Businesses seeking to promote their brands have always grappled with one key question about the millions of euro they spend on advertising: Are our adverts actually reaching the audience we want?

Big brands and the media that carry advertisements — including newspapers, radio, and television — have always striven to address this by carefully researching their audience and how they respond to advertising messages.

But such demographic research often seems entirely absent in the online world: A common refrain among social media users is their puzzlement at the many irrelevant ads they see for products they will never buy.

One solution — linking advertising directly to people who have built up a loyal following of social media fans — has effectively created a new industry, and a new type of marketing professional: Meet the influencers.

As an increasingly popular sub-section of online culture, influencing and content creation has become a hot commodity, enabling those who do it well to turn their digital following into a fully-fledged career, funded by advertising and more traditional opportunities arising from their social media literacy, including podcasting, music, comedy, presenting, and more.

Some influencers have even taken matters into their own hands, expanding their career independently and diversifying their income streams through their own businesses.

Coming from humble beginnings, some of Ireland’s most successful social media stars are now the face of their own brands that specialise in what their followers want to see.

Suzanne Jackson From her beginnings as a lifestyle blogger, content creator and now businesswoman, Suzanne Jackson has created a beauty empire, rolling in millions in profits throughout the years across her award-winning makeup range, SOSU Cosmetics, and two tanning brands, Dripping Gold and Bahama Body. Suzanne Jackson. Picture: Brian McEvoy Appearing on the last season of Ireland’s Dancing with the Stars, Ms Jackson also hosts The Style Counsellors on RTÉ and has cultivated an online following of more than 300,000 people on Instagram alone. According to most recent filings to the Companies Registrations Office, Sosueme Ltd posted a net profit of €1.8m in 2021, with Ms Jackson paying herself over €630,900 on the back of the company’s success.

Vogue Williams

Just last week, media personality and podcast host, Vogue Williams recorded post-tax profits in excess of €550,000.

Vogue Williams.

This coincided with Williams’s and Joanne McNally’s My Therapist Ghosted Me becoming one of the hottest live shows with sold-out gigs across Ireland and the UK.

In addition, Ms Williams’ soaring popularity has enabled her to turn her media endeavours into hard cash, with accumulated profits at her firm, Howth Media Ltd exceeding €1.5m.

Cian Twomey From Cork, long-standing social media personality Cian Twomey has amassed more than 5.8m followers on Facebook and over 1.4m on Tiktok. Cian Twomey. He took home more than €120,000 in pay last year following the success of his firm, Mr Cian Twomey Ltd. First rising to prominence more than a decade ago, the Cork creator is well known for his comedy skits, often impersonating an exaggerated character based on his now fiancé, Emily Rochford. Throughout his career, the 29-year-old has worked with major brands including Supermac’s, Centra, McDonalds, and Subway.

Lisa McGowan

Offaly-based social media influencer turned fashion entrepreneur Lisa McGowan took home just under €940,000 in pay last year following the success of her clothing brand, Lisa’s Lust List.

Lisa McGowan. File picture: Brian McEvoy

Once working as an insurance broker, Ms McGowan’s success online allowed her to quit her previous job and focus entirely on her own business, helped by her loyal following of more than 170,000 people.

However, entrepreneurial endeavours are just one of routes social media stars can take. In addition to TV, radio, comedy, and music, influencers are largely funded by paid promotions which, for their followers, makes them both a trusted friend and a walking billboard.

Lynn Hunter “User-generated content is massive for brands,” says Lynn Hunter, founder of talent representation firm, The Collaborations Agency. Lynn Hunter, founder of talent representation firm The Collaborations Agency. “Advertising has leaned increasingly more towards online platforms in recent years. Before, 80% of budgets would go to traditional methods like billboards and broadsheets but now it’s completely changed. In the present day, up to maybe 70% is put solely towards social and streaming services.” Managing more than 120 online content creators, The Collaborations Agency was founded in 2016 by Ms Hunter to match the growing popularity in the influencing sphere. Already running her own PR firm, the founder recalls a surge in online creators seeking representation and — due to their industry-specific needs — prompted Ms Hunter to utilise years of marketing experience and open a new agency focused entirely on online talent.

The Collaborations Agency

Throughout the past seven years in operation, the agency has already worked with an extensive list of major companies including Coca-Cola, Puma, Boots, Primark, Red Bull, and more, matching these brands with relevant influencers who advertise their products to their extensive online following.

While straightforward in theory, matchmaking can be a meticulous process and is dependent on myriad factors including the length of the campaign, the type of content required, the company’s budget, and the influencer’s audience size (someone with between 2,000 and 10,000 followers is considered a nano-influencer, a person with 10,000 to 100,000 followers is considered a micro-influencer and those with more than 100,000 followers qualify as a “top-tier” influencer).

In addition to securing brand deals, organisations like The Collaborations Agency also provide their clients with career guidance, crisis management, and legal advice, which is especially important when it comes to advertising and contracts.

It is this holistic, multi-faceted approach that enables content creators to diversify their own brands in a multitude of ways. While Suzanne Jackson and Lisa McGowan focus on being the face of their own company, others have fostered their entrepreneurial spirit elsewhere.

Éadaoin Fitzmaurice One such influencer is Éadaoin Fitzmaurice who focuses primarily on travel, food, and the Irish language. Éadaoin Fitzmaurice of The Collaborations Agency and Clóda Scanlon of Allora at the launch of the Champagne Terrace at The Shelbourne in Dublin. File picture: Naoise Culhane Beginning as a journalist in a regional title in Dublin, the 28-year-old began working across social media while at the same time posting more on her personal account, which helped her garner a large online following. Early in 2022, Fitzmaurice joined The Collaborations Agency and, at the time, had more than 30,000 followers. 18 months later, the creator’s following has exceeded 200,000, with Fitzmaurice using her exponential growth to venture into new areas of content creation. In addition to her own social media, Fitzmaurice has created her own podcast, Going Viral, which looks behind the curtain of the influencer industry and talks about what traditionally goes unseen in the world of content creation. Complementing her focus on food, travel and culture, Fitzmaurice has also worked with a number of brands including Fáilte Ireland, the Happy Pear, and Opentable, but is picky when it comes to choosing who to work with. “In all honestly, I’ve probably said no to more brands than I’ve agreed to work with,” she told the Irish Examiner. “It’s important to choose brands that work well with your interests,” she says. “If I did a collaboration tomorrow with a fast fashion brand, that would not go down well with my followers and understandably so — I would be called a sellout. To cultivate an online presence, you need trust.” In addition to paid collaborations and her podcast, Fitzmaurice also runs her own business, FIA Digital, where she uses her own experience in social media to do content creation for other companies. Despite her well-rounded success, many people are dismissive of the work of Éadaoin and others. Recalling numerous instances of her industry being debated across Irish radio and TV, Éadaoin emphasises the work put in to succeed in a job like hers, noting the need for a business-savvy mind and a forward-looking approach. “I can work up to six or seven days a week, sometimes up until 8pm or 9pm. “As well as that, you may think you’re in for a quiet week but, all of a sudden, people start knocking on your door and you don’t want to say no because you don’t know what the next month holds. Things can really vary.”

Simon Hennessy

Content creator and comedian Simon Hennessy agrees, adding that while hectic at times, it can be hard to pin down a concise number of hours worked in any given week.

Comedian and content creator, Simon Hennessey.

Beginning his career in the height of lockdown, the Dublin creator started posting comedy skits online, garnering tens of millions of views.

Now boasting more than 250,000 followers on Tiktok alone, the 28-year-old has been able to fund his passion through paid promotions with leading brands such as KFC, Fanta, Lucozade, and An Post, while also pursuing stand-up comedy on the back of his online success.

Hennessey says he never envisioned a career in comedy, adding that his involvement with the agency has enabled him to quit his traditional jobs and focus solely on content creation.

“Performing live and doing my own show is something I really wanted to do, and the agency has really helped me achieve this.”

Suzanne Jackson with her dance partner Michael Danilczuk during the sixth series of 'Dancing With The Stars'. Picture: Kyran O’Brien

Coming off the back of a successful stand-up tour, Hennessey has set his eyes on new, larger projects in the future.

“I have plans for more live events. I’m really happy with how the past year has panned out — thankfully, my last show, Afters, went really well, and I got to play many festivals too. I’m just back from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and would love to go back next year and have my own solo show.

Aside from stand-up, Hennessey has also set his eyes on longer-term projects.

“I’ve gained a little bit of experience in that world and would love to get involved, whether that be writing, acting and performing.”

As the online sub-culture drifts further into the mainstream, Lynn Hunter sees vast potential for creators such as Éadaoin and Simon. What was once exclusive to an isolated, individual audience has become transferable across different markets, allowing influencers to branch out and cultivate their own brand.

“Now is a very exciting time,” says Ms Hunter. “These people all bring something very unique to the table, and they should have the opportunity to own and monetise that.

“Nowadays, everyone can be their own entrepreneur, and why shouldn’t they be?”