Why is she so popular and how is she maintaining her success?
Alix Earle is the 2023 ‘It Girl’ and has taken the influencer world by storm. She is one of the fastest-growing influencers on TikTok, and her response to her rise to fame has shown she was made for success.
What started off as standard ‘outfit’ posts, short vlogs and ‘Get Ready With Me’ (GRWM) videos has seen her jump to over 5.8 Million followers on TikTok with over half a billion likes on her videos, in just three years. With one video, she has sold out products online, like the Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Drops, and has drastically increased sales of white eyeliner worldwide – who saw that one making a comeback?! But that is the power of her influence.
One thing we have learned over the last couple of years is that the influencer industry is significantly oversaturated. We often see influencers popularity peak only to quickly dwindle again as the next big creator comes along.
But Alix Earle is different, she has been peaking now for almost a year. How has she excelled in the last twelve months, and more importantly, how has she managed to sustain that peak and remain one of the most popular influencers throughout 2023?
Relatability
People love Alix because they see her as relatable. Now, it must be acknowledged that there are significant factors of her life that are far from relatable to many, like her obvious privilege and blessed good looks. However, as she says herself, she likes to ‘keep it real’ with her audience. Alix has found the key to maintaining relatability despite her affluence.
When Alix really began to build her audience last year, she was a typical university student (at ‘U Miami’) going out with her friends, going to classes, and essentially, living her life as any 20-year old would. She is very open about her journey with acne and posts content around her struggles with her skin, which so many of us can relate to. It is through this relatability that Alix truly found and grew her audience
The mistake we see influencers make all of the time is that they start off posting relatable content and build their audience. When they start building a following and making more money, they start to only post outfits that are head to toe in designer and snippets of the new lavish lifestyle they are living, which most of us would consider beyond our means, resulting in a drop off in engagement. They are no longer relatable!
Authenticity
Despite all of her brand deals and luxurious experiences, Alix is authentic in everything she does, and that’s what her followers appreciate. She is completely transparent about her life experiences and struggles with cystic acne and her anxiety, and has also spoken openly about any cosmetic treatments and procedures she has had done.
Most importantly, Alix isn’t afraid to remind her followers that social media is fake, and not everything she shares about her life is as perfect as it may seem. I’m sure you’ve heard your favourite influencer utter the words ‘social media is just a highlights reel’ but Alix takes this phrase to a new meaning. Alix gets into the nitty gritty of how social media isn’t a realistic representation of someone’s life, and shows before and after videos of how she used to conceal her acne with makeup and admitting she used to use editing apps to change her appearance. Influencers take note – admitting to this is being authentic!
Consistency
As we have seen over and over again with influencer marketing, the key to success is consistency. At this stage, Alix knows what content her followers want to see from her – she plays to her strengths with her main content consisting of GRWM, outfit videos and vlogs/day in the life content.
While you can know your niche, you need to make the most of it to succeed. Alix is the perfect example of consistency. You can be sure that every night she goes out there will be a GRWM posted in live time on her TikTok account, and when attending the high-profile events we could only dream of being invited to, she is posting live from there. She consistently engages with her audience and interacts with them regularly – you will never see the comment section of her videos not have replies from her to multiple followers.
She also consistently speaks to the camera, allowing her to successfully engage with her audience and build a parasocial rapport with them – making them feel like they’re one of her gang!
#WWAED
Alix is so popular, that we have even seen hashtags trending and merchandise created with ‘What Would Alix Earle Do?’.
One thing she does well, that is a key contributing factor to her success, is that she uses her platform for good. As well as raising awareness about acne and anxiety on her platform, Alix is also giving back to her community.
After graduating from the University of Miami this year, a place which she acknowledges has played a crucial role in her journey so far, Alix has established a scholarship in her name which she is funding to provide significant financial assistance to outstanding students in the field of business – Impressive right?
Alix’s relatability, authenticity and consistency is what is keeping her at the top of the game. She hasn’t let the fame and status go to her head – and it shows. Having joined Alex Cooper’s new Unwell network, she now has an even more elevated platform and appears destined for new heights.
Next week, she launches her new podcast, ‘Hot Mess with Alix Earle’.
Will you be tuning in? I know I will!
Mary
Mary O’Mahony is an Account Manager with Fuzion, a full service Brand Communications agency operating from offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland
