Now Following in HK: Influencer Smilingboris

There are several types of influencers in Hong Kong. The most popular influencers often boast more than 200,000 followers, and can be classified as top stars in the world of social. Given the increase in investments when it comes to influencer marketing, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to several notable influencers in Hong Kong to find out more about their journey, their experiences working with brands and how they build up a following. 

Smilingboris (笑波子) is one of Hong Kong's most popular influencers, and most recently collaborated with McDonald's Hong Kong to make coffee for fans and customers. The influencer was seen promoting a new line of beverages for the brand, which drew in crowds to McD's stores. He wrote, “I have been drinking a lot of coffee since I was young, but this is my first time to craft specialty coffee [...] I will fulfill my responsibility to craft every beverage for all of you.”

McDonald’s Hong Kong said the event received positive results. It gained more than three million impressions, over one million reach and 80,000 engagements for all related social posts. Special drinks namely Iced Ovaltine Bubble Latte and Iced Uji Matcha Bubble Latte were promoted by the influencer who wrote that customers visiting the store at Admiralty would also stand a chance to win a special prize. After the event day, smilingboris published another post to conclude the event. He wrote, “I was so happy to craft three beverages in a short period of time. If you didn’t have a chance to try the products, please go to McCafe to order one.”The young star started producing videos on YouTube in 2012, and today, easily boasts over 914,000 subscribers on the platform. He also runs his content on Instagram, where he has more than 228,000 followers and over 157,000 followers on Facebook. 

On YouTube, he describes himself as a "boring" person but hopes to make people happy and smile. In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, he shared that he produced a wide variety of content at the very beginning, including fun and interesting lifestyle content as well as tutorials. However, evolving with the times we live in, from 2020 onwards he produced more content about staycations in the city, riding on the popularity of domestic travel nowadays to stay relevant to the audience. 

Asia is contributing some of the best social media work in today's marketing and as such, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE is pleased to present Hashtag Asia to you. As Asia’s first dedicated social media award show, Hashtag Asia seeks to honor and recognise the best social media work from Asia.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: When and how did you start out as an influencer?

Smilingboris: In 2012, I started uploading videos to YouTube. In the beginning, I just produced fun content as I believed that watching such materials can help people relax and be happy. I also challenged myself to produce different content and tried a wide variety of topics, including gaming and trending topics in town.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: How would you describe your followers and what do you do to strike a connection with your followers?

Smilingboris: My followers span across different generations and are from all walks of life. Even children, housewives and the working class are my followers. I produce fun content to meet their appetite as this approach is essential to forging relationships with them. I usually call my followers "friends of Boris" (波友). It's a close community and we support each other.

amp;list=PLOOHaug3F2YzP5vMkCm-J5yFII1QhbOef&index=16

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Which social media platform is your favourite?

Smilingboris: I use Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. At the very beginning of my career as an influencer, I uploaded videos on YouTube and this has become my favourite platform. I use YouTube to work and relax. It offers me "positive energy" and helps me go through the ups and downs over the years. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What are some of the challenges of being an influencer in Hong Kong? Any changes you have witnessed  over the years?

Smilingboris: We need to keep producing appealing content to engage the audience as there are a lot of key opinion customers (KOCs) joining the industry. Our content needs to be more appealing and diverse, while we have to produce and roll out the content fast. Also, the number of Cantonese-speaking audiences is not as high as that of the mandarin-speaking community, which hampers our growth. To tackle this issue, I decided to add Chinese subtitles in the videos, enabling non-Cantonese-speaking audiences, mainly from Taiwan and Malaysia, to understand what I am talking about. 

To me, producing videos is my lifestyle and I don't consider it as a job.

I am doing what I am interested in and I haven't witnessed many changes over the years. As an influencer, I understand my followers' and audiences' appetites, and I always advise brands that I can bridge the gap between the audience and them. Although brands demand the best promotion and exposure, I in return offer useful suggestions to help them engage the audience. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What is your favourite brand assignment?

Smilingboris: I like the recent collaboration with McDonald's Hong Kong. The event allowed me to interact with fans and followers. The interaction was memorable and I could try some new things and challenge myself.

amp;t=470s


MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What should clients take note of when working with influencers?

Smilingboris: Brands need to know the strength of influencers, what they are good at, as well as their expertise. Also, they need to understand the audience's preferences.

On the other hand, influencers can challenge themselves to work with different brands that they may not be familiar with, or industries that they have little knowledge of it. For example, I have never tried to brew a cup of coffee before, but the collaboration with McDonald's Hong King enabled me to have more exposure.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What’s next for you?

Smilingboris: After the pandemic, I hope to produce videos about travel. Right now I can only roll out content about staycations. I also hope to have one million followers on YouTube by the end of this year. If successful, I will try bungee jumping to thank my followers!

Asia is contributing some of the best social media work in today's marketing and as such, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE is pleased to present Hashtag Asia to you. As Asia’s first dedicated social media award show, Hashtag Asia seeks to honor and recognise the best social media work from Asia.

Related articles
Now Following in HK: Samson Law content creator of TechiCardia