Unleashing the Power of Influencer Marketing: How Brands are Leveraging Social Media to Reach Millions

Katie Smith
Katie’s Writing Space
2 min readApr 14, 2023

Social media influencing has become a profitable business in recent years, with many individuals earning significant income from their online presence.

To make money off social media influencing, a person needs to build a large following on one or more social media platforms. Once they have a significant following, they can partner with brands and businesses to promote their products or services. Influencers can earn money through sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, or by creating and selling their own products. The key to success is to develop a niche and create content that resonates with their audience, thus building a loyal following that trusts their recommendations.

Photo Credit: CSUN

As I have mentioned in previous posts, for class I have a podcast all about influencing and influencer marketing (shameless self-promo), and the special guests we have are mostly influencers, whether it be micro or macro, it never fails to stun me how in depth a social media influencing job is.

In 2022, the influencer market in the U.S. was valued at 16.4 billion, and 89% of marketers will increase or maintain their investment.

Oftentimes, people become influencers accidentally. That’s the amazing thing about social media and algorithinm — lives can change overnight. A person can go to bed with a few views on TikTok and wake up with millions.

Perhaps people trust influencers so much is because they appear to be regular people, just like us. There are so many different types of niche’s that an influencer can choose — beauty, travel, gaming, lifestyle, sports, family, etc. These people have the same interest as their audience, and they eventually grow trust and relationships with their audience, even if it is a parasocial relationship.

Influencers are growing more than ever in this day and age, and it is not stopping anytime soon. With the advancements of social media platforms and AI, social media influencing opprotunities will only expand from here.

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Katie Smith
Katie’s Writing Space

I am a senior Social Media & Digital Communication student at High Point University - here is my work for Digital Writing for Social Action class!