What Does It Mean To Be An Influencer In New York These Days?

Tell us why we’re here tonight!
Charlotte: Basically we went to an event with Cogent, their first Under The Influence event. They told us they were putting together a book of influencers that represented a range of different followings. Sophia and I are definitely up-and-coming bloggers, and we were so honored to even be thought of. We only launched in 2016 so we’re still a young brand. We’re really happy to be partnering with a company like Cogent that’s so open to working with influencers and new opportunities. It’s refreshing to see people that are noticing younger brands.

What does it mean to be an influencer in New York?
Charlotte: It’s definitely something to be proud of. Sophie and I are really small but have grown so much. On the street, people will ask us if we’re “the girls from Yin 2 My Yang”. That’s still very new to us!

Sophie: It’s rewarding! When people DM me and tell me that I’ve changed the way they’ve dressed and have influenced their style, it’s an honor in a city like New York. It’s a competitive landscape here, but we bring something different because we’re sisters with such different styles. We do have opposite followings but in the best way, because our fans can relate to either one of us or both. It’s been nice for us to reach two audiences in this city.

Can you explain to me the difference between a micro and macro influencer?
Charlotte: We heard about this term from a few different marketing agencies, first being Cogent. Micro represents a range of 10k-100k followers which Sophie and I fall into. People are getting excited about micro influencers because for smaller and younger blogs like ours, we have the bandwidth to comment back on almost all posts and we respond to our DMs, which makes our content feel more accessible. As for the macro influencers, we’ve seen them and we don’t feel like they’re ahead of the game anymore. We want to be the girls that are looking for brands that no one really knows about that a fashionista wants to wear and one we want to get on everyone’s radar.

Sophie: Also, for the girls that don’t have the money to buy what the macro influencers are wearing like Chanel… not everyone can afford that, especially at our age. Micro influencers are more relatable, and we got lucky that we fell into this micro influencer “frenzy” because brands are paying attention to bloggers that have more authentic content with high engagement. It’s a great time in the influencer world to be a micro and it’s refreshing that people are becoming more receptive to it.

What’s your favorite place to grab a cocktail in the city?
Sophie: I love Dear Irving in Gramercy.
Charlotte: I’m completely biased because I used to live above it for a year, but Wilfie & Nell is still my favorite. Cute, close, and convenient.

[Photo courtesy Cogent]