Influencer
[10][11] 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, known as influencer marketing.
As of 2023[update], Instagram is the social media platform on which businesses spend the most advertising dollars towards marketing with influencers.
Thus, Instagram's leadership in the influencer marketing space has been under assault by platforms such as LinkedIn, TikTok, Snapchat and Roblox.
[36][37] 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.
[38][39] 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.
Bloggers were encouraged to join an email list and receive remunerated offers from corporations in exchange for creating specific posts.
The influencer marketing industry was worth as much as $8 billion in 2019, according to estimates from Business Insider Intelligence, which are based on Mediakix data.
[42] 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.
[43] By the 2010s, the term "influencer" described digital content creators with a large following, distinctive brand persona, and a patterned relationship with commercial sponsors.
The study proposes that consumers preferred internet forums and social media when making purchasing decisions over conventional advertising and print sources.
[52] Social media influencers typically promote a lifestyle of beauty and luxury fashion and foster consumer–brand relationships, while selling their own lines of merchandise.
"[54] Self-branding, also known as personal branding, describes the development of a public image for commercial gain or social or cultural capital.
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.
[57] Subsequently, it became common for amateur athletes to use the name, image and likeness of their personal brand as influencers for hire outside of the field of play.
[66] By doing this, and by using their platform to promote their products to an established audience, influencers can earn money by developing their own reputable brands.
[68] In 2020, a report by venture-capital firm SignalFire stated that the economy spawned by internet creators was the "fastest-growing type of small business".
This became a prevalent concern when users on social media platforms were finding it difficult to distinguish any differences between advertisements and sponsorships with personal posts.
[77] This led to a massive backlash from the public, who felt the promotion of the event deliberately misled and confused target audiences.
[78] In August 2024, the Federal Trade Commission voted unanimously to ban marketers from using fake user reviews created by generative artificial intelligence chatbots (such as ChatGPT) and influencers paying for bots to increase follower counts.
[86] Advertisers are increasingly inclined to see influencers with a small but dedicated follower base as a more efficient use of marketing dollars.
[85] 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.
