Career as a Social Media Influencer in 2023

Do you end up singing the reel audio in real-life situations? Are you someone who is familiar with all the social media trends? Do you think you have it in you to create engaging content as a career?

If yes, maybe you should consider becoming a social media influencer. All those hours swiping through videos can be used to build a career and influence people with ideas or encourage them to try new things. Maybe become the next Kusha Kapila or Khaby Lame?

Social media might evoke mixed emotions in people, but it is undeniably gaining prominence and even businesses acknowledge it. In this blog, we will explore a career as a social media influencer, job roles, career pathways, educational qualifications, etc. 

What does a Social Media Influencer do? 

Social media influencers are those who persuade their audience to purchase a good or service by promoting it or posting reviews about it. In contrast to celebrity endorsements, social media influencers interact frequently with the target audience and within their chosen speciality.

Though assumed to be an easy career. It is like any other career that demands time, passion, and knowledge of content. The nature of the job will demand the following duties in your career as a Social Media Influencer:

• Building connections with the brand and potential target market on numerous social networking sites.
• Creating and executing creative social media strategy.
• Composing and producing pertinent content for postings on social media.
• Publishing content as planned.
• Sharing on social media all the relevant data and links.
• Following all the rules/ guidelines before posting something on social media
• Tracking records of the followers and maintaining a list of the same.
• Recognize the interests and preferences of the target audience.
• Providing true and accurate facts with a lot of passion.
• analyzing the most recent trends across all social media platforms.
• Establish strong and lasting connections with your audience
• Participate in events/campaigns for marketing purposes.

Job Roles for a Social Media Influencer

• Social Media Manager:
  Social media managers oversee a company’s social media strategy to increase visibility, and client and consumer involvement.
  An organization’s online presence is managed by a social media manager by creating a plan, delivering quality content, analyzing usage data, facilitating customer support, and supervising campaigns.

• Social Media and PR Manager:
  An individual overseeing a company’s media relations activities is known as a public relations manager. Their responsibilities include managing a group of public relations experts to assign work, and producing or revising press releases before publication.
  They assist their company with planning events like seminars involving their sector and the neighbourhood.
• Influencer Onboarding Executive:
  As an Influencer onboarding Executive you will be responsible to study, tracking, identify, and reach out to social media influencers and ask them to collaborate with their brand for marketing purposes. 

• Brand Acquisition Manager:
  Slightly different from the previous roles, a Brand Acquisition Manager is someone who identifies brands, products, or services whose rights/shares are bought for the purpose of sale or rebranding. 

• Content Creator:
  A content creator produces content primarily for online platforms with the goal of entertaining, instructing, or informing the audience on a certain topic, good, or service.

Career path for a Social Media Influencer

The essential thing about pursuing a career as a social media influencer is to be creative, knowledgeable, entertaining, and reliable. All of which are highly skill-based qualities. However, to gain credibility, a minimum undergraduate degree is required. 

Apart from creating a social media presence and engaging content. Here are the educational career pathways one can adopt for a career as a social media influencer:

Path I

• A minimum of 55% in Grade 12 from a recognized University.
• Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication/Branding and Advertising/Marketing Management/Business Management.

Internship opportunities for 6-9 months would be beneficial, followed by full-time job opportunities or brand collaborations. 

Path II

• A minimum of 55% in Grade 12 from a recognized University.
• Bachelor in Journalism and Mass Communication/Management studies/Mass Media/Business Management/Film and Media/ Fine Arts or related field. 

After the completion of Path II, one can go for a postgraduate degree to gain further expertise or specialization. Internships during or after the program will help in gaining hands-on experience and experience that can be included in your portfolio. 

Salary in different stages of a career as a Social Media Influencer

The salary of a social media influencer is speculative based on the chosen niche, brand collaboration, location, followers, likes, and post-interaction. Here’s an estimated income insight based on the number of followers and charge per post. 

Skills Required to become a Social Media Influencer

Technical skills:

• Video and audio editing
  You might have often seen influencers using the LED light ring to deliver good visual clarity in their videos. This is comparatively recent, however, video and audio editing software has long been in the market and has helped in creating well-edited content. 
• Graphic or image editing
  As social media platforms thrive on interacting with images, reels, or GIFs, it is important to master your graphic and image editing skills. VSCO, Adobe Lightroom Photo Editor, etc. 
• Analytical skills
  Analyzing post insights, followers, recommendations, and upcoming trends all are part of this skill. Get accustomed to SEO tools as well. 

• Digital Marketing
  A social media influencer is after all like an entrepreneur, trying to sell their product. And since your platform is digital, you should be well-versed with social media interfaces, algorithms, and marketing techniques.
  Check out the Clever Harvey JuniorMBA course on digital marketing to get hands-on experience with our Puma social media campaign project.  

• Content Curation:
  Social media influencers must regularly provide content to increase their audience reach, just like YouTubers, bloggers, and other content creators. They must be current with current trends in order to accomplish this.
• Storytelling
  Storytelling skills essentially mean being able to deliver an engaging narrative. Your audience should be able to relate to you, be entertained, and come back for more content. And with that rapport, you gain collaborations and successful brand recognition. 

Interpersonal Skills:

• Creativity
  Creativity is what will help a social media influencer to thrive and strive. This also highlights how you’ve to be skilled in technical skills. 
• Communication skills
  Effectively communicating with your audience, potential businesses, and fellow influencers will help you learn and grow better. 
• Flexibility
  Content is everywhere, and so are trends, keeping up with them requires flexibility. 
• Time management
  Your work doesn’t just end with taking a picture or video. It is followed by editing, curation, and analysis. Not to mention interaction with audiences. All of this will require you to have good time management skills. 
• Goal-oriented
  From the number of followers to the charge per post, you will have to be headstrong about what is your goal and how will you achieve it. The internet is a vulnerable place, dealing with criticism while working on your goal requires resilience. 

Is Social Media Influencer a good career option?

With the rise of accessibility to technology, the number of internet users, thereby social media users has increased exponentially. The content on social media like Facebook, Instagram, and even WhatsApp is short and with higher potential for virality.  

Thus, brands and businesses need social media presence to increase their brand awareness and business. As opposed to celebrities, social media influencers are more relatable to the audience. Hence, a career as a social media influencer is gaining popularity among youths. 

The earnings of a social media influencer are highly dependent on the reach the influencer has on the chosen social media platform. This demands frequent quality content creation and significant time investment. In our Salary in different stages of a Social Media Influencer section, we have emphasized the importance of it based on the statistics. 

Type of industries Hiring Social Media Influencers 

As mentioned above, social media influencers collaborate with possibly most of the industries out there. The game to stay relevant with the upcoming trends and increase sales is stronger than ever. 

Here are a few industries you might get an opportunity to work with in your career as a social media influencer:

• Beauty and Lifestyle industry
• Food industry 
• Tech Industry
• Travel industry
• Ecommerce
• Finance industry
• Film and Entertainment industry
• Gaming industry

Courses to upskill as a Social Media Influencer

Being a social media influencer requires a thorough understanding of the user interface, search algorithm, and performance of the target social media platform.

Online courses can help you become a more strategic influencer by providing advice on increasing your audience, brand awareness, and marketing strategies. Here are a few courses you can try to upskill your career as a social media influencer:

• Campaign Strategy and Messaging by MasterClass
• Becoming an Instagram Influencer: Creating Authentic Content and Monetizing Your Following by Skillshare
• Influencer Strategy by CIM
• How to Go From 0 to 500K+ Followers in 12 Months by Foundr
• The Ultimate Online Influencer Marketing Course by TribeGrowth

Qualifications to become a Social Media Influencer

A social media influencer need not have a specific educational background. One is free to select any stream. Many influencers’ educational backgrounds differ from the content creation subject. There isn’t a set standard for it.

The eligibility criteria and top colleges for individuals aspiring to have a career as a social media influencer are discussed in detail in our previous blog- How to become a social media influencer.

Degrees in India 

A degree in an area such as mass media, digital marketing, finance, or advertising, among others, will aid in the effective and efficient generation and delivery of information.

UG degree 

The duration of the undergraduate courses is 3-4 years. A minimum of 55% in Grade 12 from a recognized university is a prerequisite. Here are a few courses you can try to start your career as a social media influencer:

• Bachelors in Journalism
• Bachelors in Journalism and Communication
• Bachelors in Mass Media
• Bachelors in Business Management
• Bachelors in Management Studies

PG 

Postgraduation courses are not compulsory criteria, they can be a good addition to your knowledge base, and increase credibility. A minimum of 50% in your undergraduate program or equivalent grade point average is required. Universities may also conduct entrance exams and interviews.

Here are a few postgraduate courses you can try to upskill in your career as a social media influencer:

Degrees Abroad 

The degrees, eligibility criteria, and top colleges abroad are discussed in our previous blog. A person deciding to build a career as a social media influencer can pursue a bachelor’s in Media, Journalism & Digital Cultures, Film and Media Production, Business Management with Marketing, etc. 

The eligibility criteria to apply for courses abroad for a postgraduate degree are:

• Minimum of 55% or equivalent grade point average in graduation
• Language proficiency score: TOEFL, IELTS, PTE
• SOP, LOR, Application Essay
• Portfolio (add-on)

Here are a few postgraduate courses abroad you can try to upskill in your career as a social media influencer:

References for Social Media Influencers

Books to read for a career as a Social Media Influencer

• Influencer: Building your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media by Brittany Hennessy 
• Influence: How Social Media Influencers are Shaping Our Digital Future by Sara McCorquodale
• One Million Followers, Updated Edition: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days by Brendan Kane
• INSTAGRAM MARKETING SECRETS 2021: The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Grow Your Following, Become a Social Media Influencer with Your Personal Brand, Set a Business Plan and Make More Money by Alan Kennedy and Gary Godin
• The Regulation of Social Media Influencers by Elgar Law, Technology and Society series
• No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram by Sarah Frier
• The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media by Paul Gillin
• The Age of Influence: The Power of Influencers to Elevate Your Brand by Neal Schaffer
• The Influencer Code: How to Unlock the Power of Influencer Marketing by Amanda Russell
• Social Media Marketing Secrets: The Book That Shows How Some Instagram Influencers, Facebook Stars, and YouTube Vloggers Built a Massive Audience and Became Famous (Building Your One Million Followers) by Justin Parker

Top Social Media Influencers to follow in your career as a Social Media Influencer:

Social Media is often seen by older generations as something that has a negative influence. However, it is also a place that holds infinite possibilities. Building a positive media presence can help overturn this taboo attached to social media. And you can contribute to this with your creativity in your career as a social media influencer. 

FAQ Section for Career as a Social Media Influencer

Expectation vs Reality: Influencer Marketing

What does a Youtuber really do?

What does a Social Media Manager Really Do?

Changes to the new SAT in 2023

View all stories