Is Influencer Marketing Still Relevant In 2022?

Practically everyone on the internet has probably heard of the term “influencer” but very few people understand what that actually entails. If you thought influencer marketing was limited to beautiful women sporting expensive products on their Instagram photos, there’s still more to learn about influencer marketing. 

What Is Influencer Marketing? A Simple Definition

In basic terms, influencer marketing is a method of endorsing products and building brand exposure through influencers on social media. Influencers are those social media users with a large enough following that they have the potential to have an impact on the purchasing decisions of said following. 

Is Influencer Marketing Restricted To Instagram?

As we’ve mentioned earlier, most people believe that influencers and their marketing methods are limited to one social media network—Instagram. In theory, an influencer can be active on any social media platform. In fact, even newer platforms like SnapChat and TIkTok have attracted influencers.

Some aspiring  influencers start on TikTok nowadays because it is easy for them to use services like TikTokStorm to get ahead of the competition. Others limit their activity on SnapChat because the “story” feature on the app allows them to reach a large number of users very quickly. 

How Do Influencers Make Money?

Probably one of the most commonly asked questions regarding influencers is:”How can influencers afford to live such an expensive lifestyle?” In reality, most influencers cannot afford to buy many of the products they endorse. 

An influencer’s job is to create the illusion that they are living a life of luxury. For aspiring influencers that often means spending money to make money. Once a social media user has built a large enough fan base, they have the negotiating power to ask for free (or discounted) products, and even to ask for the same when visiting restaurants and other establishments. 

As the number of followers grows even larger, companies are more likely to seek out influencers and offer them free products and services in exchange for reviews or product placement. In some cases, that exchange also involves monetary compensation. That’s how the top tier influencers make money, but it’s a long way to the top. 

Influencer Marketing Vs. Affiliate Marketing

The two terms are often confused and used interchangeably because they both involve some form of marketing for products. However, affiliate marketing is a more direct form of marketing wherein the marketer is honest with their honest about the fact that they will be financially compensated if they purchase a product through their affiliate links. 

Influencers, on the other hand, do not offer up any links to the products they endorse. They may not even mention them most of the time. For example, an influencer may be posting about a new restaurant that has just opened, but every other part of the video may be a silent endorsement. 

Their clothing, the gadgets they use, the accessories they are wearing, and practically anything else that shows on the video is likely to be part of a branding strategy that they are hired to carry out. 

Influencers Are Still Relevant In 2022

As you can see, even though they’ve branched out into other social media platforms, influencers and their marketing methods are still relevant in 2022. The competition has significantly increased, however, and it is much more difficult to succeed as an influencer today. 

If you’re thinking of getting into influencer marketing, you’ve got your work cut out for you. It’s still worth it to try your luck at it, especially if you are already a content creator of some sort.