Is an Influencer a Sustainable Job?

Promoting for the Paycheck//Instructing the viewers, popular influencer, Kaeli Mae Ragains, receives a brand deal from Ninja Kitchen to promote their new espresso machine. With over one million followers, this is one way that this influencer makes money. However, will this strategy of influencers creating promo videos for brands last long? (Photo by McKenzie Smoot)

3.. 2.. 1.. Post! You just published your first video and sit anxiously waiting to gain views, likes, and followers. Scrolling through Instagram, it seemed easy enough to recreate videos and gain millions of followers like your favorite influencers did; however, this is not how their jobs work. Many people think it takes no skill to earn a living off of social media, and that many influencers should just go to college and get a real job. Contrary to popular belief, numerous influencers actually do have a college degree and choose to do the research and start a channel, but that does not mean influencers won’t ever have to put that degree to use, as social media may not be as reliable as they think.

“There are plenty of lazy people who spend all their days on the web,” UNH Scholar, Mya Sanders said. “However, those who stereotype Social Media Influencer’s (SMI’s) know nothing of what the job really entails. … Becoming a successful SMI is not an easy task; it takes hard work, skill, and being in the right place at the right time. Additionally, SMI’s are not useless in society; they help shape the minds of listeners by emotionally connecting with them and being a regular part of their lives.”

“It is hard for viewers of social media to look at the content they are watching and realize that the people on the screen are actual people trying to make money. Some influencers’ only jobs are to make content and monetize it. Although viral videos do need some luck for their success, it is mainly research and using specific techniques that really take a video from average to viral. These techniques are “the code” to make social media a job, but is this “code” maintainable and long-lasting?

The influencer marketing scene is ever evolving with nano and micro-influencers now taking a piece of the pie of brand deals and collaborations,” Marketing Interactive said. “In fact, 67% of marketers said that they are upping their investment in influencer marketing this year, according to influencer marketing platform Partipost. Of which, nano-influencers have emerged as a powerful force in influencer marketing.”

With how adaptable social media is, there is no guarantee that being an influencer will remain a job that can be used as a main income source. With new versions of social media springing up, new kinds of influencers that fulfill different purposes than the current ones could emerge. Many brands have been veering away from popular influencers whose videos could be thought of as scripted by the public. Instead, nano-influencers are naturally becoming consistent content creators for brands when working on commission. Since they're actively trying to make sales, they regularly create fresh photos, videos, and reviews featuring various products. This gives brands a steady stream of authentic user-generated content (UGC) without additional production costs.

“But as we enter into the next technological revolution, social media may no longer be a viable career alternative,” Amanda Claypool from Tomorrow Today claims. “Artificial intelligence is poised to not only displace the support staff and strategists behind some of the internet’s most popular accounts, but it’s also poised to displace influencers themselves.”

We all know that artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing at a rapid, nearly concerning pace. This can not only affect labor-type jobs, but also the job of an influencer. It is much easier to generate videos targeted to a specific audience with AI than it is to set up a camera, film a video, edit the video, and post it in an attempt to engage the viewers. With AI advancing, it could have full dominance over social media quite quickly. Thus, although other jobs may not be sustainable long-term as well, becoming an influencer definitely will not last based on the current trends.

With nano-influencers, UGC creators, and AI, it is nearly impossible in today’s age to become an influencer and use it as your only career. Not only are the odds against influencers from new technologies to other up-to-date brand promotions through social media, but it is also just difficult to become viral enough to be monetized. Some people wait years to become an influencer, yet it just doesn’t happen. For all these reasons, an influencer cannot be a reliable career that someone is dependent on to survive.