None of us would ever admit to wasting time watching influencers pick out new throw cushions or boxing up their weekly meals. Yet most of us do just this, with half of us watching an hour of YouTube content each week.
The rise of micro-influencers — internet personalities with less than 50K followers in a niche topic — has perpetuated this, meaning more accounts are providing mundane “everyday” content for us to watch.
Why do we click on these types of videos? What makes us want to know the daily routines of strangers we’ve never met and are likely to never meet? Digital marketing agency, Exposure Ninja’s latest content asset A Day in the Life of Influencers, helps us to figure it out. (If you’re impatient and can’t wait to know the answer, skip through the blog and read the bold text to find the five reasons quickly).
We’ll share snippets of the graph throughout the text, and when you’re done reading this, you should go and play on the interactive chart for yourself. You’ll be able to instantly compare and filter the lives of twenty YouTube influencers, giving you an objective overview of the type of content you’re intrinsically attracted to.
For now, let’s turn to the most crucial part of any routine: what time influencers wake up.
For some of us, watching YouTube in the morning is a daily ritual, allowing us to focus on our smartphones before getting adjusted to reality.
If this is true for you, then these catchphrases will often act as your first interaction of the day. Alarmingly, those first few clips of filming could also be an influencer’s first actions, before they bother to brush their teeth or even acknowledge their spouse. More so now that popular content tags such as “A Day in the Life” have been introduced as it’s not uncommon for short scenes with bleeping alarm clocks to feature in these videos.
While this shift towards recognizing the virtual before actual reality is worrying, it does give us access to some interesting data.
Do influencers follow the same strict schedule as most successful CEOs rising well before the sun? Or can internet stars afford to hit the snooze button?
As you can see above, most influencers have similar wake-up times to those working nine-to-five. While you might covet Kylie Jenner’s huge fortune or her enormous walk-in wardrobe, her wake-up time is less than desirable. Perhaps this is the very reason mundane content is so popular — it acts as a reference point in our own lives.
Maybe you shouldn’t feel so bad for your 7:30 am alarm if influencers — who you’re programmed to admire — have to wake up much earlier than you. Most of us find something relatable and comforting in this, knowing that even the super-rich gladly chug down a cup of coffee in the morning.
Mundane content, in particular, replicates the types of conversation that might have once taken place over coffee or in a pub.
It’s true, two friends discussing how great their new washing machine is isn’t so weird. It’s the type of thing you’d chat about, giving word of mouth recommendations in the process. So, why is it wrong to find fulfillment listening to influencers talk about the same things? After all, for many, this conversational exchange is reciprocal.
Viewers have plenty of ways to engage with content creators through comments, resharing, and emoji interactions. What’s more, six out of the twenty accounts surveyed didn’t seem to socialize throughout their Day in the Life video, meaning the social outcast label isn’t solely reserved for YouTube subscribers. Who’s to say that only viewers get their social fix through the platform? Maybe content creators also indulge in their own videos to fulfill Maslow’s concept of social belonging.
Think of socially-driven brands like Gymshark (that has enjoyed a huge £150 million marketing success) and influencers like Robin Gallant. Both the brand and brand ambassador have easily surpassed micro-influencer status, yet they serve as a great example of why mundane micro-influencer content is insanely popular.
It’s helpful to watch other people being productive to stop yourself from procrastinating.
Alexis Ren’s 10-minute ab workout has amassed 20M views. Some of these hits might be a result of Ren’s success on the show Dancing with the Stars. Plenty of them are an excuse to feel some sort of false accomplishment by watching someone else do the dirty work. Even more of them are no doubt from people thinking that spending ten minutes following an influencer’s advice will make them appear more like the individual they idolize.
As such, active influencers love sharing their fitness routines as a key part of their content. Sometimes, it’s the focus of a channel — like ballet dancer Bella Klassen, who’s surveyed in the above graphic. Other times, it’s a small theme within a wider niche, like Heal Your Living’s account focused on holistic health. Funnily enough, this influencer provides a form of YouTube inception, where she shares herself watching another account perform a morning yoga routine.
At the very least, micro-influencers provide us with the gym partner we’re struggling to find and the reassuring voice we all need to hear when nervous about stepping into the gym.
While transportation can act as a nice transition in your vlog’s story ark and as a great opportunity for B-Roll, it’s more likely that people like to watch others on their way to an appointment and suffering on the subway because viewing this content is super relatable.
In turn, watching PaigeY’s treacherous journey to and from her lectures helps us to calm our road rage, reminding us that everyone has to contend with traffic, awkward journey times, and bad weather.
Similarly, seeing how Casey Neistat makes the best out of a bad situation — that being an insane amount of congestion in New York City — by turning to a fun ride on an electric skateboard can inspire us to approach life a little differently.
Meals also share the spotlight in the “A Day in the Life” videos with dishes such as seafood spaghetti and sprinkled doughnuts showing up.
Some larger accounts — those who have major, not micro influence — don’t bother showing their eating habits at all, such as Kylie Jenner and PewDiePie. On the whole, sharing the contents of one’s lunchbox is commonplace.
This backs our fifth reason why micro-influencer content is popular — to justify and inform our eating habits. For the same reasons we watch stranger’s exercise routines, we spy on their diets.
These are only five of the reasons why the majority of us watch mundane micro-influencer content, and we didn’t even touch on some of the juiciest categories.
What about taking a look at how others spend their personal time? (Whether that’s getting botox or reading the bible). And the most anticipated subject when it comes to influencers, is of course, how they make their money. Well, don’t be too disheartened. You can instantly identify these activities as well as those we’ve mentioned throughout the blog in Exposure Ninja’s A Day in the Life of Influencers interactive graph.
Read next: James Charles, Felix Kjellberg, Jeffree Star: The 10 Biggest Social Media Influencers, Based on Google Search Data [infographic]
The rise of micro-influencers — internet personalities with less than 50K followers in a niche topic — has perpetuated this, meaning more accounts are providing mundane “everyday” content for us to watch.
Why do we click on these types of videos? What makes us want to know the daily routines of strangers we’ve never met and are likely to never meet? Digital marketing agency, Exposure Ninja’s latest content asset A Day in the Life of Influencers, helps us to figure it out. (If you’re impatient and can’t wait to know the answer, skip through the blog and read the bold text to find the five reasons quickly).
We’ll share snippets of the graph throughout the text, and when you’re done reading this, you should go and play on the interactive chart for yourself. You’ll be able to instantly compare and filter the lives of twenty YouTube influencers, giving you an objective overview of the type of content you’re intrinsically attracted to.
For now, let’s turn to the most crucial part of any routine: what time influencers wake up.
1. Waking up with Influencers
Whether you’re listening to Lydia Elise Millen’s overly enthusiastic “Good morning guys” or the comparatively creepy greeting, “Hi, how are ya?” (courtesy of makeup mogul, Jeffree Star), one thing is certain — you’re waking up with influencers.For some of us, watching YouTube in the morning is a daily ritual, allowing us to focus on our smartphones before getting adjusted to reality.
If this is true for you, then these catchphrases will often act as your first interaction of the day. Alarmingly, those first few clips of filming could also be an influencer’s first actions, before they bother to brush their teeth or even acknowledge their spouse. More so now that popular content tags such as “A Day in the Life” have been introduced as it’s not uncommon for short scenes with bleeping alarm clocks to feature in these videos.
While this shift towards recognizing the virtual before actual reality is worrying, it does give us access to some interesting data.
Do influencers follow the same strict schedule as most successful CEOs rising well before the sun? Or can internet stars afford to hit the snooze button?
As you can see above, most influencers have similar wake-up times to those working nine-to-five. While you might covet Kylie Jenner’s huge fortune or her enormous walk-in wardrobe, her wake-up time is less than desirable. Perhaps this is the very reason mundane content is so popular — it acts as a reference point in our own lives.
Maybe you shouldn’t feel so bad for your 7:30 am alarm if influencers — who you’re programmed to admire — have to wake up much earlier than you. Most of us find something relatable and comforting in this, knowing that even the super-rich gladly chug down a cup of coffee in the morning.
2. Being Social from the Sofa
Mundane social content often fulfills our basic need for friendship and interaction (or so it can be argued), explaining why most millennials have zero friends and less sex than their parents.Mundane content, in particular, replicates the types of conversation that might have once taken place over coffee or in a pub.
It’s true, two friends discussing how great their new washing machine is isn’t so weird. It’s the type of thing you’d chat about, giving word of mouth recommendations in the process. So, why is it wrong to find fulfillment listening to influencers talk about the same things? After all, for many, this conversational exchange is reciprocal.
Viewers have plenty of ways to engage with content creators through comments, resharing, and emoji interactions. What’s more, six out of the twenty accounts surveyed didn’t seem to socialize throughout their Day in the Life video, meaning the social outcast label isn’t solely reserved for YouTube subscribers. Who’s to say that only viewers get their social fix through the platform? Maybe content creators also indulge in their own videos to fulfill Maslow’s concept of social belonging.
3. Watching People Work out
One of the most successful influencer categories is fitness.Think of socially-driven brands like Gymshark (that has enjoyed a huge £150 million marketing success) and influencers like Robin Gallant. Both the brand and brand ambassador have easily surpassed micro-influencer status, yet they serve as a great example of why mundane micro-influencer content is insanely popular.
It’s helpful to watch other people being productive to stop yourself from procrastinating.
Alexis Ren’s 10-minute ab workout has amassed 20M views. Some of these hits might be a result of Ren’s success on the show Dancing with the Stars. Plenty of them are an excuse to feel some sort of false accomplishment by watching someone else do the dirty work. Even more of them are no doubt from people thinking that spending ten minutes following an influencer’s advice will make them appear more like the individual they idolize.
As such, active influencers love sharing their fitness routines as a key part of their content. Sometimes, it’s the focus of a channel — like ballet dancer Bella Klassen, who’s surveyed in the above graphic. Other times, it’s a small theme within a wider niche, like Heal Your Living’s account focused on holistic health. Funnily enough, this influencer provides a form of YouTube inception, where she shares herself watching another account perform a morning yoga routine.
At the very least, micro-influencers provide us with the gym partner we’re struggling to find and the reassuring voice we all need to hear when nervous about stepping into the gym.
4. Avoiding Road Rage
Is it a coincidence that vlog-style videos often take place behind the wheel or on a stroll home? This “empty” period is a convenient time to vlog, but sharing your commute might also be appealing to your audience.While transportation can act as a nice transition in your vlog’s story ark and as a great opportunity for B-Roll, it’s more likely that people like to watch others on their way to an appointment and suffering on the subway because viewing this content is super relatable.
In turn, watching PaigeY’s treacherous journey to and from her lectures helps us to calm our road rage, reminding us that everyone has to contend with traffic, awkward journey times, and bad weather.
Similarly, seeing how Casey Neistat makes the best out of a bad situation — that being an insane amount of congestion in New York City — by turning to a fun ride on an electric skateboard can inspire us to approach life a little differently.
5. Spying on Celebrity Diets
There is so much misinformation about dieting, weight loss, and nutrition on the internet that you’d think consumers would have had enough of diet content that’s not backed by nutritionists. Wrong. Most people like to know what their favorite influencers and celebrities eat. In fact, this trend even inspired a content tag of its own, “What I Eat in a Day,” where accounts show every meal that’s supposedly representative of their average day.Meals also share the spotlight in the “A Day in the Life” videos with dishes such as seafood spaghetti and sprinkled doughnuts showing up.
Some larger accounts — those who have major, not micro influence — don’t bother showing their eating habits at all, such as Kylie Jenner and PewDiePie. On the whole, sharing the contents of one’s lunchbox is commonplace.
This backs our fifth reason why micro-influencer content is popular — to justify and inform our eating habits. For the same reasons we watch stranger’s exercise routines, we spy on their diets.
These are only five of the reasons why the majority of us watch mundane micro-influencer content, and we didn’t even touch on some of the juiciest categories.
What about taking a look at how others spend their personal time? (Whether that’s getting botox or reading the bible). And the most anticipated subject when it comes to influencers, is of course, how they make their money. Well, don’t be too disheartened. You can instantly identify these activities as well as those we’ve mentioned throughout the blog in Exposure Ninja’s A Day in the Life of Influencers interactive graph.
Read next: James Charles, Felix Kjellberg, Jeffree Star: The 10 Biggest Social Media Influencers, Based on Google Search Data [infographic]
