What exactly does an influencer do day-to-day? With social media expanding the possibilities of building one’s brand online, the world of influencer marketing continues to grow in prominence and opportunity.

This guide will explore influencers’ essential duties and responsibilities to grow their audience and partner with brands. We’ll also overview typical challenges, skills needed, platforms utilized, and what motivates influencers daily.

Key Points

• Influencers build an audience around their brand and niche by creating content and engaging with followers.
• Critical inspirers tasks include content creation, affiliate marketing, brand partnerships, event appearances, and analyzing performance.
• Influencers provide brand value by expanding reach, driving engagement, boosting sales, and enhancing trust.
• Typical platforms used by influencers include Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, blogs, and Podcasts.
• Influencer requires consistency, creativity, business savvy, and strong communication abilities.

Core Influencer Responsibilities

inspirers focus on these primary tasks:

• Content Creation: Producing consistent, high-quality photos, videos, blogs, Podcasts, and other content that provides value for their niche audience and supports their brand. This can include heavily planned content for IGTV or TikTok and more casual Instagram Stories or Snapchat updates.
• Audience Engagement: Ensuring constant engagement with current audience members by replying to messages and comments, asking questions, running polls and contests, encouraging user-generated content submissions, and more. This strengthens the influencer’s connection with supporters.
• Affiliate Programs: Promoting relevant products the influencer genuinely likes and believes their audience would enjoy through affiliate links that provide commission on any sales driven.
• Brand Partnerships: Collaborating with brands the inspirer aligns with ideologically on sponsored content campaigns, creative assets, product seeding, exclusive discounts, events, and other partnership opportunities.
• Performance Analysis: Tracking audience growth, engagement metrics, content performance, affiliate sales, and other analytics to guide the influencer’s strategy and demonstrate ROI to interested brands.

In addition to their online presence, influencers may take on public appearances at relevant industry events, creative photo shoots to expand their content library, networking opportunities to foster potential connections, media interviews, and other tasks that support their overall game plan.

Why Brands Value Influencers

From large corporations to early-stage startups, an increasing range of brands leverage influencers in their marketing approach. But what value do influencers indeed provide?

Expanded Reach

By tapping into an existing engaged audience that an inspirer has built up, brands can quickly scale their reach, exposing their products, services, or causes to new demographics and expanding their total audience footprint.

Boosted Engagement

The influencer’s connection drives higher engagement levels on sponsored content than the brand’s organic posting on its channels. Their followers are invested in consuming and interacting with the creator’s content.

Increased Sales

Through tactics from affiliate marketing to exclusive discount codes, influencer campaigns motivate consumers to take action and drive more sales for their partner brands.

Enhanced Trust

60% of consumers trust influencer recommendations on what products to buy. Their authenticity and niche expertise allow them to boost brand credibility and sentiment.

Now that we’ve explored why brands increasingly seek out influencers let’s overview the typical skills, platforms, and motivation needed to succeed as an influencer.

Essential Skills Strong Influencers Possess

Succeeding as an influencer takes more than just creating and posting content online. It requires a strategic, multi-faceted approach backed by these core skills:

• Consistency: Posting high-quality content on a regular cadence that followers can rely on, whether it’s multiple TikToks per day or two blogs per week.
• Creativity: Producing content ideas, angles, and assets that help them stand out in their niche while keeping followers engaged with fun, helpful content.
• Business Savvy: Manage campaigns, negotiate rates, track analytics, and handle finances to run their influencer channel professionally.
• Communication: Respond promptly to comments and messages, articulating their brand effectively to prospective partners, and liaising with contacts.
• Confidence On Camera: Appearing natural, energetic, and authoritative on video and live streams to maximize likability and trust with their audience.

Additionally, narrower niches often benefit from industry expertise—a fashion influencer who keeps up with the latest runway trends or a gaming influencer with a competitive online gaming experience.

Primary Platforms Influencers Use

While influencers can leverage an array of sites and apps to grow their brand, these platforms see extreme influencer usage:

• Instagram: Still the #1 hub for influencer content, from polished photos to Instagram Stories.
• TikTok: Short-form video has massive momentum lately for building loyal follower bases fast.
• YouTube: For longer-form, evergreen video content often focused on tutorials, reviews, hauls, and vlogs around specific passions.
• Blogs: Allow in-depth, long-form writing on topics influencers are highly knowledgeable about.
• Podcasts: A match for audio-first creators to deepen discussions on niche topics they connect with.

Most influencers focus on one or two primary channels—establishing deep roots in a platform before expanding their reach. However, having a presence across multiple sites allows showcasing different content formats to reach fans in the way they like to engage online.

And influencers pay close attention to emerging apps—like starting early on BeReal as the next potential breakout platform.

What Motivates Influencers Each Day

While creating content, launching campaigns, and analyzing data may sound like a marketing job to some—for influencers, it’s a genuine passion and lifestyle. Here’s what truly drives them day after day:

• Creative Expression: The ability to ideate fun concepts, bring flair, and flex their creative muscles motivates influencers in content creation.
• Connecting With Community: Developing an authentic connection and relationship with their niche audience—not just broadcasting to anonymous followers.
• Autonomy Over Career: Controlling their destiny compared to a traditional job, with the flexibility to work how and when they choose.
• Evolving With Trends: Staying on the pulse of the latest online trends in their industry and brainstorming their unique spin keeps the job dynamic.
• Collaborating With Brands: Collaborating with brands they respect and admire—not just promoting any random company.

Now that we’ve explored the critical ingredients for influencer marketing success, let’s run through some frequently asked questions from aspiring influencers and brands wanting to work with them.

FAQs on Understanding Influencers

What does an influencer do to stand out these days?

With endless influencers trying to make it big on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and beyond, standing out takes next-level creativity, consistency, and commitment to a niche. Trend-jacking hot topics with a unique spin, committing to ambitious content calendars, and showcasing real personalities help influencers rise above algorithm noise.

How much does an influencer make?

Influencer income can vary dramatically from a couple hundred to tens of thousands per sponsored post—depending on the niche, follower count, engagement levels, and overall brand credibility. Most influencers also pursue revenue streams beyond sponsored posts like affiliate sales, digital products, ads, creator funds, consulting, events, and sometimes product lines once their brand scales up.

What skills are most important for being an influencer?

Beyond just creating an endless content stream, stellar influencers need creativity, consistency, business management skills, strong communication, analytical abilities, and confidence on camera or through voice and writing. Influencers are often one-person businesses with many roles wrapped into one.

How do I start working with influencers as a brand?

The best course is to research influencers in your niche thoroughly—understand their tone, topics, engagement levels, and overall aesthetic. Make sure you and any products are an authentic fit. Then, directly discuss partnership opportunities that provide mutual value: Content creation, discount codes, contests, product seeding, and more. Be flexible on compensation, whether products, revenue share, fixed fees, etc.

What legal paperwork do influencers and brands need?

Before running any sponsored campaigns, both parties should sign and agree to an official influencer contract outlining expectations, usage rights, payment timeline, amounts, success metrics, legal protections for either side should issues arise, FTC disclosure guidelines, and more key terms. Consulting a lawyer can help ensure it’s binding.

Wrapping Up

Modern influencers wear many hats—talented content creators, social media experts, persuasive brand partners, business-savvy marketers, and community connectors. It takes creativity, tenacity, and passion in their niche to succeed long-term and forge authentic collaborations with relevant brands.

But for influencers, it’s more than a full-time job. It’s the ability to pursue their interests online daily, deeply engage with audiences who share those passions, express themselves creatively, and control their success.