"Social Media for Strategic Communication" Ch. 8

Many of you know the term influencer and know it relates to social media but how many of you can say you know what an influencer does exactly? An influencer is an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his/her audience. An individual who has the following in a particular niche which they actively engage with. These individuals are not simply marketing tools but rather social relationship assets with which brands can collaborate to achieve their marketing objectives. Influencer marketing is becoming one of the more prominent and fast-paced areas of specialization social media professionals can get into.

Influencers in social media are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a particular topic and make regular posts on their preferred social media channels. One influencer I find fascinating is James Charles. He was more famously known for being the first male spokesperson for CoverGirl and is among the most popular makeup artists on YouTube currently with 16.3 million subscribers. He also has 15.9 million Instagram followers and 4.3 million on Twitter. Charles is known in the beauty community for being snared in controversy and somehow always being surrounded by drama. His brand voice could be defined as chic and theatrical. If you take a quick glance at his Instagram you'll quickly spot posts where he is advocating for a specific beauty product with each post getting millions of likes. James Charles is for sure one of the more controversial and popular of the influencer community.