At just 21 years old, social media influencer Lois White has already created quite a name for herself; with over 19,000 followers on Instagram.
Starting off on Twitter to grow her following, Lois’ accounts began to grow in popularity as her fashion related posts took off – gaining her a solid number of followers who continuously engage with her content.
She officially kickstarted her influencing career when she switched her Instagram into more of a clothing account, around two years ago when she began working with a clothing boutique in Dunfermline and created regular posts for them.
From then on, she began to realise that her account was growing when more companies were approaching her; and seemed to take a big interest in her content. Equally, she also noticed how the engagement with her posts was growing, as the number of direct messages which she received began to increase day by day.
On the topic of fashion and styling, Lois recalls how it’s always been one of the most important things to her, as well as her biggest interest – apart from dogs!
Speaking about how she grew a following on her various platforms, Lois says: “I think I’m just super common and relatable, and people like that! I post pretty regularly too which is more attractive to a follower.”
“I guess you either have to work hard or you’re lucky and people just immediately take to you. For me it was the latter and I think people like how often I post and how engaged I am with my followers.”
“I also try to reply to all of my DMs and take at least an hour out of my day to give people advice on things – ranging from skincare to what they should wear on their birthday, to how they should deal with a break up. It’s a lot of fun and I feel very honoured to be in this position.”
For many companies looking to spread their content, influencers like Lois are vital marketing tools when it comes to advertising products. For this reason, many brands have introduced “brand deals” exclusively for influencers and their followers, in order to encourage sales.
For a girl passionate about fashion, Lois notes how the collaborations which she gets offered are perfect for her. “For clothing I usually get free clothes in exchange for a post, which is perfect for me who used to go shopping literally every week!”
“For skincare and teeth whitening products I’ve often been gifted them in exchange for posts, and also get given the chance to earn off of them if buyers use my code at checkout which is class! When it comes to events, I’m usually gifted with tickets to whatever it is in exchange for a post and a story, and to just generally hype it over my profiles.”
However, as well as being an influencer and running her own social media accounts, Lois also works full time at a restaurant as an extra source of income. Reflecting on her job, Lois says: “I know it’s not very glamorous but I work long hours, so whilst being full time I only work 4 days a week which gives me a lot of time to work on myself and side ventures.”
In addition to working full time, Lois also uses fast-growing app “Depop” to sell on her old clothes, where she stresses the importance of styling your pictures tactically, in order to be attractive to your followers:
“People usually want to buy things because they’ve seen you in it and wouldn’t necessarily have liked it on a mannequin. Items you’re selling are best posted as a full outfit rather than (for example) selling a bodysuit and posting a picture of you in it and nothing else – people like inspiration!”
In terms of advice for future influencers, or anyone reading this who fancies giving the influencing lifestyle a try, Lois has a few key pointers which she feels are the most important when aiming to make your accounts a success.
Her main piece of advice is to be as active as possible: “People find it easier to follow an account if it’s forever flowing, and also has a life story to follow.”
However, she also highlights the importance of tagging your outfits in each post: “There’s this stupid stigma around tagging clothes that weren’t sent to you and it being “embarrassing” but I don’t get all of my clothes sent to me for free, and I still tag them so I don’t have to reply to 10 different messages asking me where I got my jeans from.”
Despite getting gifted many outfits, Lois emphasises how she’s just like everyone else, and still loves shopping for her own signature items. When asked what her go-to brands are for new outfit inspiration, Lois says:
“Nasty gal forever, my funkiest fits are always from there. I love my gals at iKrush too, everything I’ve had sent from them has been an absolute staple item of my wardrobe. Zara usually have some unreal one-off pieces too!”
Bringing the interview to a close, she also notes how she couldn’t live without her Balenciaga’s: “They literally go with everything I wear. Spice girl vibes all day every day. Big chunky trainers will live on forever.”
Although to many people being a social media influencer may look like an easy job, it’s clear that Lois’ passion for styling is a main contributor towards her success.
If you’re going to be putting a lot of time and effort into something, like building your own personal identity brand through social media, it’s imperative that you’re driven and enthusiastic about the content you’re sharing – something which is clearly evident on each and every one of Lois’ platforms.
Looking towards the future, the list of opportunities for Lois appear endless, and it’s definitely looking bright.
You can find Lois over on twitter with the handle “@dropdeadlois” or Instagram at “@alltimelois.”
Lucy Pearson 