VALUE, RELATABILITY, AUTHENTICITY

While everyone can easily create content, and with billions of content being published on a daily basis, how were influencers able to stand out and attract a large number of followers?

“I think anyone can create content but not anyone can be an influencer,” Ms. Soriano said, and added that influencers are able to sustain significantly large influence by managing the identity and persona she aforementioned.

This identity or persona — for example, an influencer who consistently posts about fashion, is able to cater to a particular niche audience — helps sustain an influence because they have the capacity to appear to be an expert or kind of retain a certain kind of expertise in relation to a particular realm.

Moreover, Ms. Soriano said people get enamored with influencers because they create value through these ‘expertise.’

“That’s one import thing. You cannot retain influence if you’re not creating value... You kind of consistently create value that people will follow,” she said, adding that one way influencers to these is by sharing tips on a particular kind of topic or expertise.

Ms. Soriano also said that the creation of personal intimacies — where influencers create a notion of intimacy with their audience and their followers — enables them to sustain the audience they have.

“That’s curated. They post things that make them appear relatable but also make them appear close to their audience. It’s a different thing compared to celebrities who may seem unreachable; whereas for these ones, they have this sense of relatability plus intimacy as if you’re just friends. It really creates that affect.”

“They will post snippets in what they do in ordinary days; they will post everyday something that a normal person would do; then they would say, ‘Hi’ to you — that’s also a strategy of curating an intimacy with their followers. You can really see influencers where you can notice that people