Influencers: What Are They and What Do They Do?

Ask a hardened and knowledgeable social networking guru to define the term “social media influencers” and initially, you’ll get the exact same response from them as you would from the most casual of social media goers.

Their faces will screw up a little – there will be a pause – followed by an “umm” and a well-timed “err” before they deliver a convoluted description of a term so prevalent, so important, that it has come to define an entire era of social media and for some, gifted full-time careers.

At this point, most people are – at the very least – aware of the word “influencer”. It is a term born of the current social media climate, that ten years ago, had little or no meaning at all. But in that decade, it has evolved from something that could be used to describe celebrities and just a few high-profile bloggers, to a sought-after title held by a saturated and competitive sub-world of online VIPs that have forged an entire marketing arena now worth upwards of 9.7 billion dollars.

But what exactly is a social media influencer? What do they do? How many different types are there?

All are very good questions – but let’s start by tackling that all-important first one.

What are social media influencers?

Perhaps nothing demonstrates the rise and relevance of this term than the fact that, since 2019, “influencer” has been a proud inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary. Detailed as “a person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media”, it is a word used to describe more than 500,000 people on Instagram alone.

Working on the basis of trust – like a Gen Z TripAdvisor – they are people who, thanks to regular posts on a specific matter (like cosmetics, for example), have generated a reputation on a specific platform (often Instagram) for their expertise on that topic. They then generate a large following of like-minded individuals who trust and stay engaged with their opinions.

Brands pay influencers to promote and feature their products in their posts and stories, thus benefiting from the faith that their audience have in whatever it is that they endorse.

It is easy, therefore, to see why a survey from Mediakix found that not only do 80% of marketers find using influencers to be effective, but 65% also planned to increase the proportion of their budget spent on influencer marketing.

What qualifies someone as an influencer?

There isn’t exactly a specific benchmark that qualifies (or rather, quantifies) someone as an influencer. At no point, after gaining a certain amount of followers, do you see an all-white owl drop a rubber-stamped, magical envelope through your letterbox that contains reams and reams of discount codes and an invitation to bear Instagram’s verified medal of honour, the blue tick.

Micro-influencers

Some influencers are just ordinary people who have gained recognition for their specialist knowledge on their chosen subject. Known as micro-influencers, they are becoming increasingly commonplace on social networks. On a single platform they can have anywhere between 1,000 and 40,000 followers. Any less and they fall into the recently-coined nano-influencer bracket where they often have close relationships with those that support them.

It is for that reason very reason therefore, that they tend to be very careful with who and what they associate themselves with. If they truly believe that the product is right for them and their audience, then because of the niche groups and boards that micro-influencers tend to have established trust within, securing an endorsement can be hugely successful for a brand or business. 

Marco-influencers

In the bracket above, there are the macro-influencers. With anywhere between 50,000 and 1M followers, they tend to be either B-list celebrities or experts in their respective fields. Whilst operating within this band comes with an enhanced risk of influencer fraud, it does often involve those who have a history of working with brands and can, therefore, provide excellent results.

Mega-influencers

Finally, there are the mega-influencers. As the name depicts, they are the biggest players in the social media game. Having typically earned their fame offline as life’s VIPs – athletes, movie stars or musicians, for example – they boast over one million followers. They can demand a similar number when it comes to the fees involved for them to endorse a brand in any one of their posts.

As a result, only major brands are able to afford to work with a mega-influencer (or their agents, more accurately). They are similar to nano and macro-influencers in that they are very particular with who they work with. The former, however, will do so for the benefit of their audience. Social media’s elite will do so to uphold their image.

The visual nature of the promotions means that influencers can feature prominently on many platforms. TikTok is beginning to house its fair share, a platform whose meteoric rise we’ve covered previously. 

Social media influencers are growing in prominence and continue to embed themselves further into the digital marketing landscape.

For more information on social media influencers and influencer marketing email info@uni4mbrand.com or WhatsApp us on +447555892554.