Content creators, often referred to as influencers, sometimes get bad press. From the outside looking in, these beautiful people have thousands of subscribers on their platforms and seem to live a dream life where brands line up to offer them free gifts and invite them everywhere. While many defend themselves by justifying the scope of their work, it’s sometimes difficult to understand what’s “so difficult” when writing stories to talk about a product or posting photos of a ton of gummy bears. To demystify the world of influence in Quebec, Narcity decided to speak to one of the women at the forefront of this industry, Karine Pelletier, the general director of Jinfluence and marketing and sponsorship director of Productions J.
Jinfluence is the renowned agency in Montreal that represents some of the most sought-after web personalities: former participants of Occupation Double. Claudie Mercier, Catherine “Peach” Paquin, Frédérick Robichaud, Noémie Marleau and Julie-Anne Ho are just examples of people with enormous reach and notoriety who have signed with the company.
The agency also claims that it stands out for its “personalized approach to responding.” [aux] needs and through the creativity of [ses] influence campaigns.” But what role does the agency actually play? Is it worth partnering with an influencer marketing company and sharing their revenue? And if someone like you and me, who hasn’t participated in a reality show, wanted to become a creator, how should they go about it?
Karine Pelletier answered all of our questions about her field, which is as polarizing as it is sought-after.
What is the role of an influencer marketing agent?
“In fact, the influencer agent is there to help and support the influencers. That means we negotiate their contracts and make sure that we can develop a plan, a strategy with them, depending on what they want to do. Because we will never force them to do anything they don’t want to do. I think that’s the foundation of being an influencer. If it’s not authentic, of course it will harm them. So that’s part of the role: supporting influencers with their wishes and especially with contract negotiations with customers. » Explains Karine Pelletier.
How do you choose which influencer is right for a contract?
“In fact, we often have clients who turn to us for specific campaigns. That’s why many people are already asking us about an influencer they already have in mind. Otherwise, let’s look at the profile. For example, if we have someone who wants to have a beauty page, we know that we have specific influencers associated with the beauty page. Noémie Marleau, for example, is beautiful, she has beautiful skin and certainly goes well with certain brands.
“By the way, if you go to the Jinfluence website, everything is identified. Everyone has their own profile and category. So we have people from lifestyle, beauty, sports and so on. »
Does Jinfluence only accept people who have participated in reality shows with Noovo, like OD or Survivor?
“Actually that’s a good question because mainly we have people who come from either Occupation Double or Survivor, but more and more we are contracting with certain clients who are looking for people with a different profile, so we will be looking for people from elsewhere. We also have a company that makes little baby blankets that we used to look for micro-influencers, but they weren’t in the agency, but we work a lot with other people now. And we will ask more and more people to join the database because we have different contracts that require different people. So I think it will be interesting for everyone. »
You talk about a “bank of creators”. Can anyone add something? How does someone get into the famous bank?
Influencer represented by Jinfluence.
Jinfluence
“Basically, you can contact us at [email protected] and also visit our website. We will look at your profile to see if you would be a good fit for specific companies we work with.
“You still have to be a content creator. You have to create good content, you have to be relevant, you have to have authenticity and people have to follow you. So if you have all of that at that level, of course you can become an influencer because you have a passion and you believe in it. And the more people follow you, the more customers will see that they are interested in working with you. It depends on what you do. We have clients for all influencer metrics. You just have to have good content. Anyone who wants to do it well and does it well can become an influencer. But it takes passion! It’s a job in itself. »
Is there a minimum number of subscribers people must have in order to submit their application to Jinfluence and become an influencer?
“I would tell you at least 1,000… If you start at 1,000, it’s not so bad. But it also depends on the campaigns. This doesn’t mean you’ll get a lot of contracts because you have more than 1,000 subscribers, but it can happen. There are a lot of micro-influencers who do a lot of things, and there are some very interesting people who also have very different profiles. So yes, there are macros like Claudie Mercier that so many people have [qui la suit]. She has 1.2 million subscribers on TikTok, she also has a lot of people on her Instagram, so it’s still impressive and attracts certain contracts, while there are others that are small but can also do super interesting things. Companies look at everyone at different levels, so it depends on the contracts we have. »
“We also carry out checks [pour les faux abonnés]. For us it’s important because it represents their image and our image too, so we don’t want to damage their image. And it’s still pretty obvious when you buy subscribers. If you look at subscribers, where they come from and everything in the bank, that will be reflected in your engagement rate. If you went from 500 to 40,000 overnight, I can tell you that it’s pretty obvious that you gained subscribers. But it’s not to their advantage. »
What are your top tips if someone like me wants to become an influencer tomorrow?
Tip #1: Find a niche that you are passionate about and exploit it consistently
While Karine Pelletier relied on my own social networks, @iza.bee on Instagram and IzabelleBee on TikTok, to provide examples of things to do and avoid, she has an initial observation: “I watched yours Looked at your Instagram profile, I looked at your TikTok, and what I find interesting is that you have two very different profiles. On your TikTok it reflects much more of what you do as a journalist, and on your Instagram account it reflects Izabelle traveling, having fun, being a cheerleading coach and so on. But I think it would be good to combine both and make no distinction between the two. »
Having two profiles with very different niches is not ideal, according to Karine, who explains that choosing a lineage or combining your passions so that all our social networks have the same direction is the most important: “For example, you have about spoke to two restaurants or an event you did with Bridgerton where a lot of people actually watched the video and asked you questions. People were interested […]. I believe that this type of video will make you very excited because you provide interesting information and your pictures are super beautiful: I myself wanted to go to the restaurant you presented or experience the experience you had . Then I find that, conversely, on your Instagram you have travel photos and sometimes a few videos, but that is less reflected. The information from your journalistic site is super interesting. You could go so much deeper. Your pictures are beautiful, but it seems you care less about the video. It would be important to do reals and everything. If I were you, this would be my niche tomorrow morning: you can travel and go to restaurants. »
“Besides, we don’t know enough about who Izabelle is. It would be fun to see more of this. »
Tip #2: Be authentic
According to the general director of Jinfluence, authenticity is a golden rule. Subscribers will feel it if it is not done out of pure interest and passion or, even worse, if there are discrepancies between the values we represent and the partnerships or actions we choose.
“It’s important that your passion is authentic because if you’re just doing it for the sake of it or to be popular or to have money, it will shine through. People will eventually fall in love with you [si tu es authentique]. You are part of their daily life. Often in the morning people get up, go to their social networks, look there and see, say, your video. It is certain that you will end up being part of their daily life. I’m sure at some point you yourself have said, “Hey, I know him, hello!” [en voyant un influenceur]. You don’t really know the person, but you see them every day and feel like you know them.
“When I say authenticity and consistency, that’s really important. People look at it. If you say something and do the opposite, people know it and will tell you. (laughs) »
VSTip #3: Let people know that not everything has to be smooth and perfect
Good advice not only has to be authentic, it also has to be “completely imperfect” – but not an obligation. In order to create closeness to the people who follow you, it is important to have a certain vulnerability and show yourself in all facets.
“We should get to know you a little better.” I feel like I don’t know you well. That you just post pictures of yourself… Sometimes. Sometimes you’re with people… I don’t know. Does she have a boyfriend? Where is she going? Apparently there is a lack of information. I would like to get to know you better. It seems like I don’t know you well enough. For me it is important that people enjoy knowing you. And not just the sophisticated images: the good, the bad, and the ugly are okay because it brings your vulnerability to something interesting. »
“But it depends on each profile. You show what you want to show […]. At a certain point it is about defining how you want to position yourself on the networks and what you want to demonstrate. »
Tip #4: Be consistent with your content releases
Just like the advice above: if you want to be part of people’s daily lives and build a bond with them, you need to be actively present on social networks, explains Karine Pelletier. Competition is very fierce on different platforms and you can easily lose focus if someone else is more active and consistent than you in a similar field.
“Be consistent [est important]. Sometimes you are less consistent. Sometimes it’s travel, sometimes it’s not travel, sometimes it’s the girl doing the coaching, sometimes it’s your friends. Sometimes you make up stories, sometimes you don’t. Your consistency is important. Looks like you don’t have a bloodline. »
Tip #5: Create engagement
Contrary to what I personally thought, the famous hashtags and captions are no longer that important in 2023. We are in a time where videos and interactive visuals are super powerful, so using your visuals to spread the messages you want is enough. According to our expert, Real and TikTok should be highlighted, especially at the beginning of their careers, to captivate the audience. Some hashtags have thousands of posts and are dominated by personalities with millions of followers, so it will be difficult to stand out from the crowd.
“What makes you want to look at something or eat something? It is [les visuels]. For every brand, you know its logo. A refrigerator, we call it a refrigerator because the brand is strong […]. Is it important to have the best caption? This is relative. The world is looking more and more at Reals. TikTok also works really well and it’s not about captions or hashtags. I think that content is particularly important [pour créer un bon engagement]. »
Tip #6: Determine how much time you want to invest in your platform
Of course, if you want to make a living from social media, the correct answer is probably “a lot.” But Karine simply recommends knowing what time commitment you want to make and sticking to it. We can’t disappear from the internet for two months because we’re on vacation without it impacting our community.
“You have to know for yourself: What do I want to do? Three times a week? Twice a day? What do I want to do and what message do I want to convey? »
Tip #7: Collaborate with other YouTubers
Relationships are worth their weight in gold in the industry, explains the expert. She recommends networking and collaborating with other creatives who have the same interests as you. A good example would be YouTubers teaming up to create two videos on the same day: one on a channel and the other on their colleague’s account.
“One advantage is that you know a lot of people, including a lot of influencers, and that can also be interesting. You could travel with certain influencers who will help you get a little exposure […]. We have certain influencers who have taken trips with other influencers. Want, don’t want, I, if I’m an influencer and you share again, it gives you extra visibility, so this can all be interesting. »
Tip #8: Having multiple content delivery platforms makes you more interesting to customers
After all, a golden tool in the industry is not to put all your eggs in one basket. There are different types of people and different platforms. If you are active on several of them, you will be better known and have a better presence.
“The ideal is to have multiple platforms, but all platforms are connected […]. You could do things on TikTok that will bring you back on Instagram, which will rejuvenate you [de l’engagement]. For example, you could start a YouTube that ensures you can play on your other platforms. And that also ensures that at some point you are an influencer and get paid for it. It is always more advantageous for the customer because you also have several platforms. »
In the end, Karine Pelletier brings the essence to the conclusion: ” […] There is no magic recipe. The more relevant you are, the more subscribers you will have. »
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Please note that we use inclusive writing when writing our articles. For more information on this topic, please visit the Government of Canada website.