Image Enhancement

Haley Pham

     Image is especially important for businesses and entities today for a variety of reasons. Because social media allows for information to travel extremely quickly one must work that much harder in order to make sure they have a positive image for audiences to consume. 

     When I think of an influencer that I think has an amazing image and has continued to build their image as they have grown older I think of Haley Pham. Haley Pham started out as a Youtuber and has now grown to be one of the top influencers in the nation. She began youtube when she was 9 years old back in 2010 and now has over 2 million youtube channel subscribers. Since beginning her Youtube channel, Haley has allowed her followers to see her grown up into an adult and experienced everything that she has gone through with her subscribers such as quitting dance, getting kicked out of high school, moving into her own apartment, and even getting married. Haley has not only stood as a role model for many children but has represented some who I aspire to be like. She is very close to her mom like I am so I feel like I can relate to her as well as being very transparent with everything she goes through and the questions she asks and how she wants to live her life. Haley has 2.24 million subscribers on youtube, 1.7 million followers on TikTok and 865 thousand followers on her Instagram. Haley since being on youtube has obtained a net worth of 3 million dollars. Her Youtube channel is mostly filled with vlogs and lifestyle videos along with reviews on brands and products. 

     The first video I watched of Haley’s was her trying different hair removal techniques and rating them. Watching this video made me recognize the infectious personality of Haley Pham, encouraging me to watch more videos of hers, including her unboxing videos, hauls, and makeup reviews. One factor that makes Haley stand out against other influencers is her ability to portray herself as a likable person in front of the camera. This is one thing that people who have developed good images do very well. While it’s impossible to know someone just based on watching them on a camera, what is true about being behind a camera  is that you can create whatever image and personality you want to. Having an advantage like this can either empower or destroy individuals depending on how they use the platform they have. In order for influencers to be successful, they have to know their audience as well. This is why many people try and niche in order to direct their content to a specific population therefore they aren’t trying to appeal to a large audience, risking disappointing a certain demographic. 

     Haley Pham has targeted her content to those who are around her age. When she was 12, just starting youtube, she targeted her content to other 12 year olds. Now being 20 years old Haley Pham is targeting her content to college-aged students in order to continue building her image and her brand. Because influencer marketing is so popular nowadays, it’s important in order for influencers to grow to create an image brands love and will want to work with. Julius Works discusses how what makes an influencer effective is “consistent quality engagement”. If influencers are not able to consistently grab the attention of their audience and stay up to date with popular trends along with knowing how to work the algorithm to their favor, they will not be successful. I personally think Haley Pham does this really well because while remaining mainly a youtuber, Haley Pham has moved to TikTok when TikTok got popular and further pushed her image on that platform instead of only trying to reach her audience on one platform. Additionally what this shows, is the versatility of the influencer. Because Haley has such a high following on both platforms, she has demonstrated that she is an extremely smart influencer and knows how to properly brand herself in a way that attracts following and positive media attention. Hayley has also partnered with many different brands like, Sephora, Fabletics, Care/of, and Amazon. While these are just  some of the brands she’s partnered with, Haley has worked with other brands doing paid partnerships as well as sponsorship opportunities as well. 

     Pham back in 2020 published a blog post titled, “Expert Social Media Advice for Growing Your Personal Brand,” and in it she lists a couple of tips to keep in mind for someone wanting to grow their own personal brand. She advises aspiring influencers to “narrow your social media focus”, describing that people should pursue what they’re best at, whether that be editing youtube videos or taking aesthetically pleasing pictures and posting them. Additionally Pham advises that people identify their value proportion, become someone they themselves want to follow as well as asking themselves if they are relatable or aspirational. By doing these things herself, Pham has found herself being one of the top influencers of today, earning an amazing image and a loyal band of followers behind her, supporting her.

     Haley Pham is one example of someone who has done a great job enhancing her public image to grow not only her Youtube career but her brand as a whole. Starting as a Youtuber to now having her own Podcast, over 1M followers on TikTok and over 850K followers on Instagram, she remains a prime model of what an aspiring influencer should strive to mirror.