After working on quite a couple of influencer marketing campaigns, a few questions popped into my head. How much influencing power do these people have? What about them influencing people’s opinions and purchases?
I look towards one of my personal favourite social media influencers, Jenn Chia a.k.a. @soimjenn. And that’s how I came up with 3 qualities that every aspiring influencer can learn from Jenn.
Trait #1: Authenticity
If you follow Jenn Chia (if you aren’t, what are you waiting for? Here’s her Instagram and YouTube), you’ll soon notice how authentic she is. Her ‘kisiao-ness’ (craziness) that she portrayed in her video makes viewers feel like they could relate to her.
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But how does this translate to influencing power?
The personality she portrays is as though she has nothing to hide and she’s just being her true self. So when she recommends or advertises a product, it has a more trustworthy feel to it. It even feels like a friend recommending her favourite product to you.
I’ll give you an example of her video that influenced me. Take a look at the video below.
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It’s all because of this video that I started thinking that I need that vacuum cleaner. The video obviously isn’t studio-quality, but that makes the whole video even more authentic. This serves to prove that with the right creativity, any advertisement can be impactful.
Trait #2: Picky
A proper influencer is normally picky when working for a brand, rather than taking everything that they can get. Imagine a fashion influencer suddenly promoting a kitchenware item. First, it’s totally not related. Secondly, anyone can tell that this influencer was paid to promote the item.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with paid promotion. However, the influencing impact will be bigger if the brand is related to the influencer or something the influencer personally believes in.
Personally, I think her TikTok videos are the best in showcasing TikTok as a brand and her own image.
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Trait #3: Retention
Another main key to determining an influential influencer is when a brand continues working with them. Jenn’s latest project is with a famous beauty brand, Clinique. Her video features promoting Clinique’s Moisture Surge 72-Hour Auto-Replenishing Hydrator.
But if you dive deeper, she had a past project with Clinique as well which promotes their blusher called Cheek Pop.
And also Dramatically Different Hydrating Jelly (DDHJ).
And you can tell these are bigger projects, not merely just a shout-out to the brand. Clinique must be seeing results as they keep re-engaging with her to promote their brand.
In your perspective, are you more likely to buy a product that is endorsed by a celebrity or a social media influencer, and why? Let us know in the comments.
