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Who is Isabella Ferregur?
Isabella Ferregur is a 22-year old TikTok star and social media content creator. Born in Mexico City but raised in San Diego, CA, she has 1.2 million TikTok followers, over 45 million TikTok likes and more than 65,000 Instagram followers. Isabella has been in multiple commercials and plays. She spends her time between Los Angeles and San Diego, CA.
Isabella Ferregur was born in Mexico City and moved to the United States at a young age. She was always interested in a career in entertainment but it was not until TikTok came along that things really took off for her.
“I downloaded the app and tried posting a couple of videos but they completely flopped because I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just putting out random content hoping that it would stick.”
She took a break for about a year before trying her luck again.
“I started making little blogs at my workplace. I was working at a lagoon, renting out boats and kayaks, and I just kind of started logging my days. And then I posted one particular video and then two weeks later, I woke up and it got 100,000 views overnight. So I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! I knew there was potential. I knew it could work!’. So I just started making videos every single day. The same log style content. And that’s what ended up getting me my first 300,000 followers on TikTok and getting my name out there.”
Her TikTok followers range between ages 15 to 27 and are split 50-50 between men and women. She’s big on humor.
“Whenever I post, I just use my sense of humor in the way that I think things are funny. And in my head I’m like, ‘This’ll reach the right people who also think this will be funny’. And usually that’s what ends up happening. My best performing videos are in comedy style.”
Brand Collaborations
It took a year and a half of posting content before Isabella received her first payment.
“The first brand I got paid for was a phone case company. And they paid me virtually nothing but at the time I was so excited because I was just making videos and putting them out every single day and wasn’t getting paid at all.”
A collab with Coach has been her most memorable so far.
“They wanted a nostalgic video that was showing off the bag but encapsulated that whole vintage vibe. They gave me a lot of freedom in what to do. And I really love making cinematic, artsy vibe videos. And that’s what they were looking for. So what I did for them is I went to the train station and I just made a little compilation of me dressed up all vintage, walking around with the bag and it came out really cool. That video has almost a million views.”
She weighs several factors before collaborating with a brand on a campaign.
“I try to make sure that it’s in alignment with what I stand for and my brand. I look for the vibe of the campaign, what they’re looking for, if it’s a brand that I genuinely like and if it’s something that I’m willing to promote.”
To gauge a campaign’s success, Isabella goes beyond quantitative metrics.
“The numbers don’t lie but beyond that, it’s important to me what the brand thinks of it. So if I make the video and I send it to them and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh! Yes! We love it!’. Then I feel like I did my job right. Their opinions matter to me and obviously the opinions of my followers.”
She’s usually paid a flat rate and not one pegged on performance such as the number of views.
The Value of Good Management
Working with a manager has proven vital for Isabella.
“It was starting to become overwhelming because a lot of brands were reaching out to me. I just wouldn’t even answer because I didn’t know what to say or how to approach it or how any of it worked. So now, thankfully I have my manager to work all that out for me. I have my Whalar email on my bio. So people that want to work with me will reach out there and all those emails go directly to him.”
Since she signed with the influencer agency Whalar, she has worked with notable brands including Coach, Nordstrom and Fenty Beauty. Isabella has even collabed three times with Warner Bros over the last six months in promoting movies such as King Richard and The Batman.
“I think the only brand that I really worked with before signing with Whalar was Spotify. It’s easier now that I have a support system helping me reach out to brands and telling them my rates and stuff. Before I was so lost in that aspect, I had no idea what to tell people when they approached me or how to approach people at all. So it’s definitely changed the whole game for me.”
Working with Whalar has been a different experience when compared to her previous managers.
“I feel like they actually care about my career and me taking the right steps to getting to where I want to go. And they’re just so supportive and always sending things out for me and doing things in the best interest for me. It’s everything I’ve wanted in management.”
Familia Fuego Project
Isabella is one of the five leading influencers chosen for the all-Latino TikTok content house Familia Fuego. The other members are Alexia del Valle, Monica Villa, Jesus Zapien and Leo González.
“DirecTV moved us into a house in the Hollywood Hills for six months starting September 2021. And we basically got to collaborate with each other. And we got to make lots of funny comedy videos. Everyone in the house pretty much does comedy style videos. It was a really cool experience and we are still going to be collaborating. We just aren’t living under the same roof now. We are planning a trip to Miami, so that’ll be very exciting.”
The genuine connection between the five creators makes Familia Fuego different, Isabella says.
“I’ve gone to so many different content houses. And you walk in and the vibe is off. Something feels weird. With them, everyone was so welcoming. And I think it’s because of the way we grew up, you know. We’re all Latino to an extent. So it was really easy for us to connect in that way. I think all of our audiences are different for the most part so it was interesting to see how all of those audiences mesh together when we meshed together.”
Her most fun time on the show was when recording ‘Fuego Shore’ episodes.
“We did a mock reality show based on Jersey Shore. And we would just laugh the entire time recording and would do crazy things while putting those videos together and seeing how much our audience enjoyed watching them.”
The show is on TikToK and Instagram.
Advice for Brands and Creators
Isabella would want brands to yield more creative freedom.
“When brands try to make you do something completely different than what your audience resonates with, the video isn’t going to perform as well as it could. So it’s frustrating because there’s potential there but you feel locked in a box because they want you to do certain things that you just know won’t do well. But at the end of the day, you have to listen to the brand because they’re the one paying you and they know what they want. I think it would be beneficial for brands to understand that creators know their audience and know what people want to see.”
For small and budding creators, consistency is key.
“Don’t get discouraged. Even if you’re not seeing the results immediately, that’s totally fine. Some people have to work harder than others to become successful and that’s totally fine.”
Future Plans
Isabella has major plans for the short to medium-term.
First, she is looking forward to delving into more traditional parts of the entertainment industry like film and acting.
“This year, I’m just trying to focus more on my acting. Hopefully, I’m going to get a real agent to help me take those steps. I would love to work with Warner Bros on bigger projects like film and stuff.”
Second, whereas she’s mainly active on TikTok and Instagram, she’s planning on doing content for YouTube as well.
“This year, I would definitely want to hone in more on YouTube because I feel like I do better with long form content in general. I like having time to dive deep into things. So yeah, this year I’m really going to be trying to stick to my YouTube and be consistent on that platform in the way that I was consistent on TikTok. I have a lot of cool ideas coming up. My ghost hunting videos are finally coming this year so you can find those on YouTube and TikTok.”
“That’s my favorite brand right now. So if you’re reading this Marc Jacobs, you know who to call.”
Karina Gandola was born and raised outside the city of Charleston, in the beautiful mountain state of West Virginia. Karina loves writing about the influencer marketing space and an area she is passionate about. She considers her faith and family to be most important to her. If she isn’t spending time with her friends and family, you can almost always find her around her sweet yellow Labrador retriever, Poshna.
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