100% agree with you on the mid to low level influencers, unless you’re a global presence with a very well defined niche it’s really a tit show for you.
Also the influencing landscape has changed SO much and back again since 2016. Back then she was probably just topping up her normal PAYE job with some nice lifestyle bits - lovely dinners, allowances at her favourite brands, some secondary income. Then the mega explosion of grift happened and you had mamas getting full on renos and extensions gifted, back then if you had a baby you’d be decked out in Stokke cots (~£700) a Bugaboo (~£2k+ depending on seats and extras etc) with free marble tiles and engineer wood flooring. Then brands realised there’s absolutely no ROI in it and got a bit smarter and started measuring campaign performance and now the girls are advertising CBD and sex tips websites or frozen fish. The only ones doing well from the halcyon days of 17-19 have moved into tv or radio (or podcasts).
I know it’s very easy money with low barriers to entry (eg you don’t need to have a skill set like you do other comparable mid salaried roles) but it’s getting harder. Brands are either doing lower paid awareness marketing eg here’s my Heinz beans or only doing short sharp runs with an influencer and only paying out on actual conversions, it’s only the mega names getting paid a sign on fee these days
(this is in my experience with work - other brands may be different)
