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"Internet influencer" redirects here. For internet celebrity, see Internet celebrity.
For other uses, see Influencer (disambiguation).
In 2024, Rolling Stone listed MrBeast, the YouTuber with the most subscribers, as the third most influential content creator.[1][2] According to Insider, in 2021, 70% of survey respondents had a positive view of the influencer,[3] who strongly appeals to younger audiences.[4][5]

An influencer, also referred to as a social media influencer, is a term traditionally associated with someone who influences others using inspiration and guidance. The term has more recently been associated specifically with people who influence and guide the interest of others using social media.[6] The modern referent of the term is commonly a paid role in which a business entity pays for the social media influence-for-hire activity to promote its products and services.[7] Types of influencers include fashion influencer and virtual influencer. Some influencers are associated with specific social media apps such as TikTok influencers,[8] Instagram influencer,[9][10] or Pinterest influencer, and many are also considered internet celebrities.

As of 2023, Instagram is the social media platform on which businesses spend the most influencer marketing advertising dollars.[11] However, influencer can exert their influence on any type of social media network. Thus, Instagram's leadership in the influencer marketing space has been under assault by platforms such as LinkedIn, TikTok and Roblox.[12][13][14]

Definition

Influencers may be celebrities of any type with large social media followings, including people who are mainly internet celebrities. Following the National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2021, pre-college and college athletes became eligible for student athlete compensation for use of their personality rights as influencers without loss of athletic eligibility and education-related benefits, which broadened the influencer landscape to people who might not yet be celebrities.[15]

There is a lack of consensus about what an influencer is. One writer defines them as "a range of third parties who exercise influence over the organization and its potential customers."[16] Another defines an influencer as a "third party who significantly shapes the customer's purchasing decision but may never be accountable for it."[17] According to another, influencers are "well-connected, create an impact, have active minds, and are trendsetters".[18] And just because an individual has many followers does not necessarily mean they have much influence over those individuals, only that they have many followers.[19][20] A 1% increase in influencer marketing spending can lead to a 0.5% increase in audience engagement.[21]

Market-research techniques can be used to identify influencers, using predefined criteria to determine the extent and type of influence.[18] "Activists" get involved with organizations such as their communities, political movements, and charities. "Connected influencers" have large social networks. "Authoritative influencers" are trusted by others. "Active minds" have a diverse range of interests. "Trendsetters" are the early adopters (or leavers) of markets. According to Malcolm Gladwell, "The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts".[22] He has identified types of influencers who are responsible for the "generation, communication and adoption" of messages; connectors network with a variety of people, have a wide reach, and are essential to word-of-mouth communication;[23] mavens use information, share it with others, and are insightful about trends.[24][23]

History

Origins

The origins of online influencing can be traced back to the emergence of digital blogs and platforms in the early 2000s. Nevertheless recent studies demonstrate that Instagram, an application with more than one billion users, harbors the majority of the influencer demographic.[25] These individuals are sometimes referred to as "Instagrammers" or "Instafamous." A crucial aspect of influencing lies in their association with sponsors. The 2015 debut of Vamp, a company that links influencers with sponsorships, transformed the landscape of influencing.[26][27]

There is much debate about whether social media influencers can be considered celebrities, as their path to fame is often less traditional and arguably easier. Melody Nouri[28] addresses the differences between the two types in her article "The Power of Influence: Traditional Celebrities vs Social Media Influencer".[29] Nouri asserts that social media platforms have a greater negative impact on young, impressionable audiences compared to traditional media like magazines, billboards, advertisements, and tabloids featuring celebrities. Online it is thought to be simpler to manipulate an image and lifestyle in such a way that viewers are more susceptible to believing it.[28][29]

2000s

The early 2000s showed corporate endeavors to leverage the internet for influence, with some companies participating in forums for promotions or providing bloggers with complimentary products in return for favorable reviews. A few of these practices were viewed as unethical for taking advantage of the labor of young individuals without providing remuneration.[30] In 2024, The Blogstar Network was established by Ted Murphy of MindComet. Bloggers were encouraged to join an email list and receive remunerated offers from corporations in exchange for creating specific posts. For instance, bloggers were compensated for writing reviews of fast-food meals on their blogs. Blogstar is widely regarded as the first influencer marketing network.[30]

Murphy succeeded Blogstar with PayPerPost, which was introduced in 2006. This platform compensated significant posters on prominent forums and social media platforms for every post made about a corporate product. Payment rates were determined by the influencer's status.[30] Though very popular, PayPerPost, received a great deal of criticism as these influencers were not required to disclose their involvement with PayPerPost as traditional journalism would have.[31] With the success of PayPerPost, the public became aware that there was a drive for corporate interests to influence what some people were posting to these sites.[30] The platform also incentivized other firms to establish comparable programs.[32]

Despite concerns, marketing networks with influencers continued to grow throughout the 2000s and into the 2010s. The influencer marketing industry is expected to be worth up to $15 billion by 2022,[needs update] up from as much as $8 billion in 2019, according to estimates from Business Insider Intelligence, which are based on Mediakix data.[32] Evan Asano, the Former CEO and founder of the agency Mediakix, previously spoke with Business Insider and said he believed influencer marketing on Instagram would continue to grow despite likes being hidden.[33]

2010s

By the 2010s, the term "influencer" described digital content creators with a large following, distinctive brand persona, and a patterned relationship with commercial sponsors.[34] Consumers often mistakenly view celebrities as reliable, leading to trust and confidence in the products being promoted.[35]

A 2001 study from Rutgers University discovered that individuals were using "internet forums as influential sources of consumer information." The study proposes that consumers preferred internet forums and social media when making purchasing decisions over conventional advertising and print sources. An influencer's personality strongly impacts their audience's purchasing decision, with those who engage with their audience being more persuasive in encouraging product purchases. Companies today place great importance on feedback and comments received through social media platforms as consumers trust other consumers. Reviews are often relied on to persuade consumers to make a purchase, highlighting the impact of a negative review on a business's revenue.[36]

A typical method of marketing between the influencer and the audience is "B2C marketing". B2C marketing, meaning Business to Consumer marketing, entails the strategies which a business would undertake to promote themselves and their services directly to their target audiences. This is typically through advertising and creating content through the influencer themselves. The intention is that their followers, who relate or look up to certain influencers, will be more inclined to purchase an item because their favorite "Internet celebrity" recommended it.[37] Internet celebrities typically promote a lifestyle of beauty and luxury fashion and foster consumer–brand relationships, while selling their own lines of merchandise.[38]

"Digital Branding: A Comprehensive Step-by-Step Guide to Strategy, Tactics, Tools, and Metrics" by David Rowles explains the methods online influencers employ to increase their audience and brand visibility. Digital branding encompasses all online experiences and necessitates value provision."[39]

Self-branding

Self-branding, also known as personal branding, describes the development of a public image for commercial gain or social or cultural capital.[40] The rise of social media has been exploited by individuals seeking personal fame and product sales. Platforms such as Instagram, Twitch, Snapchat, VSCO, YouTube, and TikTok, are the most common social media outlets on which online influencers attempt to build a following. Fame can be attained through different avenues and media forms, including art, humor, modeling, and podcasts. Marketing experts have concluded that anyone can build websites easily without any technical knowledge or complex coding languages. They can upload text, pictures, and videos instantly from personal computers or phones. With technological barriers diminishing, the web has become the ideal platform for personal branding.[41]

Marketing

This section is an excerpt from Influencer marketing.[edit]
Chiara Ferragni is a fashion influencer and blogger known for her sponsored fashion posts.
Influencer marketing (also known as influence marketing) is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social influence in their field.[42] Influencers are someone (or something) with the power to affect the buying habits or quantifiable actions of others by uploading some form of original—often sponsored—content to social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok or other online channels.[43] Influencer marketing is when a brand enrolls influencers who have an established credibility and audience on social media platforms to discuss or mention the brand in a social media post.[44] Influencer content may be framed as testimonial advertising, according to the Federal Trade Commission in the United States.[45]

Categorization

Influencers are categorized by the number of followers they have on social media. They include celebrity endorsements from those with large followings, to niche content creators with a loyal following on social-media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.[46][47] Their followers range in number from hundreds of millions to 1,000.[48]

  • Nano-influencers – These are influencers that have a following ranging from 1k to 10k.
  • Micro-influencers – These are the influencers with followers in the range of 10K to 100k
  • Macro-influencers – These are the influencers with followers from the range of 100K to 500k
  • Mega/Celeb-influencers – These are the influencers with more than 500k followers[49][48][47][50][51][52]

Businesses pursue people who aim to lessen their consumption of advertisements, and are willing to pay their influencers more. Targeting influencers is seen as increasing marketing's reach, counteracting a growing tendency by prospective customers to ignore marketing.[18][53]

Marketing researchers Kapitan and Silvera find that influencer selection extends into product personality. This product and benefit matching is key. For a shampoo, it should use an influencer with good hair. Likewise, a flashy product may use bold colors to convey its brand. If an influencer is not flashy, they will clash with the brand. Matching an influencer with the product's purpose and mood is important.[54]

Monetization

Most influencers are paid before the start of a marketing campaign, and others are paid after it ends.[55] Consensus exists about how much an influencer should be paid. Compensation may vary by how many people an influencer can reach, the extent to which they will endorse the product (a deliverable), and the success of their past endorsements have performed.[56][57]

Top-tier influencers and celebrities may receive a six- or seven-figure fee for a single social-media post.[58] In addition to (or in lieu of) a fee, payment may include free products or services.[57][59] While top-tier influencers generate attention, only 4% of all influencers make more than $100,000 a year.[60] For influencers with smaller followings, free products or services may be the only form of compensation.[48] Advertisers are increasingly inclined to see influencers with a small but dedicated follower base as a more efficient use of marketing dollars.[60]

Forrester Research analyst Michael Speyer notes that for small and medium-sized businesses, "IT sales are influenced by several parties, including peers, consultants, bloggers, and technology resellers."[61] According to Speyer, "Vendors need to identify and characterize influencers inside their market. This requires a comprehensive influencer identification program and the establishment of criteria for ranking influencer impact on the decision process."[62]

Share of Marketing Spending by Follower Count[60]
Follower Count Percent of total US Marketing Spend in 2024
>100,000 30%
20,000-100,000 25%
< 20,000 45%

References

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