A critical history of the social media influencer’s rise to global prominence Before there were Instagram likes, Twitter hashtags, or TikTok trends, there were bloggers who seemed to have the passion and authenticity that traditional media lacked. The Influencer Industry tells the story of how early digital creators scrambling for work amid the Great Recession gave rise to the multibillion-dollar industry that has fundamentally reshaped culture, the flow of information, and the way we relate to ourselves and each other. Drawing on dozens of in-depth interviews with leading social media influencers, brand executives, marketers, talent managers, trend forecasters, and others, Emily Hund shows how early industry participants focused on creating and monetizing digital personal brands as a means of exerting control over their professional destinies in a time of acute economic uncertainty. Over time, their activities coalesced into an industry whose impact has reached far beyond the dreams of its progenitors—and beyond their control. Hund illustrates how the methods they developed for creating, monetizing, and marketing social media content have permeated our lives and untangles the unforeseen cultural and economic costs. The Influencer Industry reveals how, in an increasingly fractured and profit-driven communications environment, the people we think of as “real” are merely those who have learned to exploit the industry’s ever-shifting constructions of authenticity.

Written by an expert on the new age of Internet networking and a practicing dentist who owns a multi-million-dollar Texas practice, Industry Influencer helps readers unlock “Triangle of Genius” to turn side hustles into lucrative and meaningful online engagements. Dr. Glenn Vo delivers a unique twist on traditional business advice, empowering readers to find their “Triangle of Genius” as a way to connect with the nearly 4 billion people on social media. Consumers are buying products and making choices on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and their equivalents in nanoseconds. Every 24 hours, a million more people join this tremendous force. Industry Influencer is highly appealing to business owners and entrepreneurs who have found themselves struggling to catch up with the relentless pace of industry influence. They’ve spent countless dollars on hiring outside agencies. They’re looking for a foothold in this exciting, but rocky, new world. Now, Industry Influencer teaches them how to have more fun and make more money while sharing their passions with up to 4 billion people.

Winfluence by award-winning digital strategist Jason Falls, is THE authoritative book about influencer marketing from the perspective of businesses and brands. An invaluable guidebook for marketing managers, small business owners, marketing consultants and agencies alike, the book explains how influencers came to be, how they came to be so powerful, why so many brands are counting on influencer marketing for business success and how anyone who is not, now can. This book not only explains the who, what, when, where, and why of influencer marketing but then adds the how—more specifically and predictably than other books can hope for. It offers detailed guidelines, case studies, cutting-edge ideas, how-tos for measuring success, and more to help any business owner, marketer, agency account person, or digital strategist see and seize the opportunity to drive business results. Through a series of narrative stories, interviews, and case studies, the book illustrates how to take what many people consider good influencer marketing to a new level of success from a long-tail perspective—not short-term, one-off executions.

This book brings order to the chaotic and rapidly evolving world of influencer marketing by providing readers with much needed context, frameworks, and best practices. Written for busy marketing professionals working in both domestic and international markets, it addresses these topics in a highly actionable and engaging manner. Digital Influence covers everything from how to identify the right influencers and determine “level of influence” to collaborating with influencers and measuring ROI. It turns out, it’s not all about paying online celebrities outrageous sums to post sponsored content. Backaler also provides much-needed context for why influencer marketing is flourishing today, and perspective into what a more technologically-enabled, globally-connected future will look like. Ultimately, people want to learn from trusted peers, not faceless companies. Better than any corporate marketing function, influencers understand how to make best use of social media platforms and tailor content for their respective cultures to engage consumers in their home markets. Business leaders should arm themselves with Backaler's book to ensure they're not left behind.

Highly Commended by the 2020 Business Book Awards Digital influencing is one of the most exciting and disruptive new media industries, forecast to be worth over £10bn by 2020. Influencers now dominate the digital world and, when it comes to growth, they are consistently outperforming traditional media and brand advertising. Despite their prominence, digital influencers continue to be misunderstood and undervalued by many people, as those charged with incorporating the influencer space into their digital strategy rarely comprehend how this extremely powerful industry works. As one of the leading authorities on the influencer space, Sara McCorquodale demystifies exactly how it operates, as she interrogates the phenomenon, analyses its problems and forecasts its future. Influence draws upon first-hand interviews with world-renowned influencers, providing an invaluable insight into the inner-workings of digital culture and how it can best be used as an effective marketing and branding platform. This compelling guide on how to effectively identify and utilise the power of influencers is a must-read for anyone who wants their business to succeed and prosper online.

For those involved in marketing and sales, this book offers essential analysis of how to identify who has influence, how they apply it, and how marketers can turn it to their advantage. This work is one of the first books to give an overview of one of the fastest growing marketing techniques to have emerged in the last ten years.

'Compelling.' Reni Eddo-Lodge A 'must-read book for 2022', as picked by Stylist More than one fifth of children want to become influencers and it's easy to understand why. What if you could escape economic uncertainty by winning the internet's attention? What if you could turn the adoration of your social media followers into a lucrative livelihood? But as Symeon Brown explores in this searing exposé, the reality is much murkier. From IRL streamers in LA to Brazilian butt lifts, from sex workers on OnlyFans to fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes, these are the incredible stories that lurk behind the filtered selfies and gleaming smiles. Exposing the fraud, exploitation, bribery, and dishonesty at the core of the influencer model, Get Rich or Lie Trying asks if our digital rat race is costing us too much. Revealing a broken economy resembling a pyramid scheme, this incredible blend of reportage and analysis will captivate and horrify you in equal measure.

The Influencer Code is the essential reference for any company looking to leverage the power of influencers to elevate their brand and grow their business. From Fortune 500s to local fitness studios, whether you offer financial services or sell donuts, reaching today's consumers is more complicated than ever. More and more, marketers are reaching out to people who style themselves "influencers": those people who have a big—and, more importantly—loyal audience ready to hear what they have to say about anything. Yet despite "influencer marketing" fast becoming one of the biggest buzz terms of the decade, it couldn't be more misunderstood. Written by an accomplished entrepreneur, professor, and award-winning YouTube star, The Influencer Code breaks down the biggest myths that brands are getting wrong and shows you how to get it right by defining and showcasing what true influencer marketing is and how to leverage it to achieve your business goals in a simple yet powerful 3-step code. The Influencer Code simplifies the complex world of influencer marketing, covering how to research, evaluate, and employ the right influencers for their markets, as well as how to legally and strategically integrate them into marketing campaigns to achieve specific goals. The future of marketing depends on forming authentic partnerships between brands and influencers. The go-to resource for all things influencer marketing, The Influencer Code is your shortcut to making that future a reality.

The influential are no longer only those with celebrity status – but until now there has been no authoritative resource on the theory and practice of influencer marketing. This book will educate and inspire decision makers, researchers, students, and influencers themselves. Diving deeper than the many "how-to" books on the influencer phenomenon, this book brings in frameworks from marketing, sociology, psychology, and communication studies to redefine the influencer as a persona (related to a person, group of people, or organization) that possesses greater than average sway over others. Cornwell and Katz go on to: introduce the influencers, macro and nano, authentic and inauthentic, ascending and fading; consider their relationship to brands in the marketing ecosystem, along with regulations that set limits on influencer marketing; describe how influence is measured and evaluated and look into the future; and bring together the latest research on influencer marketing and organize it for the reader. The book serves both those who want to understand the science behind influencer marketing and those who want to most effectively employ influencers in brand strategy. Instructors, students, and professionals will appreciate international examples from multiple industries applying theories to the real world.

This Handbook provides the first comprehensive examination of the influence industry and how it operates worldwide across different domains. The rapid evolution of emerging technologies and data-driven persuasive practices has been linked to the spread of misleading content in domestic and foreign influence campaigns. This has prompted worldwide public and policy discussions about disinformation and how to curb its spread. However, less attention has been paid to the increasingly data-driven commercial industry taking advantage of the opportunities these new technologies afford. The handbook uses the term ‘influence’ here to include not only messaging and public relations (PR), which fell within the traditional focus of propaganda studies, but to consider the infrastructure and actors behind an advanced array of capabilities that can be used in a coordinated way to affect an audience’s emotions, ideas and behaviors in order to advance a state or non-state actor’s objectives – increasingly based on data-driven profiling. The volume fills a gap in scholarship exploring the recent technical, political and economic development of this industry, surveying the extent of different technologies and services offered to clients worldwide across multiple domains (commercial, political, national security and government). The chapters are divided into three thematic sections and evaluate Influence Industry practices, aims and effectiveness across audiences; business practices and economics; and democratic structures and human rights. They also offer advice for researchers and consider key ethical issues and new regulatory approaches. This volume will be of much interest to students of political science, propaganda studies, sociology, communication studies and journalism.