If you want to know how much the influencer economy is worth, just look at your TikTok or Instagram feed, which is probably full of people offering advice about everything from make-up to fashion, real estate, business or healthcare. The influencer marketing industry has gone from being worth $1.7 billion in 2016 to roughly $24 billion at the end of 2024.
Behind these statistics lies a deep change in how we consume information and make purchasing decisions. Today's consumers want authentic voices they can trust and real people who share their interests and challenges. This is why influencers fill multiple roles in our digital ecosystem. They educate audiences about complex topics, curate products that work, build communities around shared passions and provide entertainment that feels personal and relatable. Actually, research has shown that 57% of Gen Z would want to be content creators, recognizing that influence has become a legitimate career path with real earning potential.
So how does this purpose get built, and once you have found your purpose, how can you make it a sustainable career? Let’s look at some fundamentals.
Successful influencers are the ones who can build engaged communities. Very often, those are quite small groups, and they are based around a shared interest. These micro-communities are often more valuable than a massive audience because they’re built on common goals, questions, or real consumer behavior and experiences. No fake followers here.
Niche expertise plays a big role, it gives you the purpose that we’re talking about in this article. Followers gravitate towards creators who know their subject inside out. A fitness coach with deep knowledge of postpartum training or a fashion influencer who specializes in sustainable brands becomes a trusted voice within that topic. Over time, that trust turns into loyalty. And that loyalty drives engagement: followers comment, ask questions, and share content with friends who care about the same things.
There are plenty of examples of this working well. A book reviewer on TikTok builds a tight community of romance readers who swap recommendations. A YouTube influencer who specializes in finance grows a loyal following by sharing relatable budgeting tips for freelancers. A TikTok influencer builds a following of digital nomads looking for productivity tips while travelling.
If you are a social media influencer or interested in the world of content creation, you must have heard about the concept of micro learning. This is where you're posting content in a short and focused format: reels, carousels, infographics, that truly teach your followers about topics they’re interested in. Whether you're explaining skincare routines, breaking down complex news stories or showing how to budget on a tight income, you're filling gaps that traditional education leaves behind.
Your followers come to you because you make complicated stuff easy to understand. You take trending topics and explain them in ways that make sense. When TikTok creators break down political issues or Instagram influencers teach DIY home repairs, they're doing something schools and universities often struggle with: making learning engaging and accessible. Your audience actively wants to learn from you. They're not being forced to sit through a boring lecture. In their mind, it's not marketing science, they chose to follow you because they trust your take on things.
When you genuinely love something and share it, people listen. Your followers save money and time because you've already tested products and can tell them what works. But here's what makes you different from traditional advertising: you can admit when something sucks. Your honesty about bad purchases makes your good recommendations even more valuable as the right influencer for your target audience. When you say something is worth buying, people believe you because it's social proof.
If people only wanted traditional education or product reviews, they’d go to school or to a trade magazine. The truth is that as an influencer, your content should also be fun to watch. Your day-in-the-life videos, funny takes on trending topics and behind-the-scenes content give people a break from their routine. When you share your apartment setup, your workout routine or how you organize your schedule, you're giving people ideas for their own lives.
Your content helps people feel less alone. When you talk about struggling with motivation or share your failures alongside your wins, you create connections that traditional brand awareness campaigns or even a celebrity endorsement deal can't match. People see themselves in your stories and feel understood.
The creator economy is moving fast, and it's getting pretty exciting. AI tools are making engaging content creation easier, but they're also making authentic human connections more valuable than ever. While anyone can generate a generic caption for any social network, your personal take and real experiences can't be replicated.
We're seeing creators get more specialized instead of trying to be everything to everyone. Instead of general lifestyle content, successful creators are becoming the go-to expert in super specific niches. Think skincare for sensitive skin, budgeting for college students, or workout routines for small apartments.
The platforms are changing too, short form video still rules the feeds, but we're seeing more interest in longer conversations. People want to talk to the creators they follow, and this is opening up new ways for multiple influencers to make money.
If you're serious about making a living as a creator, the best thing to do is to start diversifying your income early on. Brand deals, sponsored content and influencer partnership activities for example are great and lucrative, but they can come and go, plus they take time to set up. You also don't want to be too much at the mercy of algorithms, having to fix your content every time a social media platform has an update. That’s why it's important to build direct relationships with your followers on their own terms and that’s where direct monetization comes in. When your followers pay you directly for advice, opinions and answers, you’re not waiting on influencer marketing campaign budgets or hoping a Reel goes viral. You’re earning based on what you already know and how much people trust you.
Platforms like ASKPPL make this very easy and straightforward. You can start getting paid just to answer the kinds of questions people are already dropping in your DMs. It’s reliable, and it grows with your knowledge not just your follower count. It's perfect if you have a niche audience that is highly engaged with your content.
Going from posting for fun to actually making money can feel like a big leap, but it doesn’t need to be. Start with what you’re already good at.
Check your DMs or comments to understand what people are asking you about. That’s the stuff people already trust you for, and that’s exactly what you can start charging for.
You don’t need a huge following, either. Some creators with 10k followers are earning more than people with 100k because they’ve built real trust, not just numbers.
Keep it simple at first. Pick one monetization method and get good at it. If you’re always answering questions, try ASKPPL. You can set your price and get paid for the one-on-one chats you’re already giving away for free. If product recs are more your thing, start with affiliate links for stuff you actually use. This will work for a micro influencer as well as it will for larger influencers.
And treat it like a business from day one. Build your social media strategy, keep track of what you're doing, what you're earning, and what’s actually worth your time.
Trying to be everything to everyone usually leads to nothing. Focus on what your audience comes to you for, whether it’s no-nonsense skincare or real-life money tips. The more specific you are, the more valuable you become.
People follow you because you’re real. Be clear about what works for you and what doesn’t. The moment your recommendations stop feeling genuine, you’ll lose trust and that’s the one thing you can’t afford to drop.
Brand deals are great, but they're not the only source of income for creators. There are many new apps and tools like ASKPPL which help you build income you control and allow you to manage your time better.
If people already trust your advice, don’t wait for a follower milestone. You’re already doing the work so you might as well get paid for it.
If you’re serious about building a business as a social media influencer, you need a strategy to hack your way through the content creator economy
If you're trying to make it in the content creator economy, you simply have to keep up with trends because they shape how social media marketing works