TikTok: We know it, we (may or may not) love it, and we most definitely can scroll it for hours. Tiktok is a platform with an ever-changing landscape of talented, powerful, and influential creators. In a sea of talent and consistently evolving trends, it can be hard to distinguish who to follow, who to partner with, and who to love.
With an estimated 690 million users worldwide, even scratching the surface seems daunting for both brands and users, but look no further, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most influential creators in their respective fields: fashion, beauty, tech, crypto, and comedic relief.
Fashion:
- Remi Bader
Self-proclaimed queen of realistic hauls with 2.1 million followers and counting.
Known for her “realistic clothing hauls”, 26-year-old Remi injects humor and a lighthearted nature into every TikTok she uploads. Remi is a plus-size model who aims to hold brands accountable for their sizing with her realistic try-on hauls. Remi has crafted a community of trusting fans, who know she will tell it how it is. If the Zara maxi skirt she ordered doesn’t fit as advertised, she’ll let you know. And if the brand she partners with doesn’t deliver on their size inclusive promises, she holds accountability, which again signals to her viewers that she is trustworthy of a recommendation amongst paid promotion, a valuable and rare trait. She’s a no filter, no-fluff, tell it how it is creator that her audience can’t get enough of.
Remi took to her TikTok to call out e-commerce giant Revolve, pleading with them to make bigger clothing, and the next thing you know, Remi announced in March that she was coming out with a size-inclusive Revolve collaboration. Holding brands accountable has opened opportunities for Remi to work with those brands themselves in an effort to shift the fashion landscape when it comes to size-inclusive clothing.
In this video with Swimsuits For All, Remi shows her audience how the swimwear fits her body, and gives honest and raw positive feedback in the video. Her audience trusts her opinion related to sizing as well as relies on her for a laugh in the process.
- Charles Gross
With an extremely calming demeanor and a voice that almost sounds like a whisper, Charles is the new voice of luxury on TikTok. As Charles would say, “let’s talk about it”.
As a proclaimed “fashion scholar” by Paper Magazine, Charles is an advocate for “quiet branding,” meaning no loud logos, and introduces the idea of a more chic, luxury, minimal style. Are these $1,000USD boots worth it? He’ll tell you. Is getting on the list for a Hermes Birkin the biggest sham of the century? He’ll break it down.
The NYC-born and raised Charles grew up surrounded by immense wealth, forming his opinions through experience in a way that comes across as genuine rather than arrogant or spoiled. His followers value his insights and truly form opinions based on what he has to say about luxury goods and whether he approves of them
Charles understands the power he harnesses in his authenticity combined with expertise. “Luxury is still relevant,” he said. “But it is frantic. Their power is decreasing by the day as the consumer becomes more critical. And they’re realizing that a glossy spread in a magazine does not work as well to increase sales as an individual on TikTok or Instagram.” He most recently teamed up with Paper Magazine and Google Shopping to promote small businesses that are paving the way for this year’s summer trends. Companies understand his influence and the trust his followers have bestowed upon him.
Crypto:
- Crypto Cita
Crypto Cita, also known as Aliana, is a self-proclaimed “crypto nerd and pro stalker” who is one of the most popular female crypto creators on the platform. She truly does it all, from building a mining rig (I didn’t know what that was either) to all things general crypto insights.
Aliana gears her content to a diversified audience, as she knows her followers range from die-hard crypto nerds to those still digesting what an NFT is. From videos such as “How to make money on crypto” and explaining what Web 3.0 is to appeal to her more novice followers to explaining her mining farm crypto payout, she indeed does it all. Aliana educated her audience on the latest tech and crypto advancements, while also injecting some humor here and there to make the subject more approachable.
Aliana balances beginner crypto educational content with high-level learnings to create a diversified crypto TikTok portfolio for all viewers.
- MacnCheeasy
Austin, or MacnCheeasy is a “crypto investor and engineer” TikTok creator who is also helping companies win in Web 3. Austin takes to not only TikTok to connect with and inform his community, but to YouTube, Discord, Twitter, and Instagram for ultimate exposure. Austin breaks down complicated topics on TikTok for his followers to understand.
Rather than only gearing his videos to well-versed crypto connoisseurs, he dissects complex topics and instructs how to tackle them. For example, he explains in one of his recent videos that it is important to practice “small wins” instead of “big failures” in crypto learning. So, instead of trying to understand Defi Protocols, start by grasping NFTs. Austin encourages his community to take baby steps, and his more overarching view of the crypto world is helpful for all levels.
Austin has not leveraged the potential for brand collaborations on his TikTok account yet, which poses great potential for future partnerships to be fed more organically to his audience relating to all things crypto.
Beauty:
- Mikayla Nogueria
With an impressive 12.4 million followers, Mikayla’s distinct Boston accent will catch your attention, but it’s her undeniable talent that will keep you watching.
The 22-year-old makeup artist turned TikToker uses her relatability and leverages industry knowledge to test the latest makeup trends, give her best beauty tips, and dish out some expert recommendations. Mikayla worked at Ulta before becoming a TikTok beauty sensation, which lends her credibility to promote the products she talks about. She is able to leverage this past experience to attest to whether certain brands sell well at beauty superstores like Ulta, if certain products are worth the hype, and how new emerging brands on the market compare to the legacy brands she knows so well.
Her audience values her relatability, and beams in her success, as many watched her go from an Ulta retail worker to a TikTok superstar. She is humble, educated on all things beauty, and harnesses her relatability to foster a strong community of beauty lovers around the world.
Mikayla doesn’t just talk about the products she is promoting, she demonstrates how to use them, and what they look like on the face. Doing instead of telling is how she approaches brand promotion, which allows her audience to see the product in action, and to see how a professional makeup artist applies them.
- Hyrum
Hyrum is a skincare junkie, who aims to perfect the routines of his viewers around the world, catering to all different skin types, budgets, and ingredient limitations. He leveraged the rising popularity of skincare and took to TikTok to discuss all things lotions and potions: what’s worth it and what’s not
“For me, my passion has always been just helping people,” Hyrum says, “My goal was to facilitate in the journey of people learning about skincare so they basically have an introductory path.”
Hyrum wants to break the misconceptions that skincare has to be expensive to work, and he set out to conquer the complex and ever-changing skincare landscape with his followers by breaking it down, one ingredient at a time.
Hyrum doesn’t just make recommendations; he educates his audience on detailed ingredient lists and what to look for and what to avoid. He encourages the importance of knowing and understanding what is going on your skin — oh and to not forget daily SPF!!
Hyrum collaborates with brands that live up to his skincare standards, with ingredients and promises that provide. Aligning with his values is important in collaboration.
Here he is promoting St. Tropez self-tanner, an option for those who aim to stay out of the sun and prevent skin damage- one of the things he preaches most. Partnering with brands that align with his skincare beliefs allows him to stay authentic and respected in the skincare TikTok community. He also has his own skincare line, increasing knowledge and credibility in the industry and among his followers.
Tech:
- Tonytechbytes
19-year-old tech prodigy, Tony, is a self-proclaimed tech enthusiast located in the Bay Area. Think of every tech product you can imagine, and Tony most likely has unboxed it on his TikTok for his 350,000 followers to see. His enthusiastic tone and energy wake up his audience before delving into a product review, whether an unboxing or a “testing out my own internet” video.
Tony’s TikTok page relies on his viewers’ feedback and questions. Almost every one of his TikTok videos responds to a comment, which promotes a stronger sense of community with his followers. Tony delivers drool-worthy content to his tech-hungry fans, covering everything from responding to simple fan questions or recommendation inquiries, to “What’s in my tech bag?” to a “4k monitor unboxing”.
Tony partners with a wide range of techy brands with the latest and greatest gadgets. Tony is an expert at unboxing videos, taking his followers through the whole experience- from cutting open the box to assembly to final thoughts.
- Scambl
Scambl, or Spencer, is a tech-savvy TikTok star who is a self-proclaimed “CEO of framerates”. Covering all things tech,Spencer delves into gaming, PCs, and more on his account, but with an interactive twist.
Spencer understands that TikTok is the name and community building is the game. He interacts with his audience in a unique way, such as quizzing them on what they think a certain cable is/used for or filming his gaming controller and testing to see if his audience can guess which game is being played. In doing so, he creates a community between not only himself and his fanbase, but also as a way for the fans to connect and interact with one another.
Spencer combines his tech knowledge with current, comedic TikTok trends to reach a larger audience, and make all thighs tech more surface level to the average viewer, further expanding his reach.
Although Spencer does not use affiliate links or generally take on paid ads, he candidly reviews techy new gadgets that are sent to his door, like this $60 microphone. He gives his honest feedback and review, as well as giving incredible brand exposure to his 295k followers and counting.
Comedy:
- Serena Kerrignan
Serena Kerrigan is an NYC girl who lives by the motto “do it for the plot”. A yes girl, if you will.
Serena isn’t afraid to be bold, put herself out there, and show as much personality as possible. From dating advice to storytimes, she is undoubtedly hilarious and your new favorite hype girl. While her videos aim to be funny and muster up a laugh, at the root of her content is encouragement for greater confidence and hyping her audience up.
She rose to fame with her TikTok series, called “Let’s F***ing Date”, which chronicled, and streamed her adventures on fifty different dates in 2020. After the wild success of this series, she came out with her own card games to help start conversations on dates also called “Let’s F***ing Date”. She’s fiercely outgoing and confident, which stems from her insecurity during her youth that she candidly discusses with her audience.
Serena more organically incorporates paid content into her feed, such as this Blk water collaboration that acts more as a brand placement within a comedic video.
- Fibulaa
Fibulaa, or Connor Wood, the golden retriever personality of TikTok, shines with his sly humor and dry wit.
When asked in an interview what he is particularly proud of project-wise lately, this is what he had to say:
“There’s a lot of stuff in the pipeline right now, I can’t wait to re-answer this in like 6 months. But I’m really proud of these currently non-existent projects I’m sitting on. Also I’m really proud of my Ben Franklin tri-fold poster project about electricity from 5th grade, let me know if you want pics of it.”
I feel as though this sums up the sarcastic humor that he commonly dishes out on TikTok.
In addition to TikTok he co-hosts a podcast that will have you awkwardly laughing to yourself in public (not speaking from experience)
Connor effortlessly can turn an ad into a comedic skit, fully incorporating the product into the heart of his joke. Take this Supergoop sunscreen collab, for example, Connor hilariously executes the message he and Supergooop aim to convey to a younger generation- wear sunscreen.
The TikTok Takeover
TikTok Creators are taking the world by storm, one video at a time. They have proved the power they hold for brands, and capitalize on their individual communities. Strong, individualized personalities prosper on this platform, and in return give brands the perfect opportunity to tap into an already established personality and community that aligns with their beliefs and desired demographics. These creators are trusted by their fan bases as well as greatly sought after by brands for one main underlying reason: authenticity. Over are the days of expertly curated visuals and hyper-scripted content, viewers, especially on TikTok, crave and expect raw, unfiltered content that is relatable and real. The cold, hard truth is what sells these days and every one of these TikTok creators taps into that authenticity.
