It is not uncommon these days for creators to gain thousands of followers and millions of likes on TikTok. What was once seen as difficult to attain is now seen as ‘easy’ to achieve. Has TikTok Affected Influencers Careers Lifespan?

Today we are going to look into the effect TikTok has had on the influencer world and influencer marketing. The shelf life of an influencer’s career used to be significantly longer than the type of influencers being produced these days. 

Let’s dive in.

What Is An Influencer?

An influencer is typically a creator with a large following across different social media accounts that creates content to inspire others and promote a certain lifestyle. You can get influencers in pretty much any industry, from beauty to tech to even career influencers. 

What they all have in common is that brands want to work with them to help promote their products or services. Creators will make content for a brand and post it on their social media in hopes it encourages their loyal audience to invest in the thing being promoted.

Influencers have been around for some time now and originated from Instagram and YouTube. Before, it was harder to gain a loyal following on Instagram, and only a few grew really big. Now, with the growth of TikTok, it has seen the rise of influencers. 

Now, it is not hard to gain thousands of followers overnight and have brands want to work with you. Brands have started to use micro-influencers (under 100,000 followers) as they work out cheaper and tend to have more audience engagement. 

TikTok and How It Has Changed The World Of Influencers

TikTok has drastically changed the way in which influencers are created. In addition, as TikTok grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, many were stuck at home and took to the app to pass the time. 

Since then, many, mainly the younger generation, have seen a new avenue to make money at home without boundaries. However, the rise of influencers promoting an idyllic lifestyle has led the younger generation to want to pursue these careers. 

Even though it might be easier than ever to gain followers, it does not mean that it is easy to make money. Even if you do make money, it might not be sustainable for a long time.

With the pool of influencers expanding month on month, it gives brands more to choose from. However, with higher competition, it reduces the shelf life of influencers. Many can get 5 minutes of fame from going viral a couple of times and securing a few brand deals. But, as soon as popularity is lacking, they will move on to the next upcoming influencer. 

As harsh as it sounds, influencers are becoming disposable. It is not to say that people don’t have very successful long careers as influencers, but they are becoming few and far between because of the fast turnover of creators. 

Influencer marketing is bigger than ever, with the ability to earn $18 in media value for every $ spend on influencers. It is only going to increase, so influencers are going to have to become more creative to stand out from the crowd.

Is influencer marketing something you want to learn more about? Get in touch today.