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It probably comes as no surprise that the automotive industry is dominated by men. From auto body technicians to racecar drivers, the male presence in this field is impossible to ignore.
After releasing several case studies on how the iconic tire brand Michelin is approaching their influencer marketing, we wanted to highlight some of our favorite, world-wide female car-aficionado influencers.
Here are 7 female automotive influencers who stand out amongst the crowd:
The Luxury Car Super-Influencer:
Alexandra Hirschi aka SuperCarBlondie is probably the most widely-recognized female automotive influencer. She’s an Australian VIP influencer with over 7 million highly engaged followers world-wide, based in Dubai (but with a big US following!) Alex is known for posting videos and photos of insanely luxurious cars. Alex has her own TV show called “Car Crews” and is widely considered one of the most influential women in the Arab world (deemed #1 by Esquire in 2018.)
Her automotive content is pretty impressive: in the last 6 months she’s earned: 26.2M in engagement, 884M of video views and 688M of potential reach. Is she increasing the sales of the 13.2 million dollar Bugatti Centodieci? Who knows, but she’s definitely encouraging fellow car lovers to dream big.
The Teacher:
Patrice Banks is CEO of Girl’s Auto Clinic whose mission is to inspire women to repair their own cars. This started when she attempted to find a female mechanic online, and was instead directed to a series of stock images of women working on cars in bikinis. Despite having a successful career working for Dupont (a chemical company), she left to pursue work educating other women about the automotive industry. Her motto is “if you can’t find a female mechanic, become one!” Her Philadelphia clinic brilliantly provides mani/pedis while you wait for your car to be fixed. She inspires her 18k followers daily, and I highly recommend her TEDx Talk.
The Racer:
Sophia Floersch is a Germany-based racecar driver, a mid-tier influencer and a total badass. She communicates mainly in English, though her audience is 42% German. While Sophia describes herself as a “normal girl”, this 19 year old woman is incredibly accomplished. She is passionate about cars and is already a recognized athlete at such a young age.
Despite being in an industry dominated by men, Sophia is fearlessly feminine. She doesn’t shy away from posting photos on social media in makeup or swimsuits. In the last 6 months, people engaged with Sophia 2.74 million times, resulting in a healthy engagement rate of 4.5%-- if social media were a race, Sophia would definitely be winning.
The CrossFitter:
Crossfit Athlete Lauren Fisher has over one million followers, but she is so much more than a fitstagrammer. She’s a 7x CrossFit Games Athlete (a big deal) and one of the most popular fitness influencers on the internet. Despite this, she’s pretty selective about who she partners with-- averaging only one disclosed paid post per month.
Of the 33 times she’s mentioned #ad on her profile, 11 of those posts tagged Jeep-- clearly her favored partner. Jeep has a tendency to partner with professional athletes and adventurers, and we can’t think of someone who embodies that spirit more than Lauren.
The Drift Queen:
UK influencer Becky Evans is obsessed with cars, and has turned her passion into an impressive career. At just 26 years old, Becky has already spent two decades gaining experience in the automotive industry. Though her audience is 91.3% male (wow), her highest performing videos are actually geared towards women, with her “Girls Guide To ____” series, where she explains the pros and cons of various cars.
Her impressive social media career has led to a collaboration with Redbull and a gig as the host of the online show Drift Queen. It all started when Becky began posting photos of herself working on her vintage car. According to her, the internet was shocked to see a young girl with a vintage car. Her videos are cheeky, informative, and absolutely worth a watch. Though she’s still an up-and-coming mid-tier influencer, she has a 6% engagement rate, a strong UK + US following, and a bright career ahead of her.
The Adventurer:
Karen Ramos aka @naturechola is a Mexican travel influencer living in Santa Barbara. If you want to be painfully envious of someone else’s life, I highly recommend browsing her Instagram profile. Karen loves nature, camping, and splits her time between the beach and the mountains. Not a bad life. Therefore it probably comes as no surprise that she’s also a Honda partner.
Together with @hondalatino, Karen took a road trip around California that she documented on Instagram. She uses her platform to talk about mental health, racial bias and the environment. With a massive engagement rate of 12.5%, she has an exceptionally loyal following that makes her a dream partner for brands looking to work with micro influencers.
The Gamer:
As a Canadian gamer living in LA, Sonja Reid aka @OmgitsFireFoxx might be most famous for being a gaming influencer, but her passions aren’t limited to live streaming. Alongside her partnership with Twitch, Sonja collaborates on sponsored posts with Karma Automotive, a Southern California vehicle manufacturer. Her following consists mostly of single white men based in the United States, which isn’t particularly surprising given her expertise. Sonja was working in retail in 2013 when she joined Twitch.
In January 2014 she started partnering with the brand, and by that summer was able to quit her job to stream full time. By 2015, she became the most followed female user on the platform. In 2016, she was listed as Forbes’s 30 under 30. Now that she’s worth an estimated 16 million dollars, it makes perfect sense that her affinity for cars would evolve into another stream of online revenue.
For more premium automotive influencer marketing content, checkout our Michelin Case Study!
Photo by Steve Freling of Motor Oomph.