We had the opportunity to speak at length with Firebelly Marketing founder, Duncan Alney, about the business of influencer marketing.   

With so many people finding success as content creators and influencers, plus many kids aspiring to become influencers too, we had to ask: 

“Is the market already oversaturated and is the future of influencer marketing sustainable?”   

Here’s what he had to say: 

“I think that the influencer model is solid. I think that there is a path forward for it. But I don’t think that everyone who wants to be an influencer will become an influencer. At least not at the scale…Like not everyone tries out for a major sports team is ever even going to get close to that right? So, I think there’s different leagues of influencers.   

I think that it is a sustainable model. I think it will be interesting to see as we put more regulation and responsibility around social media how that affects people that are putting out content on behalf of other brands and they are being paid to do it– what that responsibility becomes.   

My sense is that we are looking for more accountability as an audience from these figures so I think that they will have to be more accountable.” 

                        -Duncan Alney, Founder of Firebelly Marketing, @wearefirebelly

So, what does the future look like for Josie Bullard and Kelli Bastin?  

We asked the content creators to share where they are setting their sights.   

“If I could see where I am now, I would’ve had no idea… I feel like I’ve far exceeded the expectations I originally set out for myself. So, it’s hard to think about what can potentially be next.  

Continuing to grow my platform, grow my audience, and landing bigger collaborations is something that I definitely want to do. Eventually working with my husband full-time, maybe even starting a brand or something. Stepping into that space it would be really cool.   

Even with this [Behind the Feed] course I just launched, I think it’s the beginning of something that’s going to be a lot bigger with the educational space that I’ve stepped into. So just kind of growing a lot of the things that I have already started into something larger is kind of like where I’d like to go.” 

                        -Josie Bullard, @josie.bullard

“The future… That’s a hard question because you know like [we] mentioned earlier now there’s TikTok and I feel like there’s always going to be a newer, better app and you’re going to have to change your game and what you’re doing and re-learn a platform or re-learn something to market yourself differently. So… I will probably never be a mega influencer, which is totally fine, but I would like to grow the real estate part of my social presence but they are kind of intertwined.” 

-Kelli Bastin, @bighairandfoodiefare