Andy Warhol said that each person would be famous for 15 minutes, because that future has arrived for influencers. This anglicism refers to people who influence the tastes of others through social networks. The main Colombian influencers are the successful ones in their work with millions of followers: Shakira (89.7), Karol G (66.7), James Rodríguez (52.0), etc. Celebrities whose notoriety comes from being famous are beginning to appear in these rankings: Anllela Sagra (25.0), Carmen Villalobos (22.5), Borrego (20.0), etc. Their comments, recommendations and experiences enjoy a captive audience. They are changing the world of business, advertising, and now even the DIAN has them in its sights.
Before social networks, Colombians shared their cultural experiences. They remember the voices of Yamid Amat and Juan Gossaín, the soap operas on Channel One and Channel A, but also ‘Ugly Betty’. You could only watch cartoons on Saturday mornings and soap operas after the news. The scheme of sticking to a specific content schedule died with social media. For gastronomy, Tulio Recommends; in well-being, Silvana Araújo; in beauty they follow Pautips, they are passionate about the life of Calle and Poche, in technology Charlie Álvarez and Christian Byfield for tourism. Today networks allow specific information from specialized communities at any time.
In Colombia, at least 645 thousand people identify themselves as content creators, according to Influencity, although not all of them monetize, they do build a community. In the US, at least 57% of Generation Z say they want to be an influencer. The growth in Colombia is effervescent: after Brazil, we are the second country in the region with the highest investment in influencers. The growth is explained not only by its visibility but by its effectiveness; a study by Influencer Marketing Hub showed that each peso invested generates 5.78 pesos of sales. The power of a trusted person’s testimony to a focused audience is more profitable than widespread advertising; how long this lasts is unclear.
For business purposes, nano-influencers (less than 10k), micro-influencers (10k-100k), macro-influencers (100k-1m) and mega-influencers with more than a million already have other categories. While a nano can charge $500,000 for each campaign, the macro can be $10 million. The mega already comfortably exceed $50 million. It’s not just communicating with a lot of people, it’s the trust they generate. The trend in the US is that the advertising pie of influencers who have less than 20k followers in the last three years has gone from 20% to 45% of the total.
From investing only $8,757 million in 2019, the reported influencer campaigns in 2023 exceeded $117,563 million in Colombia. With an annualized growth of 77% during 2023, many campaigns are either paid informally or in kind, the amount could be much higher. It is estimated that, in 2024, with mass adoption by several corporations, it will exceed $300 billion. It is not in vain that the DIAN is putting a magnifying glass on the sector, auditing the income of more than 40 influencers. The rules must be followed, but hopefully the new regulation does not kill innovation.
