Both aspiring and inspiring, older influencers are turning their digital platforms into gold. Both men and women over 50 and more are senior influencers who are winning millions of viewers on social media with their advice about style, fearless individualism, and just a plain old thirst for life.
When influencers get old, some will retire on eh money they earned. However, most will need to enter the proper economy. Among these returnees, most will acquire mundane jobs. However, some can leverage their time as influencers to develop marketing and brand management careers.
From the 60-to-70-year-old men calling themselves the Old Gays (6.2 million followers on TikTok) to the 50-plus women such as Karla Rockmore, Trinny Woodall, and Grece Ghanem (over 500,000 each), these social celebrities are breathing life into everyday people who just so happen to be older, and consumers of all ages can relate.
It makes sense why impactful teams such as The Old Gays — 60-to-70-year-olds — and Frank, 75-year-old granddads, were able to amass millions of followers on TikTok…and tens of thousands of dollars. The growth of social media has led to the ascendance of the influencer, who, at the high end, can earn millions of dollars per year promoting products.
The Rise and Eventual Fall of Influencers
As influencers rise in stature and increase in social media followers, it makes individuals more appealing to brands looking to cultivate a sense of community and credibility with prospective, sometimes unsung, customers. The influencer’s success can be attributed to building deep connections with his followers. It depends on brands and influencers’ ability to produce authentic content and establish trust with their followers.
With a specific, authentic personal brand, the right partnership opportunities should develop organically, lasting well into the future as influencers grow older and build their brands. By accepting who they are, instead of boxing them in with a particular image, influencers will likely discover new ways of working with brands across a broader range of campaigns.
The more brands recognize that influencers do not have to fit in one single box, the more creative they can get with their campaigns, activations, and events. If you are not already working with them on influencer marketing campaigns, then most certainly keep an eye out on social media for influencers; check out their endorsement posts and stories about products and brands that they like, with the XYZ Code to save a percentage.
How Influencers Study Their Markets
By tuning into mentions on your social media channels and the blog posts are written about your brand, you will discover influencers and advocates you did not know about. Once you begin finding influencers who appear to be a good fit for your brand, I recommend keeping a Twitter to organize and follow them more efficiently. Sharing the posts that influencers are writing about you on your social media outlets will drive more traffic to their sites and make them feel important.
Now, with recommendations and criticism spreading through social media at the rate of a wildfire through a barren field, influencers are active on social media and blogs. Influencer marketing is on the rise again today, having evolved to place a greater emphasis on customization and authenticity. Although a larger platform always presents opportunities, brands are also turning to micro-bloggers and nano-bloggers to reach an increasingly sophisticated, niche base of customers.
Influencer culture has also evolved, with things looking very different from the early years on social media or even a year ago.
On the other hand, influencer marketing has looked less impactful over the past few months — it is hard to count on mainstream influencer marketing campaigns to make an impact globally.
Instead, companies and influencers focusing on high-quality, authentic content – not made for the masses but that resonates strongly with their target audiences – are finding the most tremendous. This trend seems likely to continue as social media content continues to be tailored to users. With this increase in size and reach of creative outlets and tools across social media, coupled with an adept consumer base, companies are looking more towards micro- and nano-influencers, who are connected to a base of niche followers and possess more excellent product knowledge.
Social Media Influencers and Their Career Trajectories
Social media influencers specializing in fashion and beauty can look toward more visual-focused platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to show off their expertise and interact with followers and increase their credibility and connections further. There are dedicated marketing platforms connecting brands to influencers and content creators. Simultaneously, TikTok Creator Funds and media connecting influencers to brands are helping individuals to get the most out of influencer marketing opportunities.
Instagram now allows brands to access influencer followings and pay them for sponsored posts and content. Companies publish paid content opportunities on these sites; influencers set up accounts and apply to be selected. Brands will typically pay influencers according to how many followers they have.
Most influencer marketers affect consumers to buy, making sales 91% of the time, by age 16-24, who are exposed to advertising across social media. Many contemporary influencers begin by building up their brands and influence across social media.
Since the rise of Instagram and Snap, there has been an increasing number of online influencers, mainly in lifestyle niches (beauty, fashion, travel) and tech niches (consumer electronics), who enjoy the credulity of brands who believe that they could build a real business working with them. Age and influence are enjoying a good co-existence in fashion and pop culture, which is getting retailers and brands noticing.
Younger influencers play an essential role in the marketing game on Instagram, but quietly (and rapidly) emerging on the fringes is a crop of women bucking the idea that age means that you cannot still look good, be fit, healthy, and stylish. Part of the appeal of working with influencers is that they are living, breathing humans, and brands who can show their lives are bound to relate to their audiences authentically. For the micro-influencer, that payoff enjoyed by stars is a ways off.
