetic, but has anyone considered professions in social media?

No! We are not talking about Facebook online advert specialists nor business creators on Linkedin. We are talking about Influencers, specifically Instagrammers, YouTubers and Tik Tokers.

Do you know what an Influencer does?

To make sure that you clearly understand the intention of this article, let’s start to define who and what an influencer is? The classic one is a person that influences another through their network range and followers. In the past an influencer was not considered as a profession. Most likely it was a sphere of stars, artists, celebrities or a public person who thanked their fans and was able to reach a large number of recipients with the message. Those people were using their network to mostly share a social message, important from the stand point of a specific community. Nevertheless old fashion influencers were also participating in many advertisements with a famous “I recommend”. Their fame was helped by advertisers to make sure the product or service would be more relevant or more interesting for that  potential client, thanks to the recommendation of a well-known ambassador.

Having the backing of an advertiser and/ or an endorsement, the role of an influencer is now seen as a proper profession for many. In the world of social media, there are still people that influence others and who are able to interact with their followers. This encourages advertisers to be hugely interested in the cooperation with the most active social media accounts and their creators. Mainly we are talking about YouTube, Instagram or Tik Tok profile authors. Positive recommendation from those designers are much more valued than high-budgeted marketing campaign.

We can divide current influencers in to two types. Those who gain the fame by social media through their posted content, interesting subjects in their channels. Most likely they offer the network firstly artistic, social/public, lifestyle, fashion or game dev message. And those who started to be famous by TV talent or reality show programs participation and their followers are identifying with the publisher. The first type of influencers call themselves as internet/online creators and the adverts they’re publishing concentrate on very restricted segment of products and services closely related to the subject of the profile. While the second type of influencers focus on a specific matter, like product testing or information posts. In exchange they ask for the free-tester or payment.

What is the effectiveness of influencers?

Influencers in social media must demonstrate an otherworldly charisma as the promotion tool, and the ability to build and maintain strong relationships with their audience. In the era of haters and fake news, the role of an influencer for advertisers and observers/followers is extremely important. It gives the feeling that the recommendation is proven and trustworthy. Internet makers or opinion leaders often have to find their niche to be better than the competition.

Career for Influencer

Despite the fact that it is the dream job of many young people, many beginners have problems with adaptation to the wild jungle of social media. Such work requires constantly being in the spotlight, regular content publishing, posting photos and videos sharing your thoughts and opinions. If an influencer doesn’t have a specific message for their audience, they can quickly lose followers. Similarly with accounts of authors who only advertise various products or services. There is a very thin line between the opinion leader and the online advertising channel. Therefore, Internet creators must carefully select content and match it to the type of recipients. Hate and „media death” are the main threats in this profession, but success in social media can also be followed by a lot of money and a fast career path.

Many internet creators have grown so high that they currently run their own marketing and PR companies, write books, and conduct lectures on how to building a personal brand. Interesting perspective – isn’t it? 😊

Big thank you to my amazing peer Scott for his support and proofreading! 🙂