#7 - SOCIAL MEDIA

 Social Media Influencers

    If you are on virtually any social media site, it is not at all uncommon to see people who are known as “social media influencers”. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, an influencer is someone who has “the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his or her audience” or has “a following in a distinct niche, with whom he or she actively engages.” As social media has quickly started occupying a large part of many people’s lives, it is not surprising that social media jobs have become increasingly popular. 

    While social media influencers do not necessarily need a degree or much experience to do what they do, this industry’s numbers have bursted forward in such a short amount of time and is continuing to grow every day. This influencer marketing has grown from being worth $1.7 billion in 2016 to an expected $13.8 billion in 2021. In fact, 59% of brands have a specific budget set aside dedicated solely to influencer marketing. Needless to say, social media influencers have made a name for themselves in the media industry.

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    While the money is certainly coming in for these influencers, many people continue to argue that this career is not actually a real job. There are some that believe simply posting an ad for a product in an Instagram picture or getting money from a vlog on YouTube does not constitute being a real career. Even if it might not look like the typical and traditional job or career, these influencers have taken advantage of the growing media industry and turned it into a popular job choice. 

    Just like most other occupations, there are a few sanctions of the influencer market that different people fall under. The first and largest type of influencer is called a mega influencer. Mega influencers are people who have 1 million+ followers on social media. Most of the time, these influencers are A-list celebrities or celebrities known for talents outside of social media (like musicians or actors). The Kardashians or Beyonce are examples of mega influencers. The next type of influencer is a macro influencers. These people have anywhere from 100,000 to 1 million followers on their accounts. Differing from mega influencers, these influencers gained fame mostly through internet-related activity. One of my favorite examples of this type of influencer is Alix Traeger.

    Another type of influencer is the micro influencer, who has between 1,000 to 100,000 followers. These influencers are generally more lowkey and are considered to be pretty knowledgeable in their own fields. One example of this is someone I personally know and a recent graduate of SAU, Katie Keith (formally Graham). She has her own photography business and has almost 2,000 followers on Instagram.


   Overall, the industry of social media influencers is growing rapidly and consistently to where it has become a common career for many people. Essentially anyone can become an influencer and some can even begin to earn big money by making it their full time job.  


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