How Lilly Singh Is An Internet Bawse
If there’s one person who’s taking over the Internet in the best way possible, it would have to be Lilly Singh. Being a fellow Canadian from Scarborough, Ontario, Lilly is an absolute BAWSE at what she does and is absolutely killing the game. She is primarily known for her YouTube channel “IISuperwomanII”, where she posts comedic sketches about every day life struggles and celebrities. Her most well-known videos are of her playing her fictional Punjabi parents, Paramjeet and Manjeet, and over exaggerating their ethnic and gender stereotypes.
Within her first year, Singh was asked to join YouTube’s Partner Program and with her videos being monetized, she was able to hire a manager. Most people starting out on YouTube do not even have these opportunities in their first two years of releasing content, and yet Lilly knew how to really hustle, and this is the reason for her major success. In an interview with AOL, Lilly says that to prove to her parents she could make a living from YouTube instead of having to go back to University for a master’s degree, she would make as many videos are possible. She quickly built a solid fanbase and from that moment on, she proved her parents wrong and has been an online influencer ever since.
In 2017, Forbes declared Singh as the 10th highest-paid YouTuber with annual earnings of $10.5 million. She was also ranked at number 1 in the entertainment category for Forbes magazine’s Top Influencers List for 2017. Through her comedic and inspirational videos, she has found worldwide fame. Her current statistics as of today has shown that across all of her main social media platforms, she has accumulated an audience of almost 30 million people!
YouTube: 13,537,469 subscribers
Instagram: 7.32 million followers
Twitter: 5.84 million followers
Facebook: 3,151,742 likes
Lilly’s online identity, IISuperwomanII, has become the ultimate brand. She has a strong relationship with her fans (customers) and is maximizing the positive opportunities that come with having such high levels of influence. To grab the attention of viewers, she successfully mastered the art of using clickbait in her titles and thumbnails to get people to click on her videos. Although she has mentioned in interviews and on her vlogging channel that she is an absolute workaholic and never stops, she still manages to upload original content that’s unique and personal, rather than generic canned content that’s quick and easy to upload just for the sake of getting views.
Although most of her videos are comedic, they’re relatable. Lilly tells stories that her viewers can connect with and relate to. She also carefully listens to her audience and understands what they want to see or what they don’t want to see, and she plans her content based on the demands of her viewers. She reads comments, emails, direct messages, tweets, and other communicative tools that her fans use to express what they crave. With this information, Lilly creates content based on utility, critical perspectives and amusement, which in turn satisfies her viewers because they are engaged in something that they care about.
Now let’s talk about the specifics of Lilly and her use of social media: it’s obvious that YouTube is her main source of income. Her videos are monetized, earning her hundreds of thousands of dollars from advertisements, and she sometimes does sponsored videos as well. Her high success rate has even landed her some brand partnerships with companies like Pantene, Coca Cola and Calvin Klein, and this content is mainly shared on her Instagram page.
Singh is so appealing because, as Ann Johansson from the Globe and Mail says, “her medium is the message.” She’s full of empowerment and drive, and this energy radiates off her in her videos and on her Instagram page. You can see her authenticity by watching the content she releases, and her personality shines in her videos. What really grabs the viewers is how real she is: she doesn’t hold back from being her honest self, and that’s a very rare thing in today’s digital world where people (mostly influencers) create fake images of themselves.
YouTube is the ideal platform for Lilly because she embodies a sense of “do it yourself” and “you can succeed on your own,” and that’s exactly what YouTube is for. You don’t need to have ten people above you in a hierarchal business system telling you what to do. All you need is a camera and a YouTube channel. Her hard work, determination and drive inspires everyone that watches her videos, and she’s an absolute BAWSE. Lilly successfully maximizes the use of videography fundamentals: she uses the right amount of words, her videos are the perfect length, the production quality is outstanding, and the narrative is captivating.
In 2016, Singh’s online success earned her a partnership with a leading cosmetics company called Smashbox. Together through collaboration, Lilly and the Smashbox team launched a signature red lipstick called “Bawse,” and with the help of Lilly’s fanbase the product “quickly became [Smashbox’s] number one in the range and [Lilly] brought a new audience of her fans to the Smashbox Brand” (Bernard Zion, VP of global marketing at the California makeup company).
Her climb to the top of YouTube has been a significantly quick one as well. In August of 2013, she had one million subscribers. By January of 2015, she reached five million. Three years later and she’s at over 13.5 million and counting. She’s now collaborating with celebrities and having them co-star in her videos. People like Seth Rogen, Selena Gomez, and The Rock, just to name a few of her pals.
A few years ago, Lilly opened up online about struggling with depression and mental health issues, which further strengthened her connection with her fans because it shows that she’s just like all of us. To her, YouTube is more than a platform. In an interview with the Globe and Mail, she says “it is literally that thing that helped [her] when [she] was sad.” Although not clinically diagnosed, she says that she was depressed based on the knowledge she had learned as a psychology student. By opening herself up and becoming vulnerable, she spreads awareness about mental health and how to deal with it.
Analyzing Lilly’s use of social media, it is evident that she utilizes her influencing abilities to succeed. Based on Bailey Parnell’s “7 Characteristics of an Influencer,” it’s obvious that Lilly Singh portrays all seven qualities.
1. She has a high level of connectivity: she replies to comments and tweets, goes on tour, does meet-and-greets, and engages with her fans through her social media accounts which enhances the level of influence she holds.
2. She has a direct access to followers: by interacting with her fans online and in person, she creates a personal bond with her followers.
3. Her content is seen as “the truth”: Lilly is pretty open with what’s going on in her life. From mental illness to overworking, she shares her everyday struggles with her fans and doesn’t hide anything. Her photos aren’t warped from Photoshop, and although her photos are somewhat staged, they’re still authentic to her personality and brand.
4. There is an interpersonal nature of her photos and video networks: YouTube has allowed her to communicate and share inspirational, happy, and entertaining content but she also ”speaks” to her audience. When watching her videos (especially the more serious ones), you feel like you’re having a 1-on-1 conversation with Lilly. By creating this sense of connectiveness with her, viewers feel like these videos were personally made for them.
5. She has an affiliative bond: Lilly has been climbing the ladder of success these last few years. People know her and are more likely to replicate what she does, which is be a BAWSE. She radiates positivity and drive, and if anyone were to read her story or take a few minutes to watch some of her videos then it’ll only be a short matter of time until you start to feel motivated by her.
6. She is a part of the leisure class: since Lilly is so raw and real, it’s easy to relate to her and characterize her as a good, moral, and successful human that we aspire to be. We want to hustle as much as she does. We want to succeed like she has. We want our hard work to pay off like hers has.
7. Her videos create a visual co-presence: the style of her videos (mainly vlogs) creates a feeling that you are there in the room with her, experiencing what she’s experiencing. Her vlogging channel shows the behind-the-scenes, everyday life tasks of Lilly Singh, and invites her viewers to “live vicariously” through Lilly.
All in all, Lilly Singh is absolutely killing the social media game. She has completed all necessary components to becoming an influencer: establishing her brand, building a community, producing quality content, getting endorsements, and getting involved with her audience. She has achieved so many amazing things, and yet she still stays humble. She only just moved out of her parents’ house in Scarborough after all, and into a stunning new place in LA where she lives by herself and works. Through her online content, she carries her followers on her journey to the top while also showing them the many bumps in the road.
She’s real. She’s authentic. She’s amazing. She’s Superwoman.
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