Conferences, meetings with influencer agencies or “speed dating with brands” are on the program of the “creative campus”, which is held until Sunday in Paris.
Want to make a career as an influencer and catch the eye of a big brand? Instagram is offering training for the first time in France for its users who are most eager to “make it their job”.
Conferences, meetings with influencer agencies or “speed dating with brands” are on the program of the “creative campus”, which is held until Sunday, November 14 in Paris. Shimmering colors, pastel neon lights, all-out screens…: everything has been thought of to make the former barracks in the 10th arrondissement an “instagrammable” paradise.
The event is dedicated to “creative people” who “want to learn and know the platform”, explains Guillaume Thevenin, responsible for partnerships at Instagram.
Invited or selected after sending a “reel” (a short video posted on Instagram), these novice influencers can improve their interactions with the media or learn how to make short films. But above all, benefit from advice on how to generate income from their production, by creating partnerships with brands, “the main source of monetization for influencers”.
“Do we have to sell a product that we don’t have?” “Asks Wissam Malki, 25, during a“ merchandising ”workshop. Ex-law student, she took “a sabbatical year” to “develop (s) our potential” and break into modeling, via social networks.
A hope nourished by the presence of some twenty brands and organizations, such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Aigle and L’Oréal. “We really like creative people,” smiles the representative of a major brand, who requires anonymity. Influencers make it possible to speak “the right language” to “the youngest audiences,” he explains.
“A lot, a lot of work”
Some little prodigies, highlighted by Instagram, such as Ahmet Furkan Kay, alias Fukay, 770,000 subscribers on the counter, manage to make a living from these partnerships. The 24-year-old Belgian offers “pranks” and “challenges” (hoaxes and challenges) and has managed to live from them for “a year, a year and a half”.
If he declares today, in a burst of laughter, to earn “between one euro a month and three billion”, he assures that three years ago, at his beginnings, he did not know “that there was a euro to be taken on these platforms ”. “I did not have the same speech five years ago,” adds William Carnimolla, 41, former television host on M6, model and stylist, present on campus. “But now, I think we can create something from A to Z with Instagram and make money,” he says. “It’s possible, but it’s a real job”.
“It’s a lot, a lot of work,” insists Sophie Tran, 29, who has made her business “Lyon can do it” flourish on Instagram. Her account, which highlights creators and events, has enabled her in four years to have “a corner at Galeries Lafayette” and to publish “a city guide”, she enthuses.
His career, like that of Ahmet, arouses vocations. According to a YouGov study commissioned by Instagram, more than half of 18-34 year olds believe that influencing networks is a profession of the future. But recklessness is not enough: “Of all the people who are present today, there are perhaps only two or three who will succeed,” admits William Carnimolla.
And at what cost? The question of income, although central, remains unclear. Instagram is working to provide professional content creators with new funding levers. The platform is thus experimenting “in the United States, the United Kingdom and now in France” a system of paid subscriptions.
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