What is influencer marketing?
Before we talk about the risks involved in this highly flourishing market, we should know what influencer marketing is. With the changing scenarios and uplifting perspectives around us, being an influencer is considered to be a very uplifting job in today’s world. There are a huge number
of people trying to convert their maintenance of social media from a hobby to a career. Though some people consider it to be a silly excuse to get rid of a 9-5 job if done the right way there stands a bigger picture for every Influencer. Today, there’s a huge number of influencers who are making a statement on the internet, either through their beauty sensations or clothing brands or their own startup. The truth behind being an impactful influencer goes far beyond just dressing trends and taking pictures, it requires constant creativity and definition. Being an Influencer is not a 9 to 5 job, it’s 24*7 working hours of extremely hard work, and if aren’t ready for it, it is not really for you.
How many followers make up an Influencer?
There is a constant debate on who to be considered an ‘influencer’ and who to be not. This question rings on every aspiring influencer’s mind as they try to involve. A standard number of followers aid the aspirants to set a certain goal that they want to achieve to get more engagement and also to get in touch with more brands. This is not probably the best metric to
measure the capabilities of an Influencer, but in all honesty, this is a baseline to start from. To be an influencer, the basic followers should be between a few hundred and 20,000. Influencers with a good following can drive huge traffic both towards the content and the brand they are
working with.
Be ready for change
If you’re considering to be an Influencer, you should ensure you are not skeptical about changes. It is important that you do not settle down for a single trend only; to evolve is to grow. In the Influencer market, it is mostly based on Instagram but maybe in the light of changing times it could be a different application and it’s important to be ready for it. To be an influencer means to be an efficient multitasker. An Influencer works day and night on a variety of topics and most of it has to be prepared beforehand. It’s not an easy task. The thing that people mistake influencers for ‘just a pretty face’ goes far and wide beyond that. Just like a theatre, a lot of ideas and concepts go beyond the curtains and that never make it to the gram, because that’s how influencer marketing works. Being an Influencer could be really stressful as the judges of the content are the viewers. To be verified by them is the real task. It requires a tough skin to face their criticisms and a lot of confidence to move forward with it. If your audience does not like something, it could dismantle your career then and there.
The dangers of Influencer marketing
With the growing rate of usage of social media, comes to a number of people with the accessibility to achieve fame. Thus, Instagram is slowly becoming an overexposing place for content. With the changing Instagram algorithms and oversaturated feeds, it becomes hard for the audience to keep with all the content of their favorite influencer. This influencer market is a very vulnerable place as each content of the same person, may not generate the same engagement. It becomes easy to lose sight of your favorite influencer. Especially when it comes to sponsored content, it leaves the audience in disarray as the influencers themselves may not even like the brand they are working it. Statistics say that the engagement rate for sponsored content dropped down to 2.4% in 2019 from the previous percentage of 4% in the last three years.
Sometimes authenticity too acts as a big barrier to the Instagram engagement. Thus, with more paid partnerships, the audiences can be misled into thinking that the influencer is losing his/her individuality. It is important that brands give influencers the autonomy of their delivery of messages about a product or a service as an Influencer knows his/her audience the best. However, with the fast-growing follower farms, it gets hard for the audience to perceive what as authentic and genuine. It is equally important for the social media marketing specialists to keep
in track of the Influencers who tend to buy followers to gain recognition. Buying fake followers can never be the ultimatum for a long-sighted influencer marketer. For someone who creates and believes in his/ her content, it is more likely to suffice, attract the right audience, and gain
more engagement with time and an equal amount of patience.
