Unlike in the past, where marketers had to depend on Celebrities to promote their products and services to influence the decision making process, online marketing or digital marketing has created many individuals as influencers. So who are they? By definition –
“the power to affect the decision making of others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his or her audience.”
Who then are Social Media Influencers?
About 45% of the world population is on social media. Some of these have become popular enough to be able to influence the large groups of individuals with their decision making process.
Again definition of Social Media Influencers is, “People who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a specific topic. They publish regularly on their preferred social channels about the topic and generate large followings of enthusiastic, engaged people who pay close attention to their views.”
Brands started working with these social media influencers for a long time now as they create trends and encourage their followers to buy products they promote.
Types of influencers
Influencers are categorized by the Type of Content, Size of followership or even the Level of influence they can exert.
Influencers by type of Content –
- Bloggers
- Youtubers
- Podcasters
- Social Media
Influencers by Size of followership –
- Mega Influencers
- Macro Influencers
- Micro Influencers
- Nano Influencers
Level of influence
- Celebrities
- Key Opinion Leaders