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Key Lifestyle Influencers In The Craft Candy Industry
Nine influencers from Texas with over 15,000 followers on Instagram, who have promoted sweets/dessert brands in the past, or are likely to do so, include, but are not limited to, @TheSweetWanderlust and @BlondesWhoEat. Please read on for our findings and methodology.
FINDINGS
Brittany Kulick, @TheSweetWanderlust 
- Followers: 16.1k 
- Category: Lifestyle, Dessert, Food, Travel
- Biography: "The Sweet Wanderlust is... for people with a sweet tooth and a taste for adventure. Chief wanderer and dessert-eater, Brittany Kulick, has visited 58 countries and is passionate about sharing unique activities, delicious desserts and epic itineraries as she travels." Originally from Dallas, Texas. Approximately 73% of followers are women. Most are between the ages of 18 and 34. Has done paid partnerships with The Dessert Museum.
- Prices: Paid posts starting at $100 
Tanna, @CollartoCollar 
Candace Hampton, @thebeautybeau 
- Followers: 593k 
- Category: Lifestyle, Fashion, Food and Drink 
- Biography: Lifestyle and Fashion influencer, businesswoman, and blogger living in Dallas, Texas. 76% of her followers are female; the majority between the ages of 18-34. She has done a past partnership with Sour Punch Candy.
- Prices: Paid posts starting at $1,500 
Kileen, @cutenlittle 
- Followers: 82.4K 
- Category: Lifestyle, Fashion, Beauty 
- Biography: Mother, blogger, and "petite fashion" connoisseur based in Dallas, Texas. 67% of her followers are female, the majority between the ages of 18-34. She has done past paid partnerships with Nothing Bundt Cakes .
- Prices: Paid posts starting at $500 
 @BlondesWhoEat 
- Followers: 85.7K 
- Category: Food, Lifestyle 
- Biography: Two women from the Dallas, Texas area posting about area (and national) restaurants and food. 63% of their followers are women, 68% are located in the United States. The majority of followers are between the ages of 18 and 34. The majority of their paid partnerships are with food brands. Several dessert brands, such as HaloTop Ice Cream and Unbaked Ice cream, feature in their Instagram posts.
- Prices: Paid posts starting at $600 
Meg Maley, @MegMaley 
- Followers: 84.3K 
- Category: Beauty, Lifestyle, Fashion 
- Biography: Quirky lifestyle influencer and former reality TV star on the 17th season of CBS's Big Brother, living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. 88% of her followers are from the United States, and 71% are women. Most followers are between the ages of 18-34. Although Meg has not done paid advertisements with a dessert or candy company, she has done a past paid partnership with Graze.com.
- Prices: Unavailable  
Janene Crossley, @janenecrossley 
- Followers: 287k 
- Category: Family, Lifestyle, Fashion, Home  
- Biography: A wife and mother home and lifestyle blogger living in Dallas, Texas. 93% of her followers are female, and the majority are between the ages of 18 and 34. Although she mostly posts family fashion, she does have a section of her saved stories dedicated to "Dallas Eats." She has done a paid past partnership with Bai drinks.
- Prices: Paid posts starting at $200 
Jane Ko, @ATasteOfKoko 
- Followers: 62.9k 
- Category: Food and Drink
- Biography: "Austin's top food and travel blogger. Official restaurant expert for Visit Austin TX." 81% of her followers are from the United States, 37% are from Austin Texas, and 77% are women. She has done past paid partnerships with a number of food and drink companies.
- Prices: Unavailable  
Kristin, @FoodFash 
- Followers: 22.7k  
- Category: Food, Travel 
- Biography: "FoodFash documents adventures in the kitchen and beyond, sharing whole food recipes, restaurant experiences, and blurbs about travel, fashion, and music." Kristin is based in Austin, Texas. 70% of her followers are women, 55% are from the United States, and 11% are from Austin. She has done a number of food and drink partnerships, including ice cream company NadaMoo!.
- Prices: Paid posts starting at $200 
RESEARCH STRATEGY
We began our search by first attempting to identify the type of person who is most likely to purchase "craft" toffee, in order to determine the influencers that would best "match." After searching through trusted media and research sites, as well as third party market sites, we were unable to locate information directly related to the demographics of toffee purchasing. We then expanded to general candy purchasing demographics. We were unable to find statistics directly analyzing purchasing behavior, however, we were able to locate some scholarly articles that suggested that women crave sweets, particularly candy and chocolates, at a much higher rate than men. As well, children between the ages of two and 18, on any given day, were more likely to have consumed candy than adults. Therefore, based on this information, we made the assumption that women were generally more likely to purchase candy over men. We hypothesized further that because children eat candy more often than any other age group, that women with children would also be more likely to purchase candy, as there is a greater demand. Anecdotally, this makes sense, as most advertisement for sweets and candy is geared towards women and children.
In attempting to identify the "best" and "key" influencers whose audiences would resonate with craft caramel and toffees, we applied several criteria. Firstly, as the research criteria requested, we focused on influencers located in or originally from Texas and with follower counts of 15,000 people or more. We also analyzed these influencers's past paid partnerships, and prioritized those influencers who had done paid partnerships or collaborations with other sweets and dessert companies. If they did not have paid partnerships with sweets and dessert companies, we expanded the reach to paid partnerships with food companies in general. In order to narrow down the list of likely successful lifestyle influencers, we prioritized women and women with children. We also attempted to present a broad range of influencers, in terms of price points for paid partnerships (when this information was available) and follower count.
We searched through both Instagram and LinkedIn for influencers that met our criteria. However, we found that the best matching candidates were on Instagram. This is likely because LinkedIn is not an influencer-heavy social media platform, and is mostly used for corporate and business engagements, and less for lifestyle and blogging. Therefore, all the influencers presented in this brief are Instagram-focused.