Originally published on the Gatsby blog: https://www.gatsby.ai/post/a-brief-history-of-the-influencer
More of a visual learner? Scroll to the bottom for an infographic version.
Long before the term “influencer” was coined, and every marketer was fluent in the particulars of “influencer marketing”, certain influential figures have been silently guiding nearly every consumer’s decisions for as long as society has existed. We thought it would be fun to take a look back at the history of influencer marketing, and some of the very first “influencers”, well before Instagram — or even social media — came onto the seen.
But first, what is an influencer?
When it comes to marketing, an influencer is someone who is able to sway the decisions of potential purchasers. It could be a celebrity, athlete, prominent society figure, a friend whose advice you trust, or in some cases (like the Marlboro Man), a fictional character. Simply put, an influencer has the power to impact your purchase decisions. With the advent of social media, the definition of an influencer has slightly evolved, since we now have a platform with which to share and quantify “influence”. Today, anyone who has any sort of clout (i.e. followers) on social media can self-proclaim himself an “influencer”. But before we had follower…
