It used to be that an influencer was a certain kind of person. They were often artistas or media personalities, they always had perfect skin and shiny hair and straight teeth. They lived lives that we all aspired to, or at least they did on Insta. But these days influencer culture is changing. Extreme targeting and data show that instead of a celeb, it’s our loved ones and knowledgeable people that we want to hear from when it comes to what we buy.

We used to buy products because celebrities endorsed them. Perhaps we believed that if we used the same products as them, we could touch their level of perfection. But social media has smashed that expectation.

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have strengthened parasocial relationships, bringing us closer to our idols. But it’s also shown us that these icons we have put on a pedestal are imperfect people.

How dare they!

We know, intellectually, that they don’t always live perfect glossy lives — but it’s different to see it. Once we see behind the curtain of flawlessness, we can’t unsee it. They don’t have the clout that they used to.

Celebrities now have to show they do things and know things to be credited as a proper influencer. A carefully curated IG feed is nowhere near enough. With all this data coming in, we can closely follow the patterns of the audience behavior and we’re seeing that paid influencers aren’t as convincing as they used to be.

Sponsored content is so well-recognized now, it’s clear when a celeb tries to use a product or take advantage of a moment that they know nothing about. Think the Kendall Jenner for Pepsi debacle. Jenner is no activist and she was called out for pretending to care about the movement. Pepsi got dinged.

You want to move products? You don’t want people with huge followings. Star Power still works, but it has become limited. Now, you want the community influencers — macro, micro, and even nano influencers.

Examples of the community influencer are the content creator who runs a YouTube channel, a travel writer who vlogs about “traveling hacks”, or the plantita blogger who has a small, but loyal, following.

The world has ended. The pandemic has changed everything. In this post-apocalyptic landscape, the perfection that old influencers embodied doesn’t seem as important anymore. We want to buy from people we trust.

The Internet Brings Us Closer

Twitter, Instagram, and all social media bring us closer to celebs, and when we see more about their everyday lives, we start to see the gaps in what they can offer. These mega-influencers or a-listers have millions of followers because they live in the lap of luxury on social media.

But, their lives are made possible by an army of staff. Their money makes their lifestyle too different from the regular person on the street. And it shows.

Old-fashioned influencers have their level of perfection because of support, either financial support or things like drivers, cooks, and trainers. When we see how much scaffolding it takes to prop them up, we can’t take their opinions as seriously.

A-listers are there for image, for aspirational qualities. But if you want to convert? You need someone down here in average land with the rest of us.

We Look For People Just Like Us

Relatability is what moves people to buy things. We aren’t going to buy from someone so remote they live in sealed-off villages and travel in luxury cars. We need to trust our influencers and that just seems too far out of reach.

The problem is trust is in short supply. With all this stuff vying for our attention 24/7 there is so much clamoring to be bought. How do you choose? Suddenly the opinion of a high-flying superstar doesn’t mean as much.

What would they know about the best stain remover if they don’t do laundry? How can I take their opinion on cars seriously if they get driven around? We look to our family for that kind of wisdom and advice. And if they don’t know, then it’s community influencers who come next.

A Loyal Following Is Better Than A Million “Stans”

Lots of people keep up with celebrities’ social media accounts. Influencers amass millions of followers. But how many of those fans and followers are willing to actually follow them?

Would you trust the mega-influencer it-mom with 5 million followers on which diapers to buy? No. She probably has the energy and manpower to buy extravagant cloth diapers.

But the mommy blogger with a few thousand followers? She has to change those diapers. She has to parent, put food on the table, and play endless games of patty-cake, so she knows her stuff.

People who have a full retinue to get through their day are just untrustworthy. What would they know about the struggles and problems that these products are purported to fix?

You may ignore a sports car enthusiast about the specialized synthetic oil he uses in his supercars. But a car mechanic who does YouTube videos? He’ll probably know from experience the best oil for an oil change.

Macro-influencers, micro-influencers, and even nano-influencers now have more clout when it comes to the products we choose.

The Different Types Of Influencer

There are several different types of influencer. The Mega-influencers or the famous a-listers and those with millions of followers. Solenn Heusaff is a mega-influencer, so is Pia Wurtzbach.

Macro-influencers have 500 thousand to a million followers, they tend to be the “internet-famous” people or other actors and models. Dani Barretto-Panlilio is a Macro-influencer, big brands like Watsons and Pampers work with her.

Mid-Tier influencers have 100–500 thousand followers. An example of a mid-tier influencer is Patricia Prieto. Her reach is pretty far, but her lifestyle is still aspirational for the average Filipino.

Micro-influencers have tens of thousands of followers, smaller brands will contact them because they are more likely to endorse brands with smaller budgets. One example is Angel Juarez (thelakwatsero) who runs a travel blog and IG page.

There are the Nano-influencers. They have thousands of followers. They are historically ignored because their influence seems small, but their following can be very dedicated.

And then there is you, the peer-influencer. The regular social media user. While you might not have the reach, you are the person your friends and family will listen to you. Your recommendations hold a lot more weight. You might just be the most powerful influencer of all.

We are seeing a shift away from the mega-influencer at least when it comes to trust. They still have star power, they still have the reach, but that power is limited. A product might catch our attention on the feed of a mega-influencer but they don’t hold sway over our day-to-day decisions.

For that we are looking for something a little different.

Who Do We Believe?

If you have shown you are knowledgeable in a certain community, your opinion suddenly holds a lot of weight. And that good opinion, once lost, is lost forever. So good creators are very choosy over what they endorse.

Drew O’Bannon (drewskieob), a sex positive influencer on twitter, doesn’t endorse anything they haven’t tried themselves. They also try to support small local shops that have proprietors who have the same political leanings. Their followers are politically minded and trust that Drew has done their research when it comes to what they put their name on.

Tito Pot (TitoPot) serves up realness on TikTok and will turn down branded content if he feels it’s not a good fit. He’s done sponsored content but he doesn’t want his followers to feel like he’s constantly selling them stuff. His channel is about being the friend who knows best and that brand is damaged if he shows he’s easily bought by bad products.

Besides, clunky endorsements turn people off.

We Can Smell Ad Content

There is so much out there now that people have become adept at sniffing out sponsored content. And once you know you’re watching an ad, you have your guard up. It’s much harder to entice you to buy. There is a skill to making money as an influencer and you need a lot of talent to do it well.

Some people are able to create that intimacy and that trust with their audience because they are honest with them. Even sponsored content sometimes gets a bad review, take Euleen Castro (euleenc), another TikTok-er. She has amassed over a million followers because she says when she doesn’t like something even if it’s technically an ad.

And when she doesn’t like something, restaurants respond. They don’t want her bad press because her following trusts her.

“Real” Has Become Aspirational

There is now an expectation of “realness” in our influencers. We want “real” celebrities who have something to offer beyond a symmetrical face. Star power only gets you so far. Sometimes, the less conventionally attractive influencers are, the more we tend to follow them.

Ninong Ry was a sensation. His cooking videos drew thousands of views but it wasn’t until his face reveal that he made it big. The reveal that he was… a normal… hit with viewers and people started to follow in droves.

Mimiyuuuh was a fashion designer and made videos on the side. She caught the attention of millions with a simple, throw-away lip-syncing video on YouTube. Now, she has endorsement deals. She’s become a media personality and it means clout. She’s not supermodel gorgeous, but she is beloved and people believe her when she says something.

Relatability, relevance, and real talent, that’s what you need to be an influencer in this market.

Influencers Have To Be Content Creators

It used to be about popularity and platform. Being famous or having a name meant instant fan base, but you never had to talk about reach converting to sales. Now, to keep your name in people’s minds, you need to be creating things.

Influencers have to commodify themselves. They have to be making work to be noticed and to remain part of the conversation. Gone are the days of people being famous for being famous, now you have to have a talent or a skill.

Even Kim Kardashian had to get her fucking ass up and work. You have to do something, make something, to justify your existence in the zeitgeist.

TitoPot says that people will unfollow you on TikTok if you aren’t posting. You can’t just be “one time, big time” anymore. People are looking for continuity and they curate their feeds more judiciously now than they used to.

Humans Aren’t Mere Followers

We have to think about the people who buy these products as more than just consumers. On the other side of the screen is a person who has wants, needs, and dreams.

Influencer culture is starting to require a different approach. A more sei-katsu-sha-aligned way of thinking. We have to go deeper than catering to consumers and speak to people. We aren’t looking to simply dazzle anymore — people are bored of that. Now it’s all about communities and trusted opinions engaging with audiences on their terms.

Brands might still use endorsers, but if they know what they’re doing they are looking for micro and nano-influencers to bolster their reputation in trustworthy communities rather than celebs who might even turn audiences off.

Trust Is Currency

We create our own worlds on social media, which means that we surround ourselves with our most trusted friends and advisors. It’s hard to penetrate that outer shell. The only way to do it is to contribute to the conversations you are having with your loved ones.

Data-driven marketing makes it so that the world we see is adjusted by digital marketing dark wizards. And the people they use to influence us have to be carefully chosen to penetrate those bubbles in just the right way.

Influencers also carefully craft their content and persona to fit a particular niche. The internet then connects them with their community. If they are lucky and prolific, they can make it big.

Once they’ve managed to break through and gain trust in a certain community, they have a captive audience who is more willing to follow their lead when it comes to many things, from opinions to products.

This can be a dangerous position. It’s also a very powerful one.

Influencer Culture Has Come Full Circle

It used to be that we would rely on our loved ones to tell us the best oven or raincoat or cellphone to buy. But, for a while, brands thought we wanted to see perfect people using their products. Now we’re seeing that’s not the case.

Data is telling us that the principal “influencers” in our lives aren’t stars, they’re everyday people. A-listers are perfect for getting attention, but keeping it? For that, you need community influencers, friends and family, and more.

There is a discipline to influence now. People don’t leave their lane. They pinpoint what they do best and they use that to propel their brand. They peddle products that make sense for what they have constructed as their persona. They pick their endorsements carefully to cultivate the trust of their followers. There is a give and take.

Communities are starting to emerge as important breakthrough markets. Specialized products are now able to reach targeted consumers. Credibility is easily lost and influencers now have to make sure they don’t lose their audience’s trust. Relatability might make you try, but trust will keep you following.

One thing the data is showing is that we might admire the people with shiny hair and straight teeth, but we don’t always trust them. Their “star power” isn’t the kind that compels us to act or to buy. There has been a massive change in how we look at our influencers and that aspirational, perfect life is just too unrealistic.

We are in a new world now. We want to learn from experts, we don’t have time to dream of a perfect life anymore — we need a stain removed, or a car detailed, or a solution to any of the million problems that plague us everyday. Influence isn’t enough, we’re looking for substance.

Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash