The Rapid Rise Of Social Media Influencers

The popularity of social media influencers has increased. There is a high demand for social media influencers with the ability to gain the one-time high followings. Interest in influencer marketing exploded with the rise of Instagram and Facebook. There are many business models associated with social media influencer marketing. Social Media Influencers give brands personas and increase marketing and advertising productivity.

These major Influencers contribute to the marketing and advertising industry. They also provide key insights on trends and society as a whole. Influencers are being paid thousands of dollars for posts, with some getting up to six-figure deals. In return, they get followings and a place in social media history. Everything is not always sunshine and rainbows. There are some influencers, that take money and do very little promoting of the product or brand.

Instead of creating posts, they just repost posts from other popular accounts. This can be incredibly damaging to a brand's image and can hurt the company's bottom line. Influencers are also under a lot of stress. They are expected to produce content, which can be extremely time consuming and difficult to do. It can also be extremely difficult to maintain a quality image.

The Rise Of Social Media Influencers

In the beginning, there were a few bloggers, who gained a large following due to their writing and passion for the subject matter. This was back, when the internet had not exploded with social media influencers. Nowadays, social media accounts are so big, that entire careers can be built off of a single account. These influencers are paid to promote a product or brand and can have hundreds of thousands of followers.

They can be individuals, that have an interest in a niche, such as fashion, beauty, or any other category. They can also be well-known musicians with millions of followers, or even professional athletes. There are a lot of people, that have large followings, that can be considered social media influencers. Influencers can reach an entire market and can have a major impact on a brand's sales.

This allows companies to reach a younger market with cheaper advertising campaigns. The return on investment is much higher, than other forms of advertising. Influencers have taken the place, that traditional advertising has in the media industry.

Impact On Brands

Brands have taken note of the power, that social media influencers have had on their sales. Companies want their products to be promoted by the most influential people and they will pay high prices for this. Influencers allow companies to get their products out to an entire market, not just the customers, that may shop at their physical stores. Many companies use paid endorsements in social media by influential users to gain more exposure for their brand. Other companies take a more direct approach and pay for posts directly. There are even companies, that will "create an image" for a brand and place them on social media accounts of choice.

Influencers Can Make Or Break A Brand

Influencer marketing is a growing field and has the potential to make or break a brand. Companies need to make sure, that they are choosing the right people to represent their brand. There is a difference between someone, who is passionate about a product and an influencer, who only cares about money. An influencer only cares about money if their goal is to solely profit from the promotion of that product. Someone who is truly an influencer, will have a large following, that is interested in the product being promoted as well.

There is a fine line between getting positive exposure and being "paid to praise". If an influencer starts to praise a product too much, it can start to feel less genuine. Companies should be aware of how much money they are paying in order to promote their brand. Companies also need to make sure, that their product is something, that the audience finds desirable. An influencer promoting a product, that has nothing to do with their audience, will not gain much traction.

The Changing Face Of Influencers

The types of people, that are considered to be influencers have changed as well. Musicians used to be huge influencers. Television stars were the next biggest names. Then reality TV stars came on the scene and made a name for themselves. Now, celebrities outside of the entertainment industry are taking the stage. These celebrities have large followings on social media. They have millions of followers on sites such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

They have the reach, that Hollywood celebrities used to have. If a company wants to gain exposure for their brand, an endorsement from a popular social media celebrity can do wonders. Some of these personalities charge money for this. Others will do it for free, but will ask to be paid back through promotion of the brands, that they use. Other social media stars aren't so high-profile. These are users with smaller followings, but are still popular enough to get attention.

They may not have the reach of a famous personality, but enough people will see their posts that it makes up for that. Regardless of how popular a user is, they can help a brand gain exposure. Getting a post about your product from a large personality will definitely help in reaching a wide audience. Getting a post from a smaller, but still popular personality will help reach a more targeted audience.

Social Media Influencers Define Celebrity Status

Influencers are now defined by how much "likes" they have on their posts, rather than their talent or fame. The more likes a post gets, the higher status it has. There are also charts, that show which influencers are the biggest "names" in a certain field. The most famous musicians do not hold as much status as you may think. That title instead goes to the makeup bloggers, who have more followers, than some actual celebrities. Influencers are linked to becoming "real" celebrities someday.

This is mainly due to how much status they have on charts. Although, being linked to real celebrity status isn't a bad thing as far as gaining new customers. What does all this really mean? It means, that your small business now has to deal with the same sorts of celebrities, that large corporations have to deal with. You have to keep up with what the latest and most popular type of social media personality is. You have to figure out how you are going to approach them with your brand.