«Many think that being an ‘influencer’ is easy, that it is enough to publish videos on TikTok. “It’s much more than that!” says Marta Hughes, who aspires to make a living from this contemporary profession and is preparing for it at an Irish university. Since September, the young woman has been following the courses of this new training, called ‘Content creation and social networks’, taught for four years at the Southeast Technological University (SETU), in Carlow, 80 kilometers from Dublin.
The ‘influencer’ career has appeared recently, but it attracts many young people from generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012. “It is something that is growing enormously,” the director of this particular university career, Irene McCormick, tells AFP. This former television producer began offering an intensive summer course taught by TikTokers, which attracted 350 applications for 30 places.
«The project was incredibly successful. We saw that there was a big appetite, so we decided to go for the diploma level,” he explains. The training teaches aspiring influencers how to turn their presence and content on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube into a source of income.
After two years of preparation, the course was approved and welcomed its first batch of 15 students last month. On campus, between classes, students chat, take selfies and browse on their smartphones.
«My friends always tell me that I talk a lot. I thought to myself that maybe I could make money from it and try this training,” says Harry Odife, 22. Most students are already immersed in the digital world, but are looking for additional tools and knowledge, according to McCormick.
“You can try to learn on your own at home, but acquiring practical and theoretical knowledge about how to reach a specific audience will make a big difference in your career,” says the director.
Stratospheric income and a lot of media impact
The term ‘influencer’, a person known on social media who uses their celebrity to recommend, promote or generate interest in products and brands, often in exchange for remuneration, recently entered the dictionary.
The most popular, such as the American and British YouTubers MrBeast or KSI, reach considerable audiences, generating a lot of media impact, and obtain stratospheric income from brand sponsorships or advertisements. “We were interested in how to monetize their influence with a large online audience,” McCormick says.
“I post many of the hairstyles I do on TikTok and Instagram and I would like to learn how to make a real business out of it,” explains Favor Ehuchie, an 18-year-old hairdresser.
For her part, Marta Hughes, passionate about horse riding, affirms that horse teams are now looking for personnel capable of dominating social networks. Steps to obtain the diploma include courses in video creation, entrepreneurship, psychology and storytelling, data analysis and podcast production.
Marketing experts
Content creation involves “editing, planning, organizing, etc. It takes longer than you think, people don’t really understand it,” says Marta Hughes.
“Learning to feel comfortable in front of cameras will help us gain confidence in ourselves, whatever our profession,” emphasizes another student, Naoise Kelly, specifying that her top priority is not to become the next social media star. According to McCormick, there are many job opportunities for influencers.
“Approximately 70% of marketing specialists today consider that ‘influencers’ are the future of the sector; governments also use them to transmit messages,” he emphasizes. “The publications of ‘influencers’ on social networks can sometimes be frivolous, but the activity itself is not, it is a very serious business,” he concludes.
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