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Generative AI is everywhere now. You see it in content, campaigns, customer experiences, and even internal workflows. It promises speed, scale, and efficiency, but there’s a harder question sitting underneath all that progress; Do your audiences actually trust it?

Trust in the Age of AI: What Consumers Really Think About AI Generated Content

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

It’s time to get serious about TikTok. The app has been around for a while, but it’s getting more attention than ever.

What is TikTok? TikTok is a short-form video app, by ByteDance. The length of a TikTok can be between 6 – 15 seconds, and four videos can be strung together for a total of 60 seconds. This is seriously short content. 

For many unfamiliar with TikTok, it is often mistaken for a lip-syncing content platform. While some content on TikTok is lip-syncing, content also includes acting, dancing, reactions, singing, and more. In fact, TikTok content and the TikTok user experience is acting more comparable to the once-popular Vine (RIP). However, due to its lip-syncing notoriety, TikTok acquired Musical.ly in 2017 and the two app’s user-bases were merged. 

TikTok content has a distinct style that you may or may not get. For example, “Cringe Videos” are content aimed at making the viewer cringe or feel uncomfortable. This style of humor is not for everyone, but it is extremely popular on TikTok. Think back to the early 2010s when meme-culture was merging with sites like 9gag. For most millennials, this was peak humor. For people a few years older, not so much.

ULTIMATE TIK TOK CRINGE COMP

Still, just because you don’t get TikTok doesn’t mean you should avoid it. Figuring out how to integrate this app into your strategy is super beneficial if you’re trying to engage with a younger audience. 

TikTok is reported to be the 8th largest social media platform, with 800 million global active monthly users in January 2020. In fact, TikTok has more users than Pinterest, Twitter, and Snapchat. Still, a majority of these users are located in China. Making up 80% of total time spent in 2019. Still, global usage is soaring, and with that will come new markets and opportunities. 
A survey found that 41% of TikTok’s users are between 16-24, meaning most of the users you’ll find on TikTok are Gen Z. The last decade was all about Millenials, and now many brands and millennials are focusing their attention to Gen Z as they enter the workforce. 

Gen Z is the first generation to grow up with advanced technology, hence the name “digital native”. All of the technology Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and even The Great Generation had to learn (Facebook, texting, video editing, etc.) are tools they have been accustomed to from early memory. It is believed that Gen Z influenced 93% of household purchases. 

Advertising to a new industry is always a challenge. Influencer marketing helps brands create authentic interactions with their audience. Yet, it can be hard to have a meaningful interaction with an audience you don’t really know. This means taking the time to understand Gen Z and understand what they like. Many established brands have pivoted to TikTok, and can be a great example of how to penetrate a new audience.

Remember when Facebook was just for college students? Now, grandparents are sharing Throwback Thursday posts. It took brands a while to adopt social strategies and those that were early adapters saw huge benefits. Long story short; if your brand has a target audience under 35, you should be on TikTok.

Many brands are already on TikTok, creating quick-form videos that promote a brand or a product in an informal way.

Lookin good, everyone #newspaper #dogdad #focused #icandoit

Or do I 😬 #dysonair #hairtutorial #beauty #beautyhacks #DecadesofHair #fyp #WerkItFromHome #foryou #xyzbca #xyzcba #desi #tiktok #killyourvibe

Quick Tips for Getting Started on TikTok:

Create a personal TikTok account and begin exploring the platform 

Check if your competitors are on TikTok and discover the type of content they are creating 

Look to see if the influencer you have collaborated with in the past are on Instagram, and try to understand the type of content they create 

As mentioned before TikTok’s core userbase is Gen Z. Being naturally attuned to tech-cultural, Gen Z has an embedded understanding of digital-influence that may not come as naturally to older demographics. It’s also important to understand that different social platforms have different types of influencers. While Instagram influencers range from Micro to Celebrity, TikTok isn’t as partial to celebrity culture. 

Yet, influencer content definitely does exist on TikTok. What you tend to see is brands taking content-trends that are popular on TikTok, and have a TikTok user tag their brand and incorporate their product.

Dancing is BIG on TikTok. Nike has TikTok users indirectly promote their products through dance videos which are fun and catchy. The brand also promotes social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic with a clever #stayhome hashtag. 

Celebrating #airmaxday in the house got me making up dances again. #airmaxdaychallenge letsss goo🚀 #fyp #foryoupage #stayhome @nike

TikTok is more about understanding what is trending rather than how to directly promote your brand. If you can create viral videos users will take notice, but they do not want to be directly marketed. 

If you’d like to do influencer marketing on TikTok, you must first identify an influencer with a strong TikTok presence.
You may be surprised to discover that some users have a much stronger presence on TikTok than on other platforms. Meaning, different influencers are great for different platforms. Though influencer marketing is a marketing “channel”, each social network is a “sub-channel” and each may require its own strategy.

Moral of the story: TikTok is a world of its own but it is here to stay. Integrating TikTok into your strategy will help you stay ahead of the game, and, if you’re a millennial like me, keep you young.

Want to learn more about TikTok and influencer marketing? Schedule a call with one of our influencer marketing specialists.

TikTok Influencers 101: The Questions You’re Too Embarrassed To Ask

Every year on March 8th, we celebrate International Women’s Day. To be honest, growing up I had never heard of Women’s Day, it something that has only gained mass recognition in the last 10 years. However, Women’s Day dates back to early 20th century Russia, as a day to commemorate the contributions of Soviet women to the communist state. It wasn’t until the 1960s when feminists reclaimed Women’s Day as a day of activism, with some referring to it as “International Women’s Day of Struggle”. In 1977 the UN proclaimed March 8th International Women’s Day, and since 2010 there has been a real cultural shift in the discourse on gender inequality and women’s right.

So, here we are, International Women’s Day 2021. The world is definitely a different place than it was in 1913. We may have Instagram, nanotechnology, and Netflix, unfortunately, gender inequality still exists.

Influencer marketing is a young industry. It is still growing in terms of industry standards, data practices, and strategy. But, like any industry young or old, influencer marketing has a gender pay issue that cannot be ignored.

In 2020, we identified a significant pay gap between male and female influencers, with women likely to earn $128 less than men. It appears that in Q1 of 2021 the pay-gap has shrunk significantly to $40. However, the average rate for male influencers decreased by $108 and female rates by $20.

As influencers around the world are impacted by the current economic client, it is important to maintain practices of pay equity when entering a new collaboration. Women in influencer marketing, and around the world, deserve more respect. And, in the words of Lauryn Hill, “respect is just the minimum.” We deserve equality.

Women-Owned Brands Rocking Influencer Marketing

So, how can we promote change? By promoting women’s voices and giving space and recognition to women’s brands. To be honest, we all know who runs the world. But, in honor of Women’s Day here are some wonderful women-owned brands, running innovative influencer campaigns that you should have on your radar today and every day!

Below are three wonderful brands with unique influencer marketing strategies that highlight the diversity and complexity of the ecosystem.

Rihanna really needs no introduction. The singer turned entrepreneur is one of those people who just oozes cool, it seems like there is nothing she can’t effortlessly do well. And, now we can add influencer marketing to that list.

Savage x Fenty is Rihanna’s lingerie line that was launched in 2018. She is constantly collaborating with influencers, musicians, and public figures to promote the brand. The Savage x Fenty brand ambassadors’ range is body type, gender identity, and race to promote the diversity and inclusivity of the brand. And, in classic Rihanna fashion, they are all super cool.

Rouje is one of those brands we love because it’s not just a women-run brand it’s an influencer-run brand. It’s a Paris-based fashion and beauty brand that offers all the ultimate chic-french girl essentials. The founder is Jeanne Damas, an OG fashion influencer. She started off with a blog. For those of you under 23, a blog is like Instagram but with more words. She then transitioned to social media, signed a modeling contract, starred in a few movies, and launched her own line Rouje.

It’s not a surprise that Jeanne, with other 1.4M Instagram followers, would be the perfect influencer to promote Rouje. When influencers are so synonymous with their brand it’s the ultimate marketing choice, as their followers have already subscribed to their values.

A huge trend we have observed is value-based influencer marketing. This is when brand values drive marketing decision-making and influencer collaborations. Thinx, a feminine hygiene brand puts values at the forefront of all that they do. In 2017, Forbes named Thinx one of the most innovative companies due to innovative marketing campaigns that create provocation and acceptance around products that are traditionally associated with shame. The brand partners with diverse influencers to promote inclusivity and break the taboo of talking about periods.

That’s what influencer marketing is all about inclusivity, authenticity, and the ability to stay true to one’s self why promoting brands you’re passionate about.

If your brand works with influencers, think about how you can better support female influencers this year. Be it benchmark rates for both male and female influencers, partnering with female influencers of color, or running a Women’s Day campaign. Change comes from within.

Want to learn how you can discover unique female influencers for your next campaign? Schedule a call with one of our influencer marketing experts. Happy Women’s Day!

International Women’s Day: Equal Pay and Brands We Love

Influencer content as well as all sorts of social media content means very little without engagement. To see how your influencers are drawing attention to your brand, consider using an engagement rate calculator.

Engagement calculators give you all the data without effort. Just plug in the name of your influencer and get spelled-out engagement insights. As an added bonus, you can peep at your influencers’ average engagement rates (ERs) before you work with them.

Read on to learn how to use an engagement rate calculator in your influencer marketing, what engagement rate formulas to use, and why engagement matters more than you might realize.

How to Calculate Engagement Rate: Two Ways

How Can I Use Engagement Rates in My Influencer Marketing?

Why Should I Care About Instagram Engagement Rates?

What Is a Good Engagement Rate on Instagram?

What Is an Instagram Influencer’s Average Engagement Rate?

What Type of Content Gets the Best Engagement on Instagram?

Why Use Meltwater's Instagram Engagement Rate Calculator

Engagement rate refers to the level of interaction and involvement from a specific audience. 

Types of engagement include clicks, likes, shares, and comments. Influencer marketers use this metric to determine how successful an influencer’s content is in capturing their audience’s attention.

Engagement rate indicates how many people felt inspired to take action on a post. Liking, sharing, commenting on, or clicking on content indicates a high level of interest, which signifies the content is of high quality.

The higher the engagement rate, the more marketers can assume that an audience cares about the content they see.

Average ER can be calculated in different ways. Here are two popular methods to determine how engaged an influencer’s followers are.

Engagement rate is calculated by dividing the total number of engagements (likes, comments, shares, clicks) by the total number of impressions (views or reach) and multiplying it by 100. It looks like this:

(Total engagements / total impressions) x 100 = Engagement Rate %

This percentage indicates the proportion of people who have actively engaged with the content out of those who have seen it. 

Let’s say an influencer’s post reached 10K followers and had 900 likes, 200 comments, 50 shares, and 75 link clicks. In this case, the total number of engagements would be 1,225. Using the above formula, the manually calculated engagement rate would be 12.25%.

An engagement rate calculator uses that same formula but does the math for you. Add the influencer’s profile and the calculator will generate an average rate of engagement for one or all of the influencer’s posts. 

Platform-specific calculators (such as an Instagram engagement calculator) can give you more specific insights.

An engagement rate calculator is a data-driven tool that calculates influencers’ engagement rates for you. Rather than collecting data and plugging numbers into a formula manually, you can input the influencer’s profile and generate an engagement rate.

Powered by data, this calculator can help you learn more about an influencer’s engagement rates in seconds. You can see:

How influencers stack up against each other

The average number of engagements their posts receive

Engagement rates have become an essential metric in influencer marketing, offering valuable insights into a campaign’s effectiveness. By understanding and reviewing engagement rates, brands can make informed decisions about which influencers they partner with.

One way to leverage engagement rates is by gauging the authenticity of an influencer's following. High engagement rates indicate genuine interest and interaction from followers. This suggests the influencer has built a loyal community that trusts their recommendations. (To be clear, engagement rate calculators do not take into account the potential for fake followers; they simply follow the data.)

On the other hand, an influencer with a sizable audience and a low engagement rate could mean they’re missing the mark with their audience. Or they might have an army of bot followers. Knowing the engagement rate gives you a starting point to investigate further.

Use engagement rates as part of your Instagram influencer audit. Along with other metrics like audience size and follower growth, you might be able to identify “fake influencers” who won’t help you achieve your goals.

Analyzing engagement rates can help identify which influencers are most effective at driving specific actions. For instance, if you want to boost website traffic or increase product sales, you should look for influencers with high click-through rates or conversion rates. You’ll be more likely to reach an audience that’s more likely to take action.

Follower count isn’t the only indicator of an influencer’s success. In fact, it can be quite deceiving. Engagement rate adds context to follower count, showing you what percentage of an influencer’s audience is actively connecting with their content. 

In addition to engagement rate, you could also look to see what types of engagements the influencer’s content generates. If they’re getting hundreds of likes but no comments or shares, the content might not be as strong as the engagement rate would indicate. However, if the content is getting a large number of comments and shares, the audience is likely very motivated by the influencer.

An engagement rate calculator can offer major value to your influencer marketing strategy. If you know the influencers you want to partner with, you can input their profiles into the calculator to see the level of response they tend to generate. This can help you set realistic expectations for your influencer marketing campaigns and form partnerships with the right people.

A good engagement rate on Instagram is somewhere between 1 and 5%. The low end of this is considered average, while the high end is considered great.

Above 6% is an excellent engagement rate on Instagram.

Generally speaking, the higher the engagement rate, the better. However, it’s also true that the more followers a user has, the harder it is to achieve a high engagement rate. What's considered a "good" engagement rate can vary by audience size. For instance, a micro-influencer's 11% engagement rate might be considered excellent, while a celebrity's 7% engagement rate might also be considered excellent given their millions of followers.

You can calculate the engagement rate on single posts, or if an influencer is particularly active on Instagram, you can calculate their average engagement rate across multiple posts.

To do this, calculate the total number of engagements over the span of 30 days, then divide it by the total number reached by those same posts. You could also choose to calculate average engagement based on their last 10 posts (or whatever number you choose).

You can use this same process to discover an influencer's average likes, comments, and shares, too. To do this, calculate the total number of the desired metric (such as likes), then divide it by the total number of posts.

Instagram is a platform of discovery and inspiration, so it’s no surprise that Instagrammers crave authentic content that speaks to them. 

Post engagements are high with images and image carousels. Posts should also have multiple relevant hashtags to help spread the content to more people who are actively searching for content that fits those hashtags.

Instagram Reels tend to capture user attention better than other features on IG. And since they take longer to consume than the standard image, they can also give your brand a little more “screen time.”

Instagram Live is also driving engagement and interest. More than 100 million people watch Instagram live streams each day, or about 1 in 5 Instagram users.

Adding a call-to-action to your post encourages the user to take action. This might be to leave a comment or click a product link, for example. Your CTA can also be a great item to A/B test in your Instagram influencer strategy to see what gives you more engagement.

Just like follower count, engagement rate doesn’t always tell the full story. Influencers with high engagement might still not be the best fit for your brand.

The engagement rate metric is best used alongside other influencer marketing metrics that indicate social media performance, such as:

While engagement rate can provide a sound starting point, don’t rely solely on engagement to make your influencer decisions. Due diligence can help you protect your brand while driving the best results.

Meltwater Influencer Marketing's Instagram engagement rate calculator is a must-have in your influencer marketing toolkit. Get real-time, up-to-date data on any influencer’s engagement rates so you can see how their content is influencing and inspiring others.

Meltwater takes away one of the most time-consuming chores of influencer vetting so you can focus more on strategy and building strong relationships:

Influencer Engagement Rate Calculator & Guide

South Africa is home to a wealth of incredibly talented beauty influencers. A focus that ranges from makeup and skincare to hair and nails, South African beauty influencers understand how to capture the attention of an audience both locally and internationally.

With attention to transparency and authenticity, beauty influencers in South Africa are in a position to challenge the traditional standards of the industry. Brands that embrace and work with this cultural shift stand to gain from the exciting and highly successful channel that is influencer marketing.

Five Top Channels for South African Beauty Influencers

Top 5 Makeup & Skincare Influencers in South Africa

How Meltwater Can Help You Find South African Beauty Influencers

Tip: We also have a global list of 50 Top Beauty Influencers to Inspire You, as well as a list of the top beauty influencers in the Philippines.

South African beauty influencers have a strong presence across numerous different platforms, with a specific focus on using each platform with the audience and algorithm in mind.

The five biggest channels are, somewhat unsurprisingly:

YouTube. An excellent channel for longer content such as in-depth reviews, full-length tutorials, and vlogging.

Instagram. Perfect for shorter shareable content (videos and static images) such as product reviews, short tutorials and quick tips.

TikTok. Most suited to shorter video content.

Pinterest. The ideal platform for image sharing to generate inspiration and showcase looks.

Facebook. Often used for product reviews, service reviews, and launching events.

<table class="table-primary alternate-color">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th style="text-align: center;">#</th>
            <th>Name</th>
            <th>Instagram Handle</th>
            <th style="text-align: center;">Followers</th>
            <th style="text-align: center;">Following</th>
            <th style="text-align: center;">True Reach</th>
            <th style="text-align: center;">Engagement Rate</th>
        </tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
        <tr>
            <td style="text-align: center;">1</td>
            <td>Mihlali Ndamase</td>
            <td>@mihlalii_n</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">2.1M</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">1,185</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">2.2M</td>
            <td style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(196, 244, 244);"><strong>2.7%</strong></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td style="text-align: center;">2</td>
            <td>Snikiwe Mhlongo</td>
            <td>@snimhlongo</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">334K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">493</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">467K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(196, 244, 244);"><strong>9.4%</strong></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td style="text-align: center;">3</td>
            <td>Naledi Mallela</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">@naledimofficial</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">142K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">2,649</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">410K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(196, 244, 244);"><strong>9.8%</strong></td>

        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td style="text-align: center;">4</td>
            <td>MKay Yarms</td>
            <td>@kay.yarms</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">471K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">1,336</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">704K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(196, 244, 244);"><strong>6.8%</strong></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td style="text-align: center;">5</td>
            <td>Mrs Linda “Oyena” M</td>
            <td>@linda_mtoba</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">1.8M</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">3,864</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">662K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(196, 244, 244);"><strong>2.5%</strong></td>
        </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Makeup influencers have an engaged audience with whom they have worked to build loyalty. These followers look for tips, insights, and product recommendations. Because authenticity is a key contributor to an influencer’s reputation, they often partner with the same brands for multiple campaigns, cementing long-standing collaborative trust.

Let's look at the top 5 makeup and skincare influencers in South Africa:

A titan of the industry, Mihlali Ndamase is on the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list, recognised for her innovative and award-winning creative content. As a certified makeup artist with a wealth of experience in brand strategy, her content is created mainly for YouTube and Instagram and focuses on beauty, lifestyle and travel.

Snikiwe Mhlongo, known by her followers as Sni, hails from Kwa-Zulu Natal and graduated from the University of Cape Town. Sni gained popularity at 21 and has built her personal brand with creative content on YouTube and Instagram, highly focused on fashion and make-up.

Naledi Mallela is a South African social media influencer, known for her vlogs, and makeup and skincare proficiency. As a TV host on DStv’s Channel O, and with a double degree in marketing and business science, Mallela knows how to speak to her broad following with confidence and expertise.

Khethokuhle Ngonyama, known as Kay Yarms, is on the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list. She has made an enormous impact on the beauty industry in South Africa with inspiring make-up content.

Linda Mtoba is a South African actress, best known for her role as Zama from Isibaya. With a talent for natural-looking make-up, she has established herself as one of the top beauty influencers in South Africa.

<table class="table-primary alternate-color">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th style="text-align: center;">#</th>
            <th>Name</th>
            <th>Instagram Handle</th>
            <th style="text-align: center;">Followers</th>
            <th style="text-align: center;">Following</th>
            <th style="text-align: center;">True Reach</th>
            <th style="text-align: center;">Engagement Rate</th>
        </tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
        <tr>
            <td style="text-align: center;">1</td>
            <td>Sammie Heavens</td>
            <td>@sammieheavens</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">306K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">98</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">221K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(196, 244, 244);"><strong>4.1%</strong></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td style="text-align: center;">2</td>
            <td>Yolenda Jawe</td>
            <td>@yolzchannel</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">110K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">1,067</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">65K</td>
           <td style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(196, 244, 244);"><strong>4.2%</strong></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td style="text-align: center;">3</td>
            <td>Liezel van der Westhuizen</td>
            <td>@liezelonline</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">30.5K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">618</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">22K</td>
           <td style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(196, 244, 244);"><strong>0.4%</strong></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td style="text-align: center;">4</td>
            <td>MKim Jayde</td>
            <td>@kimjayde</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">328K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">497</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">83K</td>
           <td style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(196, 244, 244);"><strong>1.3%</strong></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td style="text-align: center;">5</td>
            <td>Rushana Isaacs</td>
            <td>@rushanaisaacs</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">122K</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">1,305</td>
            <td style="text-align: center;">61K</td>
           <td style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(196, 244, 244);"><strong>2.7%</strong></td>
        </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Hair care and hair style influencers are well known for their interactive community, with whom they've bonded over a shared passion for hair trends and techniques. As with makeup influencers, authenticity and trust (and relatable, effective hair care advice), leads hair influencers to form long-term collaborations with their preferred hair care brands.

Let's look at the top 5 hair influencers in South Africa:

Top Beauty Influencers in South Africa 2025

Earth Day is deeply rooted in environmentalism; it’s become a corporate social responsibility movement regarding concerns for environmental protection. If there is one thing influencer marketing is especially important for, it is the ability to align brands with social movements.

A value-based influencer marketing strategy is when brands collaborate with influencers who align with and support brand values in order to connect with like-minded customers in a meaningful and authentic dialogue.

So, in honor of Earth Day, we are featuring 10 awesome sustainability influencers who support the values of sustainability and environmentalism and the brands that collaborate with them, along with campaign examples and tips to run an effective eco-friendly campaign.

Tip: Also take a look at these sustainable fashion influencers, and learn about corporate sustainability trends.

Leveraging influencers to improve your image as a sustainable brand starts with making the right connections. Let’s meet the top eco-friendly influencers and learn what they’re passionate about.

Side Note: The following influencers have sizable audiences that can help you reap the benefits of brand exposure. However, you can also find micro-influencers who have smaller followings but highly engaged audiences.

Aditi Mayer is one of the top sustainable fashion influencers and an advocate for labor rights and social justice. Her journey began in 2014 after she learned of the Rana Plaza factory collapse that killed over 1100 people and injured countless others. For Mayer, this tragedy served as an awakening to the poor labor conditions and dirty secrets of the fashion industry. She is now a sustainable development influencer who has become a leading voice on sustainability, thanks to her services on the councils of Intersectional Environmentalist and State of Fashion.

Bea Johnson is the author of the bestselling book Zero Waste Home, having turned her ideas from a blog into a movement. She has brought awareness to hundreds of thousands of homes on how they can reduce consumption and waste. She has boldly stated that her family’s annual household trash amounts to a single jar. Bea offers tons of resources to inspire and lead others, including a tool to find places to make bulk purchases, tips for getting started with waste-free living, and sustainably purchased items that naturally result in less waste.

Vegan influencer Immy Lucas is a UK-based YouTuber and environmental influencer. As a full-time content creator, Immy started the Low Impact Movement to share how she approaches a low-waste and low-impact lifestyle. Her channel, Sustainably Vegan, also shares insights on veganism and how it’s helping to combat climate change.

Also known as the Trash Man, Rob Greenfield proves that one man’s junk truly is another man’s treasure. He’s gone to the extreme in living a sustainable, waste-free life, including scrounging in the trash for food and clothing and cycling across the United States on a bamboo bicycle.

A staunch advocate for plastic-free living, Kathryn Kellogg is among the top environmental influencers on Instagram with a following of more than 379K. She runs the website Going Zero Waste and serves as the Chief Sustainability Officer of One Movement. Her content focuses on helping others go plastic-free and find more sustainable alternatives to traditional products.

Isaias Hernandez has built his platform on veganism and environmental justice. With more than 112K followers on Instagram, he is heavily invested on creating a sustainable future. Combating climate change, improving the food chain with veganism, and fostering a safe community for environmentalists are among his core values.

With 379K Instagram followers, Lauren Singer is a firm advocate for the zero-waste lifestyle. She’s been living her sustainable lifestyle since 2012, when she first started collecting all of the waste she created in a single mason jar. She now shares tips for others to do the same on her blog, Trash is for Tossers.

Owner of the website Impact for Good, Jessica Clifton is one of the top sustainable living influencers. She shares product reviews, tips on living a waste-free lifestyle, and other advice on her channel. She started her venture by going plastic-free, which grew into choosing more eco-friendly products and eventually sharing her ventures through social media.

Founder of the Zero Waste Collective, Tara McKenna is a Canadian influencer with one of the largest sustainability influencer followings on Instagram. She recognized a need for change at the global level after having traveled to various countries to witness the significant trash problem firsthand. She now offers coaching on living sustainably as well as tips and advice on social media.

With an Instagram following of over 86K and more than 13K followers on YouTube, Andrew Burgess has become a go-to source for sustainable DIY projects and upcycling ideas. His mission is to inspire others to see the potential in what they already have, showcasing how sustainability can be both fun and fashionable. He criticizes fast fashion's reliance on environmentally damaging practices and encourages consumers to support brands that prioritize sustainability and ethical production.

Let's take an additional look into three examples of sustainability influencer collaborations for your inspiration:

1. Jessica Clifton and Grove Collaborative

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