Online content creators earn a lot of money and run their own businesses, but still face the stigma of not having a “real job.”
Most days, Chloe Homan’s work schedule is busy.
The 32-year-old American usually starts the week planning and talking to her team on Monday, while Tuesday is full of meetings.
Wednesday and Thursday are reserved for specific work, while Friday is reserved for wrapping up loose ends before the weekend.
Homan, who lives in Wisconsin, says he works 80 to 90 hours a week.
However, despite his long and intense work hours, many people say he doesn’t have a “real job.”
Homan is a professional digital influencer, or influencer, and says she receives a lot of criticism about her career.
“I remember telling friends and family what I was going to do, and no one knew what that meant,” he says, reflecting on starting his content creation journey about five years ago.
“People thought you could just take a photo and post it, and that there was no way to make real money. I remember my mother being worried that I would put my whole life online.”
But now things are changing. Homan was able to work full-time as an influencer in 2019 after finding a niche providing curly hair tips and tutorials.
She now runs her social media like a business, comprising a team of six people, and has also launched a line of hair accessories. And it wasn’t just her ability to make a living as a content creator that she saw change.
“Now I have teacher friends who tell me that kids say they want to be TikTokers or YouTubers when they grow up,” he says. “You can make very good money in this industry.”
For years, many people have viewed the influencer profession as a kind of hedonistic pursuit, especially for young women, with content creators labeled as vapid, even scammers. But the art – and business – of influencing is changing.
Now, content creation can be a lucrative career, and companies rely on people with large social media followings to promote their products and services. Many influencers have proven themselves to be savvy entrepreneurs with a knack for building a brand.
“Real” work?
As the founder of New York-based influencer agency Village Marketing, Vickie Segar has witnessed changes in the influencer business.
“Influencers have been discredited for a decade,” he says. “People used to believe that influencers could be paid to support and promote any brand, but they increasingly understand that the creator is in control.”
Segar says he’s noticed a growing trust in influencers from consumers, and with that, an increase in confidence from brands to spend big on partnering with them.
Estimates from the Influencer Marketing Hub platform show that the influencer sector is worth a considerable value of $21.1 billion (around R$100 billion).
“Most consumers, especially younger audiences, are skeptical of print advertising and mass media,” says Anna Stella, professor of marketing at the University of Strathclyde in the UK.
“However, professional influencers bring authenticity to advertising, increasing brand trust.”
In another 2022 Influencer Marketing Hub survey of 3,500 agencies and brands (38% of whom worked in marketing), 82% of respondents said they would dedicate a significant portion of their budget to influencer advertising in 2023.
However, despite the impact of these creators, Segar says many people, especially older generations, still don’t take influencers seriously.
“Influencers are creative directors, talent producers, editors, pre-production professionals, community leaders, product curators and sales teams, all in one place,” says Segar.
“They are replicating a creative agency and media industry where multiple people work to produce what they do and to attract audiences and media value [que eles geram]. Anyone who can get people’s attention should get credit.”
Prejudices
Some companies, like Mattel and online pizza ordering company Slice, have started hiring influencers as paid employees. These moves suggest a more formalized influencer career in the future.
Speaking to Business Insider in July, Slice’s executive director said the change was motivated by the fact that social media users don’t like “big ads.” Companies see employee influencers as a path to authoritative but seemingly more organic content.
But for many influencers, industry perceptions continue to cause frustration.
Segar believes that age and gender biases are important reasons why many people still resist seeing influencers as a career. It is one of the few industries, she believes, dominated by young women.
“Women have always been discredited in the business world,” Segar says. “If influencer marketing were dominated by men instead of women, the story would be completely different.”
Stella points out other factors that contribute to negative outlook.
“The problem of fake followers is evident in the digital space,” he says. “This unscrupulous behavior has contributed to the belief that being an influencer is not a real job.”
Stella adds that while there is a growing demand for authentic branded content, many influencers rely heavily on staged content to promote brands and products, which drives discerning users away from social media.
“Followers can now tell when content isn’t real,” he says. “Predictable and false content is likely to disorientate consumers.”
For Stella, the proliferation of followers and false information could be one of the main reasons why influencing isn’t taken seriously as a career.
“Very Profitable Business”
The rise of the content creator industry seems like an unstoppable force. Many young people earn a significant amount of money online, and experts predict that the influencer market will reach $143 billion by 2030.
And with more and more influencers taking content creation seriously as a career, we’ll likely see a blurred line between social media advocates and the companies behind them.
Aware of the trends and changes of aging or even extinction of applications in the past (the death of Vine in 2017 served as a warning to influencers, as some of the platform’s stars disappeared along with the social network), some creators are investing into offline business, using your platforms as a starting point.
British Grace Beverley, originally an Instagram fitness and lifestyle influencer, has turned her social media fame into a sustainable clothing brand that turned over £6.2m in its first year; Former YouTuber Zoe Sugg publishes romance novels and has launched beauty products and homewares thanks to her many followers.
“Influencers have turned their influence into very profitable businesses, but now they may be starting their own businesses or investing in companies,” says Segar.
“They have created multi-faceted revenue streams in a way that some of the best entrepreneurs have not been able to do.”
For Homan, treating content creation as a business with multiple revenue channels – brand deals, products and digital courses – was key to being taken more seriously. He is also trying to secure his professional and financial future.
“My goal is to have more control over what I create, without having to depend on external brands only when they have budgets and campaigns,” he says.
“I’m working to make my company a seven-figure brand. There’s a lot in the works and every day is an adventure.”
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
