Looking at the local influencer landscape, Business Day quickly realised its complexity – too great to be discussed in one article.

First, on February 29, we set the landscape for content creation and influencing in TT. Now we'll discuss how influencers navigate the content-creation space and establish themselves as entrepreneurs.

We spoke with local influencers from different fields: Keron Rose, a Newsday columnist, digital strategist and e-commerce specialist of eight years; Anastasia Mootoo, a social-media content-producer and social-media consultant for eight years; and Ayodele Gomez, a travel-content creator of three years.

[caption id="attachment_1066862" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Anastasia Mootoo, digital content producer and social media consultant, at her home studio on January 5. - Photo courtesy Kambe Lovelace[/caption]

Establishing value as an influencer

Content creators and influencers are different things.

A content creator can be anyone, but an influencer is a hyper-consumer who can provide unique insight about a product or service to an audience they affect and relate to. Being able to affect an audience and have them take action or demonstrate interest is an influencer’s value and is what separates him or her from a content creator.

Keron Rose, who started as a tech blogger, realised there was a gap in understanding smartphone technology in TT. His content on this topic established him as someone in the know in the tech space.

“When I started teaching about smartphone tech, how to use it and what phones you should get, depending on your lifestyle, that led me to becoming an ‘influencer.’”

His content caused viewers to ask about buying the phones he wrote about, which showed his followers wanted to act on his advice.

Gomez, a casual social media user before becoming a content creator, wanted to document her travels. Her value comes from the unique experiences she highlights in each visit she makes.

“What I aim to do as well is experience something I can only experience in that country: either (an) activity or a type of food.”

Her experience as a woman who travels often helped her establish her brand, The Travelling Woman TT.

Mootoo, who says her content is “basically (her) life in a diary,” provides authentic reviews of products that fit into her lifestyle. She brings people into her life, her journey and her experiences and shares information about a product or service that she knows works.

But, she said, “If I have a bad experience about a place, I’m not going to post about it, because I personally don’t believe in bashing brands on social media. I try to keep it as clean as possible and as authentic as possible.”

Both advised content creators and businesses to understand their brand voice.

Rose said, “If you are a business owner you should definitely be creating content with the mindset of helping people solve a problem.”

[caption id="attachment_1066863" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Keron Rose, digital strategist and e-commerce specialist, at his home st