By Maggie Rohr

What is a social media influencer? According to The Influencing Market, a forum of social media marketing endorsements, “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. A following in a distinct niche, with whom he or she actively engages. The size of the following depends on the size of his/her topic of the niche.” Although the distinction between a social media influencer and a celebrity can be hazy, it is useful to remember that a social media influencer usually pairs with companies to increase their sales, or to share information. 

Reynolds Hester (‘22) defines an influencer as, “someone who has a large following, creates trends, and influences the way people go about their lives. For example music, clothes, food, and life hacks.” Influencers affect people’s lives in different ways. Hester, “is not super into the influencing industry, but will see something and be interested in objects or trends they are promoting.” Hester pays more attention to the music that influencers promote rather than trends, and gets many of her music recommendations from influencers, such as singer/songwriter Noah Kahan. Influencers tend to reach teenagers in many different ways based on a person’s likes or interests.  

Social media influencers serve a role in American society by increasing sales of products, persuading others based on their recommendation, and informing their followers of new products, developments, and breaking news. However, with 500,000 social media influencers on Instagram alone, how is it possible to stand out? 

Influencers focus the majority of their business on a single social media platform rather than being an influencer on each platform. The logic behind this method is to divert the majority of their attention to one platform in order to succeed, rather than being a smaller influencer on many platforms. Facebook, also known as Instagram for old people,  is the world’s largest social media site. Facebook influencers tend to reach a larger audience, which results in more successful marketing campaigns. Facebook has 2.7 billion users, whereas Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) has 1 billion users. Facebook is also seen as the more commonly preferred social media platform for influencers. The use of the “Like” and “Share” features on Facebook allows posts to reach larger groups of people. Twitter, with 330 million users, is less popular than Facebook. Based on a study conducted by Twitter, 49% of Twitter users “actively relied on influencers for product recommendations.” It was also found that “40% of people followed brands directly after seeing an influencer’s post.”  

With Instagram use growing among the younger population, many influencers have focused their attention on this social media platform in hopes to reach younger generations. Currently, the “influencer marketing industry on Instagram is now worth more than 1 billion dollars.” Users on Instagram react more positively to influencer marketing, which encourages influencers to switch their platform to Instagram. 

As a whole, teenagers are on their phones more than adults. One report from Common Sense Media found that teenagers spend on average 7 hours and 22 minutes on their smartphone a day, whereas adults spend an average of 3 hours and 15 minutes per day on their smartphone. Younger generations tend to be more tech-savvy than adults, and they are often more familiar with famous people on social media, depending on their area or expertise. 

Image of Charli D’Amelio during a Youtube interview. Photo credit: Priyanka Pruthi.

Charli D’Amelio, currently the most popular Tik Tok star with around 87 million followers on the video app, is a new American influencer that many people are infatuated with. At the age of 16, she is already the most followed personality on Tik Tok, and it all began with her posting dance videos in 2019. Although D’Amelio’s fame is mostly centralized on Tik Tok, she also has 21 million followers on Instagram, 5 million subscribers on Youtube, and 2 million followers on Twitter. From the beginning, D’Amelio has been vocal on social media about body shaming and bullying and has more recently paired with UNICEF to make videos about bullying on social media to help prevent it in the future. 

D’Amelio has also paired with Orosa Beauty and Dunkin’ Donuts in sponsorship deals. D’Amelio’s’ partnership with Orosa Beauty to create vibrant nail polish colors caused the new start-up brand to do a full pivot to focus on Gen Z sales. On August 4, Orosa Beauty launched “The Coastal Craze collection… made up of eight bright nail-polish colors featuring Charli’s name on the bottles, as well as sticker sets and three limited-edition boxed sets.” Already, the #orosaxcoastalcraze has 171.3 million shares, resulting in dramatically increase sales for the company. 

D’Amelio has always had an obsession with Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and is constantly posting images or videos of herself with her coffee. On September 2, Dunkin’ Doughnuts unveiled its collaboration with D’Amelio to launch a signature drink on their menu called, “The Charli.” The Charli is a cold brew with whole milk and three pumps of caramel swirl. Within the first five days of its launch, Dunkin’ sold hundreds of thousands of these drinks. Not only did this collaboration increase sales of The Charli; it also increased Dunkin app downloads by 57% and helped an 45% increase of sales for cold brew coffees. These partnerships between D’Amelio and various businesses show how some people look up to influencers as role models, and consumers can be persuaded by popular influencers’ likes and interests. 

Travis Scott performing at concert. Photo credit: Brandon Dull.

Travis Scott, an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer, is an influencer in many aspects of American pop culture. With 34.3 million Instagram followers, Scott documents the majority of his life on social media. Scott’s followers are constantly tracking what brands he is using or wearing in posts, with every outfit being analyzed. Scott, a middle-class kid from Missouri City, Texas, is now one of the most famous rappers in the world. Along with millions of supporters, he also has what might be considered “haters.” In the past, Scott has been criticized for being “too turnt up,” inciting riots, and getting too carried away when performing. Examples of Scott getting too carried away include asking fans to jump off balconies and playing his famous song “Goosebumps” 15 times in a row during a concert.  

Despite the hate, Scott is very musically talented and prolific, having released “three studio albums, 42 music singles, three mixtapes, two collaborative albums, seven promotional singles, and four extended plays” since 2013. As an influencer, Scott is a hot commodity, and every company seems to want to pair with him. Scott has made deals with companies such as Nike, Reese’s Puffs, and, more recently, McDonald’s. Scott’s partnership with Nike began in 2017, and the company has released numerous Nike styles with his name attached, such as Air Force 1’s, The Jordan 6, and the Dunk. Scott partnered with Nike again in 2019 to make a limited edition baseball cap for his hometown team the Houston Astros. Scott’s partnership with Nike helped increase sales by 40%, which made other companies want to pair with him more. 

Another successful partnership was between Scott and Reese’s Puffs cereal, which is made by General Mills. In 2019, Scott designed his own Reese’s Puffs box, which features him holding a “spoon branded with his Cactus Jack label.” These specialty boxes sold online for $50 dollars each and sold out in nearly 30 seconds. Along with the cereal boxes, Scott also designed a cereal bowl called, “Don’t cry over spilt milk” and a matching spoon called “Enjoy Today,” both of which also sold out quickly. 

More recently, Scott paired with McDonald’s to release the famous “Cactus Jack” on September 22. The Cactus Jack was a $6 dollar meal, and the burger features, “a quarter pounder with cheese, bacon, and lettuce, a medium order of fries with BBQ sauce and a Sprite.” Scott’s burger became popular so quickly that, according to USA Today, “Some restaurants are running short on key ingredients including Quarter Pounder beef, bacon, slivered onions, and shredded lettuce.” McDonald’s sales increased 20% after the burger was released. So much positive feedback came from the creation of the Cactus Jack that Scott decided to release McDonald’s-themed merchandise, which includes everything from a pair of $300 dollar jeans to a $90 dollar chicken nugget pillow. Although this pricing may seem ridiculous, it shows the impact Scott has on his followers and just how much money they would spend on his products. All of these partnerships show the importance of influencers and just how much they can impact sales and persuade their followers to try or use an item. 

Charli D’Amelio and Travis Scott are examples of mega-influencers. Mega-influencers have over 1,000,000 followers on multiple social media platforms and they are “celebrities, whether that’s in the traditional sense of actors, singers, and TV stars, or internet personalities that have risen to prominence in recent years.” Other examples include the Kardashians, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, and Nicki Minaj. Kim Kardashian first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton in the early 2000s, and she has since built a career in television and fashion to become a mega-influencer, with 189.42 million followers, and the first big influencer to start marketing on Instagram. Mega-influencers have helped grow and create the influencer industry. Not all influencers, however, have the luxury of reaching millions of followers.

Micro-influencers are individuals that have between 3,000 to 100,000 followers/audience members and are considered experts in their creative niche. Examples of micro-influencers would be food bloggers, travelers, fashion experts, or fitness gurus. 

Megan Saustad, a micro-influencer based in Dallas, Texas, shared her experiences of being a micro-influencer. Saustad was an agency leader and wardrobe consultant for over 17 years for high-end fashion brand W by Worth, a direct sales company based out of New York City (which has since closed). Saustad considers herself a fashion influencer. She has been in the fashion industry for 18 years and has always loved sharing style tips and trends. Saustad made the transition from selling clothes for a direct sales private company into the fashion influencing niche, and being able to do it on a broader scale through social media is what appealed to her. With 15.7% of Instagram users being micro-influencers, becoming popular is a challenge many influencers face. 

Saustad began her business by hiring a website designer and photographing looks and writing posts. Throughout her time as an influencer, Saustad has enjoyed being in the influencer industry and likes, “owning my own business, working on my own time, and setting my own schedule.  I love being able to be authentic and representing different brands through collaborations.  Building and connecting with other influencers and my audience on social media platforms is also very rewarding. Another plus… developing relationships with brands that I have followed and respected and creating content for these brands is a dream come true!” 

Micro-influencers can be more personal than macro-influencers. They are able to connect directly with their followers and value each of their followers. A macro- or mega- influencer may experience disconnect between themselves and their followers due to the sheer numbers of followers, but micro-influencers value each bit of support they receive and take all feedback personally. 

Although it may look to the public that being an influencer is easy work, it is not at all. According to Saustad, “It is hard work! I am constantly pitching myself to brands, and producing content not only takes a lot of time, it is expensive. There are prop fees, photographer fees, etc.” Saustad is lucky she is at the point in her career where she rarely purchases products for her posts. Rather, they are given to her by companies to advertise. Engaging on social media also takes an exorbitant amount of time. It is a very competitive environment, and remaining authentic is key. According to Jillian Warren, Author at Later Blog, Instagram is “changing all of the time, based on the huge amount of data it gains every minute of every day.” Influencers have to constantly stay up-to-date on how platforms are changing and how those changes may affect their business. Not only does the app matter, but one’s number of followers is one of an influencer’s sizable concerns. Saustad consistently examines her numbers, not only in terms of followers but engagement and viewers, and the daily pivoting can be stressful. It is a constant lesson on what to post, how to post, and when to post. Influencer success is often measured by tracking the number of followers an influencer has. 

Although success is measured differently by each influencer, every influencer has long-term goals. Saustad’s goals are, “to grow blog subscribers and Instagram followers and work on more and higher-paid collaborations. Most collaboration rates are based on subscriber/follower count, so continuing to build my following is important.” Saustad shared with me that she is not looking to become a mega-influencer. Rather, she just, “wants to have fun, provide honest reviews and feedback on products to my audience, and, of course, get paid for my efforts. Wearing beautiful clothes and dabbling with the latest skincare and make-up is the icing on the cake!”     

Flat Tummy Lollipops created by flattummyco.com. Photo credit: Kiliweb.

Influencers can have many positive impacts on their followers. However, influencers can also spread harmful, false, or dangerous information. The truth about influencers, and perhaps about most social media, is that they only show the sides of them that they want the world to see. For example, “they want you to see how beautiful they look after a breakup, how amazing their recent vacations were, and to show off their clothes that you just can’t afford.” The current Gen Z generation has become image-obsessed.

Last year, Kardashian paired with Flat Tummy Co. to create a post of her sucking on a lollipop with the caption, “You guys… @flattummyco just dropped a new product. They’re appetite suppressant lollipops and they’re literally unreal.” This promotion from Kardashian was seen as irresponsible, and it spread false information about the effect of these lollipops. Other types of false information have been spread through influencers are ideas such as apple tea cures for COVID, vaccines causing autism, and getting people to spend money on fake events. Billy McFarland is currently serving six years in prison because he, co-founded the ill-fated Fyre Festival. He defrauded investors of $27.4 million by marketing and selling tickets to the festival and other events. The Fyre Festival, which ended up being an enormous failure, was falsely promoted on social media due to the large attention that was brought to it by mega influencers. 

When following an influencer, heed this advice from Influencer Marketing Hub: “Challenge the information you look at, make your own decisions about someone or something, and… stop following the influencers that only care about their paycheck, the ones that don’t appreciate those who’ve they inspired.”

Featured image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Ibrahim.ID.