How I use social media influence to give back to the community
By: Sander Jennings
Tags: Influencers, Influence, Humanitarian, Influencer Marketing

Back in 2015, my family began starring on a reality TV show called I am Jazz on TLC. Once the show aired, I began to gain a large following across all social media platforms. On the show, I serve as a supportive brother to my transgender sister, Jazz Jennings, so that was initially the foundation of my brand.

More recently, I recognized that my story was important and that sharing my passions, beliefs, and experiences could inspire and help even more people. I realized I was so much more than just a supportive brother, but I was also a passionate humanitarian, creative strategist, and an outgoing guy. Therefore, I began to be more active across platforms and shared the daily occurrences in my life. Since starting to dive deeper into my personal experiences, I have doubled my following and inspired many more people than I ever thought I could.

Business Goals

Now that I have grown my following to over 120,000+ people, I use my platform to share powerful messages, give back to the community, and inspire others to be their authentic selves. The first goal of my brand is to create meaningful partnerships with brands. As an influencer, digital strategist, and creator, I recognize the importance of only entering into partnerships that will benefit both the brand and me. Going forward, I aim to find or be found by brands and create strong campaigns that promote inclusion, diversity, and the product they want to be promoted. Secondly, I want to use my platform to help others. I am involved in many organizations that raise money for people who need it most. For example, recently, I used my social presence to raise $11,500 for children born with incurable diseases. I went live on Instagram for a week straight and shared my personal stories to encourage my followers to donate to the cause.

Lastly, I have created my website and begun to release products that promote my brand message of being an ally to all. I hope to spark social change through my products and donate some of the proceeds to charity. These business goals will help me continue to build my brand and serve as a role model for many.

Social Goals

People are drawn into following people who can provide them value. Just like a business hopes to provide value, I want all of my followers to look forward to the messages and experiences I am always sharing. My social strategy is to have people resonate with my content and share it with others that they believe it will help. One major thing I am going to focus on in 2020 is to try to seek more directly to my current target audience, which consists of many LGBTQ+ individuals, specifically women. The messages I will spread to them will be to encourage them to share my content with their ally friends. In doing so, I will be able to leverage my audience to try and reach the family and friends of LGBTQ+ people. I will measure the success of my social strategy through the engagement (likes and comments) on my posts, the number of replies or direct messages I am receiving and the number of shares my posts receive. As I begin to produce more inspirational content related to being an ally, I hope to see an increase in all of these key performance metrics.

Let’s change the world

I want to make the world a better place and continue to help people. Through my business and social goals, I know I will continue to change the world. If you would like to work with me or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to @sander_54 on Instagram or to my e-mail sanderjennings@gmail.com.