How An Unemployed Factory Worker Gained 200 Million Followers (Without Speaking)
I’m speechless.
But unlike Khabane ‘Khaby’ Lame, I don't have over 200 million social media followers. 135 ?million on TikTok?and?72 million on Instagram. The way his following is growing, those figures will be well and truly outdated before I hit publish.
Khaby is the second most followed person on TikTok. Something that was beyond his wildest dreams just two years ago.
In March 2020, he lost his job as a factory worker in the northern Italian industrial town of Chivasso.?He ignored the advice of his father to find another job and turned to TikTok.
It was the best move he could have made.?As a result, he is now a millionaire and hero to many of the Generation Z demographic on social media.
And one marketing writer who is a tad older than Generation Z.
I typed his name into Google, and up came the suggestion:?Why is Khabane lame so popular?
Good question, Google. Very good question. Let’s try and answer that.
Satirizing life hacks
Khaby’s content is straightforward and a significant factor in his success.
There are a plethora of ‘life hack’ videos on the internet.?You know the ones. Unnecessarily complicated fixes (or hacks) to simple problems.
And Khaby has built his following on his reactions to these videos.?He never speaks and relies on expressions — usually nonchalance or disdain — to the videos.
Take a cherry hack; yes, apparently, eating cherries requires a hack.
The initial cherry hack video shows someone using a stupid device to remove the stems from cherries.?The video then switches to Khaby quickly removing the stem of the cherry with his fingers and eating it.?There are no words, but you can clearly see?in his face that he is thinking, WTF?
That?video?has over 16 million likes—a small drop in the ocean for Khaby.
Another ‘life hack’ involves installing an external mirror on a car door to check when it is safe to open the door. Khaby mocks this by simply rolling his window down and looking outside — like a normal person would.
This particular video has over?300 million views.
By satirizing the growing trend for ridiculous life hacks, Khaby has created his own new category.
Laughing at and mocking life hacks.
And now he has laughed his way to almost 2 billion likes on TikTok.
The global language
Khaby doesn't rely on words.?Instead, it is all body language and facial expression.
A simple shrug.?A shocked expression I call the ‘Macauley Culkin in Home Alone.’?Or a knowing look to the audience that allows us to share in the moment together with him.
“It’s my face and my facial expressions?that make people laugh.”
Not speaking means anyone can consume his content — he calls it a ‘global language.’
This allows him to have followers worldwide from his home country of Italy to his country of birth in Senegal to the land of the influencer — the United States.
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And his followers are connecting with his global language.?The engagement rate of his TikTok account is?9.58%. He averages?9.6M?likes?and?82.6K?comments per post.
Khaby is the anti-Kardashian
A lot of social media content is overproduced.
Videos are professionally made. Images are taken on set. They may look great, but they look fake. Photoshopped to death.
Khaby has gone the other way.?There are no expensive HD cameras or choreography.?No team standing by with lighting and composing music. It is raw and authentic, and that makes it relatable.?The lack of a polished production distinguishes him from the?influencers?that infiltrate our social feeds.
No Hollywood agent or digital agency is driving Khaby.
“His content almost debunks?or mocks the overproduced trends that happen across social media, whether it’s life hacks or other things like that.?He almost represents this authenticity overproduction.?I think that’s very appealing at scale to people,?this feeling of someone not trying too hard; it’s something that feels authentic.” Samir Chaudry, a founder of?The Publish Press, a newsletter covering the creator economy.
Khaby comes across as a regular everyday person, and content consumers relate to that.
King Khaby
The social analytics website SocialBlade says that Khaby’s current follow rate is nearly?eight times faster than Charli D’Amelio, who has the most followers on TikTok.?This has him in pole position to be the biggest creator on TikTok ad overtake Charli within days.
A look at his daily follower growth shows that he can add over 1 million followers in a day.
And with that comes financial opportunity.
Influencer Marketing Hub?estimates that Khaby can earn up to $134,000 per TikTok post.?His net worth is currently estimated to be up to?$5 million.
Khaby has an opportunity to further monetize his brand through endorsements and merchandise.
In 2020 TikTok ‘star’ — I hate using that term for social media creators —?Addison Rae Easterling?earned $5 million via leveraging her TikTok videos into off-platform revenue.?Khaby, with more followers than Addison, has even more potential.
What makes it even more impressive is that he has achieved all this in such quick time
“I am honoured to have achieved this milestone, made possible by the global TikTok community. I am passionate about entertaining and making people laugh since childhood, and I am thankful to TikTok for offering me a global stage to share my passion with the rest of the world. I will continue to work towards my dreams, knowing I can count on a beautiful community ready to cheer me on. Thank you and I love you all!” Khaby Lame
Hope for all content creators
The rise of Khaby Lame shows the opportunity available to content creators.?Turning to TikTok to make videos as a way of getting through lockdown boredom,?Khaby struck upon a goldmine through?a combination of luck, authenticity, and creativity.
He mocked the growing rise of life hacking in a simple way that was easy to connect to, hitting upon the perfect formula at the right time.?Ironically, his rise to the king of content creation has been built on making fun of content creation.
Through that, it offers all creators hope. That if an unemployed 21-year-old with no social media following can gain 130 million followers in 18 months, then anyone can. All it needs is a bit of creativity — and a lot of luck.
If this article had a camera aimed at me now, you’d see my face has the same reaction as Khaby's in many of his videos. After researching this article and seeing his statistics and net worth.
One of bewilderment and surprise. And perhaps a touch of jealousy.
You are already a Khaby in the field of writing. Oops. I mean you are Ash Jurberg of writing. My friend and I were once discussing the post on Khaby which I wrote for Better Marketing. I had written and it got rejected. It was before you posted about this topic. When I forwarded him the link of your BM post, He replied to me, "You have to be Ash Jurberg (or Tim Denning ) for your every post to be accepted by BM and go crazy on Medium". While I have got many posts on BM, he rightly said that these two people can do wonders on writing just as Khaby did without speaking a word. Learning from you. ??
I love his videos. Hilarious guy.
Someone less qualified than you is working with your ideal client. Let's fix that.
3 年I think it's brilliant and relatable. We all have laughed at some life hacks, but someone actually did something about it. Also, Tiktok is full of teenagers, they love this kind of content. This was very clever. Ash Jurberg you've been read by countries. You'll get there. The difficulty is that you chose the writing industry in a world where people don't read. We are screwed before even starting ??
The other day I had read about him and yes, it is pure genius or stroke of luck + hard work, if you may begrudgingly attribute. The moral I take away is that there is a niche for everyone. Wonder when he will 'have' to 'change' and how he would sustain.
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3 年Amazing analysis! Overproduction is not always appealing.? Please, how can I subscribe to your newsletters.