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- The barrier to influencing is lower than ever, meaning more and more competition to succeed.
- Audiences are favoring authentic and knowledgeable content creators over follower count.
- It's the "intellectual influencers," or "thought leaders," who are likely to thrive.
Influencers are out, and thought leaders are in.
With TikTok facing a US ban, YouTube going through a period of unrest, and the next social-media platforms rearing their heads, influencers are facing an uncertain future.
Many are now having to think hard about what they provide to their audiences and whether their followers will stick around.
The barrier to influencing is lower than ever, meaning viewers are more discerning. They are turning their backs on creators who seemingly just promote products and go on out-of-touch, lavish trips and leaning more toward those who offer them content with more meaning.
Nya Étienne, who is a journalist and TikTok content creator, refers to this concept as the rise of "the intellectual influencer."
"People are facing burnout on social media," she told Business Insider. "They want to see content with more substance, and they want to see influencers and creators as three-dimensional people, not just as people trying to sell them things."
People want 'edutainment'
This new breed of influencer could outlast all the rest and may soon be dominating social media feeds.
"People are now starting to shift their attention to what I like to call thought leaders," Katya Varbanova, a content creator and the CEO of Viral Marketing Stars, told BI. "An influencer is somebody that influences you because of their personality and personal taste and personal preferences, whereas a thought leader influences you because of their expertise."
Back when posting on social media was novel, the audience of an aspiring content creator would grow exponentially simply because they were entertaining to watch. Now, anyone can be an influencer — they just have to pick up their phone, shoot a video on TikTok, and edit it within the app with ease.
"The barrier to entry for creators is so low, and I think the standards of the general public are rising because of that," Varbanova said.
"They don't just want to be entertained or just want to be educated. They want to be edutained."
People want to hear from creators with knowledge, such as a psychologist with 20+ years of experience who can post deep dives into a topic as a side hustle to their day job. They don't want an inexperienced teenager's view on nutrition, they want a registered dietician to bust food myths and tell them what they should be eating.
A 2023 survey of 9,000 global shoppers from Bazaarvoice, a consumer and retailer platform, found, in general, that influencers with millions of followers just don't resonate like they used to.
Overall, respondents pointed to favoring authentic content over a follower count and the importance of experts. More than a quarter (26%) of respondents said they were influenced by experts on a particular topic when purchasing something, while 33% said they had bought a product based on a recommendation from a specialist.
A 2023 survey by Matter Communications, a brand elevation agency, also found that authenticity was paramount for viewers when choosing who to follow. Relatable personalities came out top, with 61% saying they found these more appealing, followed by expert personalities (43%) and just-for-fun personalities (32%).
"It just used to be so easy to get attention," Varbanova said. "Now, because it's harder, and because people have more choice, they're more selective."
Audiences will still watch quick dopamine-hit content that doesn't require too much brain power, as well as videos that make you think deeper about a topic. But the latter is in a much less crowded field.
When it comes to brand deals and promotions, someone trusted is also going to have a better chance of generating sales than someone who's not, Varbanova said.
Staying relevant
Koko Dubuisson, a fashion content creator from Boston, told BI TikTok was the platform where she has seen the most growth, and she believes that's down to how real it is.
For example, restaurant reviewers, such as Keith Lee, are becoming trusted replacements to Google reviews for young people. These kinds of creators can "really make a business boom," Dubuisson said, because they are expert voices.
Even ultra-specific niches of content, such as farmers cleaning horseshoes, can be addictive. Some people like ASMR, others like true crime. It's the content that makes you feel something that will persist, Dubuisson believes.
"I feel like even years down the line, content creating is still going to be relevant," she said.
It's more a matter of how influencers themselves will stay relevant as some platforms disappear and others surface.
The influencer industry is "growing up," Kaye Putnam, a psychology-based brand strategist and YouTube creator, told BI. And those who want to keep up need to move toward professionalization and specialization, she said. That's the type of content that will be dominating feeds.
The influencers who will succeed have to build a "true business around their influencing" and diversify by starting up email lists, such as Substack, or tending to their communities on platforms like Circle or Discord.
"With ChatGPT, we can Google or find the answer to anything," Putnam said. "So having a unique point of view is incredibly important."
That's not to say the days of a perfectly curated feed are dead. If that's something an influencer truly has a passion for, they should lean into that, Putnam said. Just proceed with caution and let followers know they still have something in common with you.
"We get kind of resentful when people flaunt what they have without also pairing that with some vulnerability or some humanness at the same time," she said.
"We create that parasocial relationship with them when they're not so perfect, and I think people are demanding that more than ever."