From Youtube to Madame Tussauds
Becoming a household name and an entrepreneur, all before the age of thirty. Gaining fans by the millions and anti-fans alike, Zoella is (or was) one of the largest influencers to take Youtube by storm. Zoella offers key ways to build a loyal face base who will support whatever nonsense you give them. Also, yes she has her own wax figure at Madame Tussauds.
She began her journey to internet fame with a blog in 2009. This blog gained momentum, winning the “Best Established Beauty Blog” in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards just after two years. However, her real breakthrough to popularity came from her Youtube channel, which grew exponentially to reach twelve million subscribers (at its peak).
So, how can you come internet famous?
Relatability is key
During her heyday, Zoe had cracked the code to popularity on Youtube: be relatable. However, you have to be relatable to your target audience. Due to successfully using these factors, Zoe was able to gain popularity. Her videos, a typical video being a Primark haul, was just right for her young, predominantly female audience, the content of the video appealed to her viewers. This was effective as it created a ‘relationship’ between her and her viewers, they seemed to share the same interests, therefore making it seem like they were actually friends.
Sell em’ something
Zoe has also provided her fans with gifts, although you have to pay for them yourself. She dropped her beauty line ‘Zoella beauty’ which gave her fans something physical related to her, taking their ‘relationship’ from purely digital, to somewhat analogue. Fans could add to their obsession regarding Zoe, whilst Zoe benefitted off her young, susceptible audience. So with a small empire of twelve million behind her, it was no wonder that Zoella beauty was selling out on its first day. So through her use of her Youtube channel, which features videos about her beauty line, she was able to become a smash-hit in the real-world as well.
Stay trendy
Staying up-to-date with trends is essential for Youtubers in their fast-paced environment. Unfortunately, Zoe was unable to sustain her growth in popularity long-term as she didn’t adapt her content to her audience, which was growing older and no longer wanted to see the same style of videos (favourites videos and hauls). This had led to a decrease in growth and popularity, with her subscriber count falling from 12 million to 11 million. So, what we can gain is that to stay relevant, you have to change your videos to fit the current environment.
What can we learn?
- Be relatable, this allows for a connection with your viewers
- Provide content in different ways
- Pay attention to trends if you want to stay relevant
