Written by: Tommy FroehleI came home yesterday and my wife was watching one of her awful dating shows. I believe this time it was “90-day fiance.” It starts by introducing a girl with very large lips whose name escapes me as a “social media influencer.” I started thinking what the hell does an “influencer” do? What is influencer marketing?After a few Google searches, I instantly had dreams of posting a picture wearing another company's logo and them paying me $250,000 to do it. I quickly came back to reality when I realized you probably have to be good looking and get more than 15 likes and your Instagram posts to fit the mold of “Influencer”.

Who exactly are influencer marketers?

Social media influencers are people who have built a reputation for their expertise on a specific topic. They make regular posts about that topic on their preferred social media channels. In turn they generate large followings of enthusiastic people who pay close attention to their views. Brands love social media influencers because they can create trends. More importantly they can encourage their followers to buy products they promote.What I took from my research about influencer marketing is that influencers are usually celebrities. For example, Kim Kardashian charges up to half a million dollars to reference a company in an Instagram post. Must be nice.I discovered that 3.5 billion people actively use social media - that's 45% of the world’s population. So maybe it’s not that crazy to pay these people to promote your brand. I won’t lie to you guys, if someone whom I find interesting or “look up to” is talking about a brand I usually look into it. This is the way the world is going. The days of advertising in the yellow pages are long gone. To stay up to date with the latest from Embee Media, be sure to check out other Tommy's Takes and subscribe to our newsletter!