Who is an influencer?

Influencer marketing could neither exist nor have come into being without the most important protagonist of the whole undertaking – the influencer of the title.

Here the influencer is a creator and a speaker, an unquestionable authority and role model; they set trends, inspire, motivate and… through all of this exert a strong influence on the behaviour of their micro or macro community. But can you get to know their true nature? What is an influencer needed for? What characterises influencers in their work? What does an influencer’s everyday life look like? What does an influencer do when nobody is watching?

Influencer = (not so) obvious influence

The name influencer itself comes from the word “influence”, meaning impact or effect. An influencer’s main task is to create and publish persuasive content that carries an effective advertising message. The persuasive power of communication on social media plays a significant role in achieving the intended goals. The influencer chooses those goals themselves, although most often they are determined by paid advertising partnerships – usually ones that are in line with their activity online.

Influencers – community leaders?

Influencers are people who hold an active social dialogue and, at the same time, are veritable engines for driving product sales, raising brand awareness, building image or supporting social causes. Their communication on social media makes them ordinary users and credible opinion-formers on products and services. They know how to craft a message that invites you to try, visit, buy, book… and much more!

The word “invites” is key here, because the solutions influencers recommend are a choice based on trust in one’s idol – the kind of trust we place in someone close to us. An influencer does not set boundaries that could make their audience feel they are unapproachable or out of reach. They let people into their private space, allow themselves to be “peeked at” and give room for people to identify with them on many levels and in many common situations that everyone faces every day. The impression of openness and approachability is very important in an influencer’s work.

Who is an influencer?

A creator who carries out a range of activities online based on presenting and recommending products in an indirect advertising format. An influencer exerts an enormous influence on their community (on a macro or micro scale) and its behaviour. The creator publishes strategically thought-out, properly developed advertising content, which they then distribute across various media channels. With their message, the influencer is meant to achieve the intended goals – most often advertising, image or sales goals.

Creators most often use popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and many others. We can call bloggers, vloggers, Instagrammers, streamers and gamers influencers. Influencers’ growing recognition and reach on social media develop above all thanks to a well-judged choice of published content, including deliberately planned advertising messages.

All influencers are a kind of authority in the eyes of their audience – especially when they have specialist knowledge in a particular subject area, for example beauty influencers, diet and nutrition influencers, or travel influencers. By sharing expert opinions, all creators have enormous power to influence every kind of opinion, decision and established view in the community they address.

In an influencer’s daily work, the effectiveness of the message is key – and it depends on the form, credibility and authenticity of what they share. Influencers invite audiences into their world, revealing a certain amount of their private life and not setting rigid, impassable limits on their message. This keeps them within reach of every “ordinary” user, who can follow their choices every day and get to know their habits and preferences ever more closely – as in a close, friendly relationship.

In their communication, influencers create space for dialogue and the exchange of experiences. This lets audiences identify with them, bring solutions picked up from them into their own lives, and draw plenty of fresh inspiration and interesting ideas. Influencers can secure unshaken credibility and rapid brand growth, and all of it through a skilfully run social media profile.

Creators have become more influential than “celebrities”. They are widely available and approachable to the community they talk to on social media. They do not shut themselves off from exchanging views or answering questions from fans. Influencers have traits that lead audiences to see them through the lens of authenticity and credibility. They let their audiences take an active part in what they do, and even shape its direction by asking for their opinion or advice on a given subject.