Sara Koonar Knows the Power of Social Media Influencers
Toronto-based Sara Koonar began her personal journal, bought it to a U.S. firm and have become an editor-in-chief by the age of 26. While working within the editorial world, she noticed the potential of influencers and utilizing social media to advertise manufacturers and merchandise. Koonar began her personal influencer-management and content-creation firm, Platform Media, when she was simply 30 years previous and has since labored with purchasers like H&M, Amazon and Sephora.
Growing up in Whitby, Ont. my two most important pursuits have been trend and the web. I watched this system Fashion Television, or FT, consistently, and host Jeanne Beker was my idol. Meanwhile, my household was actually into computer systems. My oldest brother taught me coding in HTML, which turned an attractive interest as I constructed web sites on GeoCities and created customized MyArea pages. I used to be all the time looking out for what’s new on the web—that hasn’t modified.
My first profession dream was to be a trend journalist. I studied journalism on the University of Ottawa, and in my second 12 months, was fortunate sufficient to satisfy a FT producer at an after-party for the MuchMusic Video Awards (the place a pal labored). I fan-girled, explaining to the producer I had watched the present my total life. They talked about they have been holding internship interviews that week, so I despatched in my résumé the following day, and ended up getting an internship. I jumped on the alternative to work in Toronto and transferred to Centennial College within the metropolis to complete my diploma. I’m so glad I did, as a result of the contacts and mates I made there set the stage for the remainder of my profession.
In 2009, I accomplished my diploma and began freelance writing. In my household, working for your self is the norm. My father and brother are self-employed physiotherapists with greater than a dozen clinics between them, and my oldest brother (the one who taught me code) runs his personal internet agency. I began out writing about trend and wonder for publications like Hello! and Canadian Living, however the financial system was spiralling down the drain and freelancing was not paying the payments.
Taking a cue from my entrepreneurial household, I based a digital trend journal referred to as Adorned in 2007 and began studying search engine optimization and Google Ads. Twilight was simply getting huge, and I drove visitors to the web site by writing articles concerning the crimson carpet trend of the lead forged members. I additionally paid shut consideration to how Facebook and Pinterest labored as traffic-drivers.
I bought Adorned to an organization within the United States in 2012, and thanks partially to my social media savvy, obtained employed as editor-in-chief at Toronto-based Maple Media for quite a lot of magazines beneath their umbrella, like 29 Secrets and Beauty Desk. I used to be 26, and most EICs at that time have been no less than 10 years older than me and centered on print.
“I spent my first few months convincing brands that it was worthwhile to pay influencers”
I stood out because the youngest individual within the room at media occasions, however I used to be good at what I did—though not everybody thought-about my digital-focused talent set useful. At that point, a lot of my friends thought social media was only a fleeting factor pushed by vainness, however I noticed its potential in my trade. I obtained on Instagram in 2011 and began sharing my life as an editor. People responded to that: Putting a face to a reputation, and giving folks an insider view on who was behind the content material, drove readers to our magazines.
Meanwhile, trend bloggers have been beginning to get huge within the U.S., which caught my consideration. I helped provide you with related content material concepts we might promote to advertisers, like a magnificence panel for which we despatched out mascara samples to bloggers and compiled their critiques in an article. The mascara bought quick, and abruptly I used to be busy hiring bloggers—folks we’d now name influencers.
I seen these creators weren’t all the time pretty compensated. For instance, one time, I discovered that an influencer had signed away the rights to one in all their movies to a model in perpetuity—for a really small charge. I hated seeing that occur. I believed, “Someone should be thinking through these deals and advocating for influencers. Why not me?”
I began my influencer-marketing and content-creation firm, Platform Media & Management, in 2016. But I wanted to get no less than six or seven influencers on the roster earlier than I might give up my full-time job as EIC at Maple Media. Everyone I requested stated sure. Their belief amped up my confidence.
The business works like this: We dealer offers and handle partnerships between influencers and the manufacturers that rent influencers to advertise merchandise to their audiences. If you’ve ever purchased a product after scrolling by means of Instagram, it was most likely the results of influencer advertising and marketing. When I began, even I didn’t know the way huge influencer advertising and marketing would get.
“Being able to pivot quickly has been a theme throughout my entire career”
I spent my first few months convincing manufacturers that it was worthwhile to pay influencers. Within two years, I finished having to persuade anybody. We’ve added round 10 influencers to our roster yearly and now, we have now greater than 60 in complete. Starting out, I used to be lucky sufficient to have pre-existing relationships with some main manufacturers, because of my time as an editor. As a end result, a few of our first purchasers have been family names like Jergens and Procter & Gamble. These days, we run round 300 campaigns monthly; current purchasers embrace Amex and Indigo.
My era must be sensible and agile. Most of us didn’t go to highschool throughout a time when there have been programs particular to an trade’s digital transition. My journalism programs, for instance, solely launched InDesign in my closing 12 months; the primary years we have been utilizing rulers and paper to put out a newspaper. We needed to educate ourselves loads of the talents that are actually required in our trade. Being in a position to pivot rapidly has been a theme all through my total profession. With algorithms and platforms consistently altering, I work to remain forward of the social media curve.
