Should you be worried about the influencer bubble bursting?

Influencer Files 004

Over the last decade, as content creation evolved from a side hustle to a full-fledged career path, one question has loomed over every aspiring creator: Is the industry oversaturated? Is it even worth trying to break in?

Yet, every year, new creators rise above the noise and carve out space for themselves. And now, the conversation has shifted. The latest buzz? “The influencer bubble is about to burst.”

But before we dive into the bubble bursting, we need to get crystal clear on the fact that this is a full fledged industry now. In a multi-billion-dollar industry, the notion of oversaturation simply doesn’t hold. If anything, I know first hand that brands are hungrier than ever for fresh voices. If you think you’re bored, imagine a brand manager who feels like they have to keep casting the same creator.

I have the unique vantage point of seeing this industry from both sides. As a content creator myself and with six years of experience on the analytics side of two of the largest global influencer platforms, I witness firsthand not just the budgets these brands allocate but the urgency with which they seek new creators.

Consumers love to complain about the endless loop of the same ten influencers dominating their feeds. Brands are just as fatigued. They know the audience is restless based on performance. Remember the Lululemon belt bag era? Or the black Amazon leggings every creator seemed to peddle? Audiences tuned out not because they stopped shopping, but because the content became predictable—and, frankly, boring.