Traditional marketing in China is losing its popularity because of the progress of influencer marketing. Although the social media ecosystem is different from the rest of the world, China has a very unique influencer marketing in terms of customized influencer platforms, credible influencers, high ROI sales and many more. Restrictions on almost all western social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube lead to the creation of a better influencer market. Closed influencer networks created a more interconnected influencer-brand-follower environment. Influencers otherwise known as Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) are essential factors in guiding the purchasing decisions of customers. 

Differences between Chinese and Western influencer market

Let’s start with understanding the main differences from the Western industry. 

First of all, influencer marketing or KOLs marketing as it’s called in China has more complexities and is more business-oriented. It entails tight integration with the e-commerce and supply chain. 

Credibility is another factor that differentiates the Chinese influencer market from that of the Western. Instead of gathering huge audiences, Chinese influencers have real-life followers who are inspired by the influencers and share their thoughts about products.

Fashion influencers in the West tend to advertise ready products for their audience while Chinese involved in the production process considering follower views on the product, its design and finally selling the ready products. 

E-commerce sites are transferring into social media which is one of the future trends influencer marketing in the US. Multifunctional platforms such as WeChat and Weibo bring together online payment, chatting and e-commerce interface that enhances influencers’ role. 

Media Matrix, a self-sustainable social media ecosystem, is a distinct influencer ecosystem where influencers invite and support new influencers on their channels which helps to expand the audience and to create more quality content.

Influencer Marketing is a $9 billion industry in China

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A post shared by Angelababy (@angelababyct) on Nov 1, 2018 at 7:03am PDT

China is not only the world’s largest social media market – but it also owns an incredibly rich and diverse online landscape. Despite the differences between the Chinese and Western social media landscape, China is three to five years ahead of the rest of the world. The advanced functionality and integration of social media, digital payment and e-commerce have enabled business models that are yet to be explored in other countries.  

Rhunn is one of China’s earliest and most successful influencer incubators. The company which enables influencers to sell through e-commerce has runaway success to the point that the e-commerce giant Alibaba invested in the company leading the Chinese influencer industry to grow to nearly $9 billion. 

Chinese KOLs turn fans into sales

Chinese influencers mainly consist of columnists, reporters, socialites, video produces and photo & video bloggers who are extremely powerful with the ability to heavily influence consumers’ purchasing decisions on a level that their western peers can only dream of. We can categorize them as the following groups:

• Celebrities
• Experts
• KOLs
• Micro-KOLs
• E-commerce KOLs

Yes, there are E-commerce influencers in China. Because of the huge price gap between the mainland and other areas of the country. These KOLs are also entrepreneurs who have their own retailing channels. 

With many influencers in different segments, we can list a few most well-known Chinese KOLs here:

Becky Li 

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A post shared by 黎贝卡 Becky Li (@beckys_fantasy) on May 26, 2019 at 10:58am PDT

Having 3 million followers on Weibo and 4.5 million followers on WeChat, Li is one of the most powerful influencers in China. Dubbed as Goddess of Shopping, she sold 100 Mini Coopers with five minutes in her blog on WeChat in 2017. So, she is not our average digital influencer. 

Apart from collaborating with Western luxury brands Burberry, Armani, Rebecca Minkoff, she launched her brand over WeChat with 1 million renminbi of revenue. Becky stated that the key to her success is writing on the topics that interest her, credibility, promoting products tested on herself, considering customer reviews. 

Zhang Dayi

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A post shared by ZHANGDAYI (@milksmellbest) on Jul 21, 2019 at 5:22am PDT

Zhang Dayi started her fashion career as a model. Followers’ huge interest in her stylish clothes led Zhang to open her own stores. Her sales reached 100 million RMN on SIngles’ Day in 2017. With 20 million followers in total Dayi is a prominent figure in Chinese retail e-commerce.

The success of her first store on Taobao made Ruhnn create a new influencer-incubator-supply chain model. Instead of telling features of dresses, products, Li finds it better to communicate with followers, asking their opinion on her photos on social media. She believes that her followers love her because not only for her style but for her values and personality. 

Chrison

Being a former magazine editor led Chrison to create a unique fashion blog. In contrast to other fashion and beauty influencers, Chrison has rarely shown his face off on social media. With a black background on his profile, he focuses on the content he writes rather than the perfectly edited photos.

Besides stylish outfits, his followers are interested in the quality of his writings. Thanks to aesthetic storytelling ability Chrison worked with luxury brands Fendi, Cartier, Gucci, Prada. 

Popular Chinese social media platforms

While there might not be the exact version of Western social networks, China has several social media platforms with similar and even better features. 

Chinese super app WeChat is a combination of chat, ordering, online payment sites. Its official accounts ease transactions between business people. The official account helps to directly connect to target customers, advertise products.

Once you have an official account, you can easily store, sell your products in an e-commerce panel. CRM functionality allows companies to manage contacts within official WeChat accounts. In recent years, the platform launched WeChat Advertising, which includes KOL ads, banner ads. 

Not just only WeChat, the other social media platforms like Weibo, Douban, and Douyin are also quite popular in China.

Weibo – the Chinese version of Twitter

With more than 500 million monthly users, Weibo is the second biggest social media platform in China. It is a micro-blogging site mainly resembling the features of Twitter.

Weibo amplified its functions by adding live streaming and short video channels. It also works with Alibaba in commerce and marketing fields. Enterprises can either work with influencers to promote your sales or set up enterprise accounts to interact with customers, display products, track sale process. 

Xiaohongshu – giant community e-commerce platform

Xiaohongshu is a luxury shopping platform comprising social media and e-commerce sites. The company is also known as “Little Red Book”, mainly serves young women by selling fashion and beauty products. Users can buy and share their reviews about products on the platform. 

In 2018, Xiaohongshu launched its own influencer marketing platform which connects brands with influencers. Global brands like Dior, Fendi, Channel, Gucci, Shiseido, YSL partner with Chinese KOLs to reach local customers. The company’s mission is to create authentic word of mouth advertising. The site gives rewards, earnings for active and quality content creators. 

Influencer marketing is an inseparable part of digital marketing. Although the use of influencer marketing for B2B is not very common in practice, it’s growing into a new trend. Partnering with influencers on B2B is a much more complicated process. For B2C seeing the results of working with influencers is immediate while for B2B evaluating the effectiveness of collaboration takes a long time, as influencers cannot make a story or a video post about taste, style of the product. 

Finding the relevant influencer for B2B is also different from B2C. For effective marketing strategy industry experts, and real influencers are needed. There are several factors that business need to consider once they are willing to collaborate with influencers:

• Active use of social media. There should not be a long pause between influencers’ posts.
• Finding on topic influencers. The ones that rarely post about related business may not give high ROI.
• Focusing on the right social media channel. Instagram may not be an effective platform for marketing tech products. 

So what is the right strategy to collaborate with influencers on B2B? Here are several strategies that will move the needle in any industry and for companies of all sizes.

Look for existing advocates

To find their “fresh” advocates companies should look nowhere but inside their existing ecosystems. Often, relevant influencers are already somehow associated with your brand. After identifying why you want to carry out B2B Influencer Marketing the next step is to carefully analyze and asses your current customers, business partners, fans and employees for proof of influence and advocacy. With the help of online tools, you can examine the influence of everyone around your brand on social channels that can generate exceptional insights. 

Collaboration with micro and nano influencers

Brands usually tend to partner with influencers that are more famous and have a larger audience. Instead of working with mega-influencers, business needs to consider micro and nano influencers, as they are more engaged in social media. Their small but engaged audience creates credibility and more in touch relations between followers and other influencers. Apart from this, micro-influencers are cost-effective from a marketing perspective. 

Co-create content with industry experts 

Expertise from the influencers to create and launch new products. Word-of-mouth does not work all the time. For big business decisions, you need more in-depth research and real users. Industry experts are one way to increase awareness about the product or service. Working with influencers not only for advertising but also during the production process, guest-posting on influencers’ blogs, showing real-life experience over promoted product. This approach provides a natural distribution channel for your content and builds credibility. 

Leverage employee advocacy

Social media is the main assistant for employee advocacy. In fact, employees are more active on social media users than the corporate accounts and they have more followers than their employers. Resharing the company posts get more click than the original post. Employees are internal influencers for your company. They have an organic audience and real connections for your business. Because employees work on the given product, they can effectively share their knowledge and experience in real life as well. 

While companies still face difficulties in finding the right influencer campaigns, we can mention a few of the successful influencer campaigns.

Dell Influencer Marketing Programs

This one is a good example of B2B Influencer Marketing. But instead of partnering with influencers, Dell works with industry experts for increasing brand leadership such as guest blog posts, podcast interviews and inviting influencers to Dell events. Dell launched the “Dell Luminaries” podcast which worldwide tech experts share their views over different topics from technology to Formula One. Through the program, the business can see and analyze the importance of technology for every business which in turn, will help Dell to reach more business partners. Outside expert views on innovative technology bring new audiences for both, Dell and influencers. The shared value of influencer programs are vital for Dell’s partnership, said Dell marketing expert. 

Prophix – Adapt & Innovate: AI and the Next Evolution of Finance

As a global corporate performance management software, Prophix intended to build leadership in the tech applied finance industry. The company intended to make business analyze the role of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to amplify its future position. Prophix created microsite called Adapt & Innovate: AI and the Next Level of Finance where expert influencers and AI personality Penny answering customers’ questions. The site included blog posts, insight infographics, promotional emailing for influencers to share. Virtual Financial Analyst eliminates time spent on repetitive and manual tasks, gives quick analysis for finance professionals. 

3M Science Champions 

3M has done the biggest science research, the State of Science Index to increase everyone’s access to the depth and complexities of science. Featuring twenty-one experts and influencers “Science Champions” podcast launched in relation to the research. 

For successful B2B experience on influencer marketing, detailed market research and expert comments are vital. The key factor here is, creating credibility in customers’ eyes. Instead of traditional marketing, expanding business networks with internal experts as brand advocates and outside experts is more viable. If you want to give Influencer Marketing a try with us just click the “Register” button below with the respective category. 

 

In an ever-growing and competitive fashion industry of the USA, as an influencer, it is hard to set yourself apart and grow your loyal followers. The following list of Top 5 Fashion Influencers in the USA covers those who managed to make a huge impact on dictating the entire direction of the industry.  

Exposure is the name of the game and the power of influencers stands in how deep they go with their followings and the relationship they’ve developed with them. Obviously some of the people we’re going cover in this article have already accumulated a huge audience. So, we sorted out 5 inspirational fashion influencers that we believe will grow a lot in the following years. Our goal is to find up-and-coming bloggers with 10K to 50K followers that blog in the USA. Also, you can see the complete list of fashion influencers by logging in Keepface Influencer Marketing Platform and filtering by country.

 

@ivajorg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Me to literally every bug that gets in my way. [SWIPE FOR MINI EDITING TUTORIAL ✨] Glitter edit via @picsart

A post shared by IVANA JORGENSEN (@ivajorg) on Sep 11, 2019 at 11:45am PDT

As a lifelong desert dweller, Ivana Jorgensen is sharing her fashionable life in scenic surrounds of Las Vegas, which is far from huge buildings and neon lights. 

She is sharing her passion for desert-inspired style, fashion, and photography through her blog and a well-curated Instagram account with 35.1K followers. She is a wonderful inspiration for her followers who is fun of colorful outfits. Also one can find the stunning goldish presets she uses in her photos from her blog. We genuinely like everything she does. Her style is dynamic with all of her photos full of colorful, positive vibes. 

@dandyinthebronx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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IT’S SHOWTIME! ? This Halloween… I’m the ghost with the most, babe. Beetlejuice! I wore this at 34th Annual Bronx Halloween Parade this past weekend. I always try to find an excuse to wear a suit, no matter the occasion ? Huge shoutout to Bronx’s @lissettelissette for providing the make up for this. I’ll have some more detailed shots in the stories. Book her for your next cosplay or special event! / ??? ??? ????? ?? ?? ??? ?? ????!⁣ ????, ???? ??? ?? ????? ????? ?? ? ???⁣ ???? ??? ???’? ??????? ??? ??? ?’?? ?? ? ⁣ —⁣ Makeup by @lissettelissette ⁣ Stripe suit by @spirithalloween ⁣ Shirt by @highbarshirtco ⁣ Boots by @drschollsshoes

A post shared by Diego León (@dandyinthebronx) on Oct 28, 2019 at 4:37am PDT

Dandyinthebronx is a menswear blogger with 42.9K followers on Instagram. His devotions to menswear started when he worked as a preschool teacher, continued with diving into various blogs, as well as, social networks learning more about menswear. He is someone more rough around the edge in various styles of suit. He’s got a Hispanic kind of vibes in his tailored outfits that make him look so unique and artistic. 

@hannahdonker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lavender is the Warmest Colour ?

A post shared by Hannah ? (@hannahdonker) on Jul 28, 2019 at 5:33pm PDT

Coming in the 3rd number, another micro-influencer is a 27-year-old Canadian model Hannah Donker moved and currently lives in New York City.  She has modeled extensively since then, becoming the face of a number of campaigns. She’s got 32.3K followers on her Instagram channel. You’ve probably met her in The Weeknd’s “Secrets” video. You’ll get a lot of cool inspiration from her simplistic and unique look. 

@leonegoddess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I’m a firm believer that happiness makes people prettier. It’s a noticeable glow ? PS if you don’t have cleavage, you always have clavicle darling ❤️

A post shared by Betty A. Kanu (@leonegoddess) on Dec 21, 2018 at 4:59am PST

Another US-based micro-influencer on our list is Betty A. Kanu. As of 2019, she has attracted  45.7K followers on her Instagram feed. Betty focuses on fashion and hairstyle tutorials in terms of its fashion sense. She is one of the top Instagram fashion influencers and has worked with many fashion, and styling brands. She stands out with her African style. Bursting with energy, this influencer knows how to get her message across “blossoming is free”.

 

@shedoeshim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It’s a vibe ?: @dj.freesmeier || #shedoeshim #mensstyle #lesbianstyle #lesbianfashion #tomboylookbook #tomboystyle #lesbianthattravel #tomboyish #tomboylookbook #womeninmenswear #nonbinary

A post shared by Allison Graham (@shedoeshim) on Oct 28, 2019 at 3:07pm PDT

Allison Graham as she stated in her blog “found her niche with menswear” and she wants us “to see menswear in a different world”. 

She is as big as the people on this list. She has about 30K followers. She showcases a unique take on classic Brooklyn style on her fast-growing Instagram channel. He has a very focused niche and very-down-to earth style. Allison’s a keen eye for details and creating not just an outfit but a full “head to toe” versatile ensemble. 

 

 Influencer marketing, a new marketing tool all over the world, is also on the agenda of the beauty industry. The beauty industry is one of the fastest adapting sectors to influencer marketing. When you open Instagram’s “discover” tab, there is the whole host of one-minute-long makeup videos. 

It’s also obvious that with the popularity of beauty and makeup influencers, caused a huge swing in who we turn to when it some to beauty advice. The generation before us usually asked their moms, relatives, or close friends, even read the magazines for the best advice. Of course, they are still great sources to look to for useful beauty and health advice and tips but what I’m saying is that now there is a whole new source of exerts you can call upon for beauty advice and tips.

This is statistically proven that 79% of consumers of cosmetics and health-care products choose to watch online videos about a product before purchasing it, and 85% of women think that the content of beauty influencers is the most reliable source to be trusted when buying cosmetics.

Let’s get started to know the newest trendsetters and rising stars in this industry. We’ve compiled for you the top 10 awesome beauty influencers who are based in the USA. 

 

@itsannchovie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Annie Cho 조혜정 | Style + Travel (@itsannchovie) on Aug 29, 2019 at 9:23am PDT

LA-based, blond beauty Annie Cho is the first on our list of beauty influencers. She’s amassed 20.3K followers on her colorful Instagram account. Annie Cho is someone who “dedicated to finding happiness in little things”. As she said, her blog is dedicated to inspiring the readers to jump into new adventures and to live their life to the fullest. Put a focus on beauty and makeup tips, her blog also encompasses topics around fashion, travel, and creative photography. 

 

@fashionfabnews

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Lina Mayorga (@fashionfabnews) on Oct 5, 2019 at 4:05pm PDT

The next US-based beauty influencer Lina Mayorga is also a fashion designer with 40.4K followers. Lina features her insights on beauty, fashion, and fitness on her blog and social media accounts. On her Instagram profile, she serves her audience with daring makeup and out-of-the-box style 

She also parlayed her huge influence by launching her sustainable clothing brand. Why sustainable? Because she is making clothing with organic, recycling, or up-cycled materials and designed with zero-waste methods. Long story short, Lina wants to destroy the stereotypes of sustainable clothing. 

 

@olive_chels

 

 

This Young lady is our next successful beauty influencer in the USA with 32.2K subscribers on YouTube. She is specialized in hairstyles, beauty tips, DIYs, and fashion. Chelsy is the one to follow if you like natural hair DIYs teamed with lots of before and after videos showing how she’s managed to get such luscious, healthy curls at home and that’s going to get you scrolling, and scrolling to see more.

 

@stenss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Stenie (@stenss) on Aug 9, 2019 at 6:31pm PDT

 

Stenie is a US micro-influencer with 45.3K followers and she is also a really active one on Instagram. She is best known for her eye makeup, focusing her proficiency on finely detailed looks employing sharp lines and a range of bright colors. Go check her Instagram account to get more inspirational looks.   

 

@makeupbyemma00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by emma donado | chicago mua esty (@makeupbyemma00) on Aug 3, 2018 at 4:28pm PDT

Chicago based micro-influencer Emma is more popular on Youtube, with 20.7K subscribers, rather than Instagram. She serves her audience with skincare tips, makeup tutorials, and aesthetic hairstyles. She is curious about bold eye makeup accompanied by neutral lip color. Emma’s content is taken selfie-style in her daily life is an amazing inspiration for her audience. 

 

@ohmglashes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Oh!MGlashes (@ohmglashes) on Jul 22, 2019 at 6:06pm PDT

Another amazing beauty and makeup micro-influencer from the US, Ohmglashes has 11.8K followers on Instagram.  She is a rising makeup enthusiast filled her feed with selfie-style photos of daily looks, tutorials as well as shows off her outfits. Her unconventional eye makeups are just stunning. 

 

@japanslayz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by DeLion ??‍? (@japanslayz) on Aug 20, 2018 at 2:30pm PDT

DeLion is a 20-years-old US makeup artist highlighting over-the-top glamorous eye makeup looks on his İnstagram account. He rapidly rose to fame over the past years and reached to 29.2K followers on Instagram. The boy is a true inspiration for bold ring makeup lovers. 

 

@mua.lydia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by ????? ?????? (@mua.lydia) on Aug 1, 2019 at 12:14pm PDT

 

Lydia Grayce is another rising makeup enthusiast from the US with 45.4K followers. She is a natural redhead, beauty, hair, and lifestyle micro-influencer who does jaw-dropping makeup looks on her Instagram feeds with glowy, highlighted eyes and matte lips. 

 

@gwendilara

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Gwen Dilara (@gwendilara) on Oct 10, 2019 at 12:28pm PDT

Gwen is a makeup artist and beauty educator from the US with 49.1K followers. She’s one of the influencers who managed to turn her skills and influence into the business. She is shooting makeup gorgeous makeup tutorials. Gwen’s like a genuine wizard at creating remarkably charming looks.

 

@dimplybean_mua

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Ellie (@dimplybean_mua) on Nov 14, 2018 at 12:42pm PST

Ellie, the last beauty influencer on our list, is a US-based, self-taught makeup artist with 21.2K followers on Instagram. Besides makeup, she is also a professional SFX artist, which differentiates her from the others on this list. Just go and check her account, as there are no more words to say. Just incredible!

 

Social media influencers are getting younger and younger over the years. These “kidfluencers” now have their own accounts even before they are born. Maybe the kids don’t understand social media, but social media definitely gets them. 

Brands with a target audience consisting of children look no further than these incredible “smaller influencers” or as it’s referred in a digital world – “Kidfluencers”. And many of the bid brands already leaped at the chance to leverage them to advertise products easily. 

Kids become influencers before they can even talk

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I’m really starting to get the hang of this whole sitting up thing. It’s fun ! Do you know how to sit? ???‍♀️

A post shared by Halston Blake Fisher (@halston.blake) on Sep 26, 2019 at 2:19pm PDT

Sharing some part of children’s lives online with family members and parents’ friends is normal these days. According to a study average parents share approximately 116 photos of their children before they turn eight, but now a growing number are actually making a living at it.

However, for a small but growing number of kids, their online footprint is much more noticeable and far-reaching. The past several years have seen the rise of “Kidfluencers” – children whose social media presence has garnered enough attention that they attract advertisers and sponsors, turning their YouTube or Instagram into a money-making platform. 

While big brands love collaborating with celebrities, they’ve also learned that the kidfluencers are great for endorsing kids’ toys, clothing, and other products. 
In this industry, there is a niche for everyone at any age. From fashionistas to tech-savvy, kidfluencers have already made their way in a digital era.  

Kidfleuncers range from children who have become an Instagram sensation, to children who star in videos of themselves unboxing and playing with toys.

 

 

 

 

 

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Who’s who? ? @nununuworld @mypopshoes ? @familymattersphoto #ministylehacker #brothers

A post shared by Collette Wixom (@ministylehacker) on Mar 10, 2019 at 8:39am PDT

A story of an 8-year-old Ryker Wixom started with the search of his name on Google. Instead of finding unrelated pages or accounts with the same name, he found his photos as a toddler on the top of the results page. While scrolling down there is an article for him on a website called famousbirthdays.com and a video on a Daily Mail video of 4-year-old himself trying to do a magic trick.  He came mother with a question of whether he is famous. Mom answered that he is not famous, but people know him from his pictures. 

As the mother explains, Ryker always knew that his mother likes taking his photos but he never knew that the people actually saw these pictures too. His Instagram account @ministylehacker amasses over 300.000 followers and created by his mother Collette Wixom in 2014. The mother started the account, she only posted Ryker’s photos of wearing kid-sized versions of men’s wear, but now the profile is full of photos of her three sons. Many of these photos are sponsored by various retailers like eBay and natural baby products brand – the Honest Company. 

Social media platforms, particularly YouTube and Instagram are lucrative ground for marketers looking to promote their products, especially children’s products like child food, clothes or toys.  And these young influencers are the best option for marketers to target the right audiences. 

Some of these kids, like Ryker, are features on his parent’s account, but the others have their own accounts. But all these young social media influencers‘ fame comes as a result of their parents calling the shots and running the business behind the scenes. 

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First ever photos with Dad’s 400mm zoom! Cormorants near the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, Oregon. On assignment for @nature_org with @junohuey and @argonautphoto. @nature_oregon

A post shared by Hawkeye Huey (@hawkeyehuey) on Aug 12, 2019 at 1:32pm PDT

Like the parents of 9-year-old photographer Hawyeke Huey. This creative and tech-savvy Kidfluencer became popular as a photographer with a sharp eye for details. The fact that his father is also a professional photographer at National Geographic, proves the natural creativity of the family. 

As of 2019, his Instagram account has 199k followers and the feed is full of pictures of Hawyeke himself and his shots. 

Ryan Kaji is one of the recognizable kidfluencers in this game. Known by his YouTube channel’s name Ryan ToyReviews, this 7-year-old child star’s channel already has 19 million subscribers and over 29 billion views. 

Ryan’s channel features various videos that reflect his interest, such as playing with Legos, monster trucks, Disney heroes and trains that recorded by his dad. Besides playing with toys he also talks about different educational topics like Science experiments for kids or healthy food choices. 

Examples like this are endless. It goes without saying that Kidfluencers are on the rise. Whilst the young generation exposed to social media is having kids, this trend is only set to continue.

How much do kidfluencers make? 

One family with kidfluencer identical twins said that a sponsored post could earn between $10,000 and $20,000. Another seven-year-old kidfluencer has made $22 million playing with toys on his YouTube channel.

A parent shared the prices commanded by the parent’s child on the condition of anonymity, citing concern that the disclosures could harm negotiations with brands. The parent said brands might pay $10,000 to $15,000 for an Instagram post while a sponsored YouTube video might cost $45,000. A shout-out in 30 to a 90-second in a longer video can cost advertisers between $15,000 and $25,000.

Such fame and money at a young age raise the question:

 Is all this really in the child’s best interest?

Some parents of these young influencers work carefully establish boundaries between work and having fun for their kids. But this is not always the case. Sometimes the kids’ fame gets in the way of the child’s regular routine. 

Concerns about the harmful effects of social media on kids are not new, but if the case is being famous, the game changes.  

The rise of kidfluencers has generated concerns about children’s privacy, particularly when it comes to how parents’ social media sharing could affect their child later in life. Forbes argued in December that, “Parents are already some of the biggest violators of their children’s privacy, leaving potentially harmful digital footprints well before the age of consent.”

At the same time, social media became a part of the everyday lives of the majority of Gen Z, so the fact that children are the subject of their parents’ social media posts is hardly surprising. People post about what’s important to them, which means they post about their kids too. 

LinkedIn is a social networking site for the business community to foster connections with former, current and potential colleagues. It’s a great place to exchange business ideas, build relationships with prospects, search for jobs or talents. 

In 2015, it gave access to all users of the English speaking countries to its publishing platform in an attempt to increase page views and time that the users spent. As a result 320 mln LinkedIn users granted access to the publishing platform allowing them to become an influencer in their respective niches. 

Each day, over 2 mln posts, videos, and articles flow the LinkedIn feed, generating tens of thousands of comments every hour – and tens of millions more shares and likes. So how to stand out in this business-focused social media platform? In this post, we will answer this question.

How to Become an Influencer on LinkedIn? 

To be a LinkedIn influencer is quite different from being an influencer in any other platform like Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. The platform brings out its annual “Top Voices” list of most engaged creators and influencers. To appear in this list you don’t necessarily have to be the CEO of a global company or professional expert with years of experience in a particular field. Each year, LinkedIn’s editors only choose the most active and engaged users independent of their industry. 

So, it just takes a reasonable period of time to do research and dedication, to get noticed by the team. 

#1 Publish Fresh and Curated Content

As stated by Bill Gates “the content is king”. However, creating fresh and eye-catching content requires to invest your time and effort. Engaging content is what makes people scroll on your newsfeed. And people engage in your content if they find it useful and informational. 

The key point here is to post daily and post right. Start posting content that is related to your and your connections’ industry. Showing your expertise in a particular industry you need to create and publish long-form posts which are over 600-1000 words. Just publishing content will not alone do the whole job, you will need to engage with the audience through comments and reply to the posts that have shared by your connections.

The latest news and developments perform really good on the platform. You can also share curated content and short videos. In this way, you are not attracting just random people, but people who are really engaged with your industry. 

#2 Build Your Audience

By sharing industry-relevant content you already attracted followers, but if you want them to engage, you need to add value by providing insightful and informational content.  Focus on what matters most to your followers. 

LinkedIn’s publishing platform gives you an opportunity to grow your audience. Here you can interact with others who might be interested in your industry.  Always keep in mind that here the type of connections is more important than the number. You need to focus on forming strategic connections. 

#3 Optimize Your Profile

As your LinkedIn profile is like a resume or business card, it’s essentially a marketing tool. Optimizing your profile will have a great impact on your personal brand. So, consider creating a well-written and resume-like profile that potential partners can notice the benefits of collaborating with you.  First of all, make sure all important areas are in order. Let’s start with profile and background images. It is recommended to make the profile photo visible to everyone. This move will develop trust and make your profile easily found by the search engines. 

Add the professional profile of skills, experience, interests on your headline. Try to express what you do in 120 characters in a creative and informative way. Keep your summary short but don’t forget to add as many relevant keywords as you can. It makes your profile easier to find when looking for experts in your field of specialization on LinkedIn. 

#4 Stand out in your industry

LinkedIn is your chance to get your name and face in front of hundreds (or even thousands) of professionals in your industry. But to build an influence you need to stand out among those professionals by being a reliable source of good information and to address your audience’s pain points. You need to constantly publish creative and innovative solutions through fresh and curated content. 

Differentiate yourself. Don’t just recount the day’s news. Instead, put a spin on the mundane by writing short articles with catchy headlines like “Why your pain medication may be killing you!” This will make your audience sit up and take notice.

#5 Promote Your Content  

Of course, your content will not get around by itself. Sponsored Content is native advertising on LinkedIn. It allows you to promote your content directly in the LinkedIn feeds of the professionals you want to reach on LinkedIn and increase your content’s reach as a LinkedIn Influencer. 

But there are some tactics, some of which work far better than others. To help you out, here are the tactics of LinkedIn content promotion so you can start getting more attention for your content. 

• Go after your ideal readers,
• Use groups, 
• Use LinkedIn’s publishing platform – The Pulse,
• Buy some Sponsored Update Advertising.  

Earned Media Value (EMV) is a method to measure the value of the work that PR experts and marketers do to promote a particular brand or company. EMV is a monetary worth of any third-party exposure your brand gets that your marketing and PR specialists strive to achieve: being featured in a media asset, getting great reviews willingly or getting brand’s post been shared by dozens. This post will identify what is Earned Media and three main models to measure its value.  

Let’s first see what is earned media? 

Earned Media represents one of the three sides of marketing: Owned and Paid Media. It is a tool used to publicize created content, such as press releases, blogs, social posts, influencer marketing, etc. In a nutshell, earned media is all the buzz around the brand posted by anyone outside of that brand.  

Earned media is generally reached through promotional efforts other than paid media advertising. If we think of owned media sites as a destination then earned media is the vehicle that helps us get there.

Why it is so valuable?

Earned media are mass media that have not been created or purchased directly by the company. All content about the company that is shared by customers, fans or users is defined as “Earned media”. Unlike in the paid media, they all talk about your brand voluntarily without being paid for it. So, earned media is a form of word-of-mouth. This form of media value is especially essential for brands because it confirms how many people talk about you aside from your paid marketing and PR efforts.

Earned Media is all about reliability

Earned Media is usually defined as the most credible content form for brands. Of course, you can tell your prospects how well your product performs and why it is the right choice for them, but eventually, they know that you want to sell your product. Existing customers or brand advocates, on the other hand, can provide their honest opinion about your product without any strings attached. Therefore, it is just a question of reliability.

Cons of Earned Media

Although earned media is very valuable, it also carries some risks. Unlike owned and paid media, it cannot be easily controlled. Since owned media is formed by the brand itself and paid media develops according to the brand’s conception, earned media, on the other hand, is completely disconnected from the brand’s scope of action. As a brand, you have almost no control over the evolvement of this mechanism.

How to calculate EMV?

Evaluation of earned media is another disadvantage of Earned Media. The grim reality is that there is zero consistency when it comes to calculation of the value. Every brand can formulate its own metrics based on its campaign goals, communication channels, and content types. 

Typical measurement metrics such as impressions and likes, are not concrete and do not address the brand’s business goals. Therefore, Earned Media Value is considered uncharted and unpredictable territory for many companies looking to transform earned media into tangible value.

Although there isn’t one agreed-upon formula and reliable benchmarks to base for measuring earned media value, it can be measured by these three different models: 1. Impressions Model; 2. Media Impact Model; 3. Target Influence Model. 

We can come to a conclusion on how to measure the result of earned media and return on investment that results in a tangible outcome.

Impressions Model

Calculating earned media value according to the impressions proves the awareness of the brand’s target audience of a particular product. 

This model works like this. Once a certain number of people with an audience have been exposed to and made aware of traditional or digital media assets, a brand will need less exposure to trigger their awareness, , comprehension and opinions about particular products or services. This goes on in a cycle to influence commitment and engagement.

Target Influence Model

This one is the most common method of assessing influence, the survey of a representative sample can be used to determine whether exposure to a message has reached its target. With this model, it’s important to measure for recall, retention and general indicators of attitude change such as motivation.

Media Impact Model

In simple terms, the media impact model traces coverage against sales over time in various markets and is a useful statistical study for describing an ROI. 

In this type of calculation process, we measure the models of sales by market and time against marketing tactics – one being earned media. 

The assessment can determine which tactic generated sales. Using this model, a business can determine the estimated ROI of each campaign and see sales improve over time based on earned media publicity.

Nevertheless, an earned media value shouldn’t be compared to paid advertising efforts, brands should understand the role of earned media in marketing. The difficulty to measure EMV shouldn’t discourage marketers to avoid using earned media, but to encourage brands to plan earned media strategy carefully with achievable targets. 

When it comes to Influencer Marketing the fashion industry is winning big. Information about fashion spreads quickly, in other words, the effect of fashion is fast. But to stay up to date, it is important to vary in marketing activity. Fashion marketers should be in harmony with their target customers and reach the customer with accurate and complete information in order to target sales and profit. But…

How effective is Influencer Marketing in the fashion industry?

Turkey’s cosmopolitan cities are known as a hub of the fashion industry. In terms of disposition of sectors, the report states that beauty and make-up with 19%, fashion with 18%, travel with 13% and life and food categories with 12%. From local designers to international brands, Turkish fashion bloggers like to mix it up to create their own unique style as well as write about/photograph it effusively. 

According to the state of the Influencer Marketing Report in 2019, 25% of all sponsored posts on Instagram are related to fashion. With an audience willing to scroll and shop, Instagram has created exceptional opportunities for all fashion brands.

Both established fashion labels such as adL, Hepsiburada, Defacto, LC Waikiki and smaller brands are leveraging the reach and engagement of this visual platform. They attract and engage more people with creative Instagram Stories, branded hashtags, shoppable ads, and influencer-created content. In terms of usage of social media networks in Turkey, Instagram takes first place with 48%, followed by Facebook with 21%, YouTube with 16% and Twitter with 15%. 

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LC Waikiki ile bu bayramda çok şıksınız! ? #bayram #bayramlık #yaz #summer #lcwaikiki

A post shared by LC Waikiki (@lcwaikiki) on Aug 10, 2019 at 4:55am PDT

Let’s take a look at some of the Influencer Marketing campaigns in Turkey which leveraged Celebrities and Fashion Influencers. 

Trenyol “Chagla x Milla” Collection

Trendyol created its private collections called ChaglaXMilla, with the Turkish model and actress Cagla Shikel. The launch of the collection, which combines quality and trends that a woman wants for the summer months, was released at Happily Ever After. On the same day, the CaglaXMilla collection which was put up for sale on Modag.com got a considerable attraction. The brand created the collection based on the designs of its brand ambassador. 

Collection consisting of beachwear, bikini, kimono, blouse, lace skirts, prints, midi skirts, Spanish pants, tops, and leather jacket, was designed by Cagla Shikel.

MODGREY & Modest Fashion

MODGREY, a clothing brand for women that combines modern, stylish and elegant clothing styles with unique designs. Making a rapid entry into the Turkish Fashion Sector, MODGREY has opened Turkey’s first Modest Department Store that offers modern and modest designs in Istanbul.

The brand intended to increase the digital power and brand awareness while collaborating with 21-year-old fashion influencer Sena Sever who is one of the pioneers of “modest fashion” in Turkey. Within the scope of the 5-month agreement with Sena Sever, the brand organized 4 different creations and many activities every month.

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Ne gömlekler yapıyorsun sennnnn @vesna_design ???

A post shared by Rabia Sena Sever (@senaseveer) on Jul 18, 2019 at 11:26am PDT

By the end of 2017, to start introducing the 2017-2018 winter creations, the brand partnered with Sena Sever, who attracts a lot of attention in the digital world with her posts and style, to increase both wholesale and digital sale. The campaign introduced MODGRAY to her followers of more than 500,000 people in a natural way and to draw sustainable traffic to the brand’s online shop.

Do the influencers are really a choice over celebrities?

Research done for Marketing Turkey explored the effectiveness of collaborations with both influencers and celebrities comparatively. 

In the study (that is called DigitalheAD), brain dynamics and eye-tracking measurements were performed with 256 participants and the dynamics of 1000 TV ads and 38 ads on YouTube Ad Leaderboard were compared. The aim was to detect thoughts and emotions that could not be expressed via brain imaging. 

When the scores obtained in the study are examined, it is seen that Danla Bilic, who is famous for make-up blogging, have a more effective harmony. The same scores cannot be achieved when the target group is the Benefit brand, which is both known and economically distant to the target audience.

Similarly, Berkcan Güven, who feels more related to the participant of the study, and Puma accomplished more successful collaboration, while it is seen from the consumer’s brain scans that compliance with Guess, which has a more premium brand, is not so effective. 

The results of the study revealed that celebrities like Cagla Shikel who is well-known on TV performed higher than social media influencers if we measure the scores without brands. However, when we in terms of their relevance with the brand, it was found out that social media influencers have a higher effect on consumers’ purchase decisions. 

The reason for this difference explained as “consumers are the fans of a celebrity, but the friend of an influencer.”

In another example, Cagla Shikel whose wardrobe is more wondered by her fans because of both her physical appearance and fame on TV, seems to perform higher scores in collaboration with Trendyol (fashion e-tailer) than Danla Bilic whose expertise is on make-up.  

In conclusion, the study highlights the relevance of a particular influencer or celebrity to the strategy of the brand. While celebrities who are thought to consume luxury and premium brands can perform better with top brands in digital media, the brands that appeal to a wider audience may have more effective collaborations with social media influencers who are more connected to their audience and thought to be one of them.    

Recently, Instagram announced hiding “likes” that posts have accumulated to start the test as a way of creating “a less pressurized environment” on the app and to encourage users to focus more on the content than the number of likes. Initially, Instagram has been trialing a new formula in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand by concealing the number of likes a post has received. While the users who are parts of the test will be able to see likes by themselves, their followers will not. This is applied to video views as well.

And there’s been a lot of chat about whether or not this change will signal the end of the Instagram influencers. This change is not global yet, so we may not be able to analyze the whole effects, but one thing is certain that this move has the potential to dramatically change the commercial landscape of this platform.

What does it mean for Influencers? 

Somewhere along the line, the platform changed from casual posts, to precisely curated, well thought out, artistic creations invented particularly to get likes and comments, so, as a result of a change like this, it is expected that Instagram will turn to more “healthy” environment.

However, marketing experts say the changes could also further incentivize brands to put paid media support behind their influencer posts, and also to focus on Instagram Stories, the video and photo posts that are only live on Instagram temporarily.

The potential change could also mean that influencer content will need to become higher quality since users won’t be able to lean on the number of likes their posts are receiving when a brand considers working with them. Marketers will still be able to look at an influencer’s follower count, but that metric doesn’t mean much in the way of showing how “engaged” a user’s audience is. 

Youngsters vs Adults

From the adult influencers’ perspective hiding those numbers are like a pretty juvenile way to treat them and seem like something that would be perfect for users under 18 instead. The disappearance of the likes total has had little impact on their online life and they believe the company’s decision could increase users’ comfort by posting authentic material and displaying their creativity. In fact, likes have become so devalued that a picture of an egg holds the record for winning the most.

Compared to the adults, younger generations’ entire digital landscape has been defined by numbers and metrics.

Hilton, who has a personal account as well as one for his dog, the latter with more than 3,200 followers, added that he understands why Instagram is doing this. Hilton said his younger sister, who is in high school, is “obsessed” with likes. “It’s mostly for the younger generation, people in high school,” he said. “There is a lot of pressure. If someone has 1,000 likes and someone has two likes, that probably makes them feel not very nice.”

The change will probably slow down the Instagram influencer world a little bit, a lot of young influencers now are using live videos, not static photos, to build their following. And they will definitely find a way around if the platform will apply this change globally.

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one of the best moments of my life ???

A post shared by ᴇᴛʜᴀɴ ᴅᴏʟᴀɴ (@ethandolan) on Oct 4, 2018 at 4:00pm PDT

How will it affect the brands who depends on likes on their Instagram posts to sell their products?

Likes are a huge part of Instagram’s business model and how they monetize the platform, so it seems like an odd move to make on a full-time basis.

Professionally, that might be a little harder to explain to clients and also to brands that it shouldn’t be an issue but it just means that they will need to use third-party metric platforms to see the actual likes moving forward.
Besides, as a business or brand, you will be looking for more than just likes anyway (as these can be purchased) when engaging influencers. There are way more metrics for serious businesses and influencers than just likes. 

On the bright side, this change may have the effect of drying up the economy for fraudulent likes on Instagram since they would no longer be as valuable when it comes to showing engagement. Plus, when it comes to the clients of major brands like Pepsi or McDonald’s, engagement is already less of a priority. Trialing an Instagram without likes is a small gesture that is not nearly as dramatic as it sounds, and it’s one that weakly waves at the problem, rather than doing very much to handle it. 

Influencer marketing has earned a lot of interest over the last few years. In the last three years, the number of Google searches for “influencer marketing” has increased by 1500%. This shows that the future of influencer marketing is available for future opportunities. As more companies realize the advantages of influencer marketing, they will invest more money into it.

This research revealed that 63% of marketers plan to increase their budget this year and they set the budget of influencer marketing to become a $10 million market by 2020. Obviously influencer marketing is here to stay. But what does the future of influencer marketing hold? 

It’s bound to change with new technologies and trends, like all other marketing strategies. Let’s take a look at a few changes in the industry that we can expect in the future.

Focusing on Micro-Influencers

Influencer marketing grew out of celebrity marketing. To the average person in the street, influencer marketing involves brands working with famous people. Brands have realized that sometimes less is more. The success of any campaign doesn’t completely ride on the number of followers.

We have extensively written about the different types of influencers over the past few years. In particular, we have signposted the increase in the popularity of micro-influencers. One prediction for the future of Influencer Marketing is that micro-influencers will have more influence than celebrities would.

However, definitions for the micro-influencers have remained elastic over the years. The globally accepted definition is that Micro-influencers are someone who has between 1,000 and 100,000 followers. While their following may be small, their authenticity is high. 

Many influencers buy fake followers, so their engagement rate is low. On the contrary, micro-influencers have fewer followers but they work to maintain personal bonds with their audience. Therefore, their posts get higher engagement.

Unlike popular influencers who have a huge following on social media, micro-influencers are more reasonably priced. Micro-influencers will rule the future of influencer marketing.

The rise of Influencer Networks

The future of influencer marketing is all about the networks. Instead of individuals, marketers may start to group influencers based on whom they are associated with. After all, influencer marketing is about connecting with the right people.

If your brand is related to an influencer, its reputation grows based on how much authority they have. Moreover, an influencer’s reputation depends on which brands they promote. 

Each of the influence centers is linked to each other because many niches overlap. Take, for example, a brand that sells sunscreen lotion. For such a brand, the obvious choice would be to reach out to influencers in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle niches. However, they could also reach out to influencers in the travel and sports industry.

The future of influencer marketing emphasizes connecting or “the interconnectedness” of different niches. The influencers who have the power to transfer ideas between different groups will be the most influential ones.

Brands Will Cultivate Long-Terms Relationships with Influencers

As more brands realize the importance of collaborating with influencers, they are seeking new ways to work with them. At the same time, they realize that building long-term associations with influencers is essential for better marketing. It has been common until now for brands to think short term with their influencer campaigns. They have an idea for a campaign. They search for influencers. 

Either the brand or the influencers create the campaign, depending on the amount of control the brand requires. The brand then analyses the results of their campaign and then moves onto the next campaign which repeats the whole influencer identification process.

However, as influencer marketing becomes more popular, there is a danger that influencers will pick the brands with whom they wish to work. Good influencers are likely to “fill up” their calendar with paid promotions. If a brand isn’t careful, they will lose their best influencers because of short-term thinking. There are signs in early 2019, however, that this trend is changing. When brands find suitable influencers, they now focus on building longer-term relationships.

Brands and celebrities have built long-term relationships for years. This is predicted that Influencer Marketing will more closely follow this trend for a few years.  

Computer-Generated Imagery Influencers

These influencers aren’t real or human. As the name “CGI influencers” suggests, they are generated by computers. But they have already started to revolutionize influencer marketing. They’re the next big thing in the world of influencer marketing.

The entry of CGI influencers into the influencer marketing industry has changed the way brands view collaborations. For the uninitiated, CGI influencers are influencers who are created with the help of computer-generated imagery.

Manufactured in the virtual world, programmers and designers work for hours to create each scene from a CGI influencer’s life. On their social media channels, CGI influencers can be seen posing at exotic locations.

Riding in on the curiosity that CGI influencers evoke, many luxury brands have started collaborating with them. Lil Miquela, one of the most popular CGI influencers, has already partnered with Calvin Klein, Diesel, and Prada. 

CGI influencers are becoming increasingly popular for brands because they allow brands to completely control how their products are advertised. The unpredictability that comes with real-life influencers can be avoided.