The power of social media: How Nadia Jaftha built her brand
“Be
patient, be consistent and believe in your vision,” says influencer Nadia Jaftha about making it big as a blogger.
Listen as Newswatch Journalist, Jarryd Subroyen chats to Nadia Jaftha about what it means to be a social media influencer, or read the details under the podcast.
Social media influencer Nadia Jaftha is one of South Africa’s most successful influencers. The Cape Town beauty has been making a living off social media for the past several years.
Nadia is known for her fashion blog, Birdline Blog, and funny Instagram videos.
She calls herself the “content queen” and her more than 200,000 Instagram followers could not agree more.
Brands are lining up to work with the influencer in the hopes of getting their products noticed by her loyal followers.
Nadia recently launched her own shoe line with Slay Shoes.
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“With Nadia being South Africa’s top influencer and trending in the fashion industry, it made perfect sense for us as a brand to collaborate with her on this campaign,” Slay Shoes owner Zahraa Lorgat told Cosmopolitan SA.
Nadia is proof that making a living solely on social media is possible.
She has built a name for herself and has become so famous she now counts celebrities like Pearl Thusi and DJ Zinhle as her friends.
Her social media journey started when she decided to take a gap year after completing her a degree at UCT in film, art and media studies. She qualified for a scholarship at the New York Film Academy to do her master’s but opted to take a gap year.
“I started doing social media during my gap year as just a way to pass the time. I started a clothing line and I would just do social media on the side. Then I started pranking videos… and it kind of took off from there,” she says.
Nadia may have started as a fashion blogger but her funny Instagram and YouTube videos keep her audience glued to her social media profiles.
Her mother Nawal Jaftha has become a star in her own right thank to the hilarious pranks they pulled on each other.
Nadia says her family is used to pranking each other, which made it easy for her to create videos.
“With my mother, we have that organic relationship, where we prank each other all the time… It was quite easy because we had that relationship already.”
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But she says she couldn’t prank her mother every day because she did not want to give her a heart attack.
Nadia started creating new material about humourous everyday life experiences that her audience can relate to.
Nadia comes across as a confident person, but she says she is quite shy.
“It’s just a switch that I turn on. When I know that I have to do something I kind of have to prepare myself mentally… I become a completely different person. There are two sides to me, I can be extremely extroverted and introverted – depends on the situation.”
She hasn’t given up on her dream of becoming an actress and hopefully we will get to see Nadia on our screens.
“I always knew I wanted to be on some sort of platform… Initially, I wanted to be a movie actress – that’s what I studied. That has always been my dream. It is still my dream.”
She also showed off her vocal skills earlier this year when she released her debut single, ‘Paradise’.
What next for Nadia? Brands are lining up to collaborate with her and the future is looking bright for the Capetonian
“I am working on something quite exciting, but I can’t mention anything… But you will be seeing me around,” she hints.
The social media influencer industry is saturated with just about everyone from your neighbour to your mom’s best friend blogging, but Nadia says those who are serious about being bloggers should not give up.
“Don’t be discouraged if you are not seeing results immediately… because it does take time especially if you are working towards a life goal or a dream. Be patient, be consistent and believe in."