5 Social Media Stars Who Turned Their Influence Into An Institution
Over the past several years influencers have matured from being the millennial outliers of the media world to becoming serious household names, and now, their brands, businesses and side-hustle adventures alike and becoming names to know too. Whilst celebrities might create a sense of celestial awe in their fans when it comes to influencers, everything feels relatable because you become inserted into their lives and daily struggles and build a strong sense of trust and knowability. It is that trust and confidence that makes their respective brands so appealing; just as you trust their reviews of any other third party brand they promote, why wouldn’t you wholeheartedly believe in their brand?
The entrepreneurs mentioned in this article didn’t build their brands after years of studying business and then starting their empires from ‘scratch’ (so to speak), instead they built sustainable businesses around their pre-existing personas. The following five influencers showcased below have launched full-scale thriving businesses based off their powerful personal reputations, are a merely a handful of the influencers who’ve turned their social media-based sharing into side hustles, that then became their main source of income and employment. In many cases, the companies that influencers have built are now more recognisable than the influencers themselves.
People often talk about there being two types of personality: Type A and Type B, or perhaps extroverted and introverted. These dual personalities can be directly translated into the way brands are marketed, meaning you either have businesses that are run by owners who prefer to stay backstage and let their businesses do the talking and then you have the figureheads who surpass the success of the multi-million-pound companies they leave behind. The latter is pretty applicable to most influencers turned entrepreneurs who launch their businesses; they know how valuable their legacy and reputation is, as well as their skillset and the PR opportunities they create, so they harness that and ride their 15 minutes of fame off into the sunset. We all know how lucrative influencer marketing can be for brands, so imagine if a brand had their influencer marketing built-in from the word go – it’s essentially a fail-safe, free marketing tool, and it works.
So, here are five influencers and their respective brands from five different sectors who have gone above and beyond their Instagram bio’s expectations to nurture businesses and bring to life new ventures:
FASHION
Anine Bing, founder of fashion label ‘Anine Bing’
When Anine Bing joined Instagram, she probably had no idea that one day she’d be making the clothes she shared, instead of just styling and photographing them for her loyal army of followers. With an Instagram following of nearly 700k behind her, she has launched a truly eponymous clothing line that completely ties in with her influencer roots. Whilst her clothing line was primarily launched online, first selling her iconic Charlie boots that are still bestsellers today, she now has 10 walk-in-and-shop stores, and her revenue is set to double by next year. Much like the other influencers whose businesses are featured below, Bing knew how to create the perfect product because she had such valuable insight into exactly what her audience of “normal” women wanted by way of wardrobe-essentials. In 2016, Kendall Jenner wore a black Anine Bing lace bralette to Coachella, and the item she wore sold out on Bing’s website immediately. Interestingly, Bing doesn’t pay anyone – even influencers – to wear her designs. Instead, she works with a ‘muse program’, where they never pay anyone but do gift items because they want their muses or influencer to look at it as an organic channel. Speaking to WWD editorial, Bing said: “The women liking our brand is something we want them to be completely authentic about.” Anine herself has a big influence on how well the brand does, with the same sort of selling power as Kendall Jenner – when she wears an Anine Bing product, it tends to sell out pretty quickly!
BUSINESS
Casper Lee and Joe Sugg, founders of influencer management company ‘Margravine Management’
As two hugely successful influencers with a combined global digital reach of over 40 million, and amongst some of the first on the UK YouTuber scene, who better to launch their own talent management company than these guys? Thanks to Caspar and Joe’s backgrounds as influencers themselves, it means Margravine can provide its roster of talent it represents with expertise and guidance, working within an already established network. Margravine is the first company of its kind to offer talent led support, meaning they have an advantageous USP that enables them to identify, develop and elevate the next generation of native digital stars.
BEAUTY
Michelle Phan, co-founder of beauty subscription box Ipsy and founder of cosmetics brand ‘Em Cosmetics’
Michelle Phan was arguably the YouTube beauty tutorial pioneer. Phan’s first venture outside of showing the internet how it’s done when one is painting one’s fact was becoming the co-founder of sample box subscription service Ipsy. Michelle partnered with two beauty experts, who acted as CEOs of the company, to create somewhat of a beauty institution. Ipsy managed to raise $100 million in Series B funding when it was being developed in 2015 and was valued at $500 million at that point. The concept behind the brand was enabling subscribers to experience all kinds of different samples before they had to buy the full product. As a beauty influencer, Phan had the privilege of trying all kinds of different products from a PR perspective, and wanted to share that experience with her followers. In addition to sending out $10 monthly sample boxes to their more than 3 million subscribers, Ipsy hosts a ‘creator’ incubator – so to speak – called Ipsy Open Studios, and also hosts the Generation Beauty conferences, where beauty influencers, beauty fans, and brands collide. Recently, Phan stepped away from Ipsy to begin another venture and has set up her very own cosmetics company called Em Cosmetics, that is aimed at giving her followers the exact tools they need to create the looks they want – instead of having to compromise. As an influencer entrepreneur, she has extremely valuable consumer interest/need data at her fingertips.
FOOD
Marcus Butler and Niomi Smart, co-founders of healthy snack subscription box ‘Sourced Box’
Sourced Box is a snack delivery service founded by Marcus Butler and Niomi Smart, two separate influencers in their rights. Marcus is a comedic, fashion and lifestyle influencer, whilst Niomi is a health and fitness based fashion and lifestyle influencer. As two people who have received an abundance of freebies over the years as influencers, they sought to collate them into Sourced Box, to help make healthy living simple and exciting for their followers. The concept is that each month they curate a selection of the best healthy snacks around, and bundle them up into a box that’s then delivered to your door. Marcus and Niomi have had seen success from their box because they’ve tapped into pre-existing brand relationships, listened to what their followers wanted, and delivered a product directly to their audience (in the millions!) of consumers. They also use their influence for good, and as a brand has partnered with a charity to give back from the money they make via Sourced Box. A pretty solid business plan if you ask us!
FITNESS
Christian Guzman, founder of the athletic company ‘Alphalete Athletics’
Christian Guzman has transformed his bodybuilding coaching and YouTube platform in a less traditional way. Guzman originally opened his gym under his name in Houston, Texas that mirrored his fitness style before launching his own athletic company called Alphalete Athletics. Opening a physical gym as opposed to just providing coaching or fitness guides is a path largely untraveled by fitness influencers, which put Guzman as one of the industry’s most established figures. Since launching his gym, he’s also branched out into athleisure and energy drinks. Considering all the moving parts facilitating a fitness club requires, like finding the right software to manage it all, marketing your services, and cultivating a brand image, much of the success of Guzman’s gym can be attributed to his online presence and networking within the online fitness community.
Perhaps what is most interesting about the above influencers featured in this article, is that only two of their businesses promote who they were founded by, and yet each model is still successful in its own right. Barring Anine Bing and Margravine Management mentioned below, the other influencers might promote their brand via their social platforms, but if someone discovered the brand – and not the influencer who founded it – they would have no way of knowing it had been set up by an influencer. There are many reasons an influencer might want to insert themselves into a brand, and many reasons why they might not. They may want to preserve brand originality and integrity without getting it confused as a “merch” outlet. They also might want to keep themselves directly out of the picture, so that it gives them more option and scope for collaboration with other brands, and don’t promote favouritism/peer nepotism within their circles.