While watching my favorite Youtubers, no matter the genre, they occasionally have a company sponsoring their video. They will show cookware, hair care tools, VPN services, and mobile games here. At times, the product or services they are promoting do not necessarily match what their Youtube channel is about, but it somehow works. This is because, as viewers, we feel connected to influencers somehow.

Social Media Changed The World

One of the challenges companies face when promoting a new product or service is gaining the trust of their consumer. And when Influencer Marketing was discovered, it was a win-win situation for both the influencer and the company marketing their product.

Influencer marketing also opened up a whole new avenue of employment for people who quickly generate a following through social media platforms. Many influencers earn most of their income through sponsorship deals, depending on their contracts. Influencers are not only digital broadcasters but must also be negotiators and business people.

That time we all got sent home…for two years

COVID-19 was bad in many ways. But despite this catastrophic global event, something good came out of that disaster. Unless the worker was deemed essential, they were sent to work from home. Some, unfortunately, were laid off due to company struggles. Despite how one found themselves at home, they also found themselves with an abundance of time. Gone were the days when you would lose two hours of your life to traffic, and there was more energy since people could sleep in. When people found themselves at home, they had more disposable time. Some chose to invest that time in developing an online following and creating content, whether long-form videos on Youtube or short-form videos on Tik Tok. This investment created an influx of social media accounts and some plainly inadvertent successes.

There was also the fact that people who worked from home liked it a lot. They knew they did not want to head back into the office at all, and they chose to find alternative ways to earn income to support their lifestyles and make shifting careers easier. Additionally, because most content creation could start from an iPhone, it was a low-cost starting point for many to start their channels.

Social media platforms caught on

Social media platforms noted this increase in their users and watch time and invested in their creators. Companies like Meta (Instagram), Tik Tok, and Youtube worked on improving or creating funds to pay their creators to continue creating content. Each program is free to join, and the content creator must only meet certain requirements.

There was improvement all around for content creators. These improvements came from Reels, subscriptions, linking stores, and platform integrations through websites and other platforms.

Where do Brands Fit in?

Consumers trust their influencers more than they do companies. Likely, this is because they see their influencers as having some kind of common ground, so there is trust that cannot be recreated with companies.

Since companies struggle to build trust with their consumers, unless they invest in witty Twitter account managers, like Wendy’s, those social media accounts are difficult to grow. This is where the creator economy comes in to improve sales. Brands will reach out to influencers with a decent following to promote their products and, at times, seamlessly incorporate them into their videos, like, the Dyson Hair Wrap.

What we know

Companies need to grow to stay in business, and creators need sponsorship deals to make the most of their income. While Influencer Marketing took a while to take off, it has benefited everyone and does not look like it is losing speed.

Speaking of content creation, I uploaded my old episodes to my podcast here. Check it out!