The World of Internet Influencers: Leveraging Online Personalities for Branding

The World of Internet Influencers: Leveraging Online Personalities for Branding

The internet and social media have paved the way for various industries. Some have been changed, and others created from scratch. This is thanks in part to their reach and the immense potential that the internet is capable of. With the advent of social media, we saw the rapid rise of internet influencers.

These social media personalities were using the platform to gather a following interested in a certain niche. Owing to the mammoth reach that social media has, it didn’t take long before these influencers started to gather a large following hence the term ‘influencer.’ Using only the internet, people can create content and garner large audiences globally. Mediacom internet has proven to be the right fit for anyone wanting to get started or improve in this space. If you want to learn more, head on over to their website to find the right fit for you!

As social media began dominating the world around us, internet influencers started becoming more powerful. For a business or brand, they no longer needed to find an audience to market a product to. All they needed to do was find the right influencer with a big enough following and have them market the product or service. This model has proven to be immensely popular in recent times and is the premise of this article which will talk about the rise of this trend, how these influencers are paid, and how brands can leverage them.

The Rise Of Internet Influencers

An internet influencer or social media influencer is someone who uses the internet to garner an audience. They will either address the masses or a niche audience regarding a particular topic or area of expertise e.g. makeup YouTube channels. In order to grow these audiences, the influencer starts by picking a platform from Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, or TikTok.

Next, they can either continuously upload content to their platforms that grow an audience over time or they can make a series of ‘viral’ posts that give them quick fame. Once they have their audience, they are then able to leverage it in the world of marketing and advertising. There is a lot more that goes into this but that is a story for another day.

We first saw the rise of internet influencers when social media became more popular. It went from a simple pastime to an integral part of our social fabric. Social media allowed us to remain connected, informed, and opened the doors for business and learning. When the concept of personal branding began to gain traction, it was perfectly complemented by the rise of social media. What better way to build a brand than to use social media?

Social media influencers can create a connection with their audience. The reason they are called ‘influencers’ is because they wield certain influence over the people that watch them. For example, a makeup artist on social media with a large following has significant sway over the people that watch her. If they recommend a certain piece of makeup for a certain skin tone, it will be received and their influence will do the job. This has been particularly helpful in growing the world of marketing and advertising. By seeing how much influence these social media influencers have, brands now use them to market their offerings directly to a relevant audience.

How Internet Influencers Make Money

Internet influencers invest a lot of time, effort, and money into creating their audience. Unless you are lucky enough to get a viral video, it can take months or even years to get a sizable audience. Naturally, these influencers understand what it takes to get to where they are.

Sponsorships and Brand Deals

When brands approach them to market their products, they charge them fees depending on the type of content the brands want. Each type of content requires different efforts and so influencers charge accordingly.

The most common method for social media influencers to make money is through sponsored content or brand deals. Brands will directly pay the influencer for their time and space on their platform. This can be a singular sponsored post or a brand deal where that influencer enters a contract to regularly market a product or service.

One common example of this is Dbrand. This company sells vinyl wraps for mobile phones, tablets, computers, and other wireless devices. You will often see Dbrand-sponsored content when watching YouTube videos about phones, computers, and gaming consoles.

Affiliate Marketing

With affiliate marketing, brands will generate a link that an influencer will share with their audience. Every time someone uses that link to make a purchase, the influencer gets a pre-agreed percentage of that sale. Affiliate marketing is incredibly successful but often flies under the radar mostly because we don’t know it’s happening. When watching a YouTube video, have you ever noticed when the YouTuber says to follow the link in the description to purchase a product? That is an affiliate link. When someone buys something from those links, the influencer receives a payment from the brand.

Product Sales And Merchandising

If an influencer builds a big enough audience, they can begin to sell merchandise and different products directly. Fans or followers of said influencer may want to rep their favorite content creator and buy a keychain, mug, t-shirt, backpack, or something else being sold. Many social media influencers use print-on-demand for this which is a lot more convenient than manually dealing with all the logistics of such an operation.

Advertising Revenue

A large chunk of an influencer’s revenue comes from advertising on their channels. Social media channels make a majority of their revenue from advertisers. These brands pay social networks to run ads on their platforms. When an influencer runs an ad on their content, they get paid for using their space to run those ads. This can vary depending on the platform, content, niche, reach, and location.

How Brands Can Leverage Internet Influencers

Social networks such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram have the largest number of influencers out there. These platforms are ideal for content generation owing to the way they work. The influencers that call these platforms their home are now considered assets to various brands. A brand will see an influencer’s audience as the target audience that needs to be marketed to. For example, a TikTok channel about cooking with millions of followers is the perfect place for brands in the same industry. You might see them using certain stove tops, cutlery, ingredients to cook, and so on. When working with an influencer, brands do not need to find the people they want because the right influencer already does that for them.

This begs the question, how do brands leverage internet influencers? There are a variety of ways that this happens. It includes partnering with the influencer to create sponsored content. This content will contain the brand in an obvious role and leverage the audience to create trust in the brand. Next, brands can use certain influencers’ content in their marketing efforts. User-generated content is more relatable for audiences that see someone like them using a product, showcasing what it is all about, and this makes their decision a lot simpler. Beyond this, brands can host influencer events that are ideal for building a relationship with the brand, introducing both parties to each other, and creating hype around an offering.

There are other ways that brands and influencers use to work together for mutual benefit. The brands get the exposure for their product or service and the influencer is able to make money and grow their audience. It is a win-win for everyone involved.

Conclusion

We are living in the age of social media influencers. As the internet and social media continue to grow, we have seen a radical change in the way that products and services are seen and received. As brands continue to change the way they market their products and services, influencer marketing has emerged as one of the most powerful tools in their arsenal.

All you need is high-speed internet, a smart device, and a niche to work with. This will allow you to start creating your own audience over time with consistent effort. When working with Mediacom, you no longer need to worry about your internet connection. To join the family, visit here to find out more!

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