“Once the kids do it, you don’t have to pay for it,” Myers said. “It takes off on its own and you continue to reap a financial benefit from it.

“It’s 10 times that I drop a stone in a still pond, the ripple just keeps on going.”

Jackler agreed, saying the company has fostered a social media phenomenon that has taken a life of its own – and continues to bring its product to young people.

“Hashtag-Juul lives on,” he said.

A few years ago, Zayas was working at an influencer agency similar to Lumanu called Socialyte, where she managed other bloggers. She was the liaison between influencers and brands, negotiating pricing and sponsored content, she said.

Brands often reach out to influencers like her multiple times if a campaign is working well, she said.

And that can be a big deal, according to Kevin Popovic, director of the Idea Lab at San Diego State University and founder of Ideahaus, a creative communications agency.

When looking for influencers to promote their products, companies scour the internet to find popular people and websites that the brand hopes to connect with, he said.

“It’s a tactic that most PR agencies have been using for years,” Popovic said, “reaching out to people of a certain influence in order to shape the market perception of a brand or product.