In recent years, the narrative of what “influential” means in our community has changed drastically.
Before, for some people it was a successful businessperson, a celebrity, a wealthy individual or the popularity of your last name. These days it’s all about how many likes or followers you have based on your content on social media.
Now, even the most wealthiest individuals have social media accounts to drive their point of views across, although they probably hire social media managers to stay relevant and keep their audiences engaged, it shows being an influencer has evolved from just being “a rich person or a celebrity” to a competitive space that anyone can utilize to drive their own narrative.
Influencer Marketing Hub describes an influencer as “the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his or her audience.”
According to Rob Sanders, a digital marketing veteran from Simple Learn Institution there are 5 different types of influencers that dominate and drive numbers for brands across the globe, and for brands to cross over in different markets across the globe using influencers:
Mega-Influencers are people with more than a million following
Macro-Influencers are from 500k to 1 million
Mid-Tier Influencers are from 50k to 500k
Micro-Influencers are from with 10k to 50k
Nano-Influencers are from 1k to 10k
These people influence their followers on their social media platforms to create brand awareness campaigns, endorse different products and have the power to spearhead “cancel culture movement” which means influence the public or rather their following, for example. A lot of people have lost their businesses because buyers have listened to what other influencers are saying.
According to a study made by a collective of Universities for The Conversation, although there is an upside to influencers, there is a dark side that can affect you directly by obsessing about their content and problematic engagement.
Followers need to be alert about obsessive behavior, “For example, participation comprehensiveness which refers to the reasons for following and extent of followers’ participation (like watching, liking, commenting, sharing) can lead to attachment development.” – says The Conversation.
This, however, can be consciously managed by followers themselves.
Also see:Fashion influencers to take Inspo from this festive season
