Why are Influencers Popular? Should You Become One Too?

Remember the days when social media was a fun tool to connect with friends and relatives? Yes, those were very long ago. Now, every time you log into your social media, you find your feed is inundated with influencers promoting various brands, offering knowledge on different topics, and posting reels that get thousands (if not millions) of views and likes. So why are influencers popular? Let’s dig deeper into this phenomenon so that you can decide if you want to build a career in influencer marketing.

Types of Influencers

Let’s look at the different types of influencers on social media based on their niche and following.

Types of Influencers Based on Followers

• Nano Influencers: They typically have around 1,000-10,000 followers on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, or LinkedIn. They promote small brands on social media and do not charge a lot of money for their posts; they, in fact, accept free products or services as a fee. Moreover, a majority of popular social media influencers—except for celebrity influencers—start their careers as nano influencers
• Micro Influencers: These have between 10,000-100,000 followers. However, they have a high engagement rate because they focus on niche content and are able to build a close connection with a small audience.

Many nano and micro influencers post informative content to spread brand awareness or educate their followers without collaborating with brands. Such influencers are called organic influencers.

• Macro Influencers: These influencers have between 100,000 to one million followers. Macro influencers are mostly rising stars like budding actors or singers who gain public attention and interest. Additionally, they have relatively high pricing in comparison to micro influencers.
• Mega Influencers: These influencers have over a million followers on social media. They are mostly famous celebrities who take on luxury brand campaigns. Furthermore, mega influencers do not have a niche audience and are best for brands who want to reach a wide audience and have a high marketing budget.

Types of Influencers Based on Category

• Finance Influencers
• Lifestyle Influencers
• Sports Influencers
• Travel Influencers
• Food Influencers
• Celebrity Influencers
• Beauty and Skincare Influencers
• Real Estate Influencers
• Photography Influencers
• Music Influencers
• Fitness Influencers
• Tech Influencers
• Business Influencers
• Comedy

Famous Influencers Examples

Carla Jian (@CarlaJian): Carla Jian is a nano influencer with 8,532 followers on Instagram. She is a yoga instructor and a health coach and posts wellness content.
Chelsea Martin (@passporttofriday): Chelsea Martin is a micro influencer with 27.4k followers on Instagram. She owns a travel agency and posts luxury travel content on Instagram.
Neil Patel (@neilpatel): Neil Patel is a famous social media and digital marketing macro influencer who helps individuals and businesses grow with the right marketing skills. He has 368k followers on Instagram.
Huda Kattan (@hudabeauty): Huda Kattan is the founder of Huda Beauty and a popular mega-influencer with almost 52 million followers on Instagram.

Importance of Having Influencers

Influencers promote products and services of different brands on social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, helping increase brand awareness among masses. Their positive reviews also influence consumers to purchase products of particular brands. Simply put, influencers help brands increase their customer base and generate more revenue. Influencer marketing also reduces traditional advertising costs for companies.

How Influencers are Impacting Consumer Behaviors

A study on consumer behavior suggests that influencers have a significant impact on consumers’ purchase choices, and this often results in impulse buying. This happens primarily because consumers trust influencers’ choices. Consumers are more likely to purchase a product when they see it being promoted on social media by multiple influencers.

Reasons Why Influencers are Popular

There’s no one particular reason to explain the popularity of influencers. It boils down to their content, creativity, and effective marketing skills. The following are some of the factors that help influencers become popular:

1. Original Content

Authentic content is the most crucial factor in influencer marketing, given the high numbers of  influencers in the fray. The most popular influencers on Instagram post original and authentic content and build a massive and loyal following by offering knowledge or tips related to a particular niche.

2. Interaction with Followers

Posting creative content on social media alone does not help influencers become popular. People are more likely to follow and engage with influencers who are relatable and with whom they can engage. Most popular influencers on social media interact with their followers through comments, live sessions, giveaways, and reposting their followers’ stories.

3. Collaborations with Brands and Celebrities

Another factor that explains why are influencers popular is their collaboration with brands and celebrities. Influencers often get a chance to feature in popular brands’ advertisements alongside famous celebrities, or attend networking events where they get a chance to connect with celebrities. All this leads to influencers being noticed by more people.

4. Loyal Following

A massive number of loyal followers is one of the main reasons why influencers are popular. They make fan pages of their favorite YouTube or Instagram influencers, and post edits or reels showing appreciation.

5. Skilled PR Team

Witty and creative PR teams and social media managers are a must for every influencer. They help increase an influencer’s popularity through effective social media marketing strategies and campaigns. Social media managers also analyze latest social media trends and influencers’ engagement on social media to plan strategies accordingly.

Earning Potential and Career Outlook of being an Influencer

A key aspect about being a social media influencer is that you can connect with people and get a large number of followers—even from different countries. Once you have a massive following, the earning potential and growth opportunities are enormous. Many macro influencers even start their own fashion line, health and nutrition brands, Linkedin growth agencies, and become a career, business, or social media coach depending upon their niche. They charge a huge fee to promote a brand on their account. According to Indeed, macro influencers earn $52,035 per year, mega influencers charge over $1 million for a single post on Instagram while nano influencers can earn up to $600 for each sponsored post on social media.

Is Becoming an Influencer a Good Career?

Influencer marketing was once considered a side hustle for people looking to generate a passive income. However, the rapid digitization and increasing popularity of social media platforms have made influencer marketing one of the most sought-after careers in today’s world. Influencers earn through brand deals, affiliate marketing, and reel monetization.

The global influencer marketing industry in 2022 was worth $16.4 billion. It grew 18.8% from 2021, answering the question, ‘why are influencers popular’.

So if you have expert knowledge in a particular domain, have the knack for storytelling, and love  to create content and engage with people on social media, you can pursue a career in influencer marketing. This requires you to have brilliant digital marketing skills, and Emeritus’ online digital marketing courses can help you build a successful career as an influencer.

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