Now Following in HK: Samson Law content creator of TechiCardia  

Influencer marketing campaigns have seen a steady growth in Hong Kong, and it is showing no signs of slowing down.  In Hong Kong, about 45.67% of influencers use Instagram to run campaigns, and 30.25% used Facebook. Currently, only 21.83% of Hong Kong influencers went for YouTube as their desired content channel and winning audiences over is Samson Law who he started his YouTube channel TechiCardia  two years ago. Given the increase in investments when it comes to influencer marketing, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to some rising influencers in Hong Kong to find out more about their journey, their experiences working with brands and how they build up a following. 

Law says in a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that being an influencer was never on his radar, and especially not when he first started up his YouTube channel two years ago. But today, Law has over 35.4k subscribers on his YouTube channel alone.

However, when he realised that his content had an impact on viewers, Law started upgrading his equipments, skills and knowledge to provide as much information and useful perspectives to the audience as possible.  

In addition to being a tech influencer, Law is also a medical student which might come as a surprise to som. Commenting on balancing both parts of his life, he shares, "Sometimes I feel like I am working two full-time commitments. Besides YouTube, Law also has a presence on Instagram, Facebook and MeWe where he has built up a reputation for assembling custom-built computers, gadgets and tech, making him of the rising influencers in the tech sector in Hong Kong. 

Asia is contributing some of the best social media work in today's marketing and as such, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE is pleased to present Hashtag Asia to you. As Asia’s first dedicated social media award show, Hashtag Asia seeks to honor and recognise the best social media work from Asia.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: When and how did you start out as an influencer?

Law: I started my channel TechiCardia in May 2019 but the first video was not uploaded until late December 2019. The first video was filmed with my smartphone and it was very raw. However, I had a plan in mind on how to develop TechiCardia into tech and PC-centered channel with my personality, and experience as a tech enthusiast and a medical student at the same time.  Later on, I upgraded both my gear and skills to make better videos such as custom-built computer vlogs and product reviews. At the same time, I am still a student, so [producing videos on] YouTube is a part time hustle for me - although sometimes I feel that I have two full time commitments!

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: How would you describe your followers and what do you do to strike a connection with your followers?

Law: My followers are loyal and friendly. A lot of them do not hesitate to comment on my videos, and I have been trying my best to reply to most of the comments since the beginning of the channel. I love the engagement and interaction in the comment sections because they make the channel more like a tech community instead of a one way information delivery system. I also encourage followers to send me direct messages on Instagram and Facebook if they have any questions and problems with products. Therefore, I can let suppliers and manufacturers know their concerns. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Which social media platform is your favourite?

Law: Apart from YouTube, Instagram is my favourite social media platform at the moment. It is the most adopted platform by my viewers - simply because they are young. The Stories function on Instagram is very well developed and I can use plenty of useful widgets and stickers to promote or tease upcoming projects and interact with followers. 

In addition, posting stories and creating “highlights” for the audience to review special stories allow me to create a clean and cohesive profile with actual posts and photos. The “paid partnership” function is also very helpful when I have to collaborate with brands. It provides clear guidance to my followers whether it is an ad or not.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What are some of the challenges of being an influencer in HK?

Law: One of the biggest challenges is in striking a balance between sponsored content and our original content. In reality, the revenue-per-minute on YouTube is not very high, and the Cantonese tech community is not as big as in other regions. The cost of production, including financial and time, remains high for influencers who want to produce high-quality content.

Solely relying on views and ad revenue on YouTube is not financially sustainable. 

So we produce sponsored content to cover some of the production cost and earn money for future upgrades. However, if an influencer keeps posting sponsored videos, followers will eventually lose interest in their channel. So it is very important to strike a balance between relevant and interesting production and sponsored content, and it often requires more creativity and ideas to make sponsored content or promotional videos more interesting and engaging to our viewers. 

Other challenges could be more relevant to the tech community as there are a lot of launch events of big tech products such as iPhones, Pixel phones, NVIDIA graphics cards and CPUs. Influencers need to be on the lookout for interesting topics and produce and publish videos while the topic is still hot. This leads to a lot of late nights and burnouts especially in Techtober (Tech-October).

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What is your favourite brand assignment?

Law: My favourite brand assignment is the recent video I did with Felton Distribution and GALAX, in which I did a vlog about upgrading my best friend’s PC and gaming setup with GALAX’s graphics card, gaming chair and peripherals. I think the video was a great balance between entertaining content and brand promotion, and I enjoyed producing that video a lot as the brand allowed plenty of freedom and space for creativity.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What should clients take note of when working with influencers?

Law: From my experience, I have not faced too many challenges while working with brands and clients. However, clients should be more open about videos involving not only products that the brand hopes to promote.

Let's take an SSD (solid-state drive) as an example. If it does not have any ground-breaking technology or something new, the exposure gained by the brand from a solo video introducing an SSD could be far less than a video that is centered around multiple useful and popular tech gadgets that includes the SSD. I do understand that agencies do not always have the bargaining power to help brands to decide, but I encourage brands to be more open about it, especially when the exposure on YouTube is not merely about the number of subscribers of a certain channel anymore.

I also encourage clients to give influencers more freedom to create interesting videos around the products or services. Many people follow an influencer for his or her personality and unique perspective towards a product. Although influencers may point out some negatives about a product, it can help increase the genuineness of a product review or video and thus make the content better received by viewers.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What’s next for you?

Law: The upcoming one to two years will be extremely challenging for me as I have to continue my studies at medical school. My schedule will be more hectic. However, I will still try to produce content about tech and custom-built computers that I am interested in. With limited time, I would mostly prioritise projects that I am personally interested in. After graduation, I might consider hiring staff to assist in filming and editing.

Asia is contributing some of the best social media work in today's marketing and as such, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE is pleased to present Hashtag Asia to you. As Asia’s first dedicated social media award show, Hashtag Asia seeks to honor and recognise the best social media work from Asia.