Kim Kardashian West’s Secret for Social Media Success
Kim Kardashian West continues to be one of the most prominent influencers today, boasting 158 million Instagram followers. She uses her prominence online to make millions from her three different apps, her makeup line KKW Beauty and shapewear line Skims, with Forbes estimating her net worth to be 350 million dollars.
How did she successfully turn her social media following into a career?
Knowing Your Platform
Kardashian West answers this in an interview, claiming that social media is “the most amazing tool that’s been invented to help brands”. She explains that each social media platform is different, and she uses them for different purposes.
This key strategy of maximising the use of each social media platform allowed Kardashian West to be the face of social media. She uses Instagram Stories to share behind the scene shots, which is more personal and intimate to appeal to fans. She was previously more active on Snapchat but mostly uses Instagram stories, showing she is able to adapt to new trends as Instagram stories take over Snapchat in popularity.
YouTube is used to promote KKW Beauty, not only on her channel but on others, sending YouTubers such as James Charles PR packages, encouraging them to promote her products. Collaborative videos with sister Kylie Jenner allow her to expand the audience for KKW Beauty, as fans of Kylie Cosmetics are likely to also check out KKW Beauty.
Authenticity
Her authenticity allows her to maintain her audience, through personal connection and loyalty. She uses twitter in this way, explaining that she likes it for the conversation it allows.
Despite this, she has relatively poor twitter engagement, limiting her potential impact on this platform. I think this is because she has too many sponsored posts, making followers lose interest because people don’t want to be sold products all the time.
Her authenticity is also demonstrated through her selection of brand deals. She claims she only works with brands she genuinely uses, so her fans are able to choose products, knowing it has the “stamp of approval” from Kim.
Controversy
Being controversial online helps boost Kim Kardashian West's social media presence, making the general public talk about her more, she often trends on Twitter and has articles written about her, bringing more publicity to her and therefore her brand. An example of this is through petty drama on Twitter, such as with sister Kourtney. This has been argued to be fabricated drama, to increase ratings of the season premiere of Keeping Up With the Kardashians
I think Kim has also realised that controversy can backfire. Her shapewear line Skims was originally called Kimono… Yes, she attempted to trademark the traditional Japanese garment and was rightfully called out for cultural appropriation. The brand name was changed before the official release, so the potential negative impact of the previous name is not known.
Kardashian West effectively uses social media as a promotional strategy to grow her brand. Knowing how to maximise success on each platform and experiencing genuine interactions with fans allowed her to maintain fame on social media for over a decade.
