The Top 7 Jewish Influencers
Before the smartphone age, complex and costly infrastructure was needed to broadcast media to the masses. For the most part, this reality allowed only a select few media behemoths that owned TV or radio assets to reach a large audience. With the adoption of the internet, the advent of smartphones, and the subsequent widespread use of social media, now, anyone and everyone with a phone can both speak their mind and reach the masses. What we have seen emerge from the increasing popularity and ubiquity of social media is the phenomenon known as “influencers.” These influencers often garner loyal and engaged audiences. In many cases, audiences are built via an influencer’s unique personality, dazzling food snaps, cosmopolitan style, or any other number of attributes.
With these engaged audiences, influencers have monetized their fan bases to the tune of pretty substantial dollar amounts. This should be of a little surprise, though, as marketers are willing to pay significant sums to gain exposure from the right influencer. The reason for this readiness to pay up is due to the returns that a properly sourced influencer can bring in. When the right influencer or group of influencers is chosen, results can indeed be glorious. Because of such effectiveness, close to 40% of marketers surveyed have dedicated budgets for influencer activity.
Since we are at what seems to be “peak influencer,” here, we overview our lineup of the top 7 Jewish influencers.
At least in the Jewish world, pretty much all influencing occurs on Instagram, so our lineup is of Instagrammers. But, increasingly, and to many influencers’ chagrin, engagement is shifting rapidly to the Stories feature of Instagram instead of the timeline.
Keep in mind that in the context of this discussion, we focus on the English-speaking segment of the broader Jewish influencer landscape. For example, many Jewish but Hebrew-speaking influencers in the Israeli market have significantly larger audience sizes than the listed influencers.
With that disclaimer behind us, keep in mind that we do not simply take the number of followers into account in our calculation. We go beyond that and may include engagement, influencer marketing campaign performance, and other data markers.
1) BusyInBrooklyn
103,000+ Followers
The number one is a chef! Well, maybe not in the sense that BIB has certifications or apprenticeships from the Michelin star, but she does cook up a true storm. Also, she came out with a cookbook titled Millenial Kosher that has a solid five stars out of close to 300 reviews on Amazon. This may just well be one of the most successful and lauded Jewish influencer-written cookbooks (Next in line is Miriam Pascal’s popular cookbook). Oh, and at least some brands she has worked with say she packs a strong performance when it comes to marketing campaigns. It should be of a limited surprise, though, as she brings a healthy 103,000+ engagement to the table.
2) Chez Chaya (Formerly Chef Chaya)
93,000+ Followers
Known as Chef Chaya until circa November 2019, the popular Jewish influencer has rebranded herself as Chez Chaya. It is unclear as to whether there is any deeper meaning behind “Chez” or simply that the “Chef” aspect was too limiting and perhaps even confusing to unassuming followers and potential clients. Though Chaya does post a pretty serving of food-focused media, it seems that such content has been giving way to an increasing amount of travel and general lifestyle themes. From our perspective, she was always closer to the generalized lifestyle influencer as opposed to a chef or food-focused one. With a follower count coming in at over 93,000, ChezChaya works with a pretty broad range of brands. She has conducted collaborations with Breakstone’s Butter on the food side of things as well as numerous local brick-and-mortar such as Jus by Julie. The one caveat with Chaya is that she chooses not to show her face. It is certainly unique for the influencer world, where looks play a significant role.
3) Flatbush Girl
63,000+ Followers
This girl from Flatbush is certainly unique. An outspoken voice who heralds feminism’s virtues among other societal critiques native to the Orthodox Jewish community, Flatbush Girl, has certainly caused controversy. At the same time, she has a following that believes she is on a virtuous crusade. She has worked with numerous brands, but she has mentioned that some of her critical viewpoints have caused friction with clients. Regardless, she certainly commands a substantial space in the world of Jewish influencers with her 63K+ following.
4) Kosher Guru
57,000+ Followers
The Kosher Guru is the happy-go-lucky influencer. Often found promoting neighborhood restaurants or some other local event, the KG is certainly an energetic and lively character. With glasses and fashion fit for well, I guess a guru, this influencer, is indeed unique. Plus, he has 57,000 plus followers. Sounds like an interesting character, indeed.
5) Mimu Maxi
52,000+ Followers
MimuMaxi is kind of a wildcard in this world of influencer marketing. In essence, this mother duo runs a women’s clothing shop and is not necessarily in the business of promoting other brands for profit. With that said, Mimi (one half of the duo), in particular, does discuss topics of personal importance to her that range from religion to pop culture, and I think Beyonce, too. So, in short, she seems to keep things quite interesting. This randomness seems to be working, as the gals are currently clocking in at 52,000+ in the fan department.
6) YeahThat’sKosher
58,000+ Followers
An OG of the kosher food and travel world, Dani of YeahThatsKosher (YTK) and an eponymous website have formed a multi-platform following. With over 58,000 followers on Instagram and a weekly mailing list, YTK commands the attention of kosher-conscious consumers and restaurateurs alike.
7) Naomi Nachman
47,000+ Followers
Like BusyInBrooklyn, Naomi Nachman (also going by “The Aussie Gourmet”) works at the intersection of cookbook author (& a Pesach Cookbook, too), food influencer, and travel connoisseur. With a following of just over 47K, Naomi is one of the smaller of the larger Jewish influencers. With that said, she reaches a unique demo and certainly adds a unique flair to the Jewish influencer marketing ecosystem.
Just The Beginning?
When it comes to influencer marketing in a Jewish context, we believe that we are just starting to explore what will likely be a dynamic mainstay of marketing and media.
With that said, we expect to see the natural patterns in terms of influencer longevity. After all, there is only so much time that an audience has where it can devote its attention to the ever-increasing roster of Jewish influencers. As more competitors (i.e., other influencers are, in essence, competition in such a concentrated and niche space) emerge, we anticipate some of the early players in the ecosystem to lose engagement. In turn, new influencers will capture share in the space. Based on our experience, strategic influencers who have their eye on staying power will balance the desire/need for revenue with the interest of keeping their current audience engaged and perhaps even growing it further.
With all this pontificating, here are two predictions we are pretty certain about. First, new Jewish influencers will emerge on the scene and capture the adoring attention of this market segment. Second, the Jewish influencer marketing ecosystem is highly dynamic and will continue to hold great potential for the right offerings. The key is understanding how to navigate the space in a strategic manner and avoid common pitfalls.
