A photo posted to Kylie Jenner's Instagram account, endorsing a hair supplement brand. Photo / Instagram
It sounds like a get rich quick scheme. Amass huge numbers of followers on a social media platform like Instagram and you can get paid like a celebrity to mention or feature products in your posts.
But this industry of "online influencers" was worth US$500 million (NZ$693m) in 2015,
and is expected to grow to be worth US$5 billion (NZ$7b) by 2020, according to Sandra Peter from the University of Sydney. There's a well documented business model behind it.
Even though these online influencers might not be overtly endorsing a product, advertisers will still pay a lot to have something featured in their posts.
The relationship online influencers form with their followers is different to a regular celebrity because they have more leeway to talk about their own experiences. When the influencer industry was at it's peak, about five years ago, the content was more about using your body or life to sell something, says Crystal Abidin from Curtin University. But this is now changing.
"Today it's expanded so much that even in the influencer scene there are hierarchies," she says.
