Welcome to the world of influencers

I came across an article about influencers by chance today. I know what influencers are, what they do and how much influence they have on many, especially young people, but because of the content of the article (which I will talk about later) I decide to look a little more precisely who they are, what and how they work. Well, let me tell you what I found out.

I came across an article about influencers by chance today. I know what influencers are, what they do and how much influence they have on many, especially young people, but because of the content of the article (which I will talk about later) I decide to look a little more precisely who they are, what and how they work. Well, let me tell you what I found out.

Who are the influencers? This is probably one of the most difficult questions you can ask an internet marketing person on Instagram. Because, no one from the industry is completely sure who the real influencers really are, and even less, what is the criterion to call someone that. When we talk about influencers, we are actually talking about a very fluid category that changes every day. Last year’s influencers don’t have to be this year’s either. Last month's hit Instagram profiles may "shut down" this month.

Influensers are mostly on Instagram, less on YouTube, and almost never on Facebook. From a political marketing perspective, they reside on Twitter. The number of followers used to be the main indicator, ie. metrics whether someone is an influencer or not. However, there is now talk of micro-influencers - Instagram personalities who do not have a large number of followers, but who have "influences", a greater influence than large influencers, to whom followers have become even a little suspicious due to obvious cooperation with brands in most photos.

Often more important than the number of followers is the niche of the influencer. Whether an Instagramer falls into the Beauty, Fashion, Lifestyle, Food, Gaming, Fitness, Photo, Teen, Music or Business category has a big impact on the way brands perceive them. It is understood that influencers in one category have a significantly higher number of followers than influencers in another category. For example, Teen influencers generally have over 100,000 followers, while Food influencers can have 10,000 and still be relevant. Beaty and Fashion categories are "more massive" in our country than Gaming. Therefore, an influencer can be a person followed by 150,000 people, but also one followed by only 5,000, or in some niches only hundreds of them.

Serious influencers who become aware of the power and potential of their brand hire someone in the business to help them raise their brand to a higher level when it comes to monetization. They have teams of people made up of a social media team, photographers, video producers, lawyers, business coaches, PR managers, etc. Great examples are Chiara Ferragni, Kelsey Wells, Kayla Itsiness, Zuzka Light, Marie Forleo, Julie Solomon, Amy Portefield… I can tell you, from what I’ve read in many places, they make more than good money.

I eventually came to the story of an article that prompted me to research and write all of this. A group of British fashion influencers formed the first union, in response to various bad practices, such as discrimination at various levels and pay inequality. In addition to prices, the new union of influencers "The Creator Union" in the UK, will also regulate formal contracts, various security measures, fair publication of content, and reduce many other discriminatory practices. A similar step was taken by American colleagues who founded the “Influencer Council”, which is not really a union, but a non-profit trade organization started in June by Qianna Smith Bruneteau with 12 colleagues. Although some influencers have protection and a better developed business, unions should make sure that everyone has the same position and opportunities for protection in the market, in order to be paid fairly. By merging, influencers encourage transparency and the removal of exploitation practices of some brands, a pattern that is increasingly present.

The conclusion I came to after all this that I discovered is that I seem to be very old when I have not yet realized how serious influencers are.