Wearisma’s Ones to Watch: Black History Month 2020

Posted on October 20, 2020

Brands who promote socially conscious content are growing in importance among online audiences. Our insights have revealed that brands who aren’t inclusive and who don’t partner with the right influencers to help them tackle socio-political issues can suffer reductions in engagements and loss in brand interest.

To give you an example of the influencers brands should be working with Wearisma has generated a list of some of the top-performing #diversity influencers this year. There is a lot to learn from these influencers about how brands can celebrate inclusivity while creating engaging and authentic content.

To learn more about how our enhanced filters can help you discover influencers like these, demo our influencer discovery tool today.

1. Gabrielle Joffie @gabriellejoffie

1. Why did you decide to become an Influencer? 

I work within beauty and fashion as a Brand Manager and realised that I needed to share some of my fun experiences within the industry but through a curvy fashion and body positive lens. 

2. How do you maintain your authentic voice in your channels while still partnering with brands?

I partner with brands that I actually love and would wear or use without the affiliation. That helps to create authenticity. 

3. What do you wish brands knew when they work with influencers or when they approach you as an influencer?

When creating content we normally place our hearts into the work. It takes time, effort, and creativity to create great content. Sometimes the deadlines are not realistic. 

4. What changes would you like to see in the influencer industry for it to become more inclusive?

I would like to see more brands work with minorities. I’ve seen a spike in that lately but I know it’s due to the current climate. I would like to see this last and be the norm, not just a sprinkle throughout their timelines to show that they care. 

5. This post was one of your top performers this year by Engagements, why do you think it resonated so well with your audience?

This resonated well because I used a viral hashtag/campaign in addition to posting a caption that was heart-felt. My intent was to encourage my followers while also having fun!! 

2. Charlotte Williams @charlottesevensix

1. Why did you decide to become an Influencer? 

I kind of fell into the influencer life. When I went on my year abroad in 2010 I created a little travel blog for my family so they knew what I was up to. From having that I then found fashion blogs were a thing and here I am today!

2. How do you maintain your authentic voice in your channels while still partnering with brands?

My Instagram is very much about me, my business and my interests so I never partner with anyone who I don’t use or know outside of that partnership. I treat my IG a little bit like a diary so my audience knows what’s going on in my life (within reason) all the time. It’s very personal and we chat about anything and everything from deodorant pitfalls (pun intended) to advice on being a manager. I think however you choose to present yourself on your social media, it’s important to be consistent with it!

3. What do you wish brands knew when they work with influencers or when they approach you as an influencer?

There’s a big issue with pricing in the influencer space and I wish brands were fully aware of how much an influencer partnership should cost before sending the emails because sometimes it can be quite offensive.

4. What changes would you like to see in the influencer industry for it to become more inclusive?

I’d like to see different influencers from different minority groups being picked for campaigns because at the moment it’s always the same handful POC influencers that get picked for big campaigns and it’s getting a bit boring to see the industry’s lack of research.

5. This post was one of your top performers this year by Engagements, why do you think it resonated so well with your audience?

The photographer was amazing and it’s such a stand out image, it’s also product focused and the products are just gorgeous, I think it’s a combination of things!

Want to find out how Wearisma can help you with your influencer discovery? Click here

3. Chimee Ahaiwe @aroundthewaygyrl

1. Why did you decide to become an Influencer? 

To provide an outlet for girls who look like me (brown, curvy, a women) that we too can influence and inspire others to be unapologetically ourselves. 

2. How do you maintain your authentic voice in your channels while still partnering with brands?

By only accepting collaboration from brands that I truly enjoy and to not partner with brands that won’t allow me to use my own voice and opinion on a product or service. 

3. What do you wish brands knew when they work with influencers or when they approach you as an influencer?

That so many great content creators are overlooked because of the color of our skin and our body size. They are truly missing out on what the world of fashion and influence really looks like. 

4. What changes would you like to see in the influencer industry for it to become more inclusive?

To get a more diverse work group or educate themselves more on others. Sometimes the influencer industry has unconscious bias by using girls that look the same or say they are diverse when they continue to hire the same “token brown blogger” it’s tons of us out here. Do some research.  

5. This post was one of your top performers this year by Engagements, why do you think it resonated so well with your audience?

Between Covid 19 and the continued civil unrest this election is the most important one yet. I think this post got straight to the point as it relates to people getting out there to vote. Either use your voice and vote or be quiet about it because all talk with no action will never bring about change.

4. Janiya Walker @janiyawalker

1. Why did you decide to become an Influencer? 

I decided to become an influencer by default as I had previously gained a ton of traction working with brands as a fashion stylist. Throughout the years, I had been approached a lot because of my look, so deciding to exclusively partner with brands naturally landed. Having immeasurable experience producing content over a span of eleven years has opened doors to creative direct my own projects and digital content.

2. How do you maintain your authentic voice in your channels while still partnering with brands?

The way I maintain my authentic voice in my channels while still partnering with brands is I focus on the key points to feature for the campaign, yet write in a format that stays true to my writing style. Visually, I don’t partner with brands whose products don’t resonate with the direction of my brand message. This keeps my influence more trendsetter dominant versus per say a style blogger that uses their platform to promote all the trends that launch each season.

3. What do you wish brands knew when they work with influencers or when they approach you as an influencer?

What I wish brands knew when they work with influencers or when they approach me as an influencer is although we typically have the same role as digital content creators, my height of influence comes from previously dressing celebrities, and collaborating with elite talent as a fashion stylist. Essentially, I put structured thought into my visual content.

4. What changes would you like to see in the influencer industry for it to become more inclusive?

I want to see more ethnic women as the face of fashion and beauty campaigns. It’s rare to see black women on the covers of luxury and beauty brands advertisements. Since black women influence the world in extraordinary ways, it would change the paradigm of the influencer industry for us to be truly recognized as influential and operating on a level playing field.

5. This post was one of your top performers this year by Engagements, why do you think it resonated so well with your audience?

A lot of comments from this series pertained to how quickly I had bounced back in response to dropping my baby weight and getting my proverbial figure back rather quickly. It gave me great insights into understanding a bit more of what my audience likes to see. Empowering and fitness related posts seems to be a great inspiration for my readers.

Want to find out how Wearisma can help you with your influencer discovery? Click here