Courtesy Overtime Media
A social media influencer is described as a person who has a large audience on social media and uses their influence to promote products and services. They build their following over time by sharing content like photos and videos, and by engaging with their audience in live streaming conversations, polls, commentary, reactions to new music, videos and other developments related to their chosen genre.
How they operate:
• Establish credibility
Social media influencers build credibility in a specific industry. They use their authenticity and reach to persuade others and drive engagement.
• Partner with brands
Influencers often work with brands to promote their products or services. They may receive monetary compensation, free products and/ or discounts.
• Create a sense of trust
Social media influencers create a sense of trust and relatability with their audience by sharing necessary information or opinions about current events and/or products and services.
Types of influencers:
• Mega influencers: Have more than 1 million followers
• Macro influencers: Have between 100,000 to 1 million followers
• Micro-influencers: Have between 10,000 to 100,000 followers
• Nano influencers: Have between 1,000 to 10,000 followers
In Trinidad, our most recognized influencer is undoubtedly Jamel Sampson @certifiedsampson who has attracted a massive following of 899,000 on Instagram (IG), 1.5 M on TikTok and 599,000 subscribers on YouTube. Listed as an “aspiring actor” and a Popeyes brand ambassador, he also recently became the owner of two ice cream shops, released a motivational reggae song and was commissioned by the Epic Carnival Experience last month to collaborate with Dancehall megastar, Adidja “Vybz Kartel” Palmer (himself an influential artiste with 3.1M followers on IG and 1.7M on Tik Tok) to announce his inclusion on the upcoming cruise and event package to Trinidad Carnival 2025.
Also appearing regularly on the radar in the lane of comedy and relatable entertainment is Kyle Mark aka @kylebossone with 351k followers on Instagram and 322.4k on TikTok and in the sphere of music and well-known for his fun mixes is “DJ Private Ryan” Alexander leading the charge with 152k on IG, 59.6k subscribers on YouTube and 165.9k followers on SoundCloud – the audio-sharing platform, where his world-famous mixes are stored for easy and convenient access by Soca-loving fans around the globe.
Rounding up our cover quartet is a qualified educator, who loves working with children and ignores negativity, Nikeisha Ramlal aka @niki92011 with 111k on IG and 261.3k on TikTok. Like most of our top influencers, she leaned into social media during the pandemic and then explored ways to monetize her platform and influence once she became popular and amassed a sizable following. Ramlal told XVibes that this enterprise changed and improved her life, enabling her to start her own Summer Camp and open her own school, upon which she spent the past year focused on establishing that institution for children, before now intending to return to more frequent and motivational content creation.
