Everyone’s an Influencer. Now What?

Everything most likely has been, or will be, democratized by the internet. The same can be said about status. Pre-internet, the concept of status was more polarized. You either had it or you didn’t. A handful of celebrities, mostly actors, TV stars, musicians, authors and the odd business personality, boasted notoriety. It was incredibly difficult to build back then. The walled gardens of traditional media kept the barriers to entry high, and the only way to build status outside of the arts was by writing columns, making TV appearances or signing book deals. It was a slow and painstaking process. Status as a concept was much more abstract 30 years ago than it is today, when someone's status can be tangibly measured by followers and engagement on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Today, we live in a world where 24.3% of Instagram’s 1 billion monthly active users have over 100,000 followers, and close to 5 million accounts have over 1 million followers. It has become easier and faster than ever to achieve status. Traditional institutions like WME, CAA and UTA are laser-focused on signing and repping new social media talent and generating huge revenues in return. This shift has only been accentuated by the emergence of TikTok, a platform that prides itself on creating fame overnight due to its “lucky dip,” algorithm-driven "For You Page" feature, which can take a "nobody" and catapult them into superstardom almost instantly. Charli D’Amelio, who became the poster child of overnight celebrity when she burst onto the TikTok scene, gained 100 million followers in just over a year. The future of social media Being an influencer today typically means regularly posting content to keep a fan base engaged and then monetizing that audience with an array of slightly arbitrary revenue streams such as merchandise lines, advertising deals and maybe a Patreon subscription for die-hard fans. As more Gen Zers gain access to smartphones, the supply of “influencers” is only going in one direction: up. Last year, a reported 86% of young people said they want to be a social media influencer. Having status creates a huge opportunity—irrespective of how one chooses to use it—and Gen Z clearly understands the value and wants to take advantage of it. With more people creating content than ever in an arms race to build status, it doesn’t take an economic genius to predict that this ever-increasing supply of influencer inventory will eventually have an impact on the rates charged for sponsored posts. Advertisers are already swamped with choice, and it's only increasing. It is therefore likely that over time, advertising revenue will become a less reliable source of income for influencers. Worth building the status Influencers become self-contained businesses in their own right, building products, services and brands that leverage status to grow big, fast. YouTube star Logan Paul sells $5 million worth of NFTs directly to his audience in a day, while YouTuber MrBeast set up a wildly successful ghost kitchen on a national scale. And 19-year-old TikTok star Josh Richards used his teen-icon status to launch a production studio with Mark Wahlberg. As we see influencers become businesspeople, we will also see businesspeople become influencers. Savvy entrepreneurs are realizing the benefits of social media status to provide a powerful business advantage: Elon Musk now has the 25th-most-followed Twitter account in the world, with just shy of 50 million followers, and he uses his platform daily to build buzz around his businesses in real time. Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, has become arguably more influential as an individual than the media company he built. Ten years ago, the term influencer was virtually nonexistent, so we are still in the early stages of understanding what it means to be one and how to draw value from having unfiltered access to the eyes and ears of millions of people. As this marketplace evolves, the focus will shift from the act of influencing itself to the utility of status. I’m excited to see today’s young, bright minds utilize the power of democratized status to propel their success.

Voice

Everyone’s an Influencer. Now What?

Over time, ad revenue will become a less reliable source of income

James Cadwallader

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James Cadwallader