HALIFAX -- "Social media influencer" is a term some may not have heard of just a few years ago, but it’s growing in popularity, even in the Maritimes.
Alicia McCarvell is a full-time influencer, spending her days coming up with creative ways to grow her viewership.
It can be a busy job, considering just one of McCarvell’s Instagram videos can reach more than 200,000 people.
“Ending their day with a laugh and finding humour in the simplest things,” said McCarvell.
Due to McCarvell’s growing popularity, some companies are now asking her to advertise their products for a fee.
She left her job to make creating content her full-time gig.
“I consider myself a TV channel that you’d be like, watching on a regular, and then have a commercial, or a product that I enjoy and that’s something that’s important to me,” said McCarvell.
And she isn’t the only Maritimer coming up with content.
When COVID-19 cancelled Andy Hay’s catering orders, he set up a phone in his kitchen and pressed record to see what he could do.
“So, I did that for 100 days straight, didn’t miss a single day and I more than doubled my Instagram following and that was kind of an ‘ah-ha’ moment, being like, ‘I can do this as a full-time job now,’” said Hay.
Brands started hiring Hay to sometimes cook with their ingredients, and although he makes the process look easy, that isn’t always the case.
“Each video, I have a full camera set up, lights, the shooting will probably take me two to three hours,” said Hay.
Digital marketing strategist Ross Simmonds says there isn’t a threshold of followers needed to become an influencer. Even someone with 1,000 followers could generate interest.
“When you start to hit the tens of thousands, 50,000, 100,000, 200,000, that’s when you can definitely start to see a significant increase in the demand of your services,” said Simmonds.
