Will Pursuing a Degree Help Content Creators and Influencers?

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04 Nov 2022

5 Min Read

Ailyn Low (Editor)
IN THIS ARTICLE

Is become an influencer the next big job title? We discuss whether it’s suited as a side hustle or a stable career pathway.

According to a 2019 survey by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), 72.1% of about 560,000 SPM graduates indicated that pursuing tertiary education wasn’t in their interest. Instead, it’s believed that becoming a social media influencer was a much more lucrative pathway. But is that really the case?

What Is Influencer Marketing and the Type of Social Media Influencers?

Before diving into that, our friends at Partipost Malaysia defines the different categories of social media influencers used in influencer marketing.

  • Nano Influencers: Usually having up to 5k followers, they’re able to generate the highest engagement rate. They’ve stronger bonds with their followers while generating higher credibility and authenticity.
  • Micro Influencers: Ranging between 5k to 30k followers, they also generate a high engagement rate. Influencers here cater to specific categories and are experts in their niches.
  • Macro Influencers: With 30k to 100k followers, these influencers usually have a strong and loyal base. They’re able to hit a wider reach and demographic audience while generating conversations with them.
  • Mega Influencers: AKA celebrities, they’re usually internet stars and trendsetters. They’ve the highest reach to a diverse group audience and generate conversations while leaving the highest impression.

 

Each influencer tier is able to offer different marketing values to a brand or company. For that very reason, influencer marketing has been changing the way marketing and advertising are viewed not only in Malaysia but worldwide!

Influencers and Content Creators Can Be a Steady Career Pathway

The influencer marketing sub-industry has seen an exponential global boom, and even so during the pandemic. A report by Keyhole Insights shows that the global value of this industry is expected to double within two years from its initial value of $8mil in 2019 and it’ll continue to grow steadily. So what makes an influencer?

 

The common misconception about influencers is that they’re often posting cute photos and sharing about different brands for money. While that may hold some truth, it takes much more than that. It’s a non-exhaustive list of creativity, dedication, planning and creating, networking, and hard work.

 

Being an influencer IS a full-time job that requires hard work in order to produce good quality content able to engage with audiences while growing and retaining your base. With the influx of content creators, causing an increase in content and, subsequently, fatigue, staying true and intentional with your content creation is important.

 

The question is, is it worthwhile pursuing it as a full-time career or more of a side hustle?

Why Being a Social Media Influencer Is More of a Side Hustle

1. It’s not sustainable in the long run

 

With the common perception that you’re compensated with an easy and quick buck by being an influencer, it’s no wonder that many are opting to run this course. However, not all influencers are compensated monetarily.

 

While most macro and mega influencers do receive monetary compensation, it’s normal for nano or micro-influencers to receive minimal pay or are compensated in other forms — sponsorship, social currency (think likes and engagement), and empowered involvement. 

 

Typically for those just starting out, you’d need to have a backup for you to survive because, as the song, It Cost That Much by Woah Dude goes, ‘exposure doesn't pay the bills’.

 

 

2. You’re reliant on the platform’s success

 

One day you’re famous. The next day, the platform’s taken over by something new. The truth is that each platform, whether Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or anything else, each has its own unique target audience and specific needs. 

 

An influencer can dabble across different platforms but there’ll be one standout platform that they’ll boom in — therein lies the danger. If you’re an up-and-coming influencer relying solely on this to generate an income, it may be difficult as you’d have to rely on the success and longevity of the platform.

Remember Vine? Precisely.

 

 

3. You’d need a lot of time to be lucrative

 

You could make a career out of being an influencer — but it’s not an easy climb. Like a lot of other local influencers, finding your niche and making it more lucrative is difficult at the start, especially since there are many established influencers out there. In short, it’s competitive and time-consuming to get it right.

Wonder how your degree could impact your life as an influencer? Book an appointment and get your questions answered by our education counsellor today!

Being an influencer might not be as lucrative in the beginning. But powering through and finding your right niche could rocket you into tantamount success like these influencers.

Why Having a Tertiary Education Is Necessary in Both Cases

Regardless of your stand on influencers, building a solid foundation will be helpful to you either way. That’s where your degree can come in. Despite the DOSM’s statistics, pursuing a tertiary education will help your journey as an influencer whether it’s a side hustle or a full-time career. Here’s how:

 

 

Understand how your content performs

 

How do you measure your success?

 

Through a deeper understanding of digital analytics with a digital marketing degree, you’d be able to know how your content is performing, enabling you to make informed decisions and the next steps to grow your following, engagement, and reach.

 

Bonus point: You’d be able to showcase your portfolio more informatively, giving you that added credibility for more conversations on projects and better compensation.

 

 

Learn how to create content for different social media platforms

 

Changes to industries because of digital transformation is constant.

 

Subsequently, Taylor’s has adapted their degrees to incorporate this need and equip graduates with them. Taylor’s Bachelor Of Culinary Management, for example, provides you with a flexible elective in ‘Food Media’ and ‘Food Styling’ teaching you to properly describe and capture the dish for social media.

By pursuing tertiary education, you’re not only studying the technicality of the subject, but you’re also gaining additional skills that’ll help you along the way. Check out how Taylor’s Curriculum Framework gives you the flexibility of getting the skills you need.

 

 

Know how to create the best content

 

No amount of YouTube tutorials will give you the technical experience a degree will offer you. Neither would it provide you the immediate industry exposure helpful to your journey as an influencer/content creator. 

 

By pursuing a degree that gives you an understanding of how digital media works, like the Bachelor of Mass Communication (Digital Media Production), you’d be able to learn the proper techniques from trained professionals, giving you the added advantage and ‘creative eye’ when producing your content.

 

At the end of the day, there’s no cap. Influencer marketing is here to stay and there’ll always be a growing need for influencers. Perhaps there’s no one answer on how a person should consider being an influencer. Instead, it’s knowing how far you’re willing to commit and producing quality content that determines whether it should be done as a side hustle or full-time. 
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