Estimated reading time: 5 mins
Any person with a smartphone, access to the internet, and an Instagram handle may now become an influencer. A blue tick isn’t even required. But, in the event that they do, the app has just made it possible for everyone. I think it’s fair to assume that being an influencer is no longer a child’s play, given that the influencer ‘game’ was a $1.6 billion industry in 2018 alone, and that figure is expected to rise to $2.38 billion in 2019.
Influencer marketing has exploded in popularity in the last year. Businesses are turning to social media influencers to help advertise their services and activities online, extending their reach tenfold, regardless of brand or industry. In this blog, we are going to discuss all about Instagram Influencing as a career option for you.
Who Are Instagram Influencers?
Influencers exist in a variety of sizes and shapes. Finally, someone who connects to your target demographic is the best person to market your brand. A lot of these “non-celebrity” influencers are Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram celebrities.
These are sometimes celebrities, but quite often, these are people who have built a social following through their own original material on social media sites. In fact, customers are 30% more inclined to buy anything recommended by a non-celebrity influencer than products advocated by celebrities (3 percent). If you want to be an influencer but don’t have that many followers then you can visit megaFamous for organic likes, views, and followers. Yay for that!
Why Are Instagram Influencers So Popular?
Are you pondering over the fact why Instagram influencers are a rage these days? Below are a few of the main reasons for this hype and craze around the influencers.
- Influencer marketing, like most effective marketing, works because people “opt in” rather than being bombarded with stuff they didn’t ask for. They may not be consenting to your marketing, but they are opting in to get content from the social media profiles they follow. Not to mention the fact that people follow influencers on social media because they like them and believe in the information they supply.
- Customers are flocking to social media platforms to check what their favorite accounts have to say. Furthermore, having an influencer promote your product on their account does more than just expand your reach. Rather, it establishes a more natural link between your brand and the influencer. Indeed, the most effective influencer marketing postings are ones that don’t appear to be advertisements at all. These postings, on the other hand, mix in with the Instagram influencers’ brand and don’t appear to be out of the ordinary.
- The larger picture reveals that digital media is gaining traction. Neither is to say traditional advertising is fading (Spoiler: It’s not). Moving brands online, optimizing websites, and engaging consumers on social media channels have become a must. You’re already behind if you haven’t started. Finally, when it comes to putting together an Instagram influencer strategy, think like a savvy marketer, consider the end-user, and be true to your brand.
Influencing As a Career: How Feasible Is It?
- Unsafe Career Option Labeling
To claim that influencers have a credibility problem seems contradictory. They are professionals at refining their own brand by meticulously regulating their content flow. Despite this, they appear to have developed a bad reputation.
Although influencer marketing has become increasingly popular, influencers have not received the same amount of recognition. Instead, a regular stream of clickbait pieces suggests that influencers are work-shy amateurs who are entitled to freebies. It’s little surprise, however, that a poll indicated that ‘influencers’ and ‘YouTubers’ were among the top career prospects for children in the UK, prompting outraged headlines.
- One-person Companies
Social media is a fiercely competitive environment. An influencer must have excellent content creation talents, whether in photography, videography, style, or illustration, in order to be in a position where brands will pay them for collaborations. They’ll have amassed an audience as well, methodically creating a connection over time, bringing value to their followers’ lives, and meticulously responding to their comments and direct messages. It will have taken time, devotion, expertise, and, in some cases, a significant amount of equipment.
It doesn’t get any simpler once those brand collaborations arrive. An influencer will don a variety of hats. Negotiating, tracking trends, developing personalized content, understanding analytics, and continually redefining themselves to distinguish out in a constantly crowded market are all part of the job description. If they take their foot off the gas, there will be a line of creators waiting to take their place.
- A Profitable Profession
Even if the social account started as a hobby, an influencer will eventually realize the value of their platform and seek paid work. Alternatively, a brand may outsmart them and contact them personally. It’s no surprise that influencer-created material performs better than sponsored assets.
This effort frequently takes the shape of sponsored pieces, which is where much of the skepticism stems. Their blatant desire to make money or be compensated for the work they do! Brand collaborations enable many people who wish to make the transition from part-time hobbyist to full-time creative the financial freedom to do so.
It isn’t always simple, and influencers, even within the industry, must fight for their worth. Some platforms have tried to take advantage of them by asking hundreds of people to buy a product and produce content for free, only then paying a select few in the end. Alternatively, instead of compensating an influencer for the time spent creating content, marketers will give a product.
The idea that content creation is a hobby rather than a vocation must be addressed if artists are to be treated fairly.
- Keeping Up With the Digital Age
The desire for social creators isn’t going away anytime soon, with 59 percent of marketers planning to boost their influencer advertising budget in the coming year. Businesses that do not keep up with the digital landscape risk losing their marketing resources, losing clients, and diminishing their market share in an increasingly digital world. Similarly, in today’s digital world, our professional choices will change, and we must modify our perceptions accordingly.
Conclusion
That ‘anyone’ is now referred to as an influencer. Because of the internet, our world has shrunk. Through influencers, we’ve gotten more connected – even to the most inaccessible, unavailable, and unaffordable experiences. In some ways, it appears to be the need of the hour, since people are more willing to accept genuine inspirational leaders from within society.
Regardless, it appears that your Instagram feed Influencer is here to stick around for a long time.
This was such an insightful read! The mention of building a personal brand alongside an influencer career is intriguing. Could you share more examples or case studies of influencers who successfully built a strong personal brand?
Thanks Suresh. One influencer that jumps out for me is Gary Vaynerchuk. And then there is Simon Sinek. Both inspirational, with real power to draw an audience.