Subhiksha Venkat is that friend from college whose clothes you want to steal. Her down-to-earth attitude particularly comes off in her posts and fashion. She knows what looks good on her, what her audience likes, and creates Instagram inspiration for her followers.
The start of blogging – humble beginnings
Subhiksha was in college when she started food blogging. “I started writing reviews frequently on Zomato and made it a habit to post the same on Instagram as well. This got me a lot of followers initially. Later, I also diversified the content and got myself involved in fashion. It’s now been 4 years since I started posting on Instagram.”
It was an organic follower rise for her. Subhiksha still has a full-time job as at a food consultancy agency. Gaining some expertise on food, she also talks about juggling between the two jobs.
What works with her audience?
Right from the start, people have addressed me as the girl-next-door since I tend to keep my vibe relatable to the followers. I ensure that my profile is like any other friend’s but I keep my audience engaged. My followers are some of my closest friends – they can call me out on what works and what doesn’t work for me.
Content and brands
I keep that in mind when brands approach me for a campaign collaboration as well. My brand content is also very natural. For example, the AVT video is one of my favorites. Apart from talking about the product itself, I added a twist in the video – it is very important for me to put up authentic content out there. It is important to remember why your audience likes you in the first place – always had to adhere to that. I suggest brands take that into consideration too.
A post shared by Subhiksha Venkat (@subhikshavenkat) on Jan 7, 2020 at 5:30am PST
There have been a lot of missed opportunities also because of this. If brands have extreme restrictions in terms of content production and curb influencer freedom completely, the audience will know as well. Everyone has their unique sense of writing and talking and it comes through on social media as well. If you see my profile, it is riddled with Tamil words and Chennai lingo not only because my audience responds to it, but that is naturally how I talk in real life.
Hard work behind the job
Since I juggle between my job and being a blogger, I only have early mornings and weekends to work on content. The professional setting for photography is especially hard – getting the right light with the time constraint is tough.
Influencers are also constantly on watch and the content we put out is for the whole world to see. Well, a bad day at work is never private for us. One wrong move and we are under public’s eye for constant judgment. I will also not deny the glamor and the satisfaction that comes with the job – we do enjoy the parties and have also turned my passion into a career.
COVID19 impact on brands and influencer marketing
The brands have definitely started to cut down the number of campaigns. So, I create as much content as I can from home and the response from the audience is more than usual. I am completely focussing on them by doing live sessions and interacting with my audience. This pause mode is helping me gain insights into what my audience actually wants.
Outside her fashionable role
Back when I was 11, I saw High School Musical and got really obsessed with singing and playing the guitar. I bought one back then. But 14 yrs later, here I am finally learning from scratch. This takes up 2 hrs of my day which I really job and keeps me completely relaxed.
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