From a Content Creator to a Brand Owner

Advantage of Being an Influencer: From a content creator to a brand owner

It’s so interesting how a lot of people have become an influencer or in another word, content creator. Without us realizing, a person is actually getting paid just by doing simple content. As simple as dancing to a trending song on TikTok while showing a product. Especially on TikTok, users are approached by brands to promote products after seeing their videos go viral. Even if it’s only one or two videos.

 

Some might think that being an influencer won’t get them anywhere. But did you know that being an influencer at the present time is the way to become successful in life. Why? Because they have a better and wider opportunity as they have greater experience especially in the marketing and communication world. Just take a look at how successful Johanis Sani is now.

 

Influencers have their own advantage and a way of making money and one of it is by becoming a business owner. As can be seen within the Malaysian influencers themselves, many have launched their own brands.

 

Would you like to know who these influencers are and how they can become an entrepreneur? Let’s explore together!

 

 

Building A Brand as A Content Creator

It is easier for influencers to create their own brand and become an entrepreneur because they already have a loyal audience (or better known as followers) which will support them in whatever they do and that includes producing products or services.

 

Research shows that 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendation so anything that is being showcased by their favorite influencer, it will give big impacts towards their buying behavior or decision. The influence of someone with 20k followers is similar to a real celebrity’s endorsement which proves that influencers have taken over the job.

 

Why influencers should study their engagement:

•       To find out their niche – finding the right niche for their profile is important as it will decide if your followers will stick or sniff you out
•       To ensure a good feedback from launching a new brand – you can learn more about your followers and how loyal they are
•       To build a trusted relationship between an influencer and the followers – create a closer relationship to gain more support

 

Want to know how? Here’s some good tips (especially for influencers out there!):

•       Choose the right platform. Sure, you can have various platforms to make money but if you are a beginner, choose one platform that you most active and specialize at. Specialize means that you know how to use the features available.
•       If you are on TikTok, it’s so easy to find your niche! Just see which of your videos that went viral, received more views, likes and comments.
•       But if your platform is Instagram or Facebook, you should focus on your most influential topic. Topic that you have passion in like fashion, beauty or sports. This can develop a clear identity for your platforms.
•       If you aren’t sure, try to post different types of content and topics to see which one receives better engagement.

 

It’s important for influencers to study their engagement before they start creating content and decide the niche. This will save more time and allow them to create a high engagement. You may not realize this but social media influencing is a highly competitive sport. Not physically but one will need to compete to get the attention and affection from the same audience. Having a huge number of followers is such a waste if you could not engage with them well.

 

 

Azfar Heri, a Malaysian influencer, launched his own scented-candle brand called Nyala. Nyala has a variety of smells and scents that deliver different stories and vibes. It launched in October 2020 which at that time, we were still under lockdown. However, he still received good feedback from his loyal followers and now, he managed to open a physical store. Without the support from his followers, he would not be able to achieve this much within a short period of time.

 

 

Did you know that Adira Salahudi also just launched Adira Taste? It is a brand that sells Kek Batik with a creamy biscoff flavor. Although she just launched it in March, Adira Taste has almost 80k followers on their Instagram with 7,100 subscribers on Telegram channel. That shows how strong she is as an influencer. Click here to engage with Adira!

 

 

Expand Their Own Creativity and Create More Opportunity

Social media influencers are familiar with the content and marketing world as it is one of their jobs as an influencer. They have to be good in creating content, increase engagement and create brand awareness in order to become a social media content creator. Since they have been exposed to that, they can expand their own creativity in creating their own products or services. It will also allow them to show their passion towards their interest and value.

 

 

For example, Jane Chuck is a social media influencer and content creator who has turned into an entrepreneur. When she was 14 years old, she started out as a blogger. She then shared make-up tutorials and blogging about fashion. Moving forward, she has established herself as a beauty and fashion influencer. Therefore, she grabbed the opportunity to start her own brand called Chucks.co and Motherchuckers which is a beauty and lifestyle brand that is related to her niche.

 

She gets to explore her skills by producing good products such as the famous Chuck’s Self Love Honey Mask, Motherchuckers’ Hoodie and more. She also gets to use her creativity and originality to open a pop-up booth at The Starhill KL and vending machine at APW Bangsar to attract more potential customers.

 

It’s always good to explore more on what you are capable of instead of doing the same thing over and over again. If you are an influencer and you feel uncertain about starting new things, just do it. Don’t stop yourself! Because you won’t know until you do it!

 

 

Allowing them to have a stable income and wealthy lifestyle

Yes, being an influencer can generate a good amount of income. But for how long? Of course they need a backup plan and a stable income to ensure a better life. Not everyone can continue to be an influencer at the age of 30 or 40. They will eventually lose interest and become tired of it. Thus, it is important for them to make use of the opportunity they have now and start their own business. It will help them to produce more money.

 

 

For instance, Kittie Yiyi, a founder of @kittieyiyicollection and @kittieyiyibeauty. Kittie Yiyi was first established in 2014 and is known for its basic and unconventional pieces with exclusive prints without a loss for comfort. Meanwhile, Kittie Yiyi Beauty is a sub-brand launched in November 2021. Kittie Yiyi Beauty focuses more on selling eyeliner with various colors that allow people to be more creative with their makeup.

 

Having her own brand, Kittie Yiyi knows it can guarantee her to have a better life and future as she can earn extra money from it other than earning money from being an influencer and blogging.

 

But! Have you ever wondered if these influencers owned-brands would last or not? And if it lasts, for how long?

 

It might be hard for them to start a new business especially in terms of looking for suppliers and manufacturers. So what can they do? They will need to do everything from scratch and try to make connections as it will allow the business to go even stronger and open more doors for them. Connections lead to conversation and conversation lead to opportunities. Hence, the more connections the better as they get to explore what their business is capable of and allow the brand to grow not only locally but internationally too.

 

Next, they need to produce products or services that are different from others. Try not to sell the same thing because… boring! Instead, be unique and be creative. Of course anyone can sell the same baggy sweater but think of twisting it to show that the brand is different and do something that makes people want to buy. Be authentic!

 

How to ensure a brand can last long? Easy. Keep up with the trend and pay attention to the consumer’s changing needs and wants. We know that our interest will change from time to time and it could be from age factors or the current trend that urge people to want to hop into a new or old trend. Therefore, it is important for us to always check on this and we may find out what our next products would be like. 

 

 

Have you heard of Harirose? It’s a hijab brand by Sharifah Rose, the famous Malaysian influencer and now a celebrity too. Although she sells hijab which we are aware there would be a lot of competitors, she still managed to sell the collection off because the hijab is from the rest. The design of the hijab also is minimal and suitable for everyday wear and that’s exactly what most people are looking for. 

 

Conclusion

While many people still view being an influencer as not a real career, little did they know that influencers earn up to RM12,000 per month. Of course it depends on the number of followers but they are able to make income by just creating content.

 

It is true that influencers can be entrepreneurs too but not everyone. Starting your own business will never be easy as there is a lot of work to do from producing until shipping out the products. Many influencers have started to launch their own brand and market it to their followers which is a good thing. Social media shows no signs of leaving anytime soon so influencers will still have their job followed by these influencers to launch their own brand.

 

Being an influencer is not bad at all. You may start from scratch but if you know your audience and your values, it will be easier for you to be a successful content creator especially these days, it’s easier for you to get famous. Moving forward, you can have your own brand and become a triumphant entrepreneur. 

 

Connect with us to find out more about influencers!