Who: Cristina Magallon?
What: SOCIAL INFLUENCER | MARKETER
“I was new in UAE four years ago and no one wanted to work with me despite my expertise in social media. That is understandable because social proof is essential to get your name out there. So I started UAE DNA www.uaedna.com where I wrote about people – just people in UAE. Businessmen, game changers, influencers, high net profiles, chefs, or anyone who has an interesting story to tell. I grew this website and created a social media following of 200,000 on my combined social media platforms the biggest of which is LinkedIn with 91,000 followers and Twitter with 90,000 plus followers.
“I was very lucky to have a mentor who told me to focus mainly on LinkedIn if I want to establish myself as a thought leader on social media and on two social media platforms that I can dominate. Just two. I learned and studied LinkedIn and Twitter, two platforms that are business focused and it paid off. Aside from publishing business stories, I would publish anything I learned about social media for FREE and people started following and asking questions on how they too could develop their social media presence both for business and for their personal online reputation.
“You have to give something of value so that people will follow you. What is it that you have that you can SHARE so that people will be interested in you – and will eventually follow you. That is the key, give something of value.
To build an online presence is essential to anyone who wants to move their careers. Recruiters first check for social proof and engagement for them to reach out for you to work for them.
I get a lot of job offers through LinkedIn. That’s how I got into Kensington Exclusive Properties.
I still have UAE DNA and we are still moving people stories and doing business collaborations with brands.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Being called an “influencer” entails responsibilities. When brands approach you to work with them, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will just pay you to post their online campaigns. You become the brand ambassador when you sign with these brands, so you also have to protect their name especially when you are offline.
LinkedIn as a platform is totally different from Facebook and Instagram since LinkedIn is text base. People READ when they are on LinkedIn because professionals and high net individuals are on this platform, especially in UAE. If you know how to use LinkedIn, it is really a goldmine. You can literally pitch your ideas to a CEO or a decision maker through this platform
Almost all information is channeled through social media. Internet penetration rates are approaching 100% in a number of countries according to Digital Global Overview 2017 with the UAE taking top spot at 99%. That is 9.2 million users online with 88% using social media.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
Traditional industries will argue that influencers are not effective, and that consumers don’t want to be sold to by an influencer. As with every marketing tactic, it is only effective if done right. The challenge is to deliver an organic reach because anyone can boost an online campaign – that’s your engagement there. Who are you targeting that your followers will be interested in. On LinkedIn, will they read what you post? On Twitter, will they open that link?
The messenger matters, but the message needs to shine. When coming up with a creative strategy, the first step is identifying your core objective for using influencers like UAE DNA in the first place. Is it awareness? Is it to drive engagement? Is it sales? It can be hard to choose just one, but at the end of the day, what would allow you to gauge success.
CRISTINA ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LINKEDIN
Though not as popular as Facebook or Instagram, LinkedIn is by far one of the best social networking sites to reach out to and connect with the right business people. If used strategically, LinkedIn can help in the development and promotion of your personal brand. You can have interaction with your target audience, publicize your company and generate more leads and do more businesses by connecting with the right people.
In UAE with a population of 9.3 million, there are more than 3 million high net individuals on LinkedIn. Here’s the statistics:
*26,000 are CEO’s
*126,000 are Directors
*276,000 are Executives
*and a staggering 552,000 are Managers
It is a professionals site signing up at a rate of more than two new members per second. LinkedIn by far is the world’s largest ‘professional social network and an investment in this area is well worth it in the long run.
