Written in partnership with Irina Proskurina
Lately, the talk behind influencers and influencing is that “anyone can do it” and “is it even a real job?”
Many media influencers post “day in the life” videos and vlogs and yet even those often shield away the truth behind the reality. But there is a person behind the lens— a team, even— and there are hours and ideas and collaborations that go into even a 20-second reel.
Influencers are the new marketers and the new public relations spokespeople for brands, including their own.
So, what’s the reality of this world?
Marina Mogilko, owner of the brands Linguatrip and Linguamarina which has over 17 million as a worldwide audience, is here to tell her story.
And it’s a special one at that.
Debunking Myths: The World Behind the Brand
Influencers like Marina don’t just post a couple photos by themselves.
Every post is a strategic asset to the overall vision of her brand as a California creator who keeps authentic communication between her and her followers, guiding them along her entrepreneurial journey as the very first venture-backed creator.
Working with a team of 40 people, Marina’s brand is growing by 350,000 new subscribers monthly and it’s because running her personal brand is essentially like running a business.
However, instead of products and services, she is giving users her content and ensuring each mode of this content is catered to a rich, niche community.
For example, Linguamarina is all about language-learning. This brand is all about sharing her story as a non-native English speaker as well as providing tips, advice and classes that can help others seamlessly learn English, all of which can be found on the Linguatrip website.
Next, she plants roots in another side to her: living in California, indulging in beauty, fashion, and lifestyle as a “Silicon Valley Girl”. Partnering with renowned brands across various sectors, she shares her with her followers the businesses shaping our world today with open-hearted, warm and relatable communication.
And finally, she opens up with her media communities about her lifestyle, fashion and penchant for the beauty industries, sharing behind the scenes of photoshoots like her recent modeling for the cover of Times Monaco.
In each and every community, Marina keeps her authenticity and dedication to sharing meaningful stories with followers. She has to ensure each collaboration matches the values and goals of her own brand.
It takes strategy, dedication and long hours to edit the content, brainstorm the content her followers need and want as well as find partnerships that project her voice in a collaborative tale.
It’s not an “anyone can do it”— it’s who can? Who is?
Value-Focused Content Creation
What many consumers behind the screens may want to know is not every account goes viral. If anyone were to open a new business account on social media— even if they used up all the 30 hashtags available for example— they’d find it hard to break through the audience and create content people would willingly not only follow but also engage with.
Marina took her life story of learning English as a new immigrant and becoming an entrepreneur in the saturated Silicon Valley and brought to life the fruits of her labor with value-focused content creation.
She applied her passions for beauty, fashion, lifestyle and business and found a select avenue for each to thrive in. Creating multiple channels for the niche communities she loves, she continuously works every day to ensure each and every post, real, video and collaboration reflects these passions and her values for inspiring, meaningful content.
“I want users who engage with my channels to feel they’ve watched my video and can walk away with a nugget of knowledge they didn’t know before or a feeling of inspiration for life they may have craved that day,” Marina said, openly. “With each and every piece of content I put out, I want followers to feel it makes a positive impact on their life. I want to help them feel seen and heard, as well as inspired to live the life they want!”
In this way, Marina has tirelessly proved that content-making isn’t just slapping a few photos together and adding a hashtag. It’s creating businesses, avenues, and channels that help and inspire people to continue coming back to her platform.
It is for this reason she has a whopping 1 billion views on Youtube, 220 million views on Instagram, 309 brand deals and a WIBA Award for the Best Influencer in Education won at the Cannes Film Festival 2023.
Indeed, whether it be setting up language courses that help other immigrants like her, sharing relatable reels about living in California, talking with cool well-known thought leaders about revenue streams— or sharing her passion for the fashion industries by working with popular companies — Marina keeps every business decision tied to her mission: to leave a meaningful mark on the world.
If you’d like to learn more about Marina Mogilko, be sure to visit https://marinamogilko.co/
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