We’ve written often about the importance of authenticity and credibility. Expert influencers are uniquely suited to help elevate your brand’s credibility. We’ll explain what expert influencers are, how they differ from their traditional counterparts, and how to select and work with them.
What are Expert Influencers?
Experts are people with extensive knowledge and/or skills in one particular area. They’re viewed as authorities, but may not always have the largest social media following. With extensive professional acumen, experts are typically informative more than aspirational.
Focused on their primary area of study or practice, they may not often engage in activities that build an audience on purpose, such as posting new content frequently and following trends. Even experts with a smaller following can be valuable partners, as they lend their credibility to your brand, helping you gain trust from your audience.
Fabio A. Marchesin, better known as Finanzfabio, said, “As an expert financial planner, I feel a certain pressure to create more added value and, above all, to provide correct information. My aim is to create a clean basis and then go into more depth to provide thought processes that no one else can offer. While my work is intended to serve non-professionals, my colleagues in the financial sector also find it useful for further training or exam preparation.”
Quality Over Quantity – Expertise is More Important Than Follower Count
Many brands partner with celebrity influencers in order to reach millions while gaining the personal endorsement of a popular individual. However, some consumers have become disillusioned with outmoded influencers who can be artificial and unrelatable while excessively pushing products. According to Trustpilot, celebrity influencers have the lowest level of trust among consumers – two-thirds (67% in the US and 65% in the UK) describe their level of trust in this source of information as ‘low’.
Expert influencers can serve as an antidote. 41% of consumers trust expert reviews, whereas only 13% trust advertising.
Veronica Kiriak, Doctor and Content Creator, shared her views on how brands and followers have different expectations of experts as compared to classic creators. “As a doctor and influencer at the same time, you have to act a little differently than classic creators. I choose my collaboration partners very carefully and always pay attention to legal and medical principles. Brands often place particular value on the authenticity of my medical expertise, while my followers are primarily looking for reliable information. It requires a balance to meet the expectations of both sides.”
How Do Expert Influencers Help Brands?
Collaborating with people who bring the credibility of formal education and expert credentials can help brands stand out, and can be particularly advantageous in the beauty industry. As marketer Polly Petrova writes “the beauty sector has become more cautious when it comes to collaborating with influencers. It seems the industry is trying to lessen the ‘influence’ of influencers.”
Many beauty influencers post their personal daily skincare routines and preferred brands. However, a dermatologist brings exceptional credibility, with a trustworthiness that’s hard to beat. Dr. Liv Kraemer shares best and easy #skincare routine tips with her more than 243K TikTok followers. Dr. Liv also sells products made in Switzerland that she developed inspired by decades of dermatology insight.
When partnering with an expert, your brand benefits from their credibility in addition to gaining access to their audience. Experts can be especially skilled at explaining complex concepts and bringing clarity to technical jargon. “Finanz Fabio” provides financial education on his podcast and shares podcast snippets on TikTok, along with street interviews he conducts.
Expert influencers also fulfill the need for industry-specific knowledge that B2B buyers have throughout lengthy, complex sales processes.
Experts Influencers Continue Working in Their Profession
For many traditional influencers, social media content creation and brand partnerships are their primary sources of income. OTOH, experts make a living with careers distinct from social media. For example, dermatologist Dr. Liv still sees patients in her clinic and Fabio provides personal financial consulting services.
Continuing to work in their profession means expert influencers:
Keep their knowledge current
Have new real-world experiences
Must maintain a positive reputation
The need to maintain their reputation prevents experts from promoting brands they don’t believe in, further strengthening their trustworthiness with audiences. Regardless of what percentage of their income is generated by content creation, their influencer career relies on their professional credibility. It’s not worth risking any threat to that credibility for a questionable brand partnership.
Veronica Kiriak said, “My content creation process requires more research to ensure my medical statements are accurate. At the same time, I try to present the information in an entertaining and accessible way to keep my community’s attention. I have high expectations of myself, especially in terms of the quality and accuracy of my medical advice. It’s important to be transparent when it comes to the boundaries of my expertise and to always create a safe space for questions from my followers.”
How to Select and Work with an Expert Influencer
1. Start with your Marketing Goals
We’ve discussed how expert influencers differ from their traditional counterparts, but when partnering with any influencer, your goal is still to build digital brand equity. While some aspects may differ, it’s important not to abandon your existing processes for building successful campaigns.
Alter your Influencer Evaluation Criteria & Examine Their Credentials
When considering partnering with any influencer, it’s important to view their track record. With experts, you should additionally evaluate their formal credentials. Do they have the requisite education? Are they certified with the relevant board, such as with surgeons and architects? Can you confirm that after obtaining both the education and credentials, they also have real-world experience working in the field?
2. Pitch Your Brand to the Expert
Considering their need to carefully guard their reputation, experts can be particularly discerning about the brands they work with. You may have to invest time in selling your brand to the expert. This could involve a more detailed, technical analysis of your product, such as examining ingredients or production processes.
3. Be Flexible with Payment Structure & Recognize Added Value
Again, brand promotions aren’t their primary focus, so you may need to compensate experts with a different type of payment structure. Scrunch advises, “…they might be more expensive as you are really purchasing their time, experience, and credibility. Almost think of it as paying a consultant, rather than an influencer.” The value you receive from working with an expert extends beyond access to their community. Your brand earns a seal of approval from a knowledgeable expert. These engagements might also be longer term.
4. Maximize Use of Their Expertise
Instead of asking them to merely promote your product, think of additional ways their expertise can benefit your brand. Ask them to sit for an interview, speak at a conference or webinar, write a blog with their top tips, or provide feedback on your new product innovations.
5. Make the Content Keep Working for you
Increase the value of these collaborations with performance marketing (boosting content to reach even higher KPIs). Consider multi-touch attribution models and use every channel strategically.
Get Started with the Best Expert Influencer Matches for Your Brand
As the leading full-service influencer marketing agency in Switzerland and beyond, Kingfluencers can help you select and collaborate with influencers of all types, whether B2C, B2B, expert, or traditional. We help give brands a real face that people relate to, stand out from the noise, and connect to consumers.
At Kingfluencers, we understand that influencer marketing is part of a much bigger field. We encourage brands to think beyond influence to digital brand equity. In this blog series, we’ll cover how brands can establish, strengthen, and grow long-term brand equity through digital influence programs. First, we’ll explain what we mean by that and what lies beyond traditional influence.
What is Digital Brand Equity?
Digital brand equity is the value of brand recognition and brand perception in the digital space. Digital brand equity is a core pillar to competitive advantage. It has a positive influence on people’s purchasing decisions and is a key determinant of the brand’s overall success.
→ Defining factors for a brand’s digital equity include:
What is Digital Influence?
Digital influence is the online equivalent of brand equity. It refers to a brand’s ability to affect and strengthen people’s perceptions, opinions, preferences, and decisions related to your brand versus competing ones. Digital influence is the ability of a brand to take ownership of the influence they have to impact perceptions and – most importantly– decisions.
Like digital brand equity, digital influence is a key determinant of the brand’s overall success. Digital influence strategies enhance your brand’s ability to take that control and ownership to shape perceptions. It is a means to an end. You can build digital brand equity through a variety of digital branding and influencer strategies.
By impacting decisions, you can drive revenue by encouraging people to:
Purchase your brand over competitors by building competitive advantage and elevating brand preference
Increase expenditures through upgrades and additional purchases
Remain loyal customers over time to increase customer loyalty, generate more revenue, and improve profitability
Recommend your brand to their friends by sparking intrinsic advocacy and strengthening your brand community
Work for your brand, enabling you to recruit and retain the best employees and strengthen your employer branding
Digital Influence = Huge Component of Overall Brand Equity
For many brands, the majority of customer interactions take place online. That means your digital influence is nearly synonymous with brand equity. Simply put, what people think of you online is what people think of you. Those brands who master their digital brand equity as first movers will gain an immense advantage and outperform their competitors moving forward.
Beyond Social Media
An influencer posts a positive review of your brand on Instagram. A content creator features your product in an entertaining TikTok.
Great!
Influencer campaigns are excellent tactics for increasing awareness and connecting with your audience.
But that’s just it… they’re tactics – individual components of what must be a larger strategy in order to really make a long-lasting impact. So, what separates effective brands from those throwing campaigns at the wall and hoping something sticks?
How Can Brands Build a Foundation of Digital Influence?
A brand’s equity depends on your visibility, how you’re perceived, and your ability to connect in consistent ways to your audiences in today’s complex digital ecosystem.
Consumers rank trust as a top buying consideration. 81% need to trust a brand to consider buying from it. Nielsen reported that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family, and 70% trust online reviews from strangers. A strong digital presence and positive online reputation can help strengthen brand equity, in turn influencing purchasing decisions.
Proper digital influence strategies and tactics draw their inherent power from word of mouth (WoM) marketing principles. Building digital influence involves magnifying and elevating the impact of WoM through digital amplification. Digital influence enablesbrands to turn a 1:1 process into 1:many while maintaining credibility. Shifting from one to many amplifies a brand’s influence, which drives exponential gains, making digital influence extremely powerful.
Digital influence programs must focus on strengthening the brand’s digital presence and thereby positively influencing brand awareness and perception.
The Amplification Effect
Individual marketing initiatives, such as SEO, can give your brand a boost. But the most powerful strategies work collaboratively to amplify one another.
With numerous people-centric tactics focused on advocacy, WoM, and authentic storytelling, you can achieve an amplification effect. More people will discuss your brand, activate audiences and communities, building more intrinsic advocacy and WoM from consumers and partners. Like the famous “Flywheel” model, customers become advocates and promoters who feed growth as they move through the phases of attract, engage, and delight.
Key Components of Building Digital Brand Equity
A strong foundation must run deep and wide.
Doing these following things well and for enough time will improve your brand reputation and drive increased online visibility. You’ll be able to increase knowledge of your brand, and impact perceptions of your brand versus others.
Use your existing brand equity
Make use of the equity you already have. Build upon your brand’s reputation and standing in the market. Get ahead of the narrative and consistently convey your brand’s unique selling propositions.
Be consistent
Have consistent, coherent messages across all digital channels. Those messages should also be in line with consumers’ offline experiences. Consistency is key. 41% of consumers say branding (messaging) consistency defines brand loyalty.
Run people-centric campaigns
The participation of numerous voices, along with a consistent story, helps create positive digital brand equity and therefore digital influence. Work with multiple advocates and storytellers who can promote your brand authentically, including employees and senior leadership. Capture and make use of user-generated content.
Harness the power of advocacy & word of mouth
Advocacy is a key ingredient. Consider personal branding and working with corporate ambassadors. With an integrated approach, you can take control of the narrative surrounding your brand and boost competitive advantage and growth.
An effective digital influence program will include multiple tracks such as social media, influencer marketing, brand and corporate ambassadors, personal branding, content creation, including UGC, and performance marketing. While these tracks can each deliver results independently, a program is stronger when they’re all in alignment. More to come in part 2!
Switzerland has a lot to offer when it comes to influencer marketing! And no wonder – it really has it all. This country provides an amazing environment for top-class social media content.
Amazing landscapes. Beautiful cities. Delicious food. Stunning architecture. Great fashion. Think of Zurich, Geneva, or the beautiful mountains of the countryside – it’s all perfect for an influencer’s VLOGs, photoshoots, and selfie backgrounds.
Naturally, many successful social media influencers hail from Switzerland in different niches like beauty, food, travel, comedy, music, and fashion.
We’ve gone out and compiled a list of the top 26 Swiss influencers in 2024. Use it to get inspired or entertained by their content. You might be interested in following some of them more closely.
Wendy Holdener
Olympic champion Wendy Holdener is not only a well-known face in alpine ski racing, she has also managed to build a large following of over 193,000 people on Instagram. In 2019, she even won the Swiss Influencer Award for the sports category!
In addition to her engaging social media posts, Wendy Holdener has teamed up with accident insurer SUVA to develop the Slope Track-App, which measures loads and speeds while skiing or snowboarding. The app is intended to increase the safety of snow sports enthusiasts and reduce the risk of accidents.
Nico Capone Comedy
Nicolas Scuderia and Daniela Pinto, aka Nico Capone Comedy, together with their son Mattia (born in July 2019), make millions of people laugh with their videos.
As opposed to influencers who are all about making the most profit with their posts, they remain down-to-earth: They make videos for fun, without thinking too much about it.
Dani and Nico share almost everything with their audience while keeping it simple. Despite all their success, Dani kept working as a dental assistant, and Nico kept his job in the family’s painting business. This couple keeps their feet on the ground.
Although their popularity only keeps growing. Currently, they have over 7 million followers on Instagram, 21 million on TikTok, and 4,4 million on Facebook.
Loredana und Kilian
Loredana and Kilian are a Swiss influencer couple who documents their relationship life, sometimes in a funny way, on social media and on their blog.
Their motto is “every day is a good day” and their goal is to entertain you. “Come with us to the most beautiful places on earth, in our day-to-day life, and experience the highs and lows in life and in a relationship with us. We love that you’re here with us.”
In addition to 76.000 followers on Instagram, they also have a YouTube channel with 13k subscribers, where they were “vlogging around the world” and documenting their travels for two years before settling down again in their home of Switzerland.
Zeki Bulgurcu
Zeki is one of the biggest social media influencers in Switzerland. The comedian was born in 1990 in Turkey but moved to Switzerland with his parents at age three.
He runs the popular Instagram accounts of Zekisworld and Swissmeme (the #1 social media account for memes in Swiss German). Back in 2013, he discovered that the social media world was lacking content made especially for Swiss people. The next day he started posting memes in Swiss German on Instagram and the account took off quickly.
He has a combined 1.4 million followers on Instagram, 660k on TikTok, 160k on Facebook, and a combined 155k subscribers on YouTube.
On his Instagram, he shares funny skits of himself. He has recently released his own Turkish sausage brand in collaboration with Migros and is planning to make music and produce film.
Olivia Faeh
Olivia Faeh is a fashion influencer and entrepreneur from Zurich, Switzerland. On her Instagram profile, she shares fashion and lifestyle content, especially promoting streetwear and highlighting beautiful places.
The Swiss influencer is loved for being authentic. People like following her IG stories about her life, including her dog. She also teaches her followers about trending topics and provides fashion, beauty, and home ideas.
Olivia also runs her own social media agency (Faeh Agency) and will soon launch her own online fashion boutique. She has studied fashion and design management in Munich, so she is uniquely qualified for her business ventures.
Additionally, Olivia is very focused on sustainability. She often sells old clothes to promote reusing resources.
Antonella Patitucci
Actress, presenter, coach, and social media influencerAntonella Patitucci is from Switzerland, too. In her diverse career, she has played in TV shows such as Aktenzeichen XY and Der Alte on the German station ZDF, acted in musicals, starred in commercials for brands such as L’Oreal, Nespresso, and Audi, and moderated several events.
Currently, she offers coaching services, workshops, and live events around self-development, relationships, and personal finance. On her Instagram profile, she shares inspirational content.
Antonella told us the following about what it takes to be a successful influencer: “The value is in telling your own story and putting emotion behind it. Give the product a face so people can relate. Share your unique story and opinion. A product alone is a picture, but with you and your story, it’s like a movie.”
Stefan Büsser
Stefan is a stand-up comedian and TV host and part of the podcast “Comedy-Männer.” On his 113k-strong Instagram account, he shares skits and promotes his tours and TV appearances. Since 2018, he has been producing the comedy series “Büssi zappt” together with Zappin.
He got his start in media in 2005 as a radio moderator in Winterthur, Switzerland. He then transitioned to the Swiss radio channel Energy Zurich, until he started working for the national channel SRF 3 in 2016.
Martina Bisaz
Martina Bisaz might be Switzerland’s most famous traveler. Born in 1981, the first part of her career was as a scientific illustrator, before she became a freelance photographer and social media influencer, documenting her world travels on her famous account called “kitkat_ch.”
Her photos are of extremely high quality, and they show off all the majesty and beauty the world has to offer.
Cabarett DivertiMento
DivertiMento is a Swiss cabaret duo that presents many elements of cabaret: Stand-up comedy, satire, and jokes. The duo is made up of Manuel Burkart, who lives in Zurich Oberland, and Jonny Fischer, who lives in Zug, Switzerland.
The two of them met in the year 2000 at their boarding school, and with their strong musical background, joined together to form the Cabaret DivertiMento.
Recently, they’ve also become social media influencers. Their Instagram account is up to an impressive 160.000 followers, where they’re sharing funny skits and promoting their live tours.
Cristina is based in Switzerland. She is an influencer in the fashion, beauty, and travel niches and has 240.000 followers on Instagram.
Her former travel blog was ranked one of the best in Switzerland, but currently, she concentrates on running her Instagram account.
Her content has a classic style and she focuses on family and beauty in her work.
Steven Epprecht
Steven Epprecht is a model, content creator, and entrepreneur based in Zurich, Switzerland. His influence on social media is large, with 315k followers on Instagram.
His posts center around travel, lifestyle, and relationships, “living the good life!”
Recently, Steven founded his own social media agency. Here is a quote he shared with us on a recent video conference:
“The most important thing is, if I collaborate with a brand, it’s crucial that I can stand behind the product, and it’s not just for the money. […] On my own channels, I’m saying I recommend it and I have a responsibility towards my community. It’s like a relationship with a friend. I’m considering whether I’d recommend this to my mom or a friend. They trust you and you have credibility and shouldn’t play with that, otherwise, it won’t work out in the long run. Only do what is you.”
Andri Ragettli
Swiss Slopestyle genius Andri Ragettli is a massive influencer on Instagram. His account has over 533k followers.
On his profile, he shares victories and defeats, and videos of his riding, as well as creative and funny challenges. “There’s been acrobatic bridge-diving in Zurich, ‘the floor is lava’ style workouts, as well as dabbling in parkour, biking, and splash diving — not forgetting ‘nipple deep,’ which is when snowboarders ride on deep, powder-like snow.” – CNN
If you want to learn more about Andri Ragettli’s most successful stations and hardest setbacks in his career as a freeskier, we recommend his book Attack your dreams.
Mergime & Xhem
Mergime & Xhem are an Instagram influencer couple living in Switzerland. Mergime runs a barber shop in Switzerland. They offer their community a view into their day-to-day and family life.
Additionally, they’re both very fashionable and appeal to their followers with beautiful outfits. When one is busy, the other takes over the social media accounts. That’s how they manage to run their business and be influencers at the same time!
Michèle Krüsi
“Thefashionfraction” on Instagram (461k followers!), Michèle Krüsi is the founder and creative director of her own lingerie and swimwear brand “Leonessa Lingerie.”
She is also a powerful social media influencer. Her profile features very creative photos and reels around fashion, travel, relationships, and more recently, pregnancy.
Michele is a graphic designer, which shines through in her work. Her account also features artwork, fitness, and new designs.
Sandra Rodrigues Pinto
Sandra Rodrigues Pinto’s Instagram handle is “entredois” (“between two”). This refers to her two places of residence—Switzerland and Portugal. Her background is Swiss / Portuguese.
In addition to accumulating over 432k followers on Instagram, Sandra has founded her own fashion brand at Lamarel which aims to create minimalist, beautiful pieces of fashion.
Her Instagram content centers around travel, lifestyle, relationships, beauty, and architecture.
For example, she shares pictures from her travels to Paris and great outfits she puts together for an old-school, but fashionable look.
Mimoza Lekaj
26-year-old Mimoza Lekaj from Zürich is a beauty-, fashion- and styling-influencer. Her Instagram account boasts an impressive 280,000 followers. On her social media, Mimoza aims to inspire her audience and give valuable tips for how to dress to feel good and beautiful.
She promotes a positive attitude to life – in her words, an optimistic outlook coupled with frequent laughter will automatically make you look better. The center of Mimoza Lekaj’s life is in Switzerland, but because of her family, she still has an intense emotional connection to Kosovo.
Loredana Zefi
Loredana is a somewhat controversial Swiss rapper with Kosovan roots. Her breakout single “Bonnie & Clyde,” which she made with her husband Mozzik, was released in September 2018 with Sony Music. In 2019 her first album “King Lori” followed, which made the top three in Switzerland.
Unfortunately, Loredana has had problems with the authorities and was even arrested. Nevertheless, Loredana is a famous influencer in Switzerland with three million followers. Her posts are about fashion, music, and her daughter.
Joung Gustav
With 4 Million TikTok and 200k+ Instagram followers, Joung Gustav is a huge Swiss influencer from Zürich. The 27-year-old has only been making content since 2020.
His schtick is to go out and make videos in the streets of Zürich – especially at the “Stadi”, the Stadelhofen railway station where his target audience of Swiss teenagers likes to hang out.
Mia Madisson Rocco (@shhhmadisson on Instagram) is a reality TV star and influencer from Zurich, Switzerland.
She became famous after starring in the popular show “The Bachelor” in 2018 and 2020. Nowadays, she is married and works on Instagram as a beauty and fashion influencer.
Aditotoro
Adrian Vogt, born in 1998, is better known in this country as Aditotoro. You can find him on all platforms (YouTube, Instagram, Twitch…), his main gig however is TikTok, where almost 2.2 Mio. followers (as of Dec. 2022) are eagerly awaiting his next uploads. Aditotoro makes entertaining videos that also give insights into his lifestyle.
The successful Swiss influencer lives on the “Rünenberg”, a small village in the “Oberbaselbiet”.
Patrick Burgener is a Swiss freestyle snowboarder and musician turned social media influencer. He is a two-time Olympian and won two bronze medals at the snowboarding World Championships.
On his 60,000-strong Instagram account, he posts reels about his lifestyle, snowboarding, and music performances.
Does he see himself more as a professional sportsperson or as a musician? Pat feels like music is his life purpose. He wants to continue snowboarding for the next few years, but fully concentrate on his music after that.
Nathistyle
Social media star Nathalie Sulser aka Nathistyle makes highly popular videos in Swiss German on TikTok (250,000 followers) and YouTube (35,000 subscribers).
The 20-year-old influencer from Zürich does cool challenges or performs sketches. In addition, she participated in the rap single “Bad Santa” by Gian Maria Finger and won the 2022 Swiss Influencer Award in the Lifestyle category.
Leo Monferini
Leo Monferini was born in 2001 and is a well-known TikTok star from Switzerland. On his TikTok account – with an impressive 4.6 million followers – he poses as the fictional character Eugène, whose trademark is his pair of big glasses.
As an influencer, Leo Monferini has worked with Raiffeisen Bank Switzerland to make the bank more attractive to young people and also with the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) to promote mask-wearing among teenagers.
Kris Grippo
With 5.2 million followers on TikTok and over a million on Instagram, “Kris8an” is probably one of the best-known Generation Z influencers. The man from Basel managed to build up his huge community in just two years.
His social media content consists of him dancing, lipsyncing, or simply posing for the camera in his room full of stuffed animals. According to Kris, 80 percent of his followers are female and between 14 and 18 years old.
Taulant Gashnjani
He’s called T-Ronimo. Over 160,000 people follow him on TikTok, 25,000 on Instagram, and he also has a YouTube channel. He makes videos in Swiss German, and isn’t afraid to use some swear words from time to time!
His take on the booming creator economy with more competition entering the field: “I just have to keep pushing to consistently make good and engaging content. I don’t see this as a negative, as I always have enough ideas!”
Lana Banté
Lana Banté from Geneva, Switzerland creates comedy TikTok videos, with themes such as beauty and fitness, and often collaborates with her friend Margaux Seydoux.
She has 45,000 followers on Instagram and over 660,000 on TikTok!
In 2021, Lana Bante was part of the “Collab House”, which had the most successful influencers from Switzerland move into a villa together to create as many TikTok videos as possible for their followers.
How to Work with Popular Swiss Influencers
We hope you enjoyed reading about these 26 influencers from Switzerland.
The world of influencers is steadily growing, and we’re seeing exciting developments worldwide, but also in Switzerland itself.If you’re curious about influencer marketing or interested in becoming an influencer yourself, subscribe to the newsletter of our influencer marketing agency to get the latest news and tips!
So, you’ve decided to use influencer marketing to grow your business, and you want the support of an agency. Influencer marketing is a wise choice. 89% of companies say their ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels.
The right agency will certainly be able to get you impressive results with influencer marketing. Now in 2024, there are numerous agencies to choose from. All of them are promising to be the perfect fit for you. Many claim they can help you achieve your goals – guaranteed!
Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Not every agency is equally professional and effective. Even some that are excellent still might not be a good fit for your business, for different reasons.
Influencer Marketing Agency Red Flags
No brand wants to work with a service provider that isn’t capable of getting beneficial results. You obviously don’t want to risk launching campaigns not backed by a proven process, with a high risk of failure.
If an agency is focused more on their own revenue streams than understanding your business’ unique situation and needs, the campaigns they run for you might fall flat.
Another issue to consider is chemistry. If the process of collaborating with the agency is unpleasant and filled with friction, you can end up very frustrated. You want to be working with humans who are open, who care, and who you can talk to and contact with your concerns at any time.
Likewise, you don’t want to end up working with someone who doesn’t use the latest technology and is unable to capture all the analytics that are required for running effective social media marketing campaigns.
After all, when you hire an influencer marketing agency, you are making an investment that’s supposed to pay off – you don’t want to be burning money and time on something that ends up being ineffective. Learn more about effective influencer marketing campaigns here. It’s worth putting the work in up front to evaluate influencer marketing agencies, so you can pick exactly the right fit out of the high-quality agencies out there.
We have created this guide to help you in that process, so you can make the right choice and experience the amazing results that influencer marketing can create for your business, while avoiding pitfalls.
Let’s dive in.
1. Get clear on what exactly you need from them
If you know what you are looking for, the chance of finding it increases significantly. This saying holds true for influencer marketing agencies too!
Every influencer marketing agency has different specialties, budget, and project size requirements. This is exactly why you should know your marketing goals and the goals you want to achieve together with the agency.
Once you have defined your goals, you can evaluate agencies through that framework, see how well they fulfill your criteria, and rank them accordingly.
The right agency will also be able to show you exactly how they are going to help you achieve your goals and do so convincingly. Find tips from Universal how to make influencer marketing work here.
2. Get to know their team
You can learn more about a company’s team by visiting the team section on agency websites, and viewing agency staff on LinkedIn.
During the consultation, you can ask who exactly would be working on your project.
Do they have the experience? And the ‘people skills’?
Look for team members who have relevant experience in running the types of influencer marketing campaigns you will be requesting. The goal here is to find an agency whose team is both qualified and pleasant to work with – this includes the human aspect of the relationship.
3. Examine their process
Now, you want to have a deeper look at exactly how the influencer marketing agency you’re looking conducts their work. Their approach to any new project will tell you a lot about how successful they will be once they’re working for your brand.
How do influencer marketing agencies evaluate a project?
Find out how the agency treats any new customer’s project. Look for signs that you will get a strategy that’s not cookie-cutter, but uniquely tailored to your brand. A good agency is supposed to be very creative in adapting their process to you in a way that makes sense.
How are agencies kept accountable?
An important piece of information to know is if the agency has senior professionals supervise your project. It’s fine if some newer people are going to also work on your campaign – as long as they are being checked by those with more experience. At Kingfluencers, every client is supported by at least one senior professional, with over five years of experience in social media and influencer marketing, to balance the diligent efforts of our newer marketers.
When and for how long are agencies available to you each week?
Also, you want them to be available and accountable to you directly. This means you can reach them easily and there’s always space in their schedule to discuss matters with you. At Kingfluencers, we respond to client emails within the same or the next day, the latest.
Are agencies readily sharing this info with you? Will they be able to make their process work for your needs?
If an agency is being very opaque about what working with them looks like, that could be a red flag. It probably means they will – in spite of their promises – not be able to take your unique needs into account and craft a strategy that will actually get you the results.
4. Study their strategies
The best influencer marketing agencies use strategies that work.
What does that mean?
Are they planning for the long term?
Yes, a one-off influencer marketing initiative can be impactful. But the best agencies also specialize in running long-term campaigns that get your brand to the next level, and make sure it stays there sustainably. Obviously this depends on your goals and budget.
But brand strategists who have experience creating more comprehensive strategies are always at least considering the long-term impact of any campaign they’re involved in, which is definitely a plus.
Do they consider the big picture, or is your campaign going to be working in isolation?
Influencer marketing should not be a stand-alone measure. Social media touchpoints should lead to specific actions taken in the context of your campaign.
A holistic, or integrated, approach is key and vastly superior to isolated strategies.
Does the influencer marketing agency in question commit to combining different outlets and marketing strategies in order to serve you best, or is there no mention of such an approach? Read about Kingfluencers focus on holistic, omnichannel storytelling.
Are they creative, hip to trends, and versatile in their tactics?
Influencer marketing is evolving quickly. New trends are popping up all the time. Anyone playing in this field must be highly creative and adaptive. The best agencies show they can capitalize on these trends, and are always finding the right kinds of messages and campaigns that fit the times. Constant reinvention is the name of the game in influencer marketing.
You can gauge which agency possesses these qualities by reading their marketing materials and looking into their history and portfolio. For example, the best influencer marketing agencies are creating influencer partnerships that are even more interactive and collaborative than typical social media content – they are encouraging the audience to participate in new and fun ways.
Are they using the power of storytelling to full effect?
Again, you can tell by looking at how an influencer marketing agency talks about what they do. Do they grasp the vital importance of good, creative storytelling? Effective influencer marketing evokes the right emotions and creates a special connection with the audience, which is best done through telling captivating stories. In order to do that, the content produced for you must be both creative and authentic – not feeling disingenuous in the slightest. The right influencer marketing agency is doing just that, and creating a precious opportunity for your brand to be connected with an engaged audience, leading to the result that you came for.
5. Screen their technology
What is their campaign management like?
Starting a campaign for you is one thing – managing it successfully is another. Check out how the agency in question is going to handle managing your project. If they are doing it right, they will be using sophisticated technology in order to keep up with and manage your influencer campaign.
They should have the latest technologies and best practices at their fingertips. Digital marketing agencies need to be familiar with the latest software, because tools such as Upfluence, Modash or Creator IQ, for example, are useful to achieve faster results through deep insights. At Kingfluencers, we have our own developed tools with which we can simplify our work, because we do everything within the system, from influencer research and sourcing, to campaign reporting and beyond predicting ROI. Thanks to the advantage that our system is based on data truth – e.g., through creating automated briefings and analysis – both, influencers and clients, share and get insights, so every process and crucial step is happening within our system based on the included real-time data.
Are they performance driven?
This means they are paying attention to and tracking the correct metrics – and have processes and strategies in place to learn from these analytics and use their learnings to adjust and improve your initiative.
Familiarity with other third-party data sources and creative tools is also helpful. Ultimately, this helps your brand gain more popularity through better campaigns – both in terms of creativity and effectiveness.
6. Learn about their network of influencers
Technology, team, and tactics aside, what can really make or break your influencer marketing campaign is what kind of influencers you end up working with.
Here’s how you can evaluate whether they will be able to connect you with the best people for the job, or whether there is a chance they’ll leave you with a mismatch that’ll end up hurting your marketing efforts:
How large of a network do they have?
While this does not directly ensure the quality of those contacts, a decent-sized network at least means that the agency has put in the work of creating many connections and has been working in this field for a good amount of time already. If the network they are working with isn’t large, they won’t have as many choices of influencers to find exactly the right ones for you.
Are all the influencers carefully vetted? What’s their vetting process like?
It’s true, people trust influencers – but only those who have shown to actually be deserving of their trust. It’s the agency’s job to filter for influencers with integrity and who are not just out to make a quick buck while carelessly disrespecting their audience and the brands they represent.
A good influencer marketing agency will take the time to get to know each and every one of their content creators. They might accomplish that task with personal onboardings, influencer trainings, and co-creation workshops. That way they’ll make sure to connect you only with quality, committed, and authentic people to represent your brand.
Will they be able to pick the right type of influencer for the job?
Do they have access to nano-, micro- and macro-influencers and can they offer the type of channel that is right for your goals? For example, while nano- and micro-influencers have a much smaller following, they are able to create a much closer connection between your brand and their community, because they are highly trusted and their audience engagement is typically much higher.
When an influencer and their following are a great fit for your brand, you have the chance to create amazing content that leads to extraordinary results.
How do they ensure quality control and accountability for their influencers?
This requires functional working relationships with their network, as well as processes for managing the workflow. See if you can find out about their process for ensuring influencer accountability.
7. Review their portfolio & skills
The influencer marketing agency you hire should have the skills you need to achieve your goals, whether it’s generating more quality leads, increasing online sales, increasing store visits, or getting more website visitors.
Do they demonstrate a deep understanding of the relevant platforms and what good content looks like?
The only way to get results is to hire an agency that has mastered the art of creating engaging and targeted influencer marketing campaigns.
You can make sure this is the case by checking out the content they’ve produced in the past.
8. Check their social proof
The best way for you to check if the agency is reputable and gets results is to look at their history and portfolio of past work. Finished work, after all, is the best demonstration of skills – far superior to any marketing promises.
Do they have a high-caliber, diverse portfolio?
The portfolio is the ideal way for the agency to showcase their best work. This will help you get an idea of what type of work they do and what type of clients they select.
What do their testimonials say?
Over 90% of clients look at testimonials before hiring an agency. Social proof is therefore an effective tactic for agencies to convert prospects into buyers. If you can’t find any testimonials on websites, it likely means:
The company may not have any previous customers
They are not the experts they claim to be
Good testimonials indicate that future customers may have a similar experience. Plus, agencies with happy clients shouldn’t have a hard time getting testimonials.
Be aware that testimonials on online review sites are easy to fake. Look for testimonials of past clients prominently featured on the agency’s website – they can’t afford to fake those!
Social proofs like testimonials and previous client reviews can be a great way to gain insight into an influencer agency’s work ethic.
Another great way to further vet an agency and ensure good collaboration is to get an idea of the agency’s past customers. Get in touch with them and ask them about their experience working with the agency. In addition to helping you choose the right agency, these discussions could also give you insight into best practices to copy.
9. Discuss their prices
Finally, be sure to discuss prices and deliverables. This is the final piece of information that will tell you if an influencer agency can give you what you are looking for, in the right way, and at the right price.
It’s crucial to find the target groups that are most likely to be interested in your offer in order to keep the advertising costs per new customer as low as possible and thus win the most new customers for your budget.
Will they be able to align with your expectations regarding budget and deliverables?
Conclusion
Starting influencer marketing in your business can be a daunting task. If you don’t first get to really know the influencer marketing agency you’re going to work with, your efforts could end up being in vain and losses could occur.
It pays to hire the best, most experienced influencer marketing experts to help you achieve your goals. You need someone who can create exciting influencer campaigns and deliver them accurately to convert your audience into customers.
To keep up in a dynamic field like social media marketing and successfully work with third parties influencers, it’s best to work with an agency with proven expertise.
Influencer marketing is an important marketing strategy that continues to grow. It is no longer limited to a select few businesses or agencies, but has become a marketing channel accessible to all brands.
More brands recognize the power of influencer marketing and seek out influencers who can help them generate meaningful connections with their target audience.
That means more opportunities for influencers – for you – to make money!
If you’re looking to become an influencer, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll go over the steps of becoming an influencer one by one. Keep reading to begin your journey to becoming an influencer.
Table of Contents
Is becoming a social media influencer the right choice for you?
Ask these questions before you decide to become an influencer
How to get started as an influencer
How to brand yourself as an influencer
How to establish authority as an influencer
How to work as an influencer
How to grow and remain popular after you’ve become an influencer
How to get paid as an influencer
Conclusion
Is becoming a social media influencer the right choice for you?
Becoming a social media influencer sounds like a great career choice – let’s find out if it’s really the right one for you.
Are you excited about making a difference?
If you become an influencer, you have an opportunity to leave your imprint on the world. You decide which causes to support, be it sustainable brands or charitable businesses. You can use your influence to spread your positive values to the world.
Would you love to have a community of people who rally around you?
If you have no problem standing in the spotlight and taking responsibility for your loyal followers, becoming a professional influencer could be perfect for you.
Would you like the financial freedom of working for yourself?
To not be tied down by rigid work hours or office dress codes, or having to stay in one place all the time?
Becoming an influencer can allow you to turn something you are passionate about into a career, basically getting paid to make content about something you enjoy.
Sounds like a good plan! That’s the promise that becoming an influencer holds.
But…
Ask these questions before you decide to become an influencer
Of course, all these benefits do not simply appear because you’ve decided that you’re going to do this.
Understand that if you become an influencer, you are turning yourself into a business. If you are serious about earning the benefits, you have to be serious about the work, too!
So, before you start, please ask yourself the following questions:
Are you willing to do what it takes?
As an influencer, you’re going to have to do a lot of tasks:
Creating your strategy
Dressing up
Filming your content
Editing
Writing captions
Scheduling your content
Publishing
Engaging with your audience
Promoting and managing your brand
Networking and reaching out
and much more. All this will take you a lot of time!
Are you willing to make that investment?
Will you have the patience that’s required to grow your brand?
Again, it will take time to grow your followers and build up an empire – your piece of the web – as an influencer. That’s where you’ll need the patience to keep executing your strategy and keep publishing, even when your audience is not yet as big as you want it to be.
Do you have the passion and motivation to keep serving your audience?
If you want to be an influencer who is successful long-term, you need to find a way to stay motivated – you owe it to your followers.
You can do this if you have passion for the topic you’re making content about and you genuinely want to help and entertain the audience.
Ask yourself: Is that you?
What will it take for you to make enough money to be able to make this a full time gig, or at least a solid side hustle?
Be realistic and set a sensible goal – and you won’t be caught off-guard later when the numbers don’t match what you were hoping for right away.
(This is if you have several thousand engaged followers who love you, and you manage to connect with brands who feel that your content is a good fit.)
Now you can do the math and see how much work it would take to make the income that you’re aiming for. Of course, as you grow your reach and your authority, you will be able to command higher rates.
What type of influencer do you want to be? Nano, Micro, Macro, or Mega?
In influencer marketing, bigger isn’t always better.
Brands are starting to see the value of smaller influencers – they have higher engagement and the trust of their followers.
This means that even as a smaller influencer, you will be able to get brand deals that make you good money.
“The findings of four experimental studies show that micro-influencers (those who have 10,000 to 100,000 followers) are more persuasive than mega-influencers (those who have more than 1 million followers) because endorsements by micro-influencers (versus mega-influencers) bestow higher perceptions of authenticity on the endorsed brand, which ‘rubs off’ from the perceptions regarding influencer authenticity.” https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.2021.1980470
The different sizes of influencer you could become are:
Nano-influencer: Under 5k followers. This is where you will probably start out. Examples: Debora Sarai in the DIY and home niche. Alenis Lima in the beauty/fashion and lifestyle niche.
Micro-influencer: 5k-100k followers. Examples: Adela Smajic in the Beauty/fashion, lifestyle and travel niche. Alayah Pilgrim in the sports, health and fitness niche. Carlo Janka in the sports, outdoors and family niche.
Macro-influencer: 100k-1m followers. As your following grows, more opportunities will come in, but it will also take more time and effort to manage your brand. Examples: Kevin Lütolf in the fashion and technology niche. Zoë Pastelle in the fashion and entertainment niche. Zeki aka Zekisworld in the comedy and automotive niche.
Mega-influencer: Over 1 million followers.
These are typically actors, musicians, and other A-list celebrities.
Your content might never get you into this category (and maybe you don’t even want that), but if you do, hey, good luck! Also, you might make up to $1 million per sponsored post!
Have you answered these questions to clarify what lies ahead on your path to becoming an influencer on social media?
Then you’re ready to get started!
We’ve created this roadmap to help you on your way, and to get you to the point where you can call this your job! Maybe you’ll even end up working with us in the future. Let’s dive into your journey.
How to get started as an influencer
Find your niche
We recommend that when you start your career on social media, you pick a niche. It makes sense to narrow down quite a bit.
What does that mean?
Especially in the beginning, you want to be known for your work in a specific space. That way, your audience will associate you with this space as you post more about it.
People are more likely to follow you if they know what to expect from your content.
Focus and fine-tune your niche, and it will be much easier to grow your followers and be seen as an expert in that niche.
Now, what niche should you pick?
Passion & Knowledge
If you have an existing passion – maybe even a good level of experience and skill – you could pick that to give yourself a head start and be more motivated to create content around that niche.
Popularity and Monetizability
From a business standpoint, it makes sense to find a niche that is trending or at least growing steadily and in which brands are willing to spend money to advertise.
We have compiled ten of the most popular and profitable social media niches for you below:
1. Technology
2. Fashion
3. Health & Fitness
4. Food & Cooking
5. Business & Making Money
6. Lifestyle
7. Beauty
8. Parenting
9. Pets
10. Travel
Find the one that aligns with your interests and knowledge, is popular and monetizable, and has an audience that you could engage with long term.
Choose the right platform to start
Which platform should you become an influencer on?
We recommend you start on just one platform – preferably the one where your audience spends the most time – so that you can focus and grow your following most effectively.
Of course, you can expand your business later and join multiple other platforms!
Try to understand who your audience is first:
Which age group are you targeting with your influencing campaign?
What’s their average income level?
What’s their gender, percentage-wise?
What’s their family situation?
What are their hobbies and interests?
Which circles and communities are they in?
The answers to these will guide you towards the platform you could start out on. As an example, if you’re in the knitting niche, you could start posting on Pinterest. If you’re a gamer, start a Twitch account. Model trains, Facebook. Etc. This information changes over time, and there are many factors to consider in selecting the right platform.
Following is a quick snapshot of which platforms make the most sense for you to be on as an influencer, depending on your niche:
Facebook: Widest adoption among all demographics, but is trending older, and a wealthier audience. Good for niches that have a middle-aged audience.
Twitter: Good for more intellectual niches such as writing, business, and self-improvement.
LinkedIn: The #1 platform if you want to become an influencer in the world of business and money making.
Pinterest: Mostly female audience. Perfect for arts & crafts, among others.
Instagram: A very visual platform that is perfect for many niches, including fashion, travel, food, and pets. The audience is slightly younger.
TikTok: Has the youngest audience. But the platform is now also becoming more interesting for older generations. Best if you are focused on your specific audience, and you are able to capitalize on trends.
Prepare your profile
After you’ve picked your niche and the platform you’re going to start out on, you’ll need to create and optimize your social media profile.
Switch to a business account
If you want to be an influencer, you should upgrade to a business account because it gives you a lot more possibilities – namely for analytics and monetization. You can create a business account in the profile settings of most networks, such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Create a fantastic bio
When someone visits your profile, the first thing they see is your bio. You want to make sure you’re making a great first impression!
Your biography should explain your narrative in a compelling way. It should also include all relevant information about you, such as your full name, address, phone number, and areas of expertise.
Add a profile pic and banner/cover photo
You should also include a profile photo and a cover photo, as these are crucial components of your own brand identification.
People frequently recognize a social network profile by its profile photo, so choose one carefully. Also, make sure your face is visible, and the photo is high quality.
How to brand yourself as an influencer
What is your influencer personality? You should be able to pin-point the qualities and characteristics that set you apart from others in your niche on social media. People like to follow someone who has a strong and interesting personality.
It doesn’t mean you have to invent a new personality for yourself.
Ideally, you authentically express what’s interesting and special about you. Of course, with social media, you will want to emphasize the most compelling aspects of your personality, but you should never be fake.
Simply go more into what already makes you special naturally.
Your personal brand
You also want to be thinking about creating your personal brand. This means you take your influencer personality and your angle on content and turn it into a recognizable brand.
How do you create your personal brand and make it stand out?
Convey a similar vibe with images and videos: They are created in a similar way, use the same filters etc.
Purposely use your own, consistent color scheme in your profile and your marketing materials.
Have your own way of talking and addressing your followers in your content and captions – brand tone is consistent
Have a special name for your followers
Create a logo and slogan that people recognize instantly
And most importantly, your personal brand is telling a story – one that is compelling and resonates with the audience.
Here’s what Antonella Patitucci, Actress, Presenter, Coach and Content Creator, had to say about how important it is that you tell stories as an influencer:
“The value is in telling your own story and putting emotion behind it. Give the product a face so people can relate. Share your unique story and opinion. A product alone is a picture, but with you and your story, it’s like a movie.” We couldn’t agree more. So start telling a unique story, and you will start creating a strong personal brand for yourself that people will want to follow.
How to establish authority as an influencer
You’ve picked your niche, you’ve thought about your branding… now it’s time to build your expertise! Your goal should be to become an authority on the topic you’re making content on. You want your audience to look up to you, trust what you’re saying about the topic, and follow your recommendations.
How are you going to build your authority?
Study your niche
Start by researching everything that’s out there on your niche on the internet to get a good overview of what you’re going to make content about. Subscribe to relevant podcasts. Read any available books and print publications around the topic.
Establish your web presence
In addition to your social media profile, consider setting up your own website as well. This will give you another chance to advertise your personal brand and show off your portfolio. It’s a signal that you are a professional and will give you even more authority as an influencer.
Start networking in your industry
Go to conferences. Reach out to other influencers in your niche. Communicate, find peers and mentors, and collaborate with others. Not only will this make you an insider with even more knowledge about your niche, it will also increase your status
How to work when you’re an influencer
Now, how do you go about your daily work as an influencer? How do you know what to post, when to post it, and how often to post?
To keep up with creating content and to make sure that you have an awesome social media profile that keeps growing, we recommend that you first create a content strategy.
Your content strategy
First, establish a posting schedule. Decide how often you’re going to post in order to keep your followers engaged – while not burning yourself out. Keep in mind how much time creating just one social media post can take!
Then, decide on the types of content you’re going to be posting regularly. This can, and maybe should, be different types of posts on different days. Depending on the platform, you have the choice between:
Videos (short-form, long-form, stories)
Pictures
Audio
Infographics
Text
Finally, the content topic: What topics are you going to cover? What angle are you going to take with your content? Note all these things down in your strategy document. Now you know exactly what to post each week.
Study your analytics
Executing on the publishing strategy you just created is a great start – but it’s not everything. You should also learn from each post you make. Do this by studying your analytics. With a business account, you will have access to those statistics.
Each week, look at how your posts have performed.
How many people saw your post?
How much did they engage with it?
How many likes did it get?
If it was a sponsored post, did it resonate with people?
What could you do to make even better content next time?
How to grow and remain popular after you’ve become an influencer
Apart from your short-term strategy, be prepared to stay on top of the game in the long term.
How do you do that?
Nurture your community. Do this by running special campaigns, like challenges, surveys, and giveaways; fun initiatives that keep your audience on their toes and excited about hearing from you.
Know your audience intimately. Keep studying your followers. What are their goals? Their deepest desires? What makes them tick? Know all this… then try to satisfy those desires with your content!
Stay ahead of trends. If you always keep your personal brand relevant to the times, you won’t have to worry about people becoming bored with your content and unfollowing. On the contrary, you will keep them engaged with fresh stuff and your following will only keep growing!
Always engage & be present. You should treat your followers like your tribe, maybe even like a second family. This means you’ll always be there to reply to their comments, answer their questions and offer support.
“It’s easy to get blinded by vanity metrics such as big numbers of views and followers. It’s not about the number of followers you have. What matters is the quality of the connection you make with your audience.” – Marvin Sangines, Personal Branding Advisor at Kingfluencers
How to get paid as an influencer
We saved the most exciting part for last:
How you’re going to get paid and hopefully at some point make a full-time income as a social media influencer!
In most cases, this will mean that you’re going to be working with brands and promoting their products in your content.
How are you going to find those brands?
The first option is to make a list of brands you would like to work with. Then research their marketing department and email them about working together.
The other option is to apply to an influencer marketing agency, who usually has a large network of brands they work with. They’ll take on the work of contacting the brands that are the right fit for you. This should be at no cost to you, because the agency will get paid by them and not you. It’s a good option if you want to spare yourself the extra stress of having to find and pitch brands, on top of all the other tasks you have to do as an influencer.
How many followers do you need to start getting paid?
This differs, depending on your niche and other factors. We usually advise you to build your brand to at least 2500 followers and then apply for your first brand deals.
Let’s do it!
Is being an influencer worth it? We say absolutely yes – now that you know what goes into becoming one and how to do it, you can decide if it’s for you. Keep in mind that getting results is a process that takes time and effort. As a result, you shouldn’t expect to become a social media influencer overnight. However, if you continue to follow these guidelines, you will be able to become an influencer and earn money doing it.
We can only estimate how many influencers there are today – it’s probably somewhere between 3.2 and 37.8 MILLION.
And it’s safe to say that only a tiny fraction of them will be exactly right for your brand and your campaign.
Then how do you separate the wheat from the chaff? How do you find those influencers who can help propel your business forward?
It’s important to answer this question. While we firmly believe in the power of this booming branch of marketing – and the data proves it – we do acknowledge that a lot can go wrong in influencer marketing as well.
So, we created this guide to help you avoid common pitfalls and hire exactly the right influencers for the job. We want you to create awareness for your brand, grow your business, and create great experiences for your fans with influencer marketing – reliably and safely.
You do this by choosing the best influencers to represent you.
Here’s how to do it, step-by-step.
To Find the Right Influencers, Do These 3 Important Steps First
If you want to find the best influencer for your campaign, you have to build your foundation properly first. This will help you clarify what kind of influencer (or influencers) you are actually looking for.
Not all campaigns must have the same goal. Each campaign can aim to achieve different metrics, and each can feed into different parts of your brand’s funnel.
The main goals that businesses usually have for their influencer marketing efforts are:
Improve the general visibility of your brand and create awareness
Gain social media followers and boost engagement
Generate leads for your business
Increase traffic to your company website or/and build backlinks
Conversions, such as email sign-ups
Improve your brand’s reputation
Generate revenue and social selling
Determining your main goals is an important prerequisite to developing a strategy for your campaign. It will then be much easier for you to pick the influencers who best fit into that strategy.
2. Determine your target platforms & campaign formats
Establishing goals in step one will help you determine which platforms make the most sense for you to have influencers make content for. This step will help you find those influencers who are most aligned with your planned campaign – because they’re naturals at the platform you’ll be using.
Here’s a quick breakdown of which type of audience you will find on each of the social media platforms:
TikTok: Particularly popular with Gen Z (other age groups are definitely on the rise though)
Instagram: A high percentage of Millenials are on IG
Facebook: Great if you want to target the older, wealthier Gen X population
The right influencer for your campaign will already be successful on the platform you’re targeting. If your brand appeals to a wider, more diverse audience, it might make sense to seek influencers who are active on multiple platforms – or hire one for each.
Also consider how you’d like to collaborate with and incentivize your chosen influencers. There are many ways of working with an influencer. Let’s look at a few different ones:
The influencer becomes an affiliate marketer for your brand, often combined with giving out discount codes to their followers
They host giveaways of your products for their audience
They present products that you’ve given them for free
They make their usual posts advertised as “sponsored by” your brand
They take over your company’s account for a day
They enter into a long-term contract with you and become ambassadors for your brand
The right kind of influencer will be able to accommodate you in the exact formats you choose.
3. Establish your messages & themes
Next, get clear on what kinds of messages you want to send in your influencer campaign and what themes they will fall under.
We divide these into four different content pillars which will make your messaging diverse and impactful.
The Brand Pillar
Your brand is the focus. This pillar has content that revolves around your brand, whether the posts are high level, informative, funny, or inspirational.
The Product Pillar
This type of content features a specific product – or line of products – such as a fashion brand’s new spring line. This could be done in an interactive Q&A or tutorial, for example.
The Experience Pillar
This is where you highlight people experiencing your brand, such as influencers shopping in the store or cooking with your cookware.
The Moment Pillar
Celebrating special dates, from birthdays to holidays and anniversaries. You could feature a virtual and/or physical Easter egg hunt, or show influencers receiving customized birthday packages.
You need someone who can make these messages and themes come to life in the way that you want – and once you’re crystal clear on them, you’re much more likely to pick the right influencer for the job!
Now that you know your strategy for your campaign that the influencer must be able to carry out…
Let’s dive into relevancy: How much does the influencer align with the niche and the topics surrounding your brand?
How to Pick the Most Relevant Influencers for Your Campaign
To do this, it’s helpful if you’ve already created your ideal influencer persona: The perfect person who would be the best fit for your audience and your campaign.
They:
Are of the right age to fit your target audience
Possess the correct kind and amount of knowledge around your brand’s niche
Are the right size for your budget and for maximum impact
Have the right personality and level of charisma for what you want to communicate
Dress and behave in ways that fit your brand
Make content that’s already in line with your brand values
In short, they should represent your brand identity very well – as if they were a natural part of it!
How to Guarantee That You’ll Find the Best Influencers
As vital as the issue of how relevant the influencer is to your brand, is the question: Do they have authority? Both online and in your company’s niche.
Pick an authority in their field and your campaign will have a great impact. But if you fail to vet their authority first, you can run into all sorts of potential problems.
How do you pick the most authoritative influencers?
By taking the following steps, you can rest assured you’ve made a good choice working with this person and your campaign will be successful.
They have a quality audience
A quality audience is committed to the creator – they engage readily with each of their posts, and their content is a part of their life that they take quite seriously! Also, a quality audience is not composed of people who are just there for entertainment and would never support the influencer financially … but they’re actually in a position to buy the products that he or she might recommend, and would do so happily.
Social media manager Jason Francis, of Social Media Samurai, says that “Quality trumps all. I know people with 30,000 followers struggling to raise $500 in a GoFundMe campaign, while people with 2,000 to 3,000 followers can move and influence them to the tune of $25,000.”
They make quality content
In today’s day and age on social media, it’s not enough to only post selfies with some meaningless text. A “sponsored post” shouldn’t consist of just a random shout-out to your brand or the mindless placement of your product.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite – the best influencers are consistently creating content that’s captivating, creative, and authentic.
What does this mean?
It means they care enough about their audience to craft pieces of media and messages that really resonate. The content hits on their followers’ dreams and desires, addresses things they’ve recently had on their minds often, it can even shock, fascinate, and pull them out of boredom or sadness.
Making creative content means finding new connections, inventing new ways to get a message across, combining different forms of media, and injecting novelty by collaborating with different people in their niche.
Above all, they have to stay authentic while doing it. Their loyal followers want to feel like they’re “one of them” – that they’re a close, trusted friend. A good influencer will achieve this by speaking in a common tone of voice, keeping their content relatable, caring about and engaging with the audience, and generally staying humble in spite of their success, fame, and status.
How do you vet these things?
First of all, you can obviously check out their social media profiles and study the posts they’ve been publishing so far.
Secondly, see if they have a media kit available that shows off their best work and gives a good impression of both the “vibe” and the quality of their content.
Their influence is real
Fake followers are a real problem on social media. What good is it if the influencer you’re working with has 100k followers, but most of them have been bought from some shady service? Not much good at all, apart from having a nice big number in their profile.
Yes, social media outlets have been cracking down on these things, but fake followers are still common on all platforms.
How do you spot fake followers?
1. Manually go through their list of followers
Potential red flags you should look for are profiles with weird or unrealistic-sounding names, many profiles that are not followed by anyone, and profiles with no user image or something that looks like a stock photo.
Additionally, if the majority of their followers appear to be from non-English-speaking countries, although their content is English, that might be a sign that the followers are not real.
2. Check the engagement on their posts
A real engagement rate for social media is between 2-3.5%. So if you see a profile with an audience of 100k, but their engagement is consistently low, their followers may have been bought. They should realistically be getting thousands of likes per post and hundreds of comments.
3. Use a tool to check for fake followers
In addition to doing the “common sense check” we outlined above, you can use one of many influencer credibility tools such as grin.co, inbeat.co, and modash.io to let a fraud-finding algorithm confirm what you’ve observed by looking through their profiles yourself.
Their reputation and background are flawless
You want to carefully vet the influencer’s background. Make sure they’ve had no reputation-destroying scandals, shady business connections, or even a criminal history.
A simple way to do this is to search for “influencer name + scandal,” “name + controversy,” or “name + convicted” on Google.
Could they be damaging to your brand?
Do they have business dealings that might interfere with your campaign or potentially damage your brand’s reputation?
Obviously, these things are unacceptable and any sign of these issues will quickly make you rule out ever working with that particular influencer.
Ideally you’ll want to find someone whose ethics and values are impeccable – in line with your brand.
Where to Find the Right Influencers – Platforms & Tools
Look for influencers in-house and among your fans
Most likely, many of your employees are already publicly advocating for your brand. You should look to channel and grow that enthusiasm! After all, who better to showcase what your brand stands for and be the credible faces of it than the people who built it?
Also, your leadership team is part of the face of your brand. Their role as social influencers is becoming increasingly important. One way to help senior executives successfully pick up this role is through personal branding.
Finally, your consumers can become a form of influencers as well. User-generated content (UGC) from brand fans and advocates can be very valuable and boost community engagement.
Each of these groups can be powerful brand advocates, but when combined effectively, the result is synergistic, delivering a massive impact.
Manually search on web platforms
Who’s already interacting with your brand?
Some of your top followers might have sizable, related audiences themselves. If they’re already liking, commenting on, and sharing your brand’s posts, they might be a perfect fit for a collaboration. If you see your brand mentioned without it being sponsored content, that’s a great initial sign!
Think about your industry’s icons
It could be a good idea to check out the most well-known influential people in your niche – yes, they’re more expensive to work with than others, but they also have the biggest reach and authority.
Set up a Google Alert
It’s possible to create an alert in Google so that anytime your brand, a topic related to your niche, or the industry in general is mentioned, you get notified. This is a valuable option for finding those people who are immersed in your field, are always talking about it, and are ‘hip’ to the latest trends. These might be influencers you’d want to work with.
Hashtags
By searching hashtags on different social media platforms, especially Instagram, you can find people in your niche and those who are already working as influencers.
Do this by searching trending hashtags, hashtags about aspects of your field, and hashtags like #sponsored or #ad that tell you someone is working with brands.
Speakers at events
Usually, the most influential and authoritative people in your industry are paid to speak at industry events. Become familiar with the speakers on the list at conventions and other events and see who you could imagine working with for an influencer marketing campaign.
Look for blogs and niche authority sites
Search for websites and blogs that are written by influencers in your niche. Do this by typing in keywords related to your brand into Google and adding the word “blog.” There are also tools that automate this task, as we’ll address later.
Followers of other brands in your space
By doing a bit of competitive analysis, you can also find good influencers for your brand. Check out who is most engaged on other brand’s profiles and who has a good audience themselves. These influencers show they are invested in and proactive about marketing – which will be great if they’re working with you!
Find influencers with a similar audience as you
If you know your target audience, you know what other topics they’re interested in and which influencers in those niches they follow. For example, if your company sells popcorn, your audience might be interested in other related things, like watching movies. It might make sense to partner up with influencers in the movie space, so you can reach your audience in another sphere.
Set up a contact page for prospective influencers on your company’s website
If any influencers are browsing your website, they will see that you’re open to working with them and contact you. You just need to create the page on your site and provide a contact form – and they’ll do the outreach themselves!
Browse LinkedIn
Some influencers also have active LinkedIn profiles. To find them, look for the job description of “content creator.”
Search forums in your niche
In some niches, there are good online forums where the latest in your industry is being discussed. Look for those people who are constantly discussing and providing value, and who seem to have authority and influence within the community. Reach out to those people to become part of your influencer marketing campaign.
If you’ve gone the manual route and are not yet satisfied with your results – or if you’d rather not do all that work yourself – there are two other ways to find the right influencers for your campaign:
You can use influencer-finding tools or hire an influencer marketing agency.
Influencity is an “Influencer Relationship Management” tool. It allows you to find, analyze, and organize influencers, as well as manage campaigns and forecast and measure the results of those campaigns.
Post For Rent call themselves the “one-stop-shop for influencer marketing.” Their services include influencer search, an influencer marketplace, the NEXT business manager, and managed service.
With Hype Auditor, you get influencer analytics, influencer discovery, campaign management, media plans, trends and rankings, and analysis of competitors and the market landscape on social media.
Created for finding influencers specifically on Twitter, Followerwonk lets you connect with those authoritative power users on the platform. It can not only search Twitter bios globally, but also analyze and compare accounts to find the right influencers.
Respona lets you find bloggers who are active in your niche. They will monitor for brand and competitor mentions and automate your influencer outreach.
Hire an influencer marketing agency
If this whole process of finding influencers, vetting them, and reaching out is something you’d rather not do yourself right now – influencer marketing agencies do all of it for you.
A good influencer marketing agency will have:
A built-up network and database of relevant and trustworthy influencers
A streamlined process for collaborating with brands and influencers
A creative eye for which campaigns will have the most impact
Proven experience with effective storytelling
Seamless campaign management
The expertise and tools to properly analyze campaign metrics
An impressive portfolio and positive testimonials from past clients
An influencer marketing strategy tailored to your demands and your budget
Obviously, working with an agency will cost more than doing the work yourself. On the other hand, you are free to focus on other tasks in your business and can trust that their proven process will give you a good return on your investment in your influencer marketing campaign.
Conclusion
There you have it: Your guide to finding the right influencers for your campaign this year. If you follow the steps outlined above, we are confident that you will be able to use the proven power of influencer marketing to bring measurable growth to your business.
Table of Contents of a Social Media Influencers Definition article
The definition of “Social Media Influencer”
Who we could define as the first paid influencer
The definition of the modern influencer on social media
What qualifies someone as an influencer?
What is an example of a social media influencer?
The power of social media influencers – defined
What exactly does a social media influencer do?
Is being a social media influencer defined as a job?
Do influencers make a lot of money?
How influencers wield their influence: A definition
Defining the different categories of influencers
Influencers as defined by social media platform
Defining the most popular fields influencers work in
Conclusion
The term “influencer” is everywhere now, and it seems like every kid (even many adults!) wants to “work as an influencer” today.
But, is there any substance behind that term?
Or is “influencer” just another buzzword from the young generation?
Let’s get rid of the ambiguity surrounding that word.
We’ll take a deep dive into the definition, what an influencer is, what they do, and how it all works.
Diving in…
Who is an influencer? Broadly speaking, you’re considered an influencer if you have authority on a given topic. People listen to you and they’ll even emulate you because they respect and look up to you.
The definition of “influential”
What you do when you influence someone is “to cause someone to adopt or change a behavior, belief, or opinion.”
When you’re an influential person, you can have this effect on a considerable number of people. You could call them your followers.
This influence can be used for many purposes. An influencer can steer his or her followers to take certain actions, start thinking in a certain way, or start taking out their wallets.
You can use influence for good or bad. While many influential people are ethical and responsible, some are not, and they can lead their followers to make bad decisions.
Who we could define as the first paid influencer
While influencer marketing has been booming in recent years – its market size shot up from CHF1.7 Billion in 2016 to CHF13.8 Billion in 2021, the concept has been around for a very long time. The first recorded paid celebrity endorsement, what we could call the first case of influencer marketing in modern times, was Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, who got hired to publicly endorse the Turkish cigarette brand Murad, in the year 1905.
The definition of the modern influencer on social media
The nature of media and celebrity has since transformed – but influencer marketing is going stronger than ever.
Nowadays, it’s no longer just celebrities who are acting as influencers endorsing products to their fans. Today influencers come in all shapes and sizes (as we’ll talk about later). Anyone with a sizable audience on social media who is trusted for their expertise, or even just liked for entertainment value, holds the power to change minds and should be considered an influencer.
They can steer people’s opinions and buying decisions – because they are liked, and/or have authority in their niche.
Brands love influencers, because their endorsements are a great way to generate awareness and build trust with an audience they might not otherwise be able to reach as easily and convincingly.
This has opened up great opportunities for those willing to put in the work to become social media influencers. Today, many have the goal of working in this unique type of “job.”
What qualifies someone as an influencer?
Anyone with at least a few hundred followers on social media, whose posts get good engagement from their audience, can be considered an influencer. Also, their content should be focused on a specific topic which they build authority around.
This way, their audience knows to trust their opinion on this specific topic.
What is an example of a social media influencer?
Every niche has influencers. For example, Taulant aka T-Ronimo on TikTok stands out with over 168k followers. Zeki also focuses on comedy with his Instagram account Swissmeme. On it, he shares typical Swiss situations as memes, causing many laughs among his Swiss community. But other areas are also represented by great Swiss influencers, such as Mimoza in the fashion/beauty category or Martina Bisaz in travel. If you want to get to know more exciting Swiss influencers, you can find an exciting article here.
ZekiMartina BisazMimoza
The power of social media influencers – defined
Influencers can do for a brand what a regular ad can’t do as easily. They can give an authentic endorsement that their audience will actually trust and follow.
“We want to do business with people or brands that we like and have forged a bond with over the years.” – Robert B. Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
This is why more and more brands are realizing the power of influencer marketing.
Alex Bolen, the chief executive of Oscar De La Renta, said: “It would not be an exaggeration to say that our handbag business has taken off through our engagement with the influencer community. Our production has doubled.”
Influencers get people to act – namely, to pull out their wallets in good faith. And that makes them very powerful. Even if they only have a modest-sized following.
What exactly does a social media influencer do?
It might look easy from the outside. Just take selfies with some products and rake in the money! Right?
But there’s a lot that has to happen behind the scenes when you’re an influencer:
They create and manage their personal brand and their accounts
They craft their strategy and plan content
They prepare for shooting video and images – clothes, make-up, lighting, choosing the right locations and angles
They’re constantly engaging with their audience
They deal with existing brand partners and acquire new ones
In short: They run a legitimate, full-time business, often with multiple employees
Is being a social media influencer defined as a job?
If we’re being precise, influencers are not employees, but rather entrepreneurs. They are their own small, or in some cases, mid-sized, business. They themselves are responsible for creating everything surrounding their brand, managing it, and growing it.
Even if they’re working with an agency or in a long-term contract with a brand, they have more responsibilities than many traditional employees.
In this case, they are acting as a business that is contracting with another.
Do influencers make a lot of money?
In many cases, yes. Typically, different-sized influencers make between CHF 200 and CHF 100,000 per post. A-list celebrities can even make up to CHF1 Million for one social media post!
How much exactly they make depends on the niche, audience size, the influencer’s likeability and ability to sell, content quality and frequency, and what kinds of contracts they manage to get from brands.
Four ways influencers can make money
1. Doing affiliate marketing
The influencer endorses a product in their content, and they receive a percentage of any resulting sales.
This type of commission-based marketing is also performance-based.
The more sales the influencer drives, the more they earn for themselves. This is often done through giving out promo codes to their followers that they can enter to get a discount with a brand. The sale is then tied to the influencer’s affiliate account.
Another way to do this is by providing a special link for the audience, but this works better on some social media platforms than others.
2. Getting money for each post
Content that is published as a collaboration between brands and influencers must be declared as a sponsored post for the transparency. The brand tells influencers which products/services they should talk about and how they should present their product. To ensure that the content is received by the target group, it is important that the influencer is given enough freedom in the creative design so that they can ensure that the posts fit into their feed and come across as authentic. The influencer is paid for the published content, which has been created in collaboration with a brand. How much an influencer earns depends on various factors, e.g. reach, Swiss Reach, content format, etc.
3. Entering into long-term contracts with brands
These relationships can last a year or more.
The influencer agrees on a certain number of campaigns, pieces of content, mentions etc. and receives payments in return for the duration of the contract.
This can be a nice stable income, which in many cases is quite welcome for the influencer who has to always be hustling for next week’s deal.
4. Receiving free products
One of the perks of the social media influencer lifestyle:
You often get free products to try out and possibly recommend to your followers. In most cases, these products will be yours to keep.
How influencers wield their influence: A definition
Here’s how an influencer’s influence actually plays out in the real world:
Influencers are connectors
They are like nodes in a network that bring together their followers, fellow influencers, and brands.
Because they are experts and leaders in their industry, their power to connect others is immense.
This comes with a lot of responsibility on the part of the influencer, by the way. If they start burning the people who trust them by repeatedly giving bad recommendations, their status as an influencer could become permanently damaged.
Influencers are informers
It’s what the internet has been all about since the beginning – efficiently spreading relevant information.
Today, social media influencers play an important role in spreading information: They keep their fans up to date with new items, developments, and even breaking news. Usually the information being spread by individual influencers is organic and more trustworthy than corporate sources.
According to a recent survey, influencers are the most trusted source of information and the most influential in the decision-making process, even more so than trade exhibitions or word-of-mouth recommendations.
Moreover, they curate information from different sources to make it more digestible for their audience.
And so, these influencers play a key role in spreading information and relevant messages!
Influencers shape opinions
While engaging and informing are vital aspects of an influencer’s job, ultimately wielding power is about influencing people’s opinions. And influencers are great at it. They’re charismatic, authoritative, and persuasive.
Their influence on the audience’s opinions can be immense, particularly if they stay timely, knowledgeable and relevant, make good content, and are careful to not misuse their followers’ trust.
Defining the different categories of influencers
Nano-influencer: Under 5000 followers
You can be a nano-influencer with some hundred social media followers, without much celebrity status.
These influencers are still a welcome business partner for certain brands, because they don’t command high payouts, or are happy just to receive free products in return for endorsements. This means they can hire many nano-influencers for the price of one macro-influencer.
More importantly, their audience, often made up of mostly their close friends and family, are extremely engaged and trust their opinion greatly. When they recommend something, it holds a lot of weight!
Micro-influencer: 5k-100k followers
We know that bigger isn’t better with influencer marketing, and working with a micro-influencer is a sweet spot between authenticity and affordability on one side and popularity and reach on the other.
Also, these small types of influencers are usually more available. While most of them do get a fair number of offers, they are usually not overwhelmed with brand deals flooding their inboxes.
Micro-influencers are the definition of niche authorities. They are experts in their topic of choice and educate their modest following on everything surrounding it. Again, engagement is very high with these micro-influencers, because their audience feels more like a family than a huge disjointed crowd, as big celebrity accounts often do.
Macro-influencer: 100k-1m followers
This is where we get into the territory of massive reach. If a macro-influencer recommends your product, you can be sure that it’ll hit hundreds of thousands of eyeballs. Accordingly, macro-influencers have higher prices, less availability, and higher standards than smaller accounts.
But, crafting the right campaign with a macro-influencer can drive serious awareness and sales, so – done right – it can be an amazing vehicle for business growth.
Mega-influencer: Over 1 million followers
These are actors, musicians, and other A-list celebrities.
Celebrities might have a huge audience, but often have less influence than smaller influencers: They appear less authentic and often don’t have as much authority and expertise in niche topics.
They are also picky, often difficult to work with, and very expensive. Many brands therefore prefer to work with multiple smaller influencers instead of one mega-influencer.
Influencers as defined by social media platform
Bloggers
The original online experts. Bloggers go deep on their chosen niche topic, and people rely on them for research and product reviews. Some blogs grow so authoritative that they turn into publishing companies rather than simple websites.
Yet, in the beginning, was the single influencer – the one you go to find out the latest and best information around the topic they’re an expert in.
YouTubers
YouTubers use the visual and auditory channel to do a similar thing to bloggers: Educate and inform their audience. But, YouTube videos also usually have more entertainment value than blogs – and influencers use that power to build huge, loyal followings. YouTube videos are usually longer than videos on TikTok and Instagram.
Brand sponsorship can take different forms: Brands can simply get a shoutout at the start and end of the video. In some cases, the influencer will make an entire video testing a product or incorporating a product into the story of the video.
There are many opportunities for brands to appear – and they love it!
Podcasters
With podcasts being the longest form of online content, they draw a very interested and loyal audience. Hence, sponsoring a show can be very valuable for brands.
Instagrammers
The advent of Instagram’s platform for sharing images and short-form videos is when influencer marketing really blew up as a business.
Viral Instagram Reels are flashy, fancy, and engaging. A strategic product placement or endorsement by the influencer can do wonders for a brand’s marketing efforts.
Sponsored Instagram posts are also a great way for influencers to get paid – often handsomely.
So today most young people aspire to become influencers themselves because they see the cash and status it can bring.
TikTokers
This is the hot young platform, and home to a lot of up-and-coming social media influencers. While TikTok is a more fast-paced platform, people still grow to love and associate with their favorite creators. This opens the door to brand endorsements and influencer sponsorships, similar to other platforms.
Defining the most popular fields influencers work in
Here are some of the niches that influencers choose – most of these are trending, have a large audience, and can be very profitable to create content around.
1. The Business and Money-Making niche
Many people want to be an influencer in this niche, and their quality and ethics are on a spectrum. You can make a lot of money by teaching others about money. There are endless resources and tools to recommend that you can earn substantial commissions for.
2. The Beauty niche
One of the most popular niches for young, often female content creators to be an influencer in. But also becoming more and more important for male creators.
3. The Fitness and Health niche
This niche is always going strong. It’s also competitive. Many different people have the goal of being health and fitness influencers. Fitness is also a very visual topic, so is well suited to social media.
4.The Cooking and Food niche
People love to look at recipes and cooking videos online – and influencers will provide! Some of these food and cooking accounts grow to millions of followers.
5. The Tech niche
There are always new and expensive products to review. This niche is quite competitive, but can offer great payouts to influencers.
6. The Travel niche
Travel seems to be an evergreen niche that is coming back in 2024 and beyond. Influencers can partner with tour companies, airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies to turn documenting their travels into a money-making activity.
7. The Fashion niche
Fashion modeling nowadays happens more on social media than it does at fashion shows or in print magazines. Consequently, there is good money to be made for influencers representing luxury clothing brands or as affiliates selling accessories, for example.
8. The Parenting niche
This niche is growing as more people get their information from trusted online influencers than from books or other traditional sources, even on topics such as parenting.
9. The Lifestyle niche
A broad, and popular niche. Creators can pick from a number of topics. Although it takes something special to stand out in this niche. An influencer has to be charismatic, successful, creative, or a combination of those in order to make it in this niche.
10. The Pet niche
It seems like cute kitten pictures and videos have always been the most popular thing on the internet. It now goes so much further. Pets have their own Instagram accounts, dog training gurus are everywhere. The growing pet niche is still a good niche to get into.
Conclusion
We hope this helped clear up the question of what an influencer really is! If you’re thinking about becoming an influencer yourself – or you’re a business curious about if using influencer marketing might be a good idea for your business – feel free to check out our other articles on these topics or join the email list to receive the latest news and trends around influencers and influencer marketing.
In the dynamic world of modern marketing, the symbiosis of influencer content and performance marketing emerges as a powerful force. This approach entails a multifaceted strategy that melds the strengths of influencers, data-driven insights, and optimized ads. At its core, this methodology revolves around seamlessly integrating influencer content into performance campaigns, guiding potential customers towards online shops with finesse. Features like Instagram Shopping and Facebook Shop enhance the customer journey, optimizing the conversion process. This article explores the intricacies of this strategy, unraveling how it drives engagement and sales.
The Evolution of Performance Marketing with Influencer Content
Performance Marketing with Influencer Content, though not novel, has gained substantial traction in recent times. This method empowers advertisers to refine their marketing tactics, fostering user acquisition, brand recognition, and efficient return on ad expenditure. At its essence, creator-based performance marketing transforms authentic content generated by influencers and content creators into the driving force of performance campaigns. The resultant conversion-optimized ads propel sales in the domains of e-commerce and social commerce.
Harnessing Influencers and content creators in the Digital Era
In the contemporary digital landscape, social media has emerged as a dominant player in marketing. The convergence of influencer marketing with performance campaigns amplifies the efficacy of advertising strategies. Influencers and content creators wield the trust of their followers, endorsing products with research-backed integrity rather than contractual obligations. In contrast to celebrity endorsements, influencer marketing’s appeal lies in its laser focus on niche communities, facilitating profound engagement.
Crafting an Effective Creator-Based Performance Marketing Strategy
Within this realm, crafting an effective creator-based performance marketing strategy entails a multifaceted orchestration. The interplay of compelling content, astute audience targeting, and finely tuned ads constitutes the symphony of success. By assimilating influencers’ and content creators’ authentic perspectives, brands synthesize a resonant narrative that propels users towards online shops. This integration serves to humanize the marketing process, fueling engagement and driving conversions.
Empowering Campaigns with Influencer Creatives
In today’s digital tapestry, influencers and content creators have ascended to the role of modern storytellers. Their content possesses the rare ability to captivate and convert. Integrating influencer-generated content into performance campaigns taps into an authentic wellspring of relatability and trust. This integration imbues advertisements with an undeniable authenticity, fostering a seamless transition from interest to purchase. By embedding influencer and content creator insights into the journey, the trajectory from browsing to transaction becomes intuitive, catalyzed by the persuasive power of genuine endorsement.
Moreover, influencer content can be marketed on a much more authentic level. Which leads to the usage of diverse, creative and target group-oriented assets, instead of having to rely on or resort to monotonous, less authentic stock images. Customers are thus addressed on an emotional level, while at the same time a recognition value occurs, which increases the purchase potential immensely. This also leads to cost efficiency on the brand side, as the influencer and content creator campaigns created can simultaneously create a synergy for the usage and marketing on other channels.
A Seamless Path to Conversion
In bridging the inspiration-to-action gap, the pivotal role of influencer content takes center stage. Brands have leveraged ingenious features such as Instagram Shopping and Facebook Shop to facilitate frictionless conversion pathways. Merging influencer content with these tools elevates inspiration to actionable engagement. Audiences captivated by influencer- and content creator-endorsed products can seamlessly transition from captivating posts to tangible purchases. This harmonization ensures a seamless journey, transforming potential customers into steadfast advocates and fostering an enduring cycle of engagement and growth.
The Essence of Influencer Selection and Engagement
Optimal influencer and content creator selection is foundational to this approach. Establishing transparent agreements and briefing influencers and content creators on brand ethos are essential to fruitful collaborations. Legal safeguards and clear communication lay the groundwork. In scenarios where expertise is limited, partnering with agencies can streamline influencer and content creator interactions and campaign execution.
In Closing: Creator-Based Performance Marketing Unveiled
To summarize, the convergence of influencer content and performance marketing encapsulates a dynamic approach that intertwines storytelling with data-driven precision. Integrating influencer and content creator insights within this framework magnifies its impact. By aligning influencer and content creator expertise with e-commerce tools, brands sculpt a seamless journey from intrigue to conversion. This narrative-rich pathway augments user experiences, fuels engagement, and emboldens online sales, forging a harmony between authenticity and commerce.
After its international launch in 2017, TikTok has become one of the largest social media apps in the world. The ByteDance brainchild has become a sensation among young people around the world, having over a billion followers worldwide. As always, the popularity of this platform has given rise to many social media influencers on the platform. These influencers which are known as TikTok influencers have become people who can help businesses be more visible by authentically engaging their communities on the app.
Switzerland has a population of 8.66 million people. TikTok is becoming increasingly popular in Switzerland, especially among young people, but not only (see our blog article about “No, Gen Z doesn’t Equal “Gen TikTok”). In 2022, there were an estimated 2.06 million TikTok users in Switzerland that are 18 and above. The gender demography indicates that more females use TikTok in Switzerland with the ratio standing at 50.7% to 49.3% in favor of the ladies. The age demography is also much more widely distributed. According to a recent survey, the distribution is as follows: 18-24 years old: 50.5%, 25-34 years old: 38.8%, 35-44 years old: 5.9%, 45-54 years old: 2.2%,55 years and older: 2.6%.
With so many users spread across such a wide demography, it is a no-brainer that there are many successful TikTok Influencers in the country. The success of these influencers shows that TikTok is a powerful platform for reaching a large audience and building an engaging community in Switzerland.
In today’s article, we are going to be revealing a list of the 20 most successful TikTok influencers in Switzerland, with whom we have worked for different brand campaigns throughout various industries. Let us dive into the list and find out who is who in Switzerland’s TikTok influencer world.
Oluyomi Scherrer, known as Thispronto (@thispronto) on TikTok, became super famous for making delicious food and cool videos. He started in 2020 and got 11.8 million followers fast by showing off his cheesy dishes and pulling them apart in cool ways. His videos went viral, especially when he sliced rare meats or made a chocolate milkshake, getting over 7.5 million views. He also has a YouTube channel with 125K subscribers, where he shares more about himself.
People love Thispronto for how he looks, his great smile, and his unique style. He’s a big deal on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, and a lot of fans love following him.Now, he’s getting into modeling, and he’s still growing on social media. He’s known for his awesome cooking, friendly personality, and being popular on different platforms. He’s on track to be one of TikTok’s biggest stars, keeping fans hooked with his food skills and cool stuff online.
Swiss TikToker Noemi Nikita commands a massive following of 13.5 million, renowned for her beauty, fashion, and lifestyle content. Since her 2019 TikTok debut, she’s enchanted viewers with her fun takes on daily “getting ready”s . Her videos encompass funny and authentic makeup tutorials, fashion hauls, and insights into leading a chic life. Nikita’s innate ability to forge a personal bond with her audience sets her apart as a gifted content creator. Her videos are not only stylish and aspirational but also consistently engaging.
In the realm of TikTok, she’s a burgeoning luminary, destined for even greater prominence. Highlights of her TikTok success include a makeup tutorial with 10 million views, a fashion haul reaching 5 million views, and a peek into her daily routine garnering 3 million views. At the time of writing, her videos have amassed over 338.3 million likes. Nikita’s artistic prowess ensures ongoing entertainment and inspiration for her audience in Switzerland and around the world. Nikita has participated in some of our campaigns. Check out her skincare routine for blemished skin with CeraVe.
Joung Gustav, a Swiss-born TikTok sensation, has etched his name among the top echelons of social media stardom in Switzerland. Boasting over 5.4 million followers, his rise to fame stemmed from the creative concoction of lip-sync and dance performances on the viral platform. His TikTok trajectory has been propelled by a fusion of musical prowess and street charisma. With a background in singing cultivated during his formative years in high school and college, Gustav wields his talent adeptly, captivating audiences globally. His knack for engaging strangers and delivering riveting rap performances amidst urban landscapes has earned him an impressive tally of over 102 million likes on TikTok.
His Instagram presence, boasting 309k followers, mirrors his TikTok exploits, showcasing street performances that amplify his magnetic online persona. Joung Gustav’s ascent epitomizes the digital age’s ability to transform talents into global phenomena, solidifying his status as a modern-day social media luminary in Switzerland and beyond. Check out the content he created for one of our campaigns with him for the Smile Swiss Influencer Awards.
Daniela Scuderi, better known to her 4.5 million followers as @daniellapintto on TikTok, is a Swiss sensation redefining social media entertainment and has captured hearts with her engaging lip-sync performances, relatable comedy sketches, and on-point trend videos.
Her rise to stardom stems from an innate ability to connect with her audience through authentic and entertaining content. Daniela’s TikTok account is a mosaic of creativity, where she effortlessly weaves together humor, trends, and relatable moments that resonate with millions worldwide.
Beyond TikTok, Daniela extends her digital footprint to Instagram, where she shares glimpses into her personal life, travels, and moments that further solidify her bond with fans. Her Instagram presence, akin to a visual diary, offers a deeper insight into the life and experiences of this multifaceted social media personality. Daniela Scuderi isn’t just a TikTok star, she’s a symbol of contemporary digital entertainment, leveraging her charisma, talent, and authenticity to carve a niche in the dynamic landscape of social media. Her magnetic presence continues to captivate audiences, making her a celebrated figure in the realm of online entertainment. Check out the content she did with us for Fisher Price.
Leo, better known as @leshautscommeleo on TikTok, has 4.5 million followers. Through his comedic sketches and engaging lip-syncing videos, he has successfully garnered a large following on the platform. Originating from a quaint Swiss town, Leo began his TikTok journey in 2020, rapidly amassing popularity through his relatable and amusing content. His videos, which humorously chronicle everyday encounters like school, work, and relationships, have struck a chord with viewers globally
Several of Leo’s TikTok videos have achieved substantial success. Notable among them are “My First Day of School,” viewed over 10 million times, “When Your Crush Texts You,” boasting 5 million views, and “How to Deal with Stress,” watched by over 3 million users.
In addition to his comedic prowess, Leo is a university student pursuing computer science, displaying a diverse skill set that encompasses music and singing. He holds a deep affection for comedy movies and TV shows, consistently aiming to elicit laughter from his audience. With an ability to forge a personal connection with his followers, Leo is primed for continued growth and recognition, emerging as an inspirational figure and exemplar of achievement for youth worldwide.
Alessandro Crivelli, known as Ales2ndro on TikTok and Aless2ndro on Instagram, is a big deal on social media. He’s lives in Lugano, Switzerland. He attended a vocational high school focusing on digital communication, he’s really into music and ballet.
His social media success changed his life. It helped him shake off a negative outlook and see things in a more positive light. But fame comes with its challenges – he deals with prejudice and negativity sometimes.
He still hopes to be an actor and travel a lot. His message to everyone out there is all about self-belief, chasing dreams, and making the most out of life. That’s what he’s all about! He’s part of a lot of campaigns with us, to name a few: to promote the relaunch of a new insurance for Helvetia, or the “Not a Joke” campaign against cyber mobbing.
AdiTotoro is super famous on TikTok! Loads of people like his videos – he’s got over 97.4 million likes and 2.4 million followers. What’s cool about him is the funny and clever stuff he does in his videos. He loves wearing his special Totoro costume in them.
Apart from TikTok, he’s all over other places too like YouTube, Instagram, and Twitch. On YouTube, he started way back in 2015, making all sorts of videos like pranks and vlogs. Later on, he decided to make his videos in Swiss German.
He’s not just about making videos, though.
AdiTotoro also started his own clothing label called De Bifferent and won some cool awards like the Swiss Comedy Award in 2020 and the Swiss Influencer Award in 2021. In 2019, he began his journey on TikTok, and he’s been doing fun stuff there ever since! AdiTotoro had different plans before; he wanted to work at a radio station. But he found his true calling on social media, and that’s where he’s really made a name for himself. He is part of our campaign with Stimorol, check it out!
@chiaracastelli is a buzzing account, full of music magic, owned by Chiara Castelli, a talented Swiss singer-songwriter. With a massive 1.8 million followers and 19.1 million likes, her TikTok is a hotspot for music lovers.
Chiara’s TikTok is all about her tunes! She shares her musical talent through videos of her singing and strumming her guitar, plus covers of hit songs. But it’s not just performances – she also gives a sneak peek into her creative process and chats with fans in the comments. This account is a stage for Chiara’s music and a window into her world for fans. Her dedication to music shines through her posts, keeping everyone hooked with her fresh and exciting content. Chiara Castelli is more than just an artist; she’s a passionate soul sharing her talent and connecting with fans in a whole new way through TikTok. Check out her content for the Zurich Film Festival campaign she did with us.
Kabee Ch is a big deal on TikTok! She’s got a whopping 1.1 million followers and a massive 26.1 million views altogether. People love her creative ideas and fun content. On TikTok, she rocks with her cool conversational videos, lip-syncs, and POV videos.
She’s not just about TikTok! On Instagram, Kabee Ch shares cool glimpses of her life, stunning outfits, and modeling photos. She’s super friendly and connects with her audience real quick. Her fans adore watching her videos, liking, commenting, and sharing the fun. She’s a star on both TikTok and Instagram, showing off her creativity and making everyone smile. Check out her content for our campaign for Maybelline New York.
Raffasplastic is a German social media personality and comedian known for her humorous and sometimes controversial content on TikTok and Instagram. Born in 1994 in Germany, she began creating videos in 2016, quickly gaining attention for her distinctive and bold sense of humor. Her content often involves discussions about her life, relationships, and experiences with mental health.
She’s recognized for parodies of popular songs and impressions of celebrities, showcasing her creativity and ability to engage her audience. Despite the controversial nature of some of her content, Raffasplastic has garnered praise for her originality and her knack for connecting with her viewers. With over 25 million likes on TikTok and a following of more than 360,000 on Instagram, she’s made a significant impact in the realm of social media comedy. Check out her content for our campaign for NYX Cosmetics!
Lanabante, also known as Laura Bante, is a Swiss influencer, actress, and fitness enthusiast. Her TikTok boasts over 700,000 followers, while her Instagram has gathered over 110,000 fans.
On TikTok, Lanabante shares relatable and funny content, often talking about daily life, relationships, personal growth, and self-love. She also posts workout routines, healthy eating ideas, and beauty tips, inspiring her audience to lead healthier and more positive lives.
Her authentic personality and down-to-earth content have struck a chord with her audience, making her a beloved influencer in the Swiss TikTok community. Lanabante’s knack for connecting with followers on a personal level motivates them to embrace their uniqueness and chase their aspirations. Beyond social media, Lanabante is an actress with experience in theater productions and starring roles in short films. Her passion for performing and her ability to captivate audiences hint at a promising future in the world of acting. She is part of a lot of our campaigns for different brands, check out the content she created on TikTok for the Brother mini printer campaign.
Margauseydouxx is a video content creator that’s popular on the Swiss tiktok. She is known for her fun and engaging videos that focus on DIY, fashion, lifestyle, and food. She has a total of 664.8k followers and a whooping 29 million views on all her videos.
She has carved a niche for herself in the digital realm with her delightful and heartfelt content. Born with a creative spirit, Margaux captivates her audience with a warm and affectionate approach. Whether she’s crafting inventive DIY projects, sharing fashion-forward style tips, or offering glimpses into her lifestyle and culinary creations, Margaux’s content is an open invitation for her followers to join in the joy of crafting and self-care.
Recently, as the cold season has approached, Margaux has been treating her followers to a festive array of content tailored specifically for the holiday season. From crafting gingerbread pillows to presenting thoughtful year-end gift ideas, she guides her community through the art of self-expression. And let’s not forget the adorable addition to her content – Twyx, her cute and endearing cat. Also check out the content she created for our Maybelline New York campaign!
Nathii, also known as Nathistyle, is a big deal on TikTok. Lots of people like her there – over 16.9 million times! She has about 271,000 friends following her too. What’s cool about her is what she does on TikTok.
She makes videos about her life, the fun things she does, and the clothes she likes. Nathistyle is never shy about showing who she really is. People love that about her. She’s a happy and inspiring person who’s always ready for new things.
Apart from TikTok, she’s on YouTube with her own channel. And guess what? She’s got a podcast too! It’s called Znüni Pause. Nathistyle is famous for being herself and sharing her life with everyone. Whether it’s vlogs or fashion stuff, she’s got a lot of interesting things to watch. If you’re looking for something fun and exciting, her TikTok is where you can find it. Check out her stylish content she created for our campaign with the secondhand shop marko.
Christabelle (@christabelle_8) thrives as a TikTok sensation with a robust 253.5k followers. Renowned for her comedy sketches, engaging lip-syncs, and spirited dance challenges, her singing prowess shines through covers of popular tracks. Her videos, seamlessly blending humor and relatability, masterfully tickle funny bones while showcasing her natural ability to evoke laughter. Christabelle’s creative reservoir seemingly knows no bounds, consistently birthing captivating content ideas.
Noteworthy videos include a hilarious mall misadventure sketch, clocking 100k+ views, an energetic lip-sync rendition of “Levitating” by Dua Lipa with 50k+ views, and a dynamic dance challenge to Cardi B’s “Up,” garnering 30k+ views. As a burgeoning TikTok luminary, Christabelle’s trajectory promises sustained growth. Her fusion of talent and creativity ensures riveting entertainment and inspiration for her expanding audience.
In the challenge arena, Christabelle shines bright; her #InMyFeelings challenge video went viral with over a million views. Likewise, her #Renegade and #SaySo challenge entries achieved impressive traction, cementing her role as a rising influencer.
Leonard Khalifa isn’t just an entrepreneur; he’s a TikTok sensation! With a whopping 238,000 followers, his TikTok game is strong. Known for his humor and engaging content, he reels in his audience with funny videos showcasing his life in Switzerland.
On TikTok, Leonard crafts a world of laughter and entertainment, sharing snippets of his daily life with a touch of Swiss charm. His engaging content keeps followers hooked, making him a popular figure in the digital space. Whether he’s cracking jokes or giving glimpses into his Swiss lifestyle, Leonard’s TikTok account is a blend of humor and relatable moments. With his engaging approach, he’s managed to carve a niche in the online world, captivating thousands with his amusing content. For a dose of laughter and a peek into Swiss life, Leonard Khalifa’s TikTok is the go-to destination! Check out the content he did for a campaign with us: Blink Fahrschule.
T_ronimo, an engaging TikTok persona, a Swiss comedian and actor, boasts a sizable 100,000 followers. His posts offer a candid lens into his life, reflections, and personal experiences, generating an authentic connection with his audience. Presenting an eclectic mix of content, from narratives of his journey as a Balkan immigrant in Switzerland to introspections on the world’s current state and encounters with racism, T_ronimo’s videos resonate due to their blend of humor and unfiltered sincerity.
Emerging in 2022, T_ronimo transcends Swiss borders, finding resonance in countries like Germany, Austria, and Italy. His charm strikes a chord most notably among the youthful demographic aged 18-34, fostering an engaged community. He worked in a lot of campaigns with us, check out his content for the CeraVe campaign.
DARIO.SKRR, the TikTok sensation with the handle @dario.skrr, is captivating an audience of over 177,000 followers and accruing a staggering 8.7 million likes. Hailing from Switzerland, Dario specialises in comedic sketches and lip-syncs, often joining creative forces with his girlfriend, Aliah. Their collaborative energy shines in videos like the “skrr boi” lip-sync, amassing 740,000 views, and a playful reenactment of a “Mean Girls” scene with 600,000 views. Simple yet uproarious, a video of Dario’s funny face garners 500,000 views.
At just 18 years old, Dario, also known as Dario Bühler, has swiftly risen to fame on TikTok. Based in Winterthur, he balances his online presence with studies at the University of Applied Sciences, where he explores his passion for marketing and social media. Having entered the TikTok scene in 2022, DARIO.SKRR’s charm has even graced Swiss media outlets like 20 Minuten and Blick. His infectious humour and relatability make his TikTok page a prime destination for a hearty laugh. He’s a part of a few campaigns with us, check out one of his content he did for our campaign with Manor!
Eric Wdrae (@ericwdrae), a Swiss comedian and TikTok content creator, is making waves with his hilarious sketches and videos that shed light on Swiss culture. Boasting an impressive following, his content has collectively amassed over 100 million views. Eric’s comedic genius shines through in his most popular videos. His take on the unique Swiss pronunciation of the letter “W” has generated uproarious laughter from over 1 million viewers. Delving into the nation’s love affair with cheese, a video with 500K views has struck a chord with many.
Additionally, his clever portrayal of Swiss people’s obsession with order and cleanliness, depicted in a video with 300K views, demonstrates his keen observational skills. In total, he has a cummulative of 6 million likes from all his videos. Eric Wdrae’s comedic prowess has catapulted him into the spotlight on TikTok, and his meteoric rise is undeniable. As he continues to tickle funny bones and offer glimpses into Swiss culture, his follower count is bound to surge, solidifying his position as a prominent and side-splitting presence on the platform. We worked with Eric for a few of our campaigns, check out some of the content he did for SBB CFF!
Der Praktikanttv are rocking it on TikTok! With a knack for quick, engaging content, their TikTok game is on fire. Even though they’re relatively new to the platform, they have 145.8k followers and 6.1 million likes.
On TikTok, Der Praktikanttv brings a slice of Switzerland, blending humor, catchy sounds, and relatable Swiss phrases. Their short, engaging videos capture the essence of Swiss culture, making it all the more appealing to a local audience.
From a glimpse into Swiss student life to tips on the best places to dine in Zurich, their TikTok serves up bite-sized chunks of Swiss travel, food, and culture. Their unique perspective on Switzerland and their lighthearted, humorous approach set them apart from other travel channels on the platform. Der Praktikanttv’s TikTok is an ideal spot for anyone curious about Switzerland, offering informative and entertaining content that’ll make you want to explore the country firsthand! Check out the creative content he did for our campaign with Bubble Box.
Noah Bachofen is not just a master chef but a TikTok sensation too! With over 38.9K followers and 1.6M likes, his TikTok game is strong. You’ll catch him cooking up Swiss cuisine, adding a dash of humor and catchy sound effects to spice things up.
In Noah’s TikTok world, it’s all about showcasing his culinary skills and the delights of Swiss food. His videos are a treat, hitting over 4.08 million views! He knows how to turn the kitchen into an entertaining stage, making cooking fun and engaging for everyone.
From slicing and dicing to sharing his unique recipes, Noah’s TikTok is a flavorful journey through the world of cooking. He adds that special touch of humor and captivating effects to keep his audience hooked. For anyone passionate about food or looking for some culinary inspiration, Noah’s TikTok (@bachofennoah) is the place to be. Dive into the world of flavors, recipes, and cooking tips, all served up with a side of entertainment! Check out his refreshing and cool content for a campaign he did for us for AirUp!
Conclusion
Here are some of the most popular TikTok influencers in Switzerland. If you are planning to carry out a campaign anytime soon, this might just be the perfect list to make your choice from. You may wonder who would be the perfect fit for your brand though? At Kingfluencers, we help businesses connect with the right influencers in order to bring your message to your target audience(s). Reach out to us today so we can help you with your individual sourcing for your perfect TikTok influencers and beyond.
Granfluencers are influencers of typical grandparent age, generally 60 or older. Some members of this Baby Boomer generation are building huge social media followings and partnering with brands.
Theseunique influencers present an equally unique opportunity for brands to connect with audiences of all ages.
The Wealth of Older Generations
Brands have good reasons to target baby boomers. Many say thisis the richest generation of seniors we’ve ever had and will ever have. They have the highest incomes and the most real estate. Baby boomers have redefined aging and, more than previous generations, expect to be able to enjoy life.
“With the highest current disposable income of all generations, baby boomers have the greatest spending power of all generations… According to studies, they spend more than the average customer in almost all consumer categories.” In Germany, the average wealth of boomers is higher than the population average, 30% higher than that of younger generations.
Authenticity that Appeals to Old & Young Audiences Alike
It’s easy to assume that older influencers appeal only (or primarily) to older audiences. But it’s important to consider that granfluencers don’t appeal only to older people. These influencers are attracting followers of all ages, and like all influencers, they create content on a variety of topics.
“While granfluencers speak to older generations, they can also attract younger audiences because of the fun and authentic way they represent themselves online.
Brands should consider partnering with granfluencers as a way of attracting Gen X, Millennials, or even Gen Z, as the older influencers are quite entertaining and engaging for these generations as well,”
said Sarah Schmid, Head of Marketing at Kingfluencers.
62-year-old Helen Polise has nearly 1 million followers on her TikTok account, “The Muthership,” which features paid tutorials on using TikTok. Polise affirmed the importance of authenticity,
“I want to highlight that it’s OK to get older. I feel more authentic. I’m not afraid to be myself.”
CrunchyTales.com, the magazine on a mission to reset the meaning of middle age, wrote about the appeal of granfluencers.
“Well known for their authenticity and reliability, they don’t try to be something they’re not and are comfortable in their own skin. This makes them appealing to their followers, who appreciate their genuine approach. Thanks to their ability to create a sense of community, engaging with their followers, responding to comments and messages, they are also able to create a strong sense of belonging.”
Pro-Aging, Pro-Living
There’s been a growing recognition of the need to fix toxic beauty standards on social media. Often, this involves featuring models of varying sizes and not using filters to artificially make skin appear flawless. But even with this increased focus, elderly models are still somewhat rare. Showing people of not only different shapes and sizes but also ages is another positive development in the growing popularity of granfluencers.
With over three million followers on Instagram, Helen Vanwinkle describes herself as,
“Stealing Ur Mans Since 1928.”
The 94-year-old American posts bold, colorful outfits.
Many granfluencers communicate pro-aging messages, such as Grece Ghanem who’s bio states,
“All about fashion and confidence as style has no age!”
Joan MacDonald shares her fitness journey, which began when she was 70 years old. She writes,
“To all the incredible women out there, let’s come together and challenge the misconceptions about aging. As we pull back the veil on all we’ve been fed about getting older, we are empowering ourselves to embrace the beauty of aging.”
These messages resonate with a younger audience that hasn’t yet reached that phase of life.
More Diversity and Inclusion
“I see the development of granfluencers as positive. It shows that diversity and inclusion can be done in different ways. I imagine that we will soon be able to observe this trend in Switzerland as well. At Kingfluencers, we already see the relevance of influencers from other generations in addition to Gen Z,” said Tamara Glück Gonzalez, Senior Influencer Strategist, Kingfluencers.
Kingfluencers recently wrote about the popularity of TikTok beyond Gen Z. Just because Gen Z may have led the way doesn’t mean other generations haven’t also moved to embrace TikTok.
Another popular granfluencer on TikTok is 89-year-old Propa, who shares adventures such as a hot air balloon trip, and cooking-related content, and has partnered with HelloFresh Deutschland.
Capture Attention with a Distinct Approach
Merely by nature of being distinct, granfluencers can capture attention. As unique individuals on platforms with numerous young and beautiful creators, elderly influencers stand out from the crowds.
Similar to Seth Godin’s famous Purple Cow analogy, granfluencers can help brands capture attention, which is vital in an increasingly noisy world.
For example, Erika Rischko is an 83-year-old fitness junkie and author of,
“Für Fitness ist es nie zu spät.”
Erika posts many workout videos, some of which are quite intense and impressive, including suspension training.
Her content stands out among the many posts tagged with “suspension training.”
Tips for Brands Working with Granfluencers
The process of partnering with a granfluencer is the same as with an influencer from any generation. Some quick tips include:
2. Give them a briefing, but enough freedom to connect authentically with your audience.
3. Remember that granfluencers are not digital natives.
While those who’ve built a large following are likely as tech-savvy as any Gen Zer, don’t assume.
Connect and have a quick chat to confirm your influencer’s understanding of relevant issues, such as social commerce features or music rights.
4. Consider an account takeover, enabling a granfluencer to bring all their authenticity, fun, and wisdom to your brand for a day.
5. You can run campaigns such as:
Staying fashionable as you age
Cooking tips for senior citizens
Traveling while elderly
Or simply run campaigns on fashion, cooking, and traveling without specifying that the influencers are elderly – similar to how not every fashion campaign featuring a Gen Z influencer is titled, “Fashion tips for Gen Z.”
With 4.2 M followers, Jaadiee is a popular multigenerational TikTok account. Jaadiee runs the account and describes himself as the
“personal photographer and grandson of Gramps.”
After seeing his grandpa’s love for streetwear evolving, Jaadiee decided to capture his joy and passion and spread it with the world. While Gramps is the main subject of most TikToks, Jaadiee also appears on camera occasionally.
Contact Kingfluencers to explore how we can help you team up with influencers – “Grand” or otherwise – to build campaigns that amplify your brand messages.
