I got the camera(s), the style, and the ambition so just call me an #influencer.
Anyone who's ever known me knows that I love photography and I love clothes. In school I was known as the camera girl, and also the girl who was always dressed up (I would even adorn my catholic school uniform with pearls, patterned tights, and black leather Coach loafers) Contrary to my mom's belief, life was, in fact, always a fashion show to me. And it still is, you should see me rocking these quarantine joggers!
Now, having that background in photography AND a degree in Marketing Communication and Advertising, I'm basically the ideal candidate for what a perfect "influencer" would look like. I know how to take and style photos, I know how to pose myself and products, and I know how to edit images in postproduction. Beyond that, I know all about marketing and marketing tactics, specifically digital marketing best practices, and how to best present a brand or product.
I have the essential skills to not only visually capture a brand through photo or video, but to capture and enhance a brand's story through my words. I am an excellent copywriter; I have my natural-born wit to thank. I would be able to create photographs for the brand, edit those images, or videos if desired, and craft a beautifully expressive and engaging message to compliment the imagery.
In my senior year of my undergraduate degree I completed a year long thesis titled "Everyday she's hustling: The labor employed in an an Instafame-obessed society." You can find it online here. I studied fashion influencers through academic journals, industry articles, and from a personal perspective through 9 in-depth interviews with influencers from around the country. In doing so I was able to learn that while some influencers may be benefiting from their prior social and economical affordances, many of them are just really ambitious and hustling hard to achieve "instafame." A majority of the influencers I interviewed taught themselves how to use a camera and have someone help them take their pictures for them. I already have a leg up in that department because I've been doing photography for around 7 years and now I even have a minor in it. I also am known for taking my own pictures because, well, I know how I want the image to look, so who better to take an image of me...than me?!
And as I study to get my Master's in Digital Marketing and Data Analytics I am only gaining more necessary skills to propel myself to influencer-dom (I might trademark that). Data analytics is a huge industry now and an even bigger asset to any business. Any brand that has a strategic influencer marketing plan in place should want an influencer who understands and can articulate analytics gathered from her posts and blog. It only makes sense that a brand would want someone representing them who can comprehend analytics and make changes to content and marketing collateral accordingly. It only benefits the brand to work with someone as dedicated to results-driven content as they are.
That's where I come in; my mind meets at the intersection of creative and strategic.
So here I am, manifesting it to the world that I, Hayley McManus, would be the perfect influencer.
Follow me for more #influencing content and fashion forward looks!
XOXO,
Hayley