The 5 biggest social media myths for influencers

So you want to enter the influencer business but what’s the best way to get started? Sure, posting as much content as possible, generating followers, and being authentic at the same time is a great way to start, but which platforms are best suited for you? What is the truth behind myths such as, “Instagram is only worthwhile starting at 100,000 followers?” We will clear up this myth and many more below!

Social media myth #1 : Instagram is only worthwhile with many followers

This social media myth is not true. Instagram makes sense even with just a few followers and is well-suited for you as a new influencer. The following figures should serve as a guide: You can already be successful as an influencer with around 5,000 followers on Instagram. As a so-called micro-influencer with 5,000 to 50,000 followers, you bring a lot of value to companies. Even though there are influencers with far more followers, micro-influencers are distinguished by a particularly high level of engagement. They enjoy strong trust from their community and are considered experts in their field (for example, skincare for skin diseases). This combination is what makes micro-influencers so attractive for corporate collaborations. If you want to learn more about what opportunities are open to you as a micro-influencer, check out our in-depth blog article “Why micro-influencers are so valuable to businesses.“ 
 
And of course, as an influencer, you always have the opportunity to earn money with the help of stylink by recommending your favourite products in your Instagram Story. Simply create a recommendation link to your favourite item with our linkmaker, insert it into your story and earn money with every click. 

Social media myth #2: As an influencer you can earn money easily and quickly with social media 

It would be nice! But unfortunately there is no truth to this social media myth either. Even if it always looks so good and easy with the big influencers: Travelling, shopping, and earning money. But if you take a look behind the scenes, there is a lot of work behind the beautiful pictures. High-quality shots for the Instagram feed or a YouTube video are not taken “just like that” with a smartphone, rather a suitable location has to be found. Several hours of work go into content creation before it’s time to post. Afterward, it’s all about interaction and community management. And then comes the somewhat boring part: writing invoices, doing taxes, answering mail… 
Because even as an influencer, besides the fun part that followers see on social media, there are also obligations that every self-employed person has. 

Social media myth #3: As an influencer, you should be active on as many platforms as possible 

Influencers as well as companies often use all kinds of platforms: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube … “more is more” – is that true? Not necessarily. The social media myth that you have to be active on all platforms persists. Here it is quite clear: quality goes before quantity. If you don’t have the time and resources to deliver content on all networks, don’t do it. 
Half-heartedly created accounts on which hardly anything is posted won’t bring you any followers or success. Even just announcing new videos on Insta & Co. won’t bring you anything as a YouTuber. 
Instead, focus on your platform and share quality content on a regular basis, because that’s how you can keep your followers for the long term and attract new ones.

However, there is a little bit of truth to this social media myth: if you can afford to be active on all channels and offer unique content on each platform, it’s worth its weight in gold. But only a few influencers are able to offer completely different content on Instagram than on YouTube or TikTok, both in terms of time and content. Gnu, for example, is a gaming influencer who has four different YouTube channels, streams on Twitch, posts fitness content on Instagram, and thus provides unique content on all platforms. 

Social media myth #4: Pinterest is only for DIYs and recipes 

Of course, there is some truth to this social media myth. Pinterest is the #1 place to go for cooking and baking recipes, craft instructions, and interior design ideas. But Pinterest is also much more than that. Especially before making a purchase decision, users like to look at Pinterest to check out the different uses of a product. How to combine a mint-coloured maxi skirt? Does the high-waist bikini fit my body shape? Which outdoor rug fits my boho balcony? Users ask themselves questions like these and hope to find the answer on Pinterest. 
 
For this reason, it is particularly clever for you as an influencer to use Pinterest for your content. As a Pinfluencer, you have the opportunity to recommend products and even earn money in the process if you use stylink’s Linkmaker. Create pinboards with make-up inspo, your favourite summer outfits, or your living room decorating must-haves. One advantage that Pinterest has over Instagram is that the recommendation links remain permanently visible for your followers, whereas, on Instagram, the Story and link are gone after 24 hours if you don’t create a highlight.

Social media myth No. 5: Influencers do not have to pay taxes

This myth persists, but we can say: it’s not true! Beeing an influencer is a profession like any other, therefore taxes also apply to this activity.
Content creators in the UK have to register as self employed when filling the Income Tax and Self Assessment to the HM Revenue & Customs, and declare their income.
For example:Content creators have to pay taxes on collaboration, if you’ve been incentivised in any way to promote a brand or product in your social media content, for example in photos including carousels, videos, reels or stories, podcasts or other posts online it’s important that all this content is clearly identifiable as an ad (or advertising).
If you receive a valuable gift you will have to pay tax on it (a gift of a gracious manner is non-taxable a gift where there is an obligation attached to it is for example taxable).
It is important that the terms and the value of the gift are clearly agreed upon with the company sending the gift.
Expenses directly related to social media activities, such as purchasing equipment or travel, may be deductible for tax purposes so keeping track of your expenses is important.
Nowadays, there are often staff at the tax offices who are specifically responsible for influencers, and accounting firms that can help you in those procedures.