Meet Fennella
It takes a lot to invest in yourself, but in a marketplace that plays favorites, you have to do more than the bare minimum to get ahead.
This is why micro-influencer Fennella Like Whoa takes the time to strategize her next move and leverage her engaging audience whenever she is dealing with her brand.
These steps allow her to gain funds as well as followers with each captivating post.
When did you start your influencer
journey? Why?
I was introduced to the world of social media in middle school and I have been blogging since I was 12.
So I guess you can say that I’ve been influencing before being and influencer was a thing.
I have always loved fashion and desired to work in this industry. Over the years the world of social media has grown and my love for fashion has as well.
As a fashion influencer my career merges these two worlds seamlessly.
Why do you think social media is important to incorporate into a market strategy?
In this day and age social media is marketing.
You are not wise to be marketing without it. Everyone is addicted to their phones and social media platforms garner endless impressions.
Social media is the modern day billboard but instead on it being on the street it is in the hands of billions.
What social platform holds your biggest audience? (IG. Twitter. Facebook. Personal Blog.) Why?
Currently Instagram is where I have the largest audience. I love the platform because it deals with visuals and imagery.
It is the type of content that I create as a fashion influencer. It gives you a nice combination of photo and video stimulation.
What attracts your audience to your platform?
My bold sense of style, creativity and authenticity is what attracts my audience to my platform. I am not afraid to experiment with my style and image.
I love taking bold risks when it comes to every aspect of my image from hair, clothing to makeup. I love doing unique things with color especially jewel tones like gold.
A lot of my followers really love and take note of this.
What are two of the most positive moments you’ve experienced with your brand this year?
This year has really been a great year for my brand when it comes to interacting with my audience and working with brands.
I hosted a series of meet ups called the “Like Whoa Tour” in DC, New York City and Atlanta. These are the cities where I have the largest audiences and the turnout was great! I got to interact with my audience like never before.
This really taught me that community is everything and building your brand through in person experiences is just as important as online.
The Like Whoa Tour was one of the most powerful things that I did for my brand in the last year.
Have you been able to monetize your brand this year either through your social media account or another business model?
I’ve monetized by utilizing both. I am a micro-influencer so sometimes it is hard to get brand deals, but if your work is good people will want to work with you regardless.
I focus more so on creating content that sells my own brand or products.
I treat myself as more of a contractor that provides some digital media services. People can hire me to do these services for them.
How did you recover from a discouraging moment you’ve had with your brand this year?
Sometimes I have ideas that may “require” a huge investment and I wonder how am I going to make it work? Building a brand takes up a lot of time as well as money especially if you want to take this seriously. As they say, “It takes money to make money.”
Being a fashion influencer I invest a lot into my image and travel for events such as fashion week and brand collaborations. These could seem like vain investments but it is extremely necessary when your image is the main marketing tool for your brand and business.
Being resourceful and using my connections has allowed me to continue to create content in ways that are affordable and impactful.
How do you plan out the content for your brand’s social media account?
I try to create the content that I want to see in the world.
It is so easy to get caught up in trends but for me I ultimately love creating for the sole purpose of creating. I also try to create content incorporating what I want to market or sell.
So if I am trying to push sales for my wig line I’ll do more shoots, videos and even pay for ads to market the brand
How do you plan on increasing your visibility over the next couple of months?
I really plan on mastering my visual content. I want to enhance how I use it to engage with my audiences and then attract a new audience.
Over the next few months I am going to take my images to the next level. I am going to do this by leveling up on every aspect including fashion, styling, and hair.
I am also going to elevate the way the photos are taken. This means the edits, the angles, everything. It is important to make sure the physical aspects of the content is taken to the next level along with the tech stuff.
You can have great styling, fashions, and sets and not have good images. Or you can take great images with things that are not visually stimulating. I just want to be able to combine both.
Once I do that I am going to partner with others who are good at those things too.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to be an influencer?
I would tell them that it is important to understand that influence can’t necessarily be quantified.
Sometimes influence is reached through in person interaction and not social media. There are plenty of people who have great influence and they don’t have a lot of followers.
To be successful focus on impacting people online and in person and less about being an influencer. If you do that, you’ll become a true influencer.
