Be An Influencer
Be consistent, be authentic, share a specific type of content (that lets people get to ‘know’ you) and position yourself in a way that shows your unique point of view.
These are the four strategies I found in common among the YouTuber’s I researched for my academic article, YouTube: A Dirty Little Secret in 2018. The purpose of these strategies was to build a relationship with their audience. Once this is achieved, they can act as the go-between between brands and the audience members to sell things.
Before I continue, I just want to point out I am pro-influencer. I feel like they often have people turn their noses up at them and are the subject of a lot of questioning around their validity and what actual work they do. Personally, I feel this is in large part due to the lack of understanding about the role of an influencer. This has evolved since blogging first began and is now a very seamless industry. Obviously, there are some influencers out there who as hard working or business building as some. But I think every industry has those who approach work in different ways.
The way they sell things are varied. There may be affiliate links which when audiences click through commission is paid to the influencer (generally 5-10%). Interestingly, during her latest vlog, Victoria Magrath aka In The Frow stated that she shared an Instagram story showing the new Dyson Airwrap (a hair tool for those who may not know), via this Instagram story 30 units were sold. Now, Magrath has an Instagram audience of over 1.3 million. I am not sure whether I find the figure of 30 too small or quite amazing. Magrath is an ambassador for the brand so there is obviously value in it for both her and Dyson.
Affiliate links are a bit of a mystery. The last I investigated this, cookies could follow you around on the computer for six or seven days. This means that purchasing within that timeframe means that the work the influencer has done has recognised. However, there, as far as I am aware, can be no guarantee when it comes to entering an affiliate relationship. This goes for Google ads etc. as well.
A paid for advertorial, so #ad via Instagram, YouTube or TikTok is another way influencers make money/sell products. This would mean an agreed upon amount of content for a fee. I am not sure if there is a commission structure based on this.
Many influencers may do paid appearances, write books, diversify content (podcasts), collaborate with brands, collaborate with brands in the creation of a product or create their own product line. Perhaps these could also be read as a timeline. In some instances, these streams run parallel to one another, but they can also be seen as steppingstones.
Building a personal brand and relationships with their audience is the long game when it comes to achieving all these things.
The building of personal relationships is probably one of the hardest things influencers do. You do not simply inherit a community. The work of the influencer is to build it like by like. And as we know, people are more likely to tell you that they don’t like something before those who tell you they do like it.
Another gripe I have with people who dismiss the work of influencers is in turn they seem to gloss over how much work influencers do when it comes to the sharing, curating and creating of content. We have high expectations when it comes to content and a range of content needs to be created for a range of platforms (some of which have different audiences).
The influencer industry is massive (technical term) but a lot of it has been made by simply doing. As a result, there is a lot of misunderstanding and confusion as to what the influencer’s role is. Audiences have been working out what is happening at the same time they have. But I think we have a bit of catching up to do. It makes me think of those ‘celebrities they’re just like us’ schtick. Except we like celebrities where we can see them, a little bit fantasy, and when we want them to step down from the pedestal they can. The influencer industry however is built on them being like us (authentic) and sharing parts of themselves we find appealing, hence the confusion when we find out that whilst this may be the case, there are other elements at play.