Research shows how social media influencers can make their work pay

“There are around 50-million influencers worldwide and it is increasingly seen as a desirable career for people who want to pursue meaningful work and also get paid for what they love doing,” says Dr Sarah Glozer of the university’s School of Management. 

“But the stark reality is most are doing it for free, or settling for gifts-in-kind or promises of future exposure. The big challenge is making it viable.”  

The study, co-authored by Dr Hannah Trittin-Ulbrich from Leuphana University in Germany, notes that this is also complicated by some influencers struggling to reconcile the pursuit of pay with work that may have started as a hobby or a personal passion, and failing to understand how to value their contribution commercially. 

Dr Glozer says the study identified three key elements that enabled influencers to move away from producing commercial content for free: authenticity; relationality (building connections and networks); and quantification. The latter is effective use of data and metrics to assess impact and make the case to big brands and companies. 

“The key is to combine all three elements. Our research suggests commercial success won’t follow if only one or two of these conditions are met,” she explains. 

Importance of authentic content 

“Authenticity was highly prized. We found this emerging profession to be strongly characterised by a widespread commitment to creating ‘authentic’ high-quality content. Influencing provided personal fulfilment, enriching their lives and, in some cases, safeguarding their mental health.  

“This also is attractive to companies engaging with influencers, who put a high value on who the influencers are and the content they produce.”  

Authenticity also had a strong bearing on the second factor for success: relationality. 

Says Glozer: “Influencers were vividly aware of their roles as ‘hybrid salespeople’ and the need to build connections with their followers to enrich the market worth of their work and to keep those engagement rates high. But it’s a tricky balancing act; their followers are wary of them becoming too commercial and losing their authenticity.” 

She adds that their research showed authenticity and human connection mattered deeply to many influencers, who talked passionately about the friendships they had built with their followers, connections that made the influencers more commercially viable but also enhanced the meaning of their work. 

Thirdly, successful influencing demands quantification. Glozer notes that most influencers consistently, even obsessively, measure social media metrics facilitated by platform algorithms such as ‘follower counts’. 

“There is, however, a dark side to this quantification. The Holy Grail of influencing is passing the 10,000-follower mark, when influencers can use the ‘swipe up’ feature on Instagram to add links directly to their stories. This can lead many to feel that they can’t demand payment for their work before that point,” Glozer states. 

The findings are published in the academic journal Human Relations.