Get Connected: 5 Top Social Media Influencers in 9 Industries

In the competitive world of social media influencers, marketers can learn from the successes of the biggest names in the industry. By studying what makes these influencers successful, marketers can identify lesser-known influencers with potential for impact, while influencers can improve their own strategies.

Influencer marketing is about trust. By using an influencer for marketing campaigns, businesses benefit from having their brand vetted—by an influencer—before introducing a product or service to a potential customer base. If an influencer approves, consumers are more likely to trust the brand.

[Read more: How to Make TikTok Videos That Drive Sales]

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is social media marketing that leverages the influence of individuals with a dedicated social media following. Through the influencer, consumers engage with a business targeting them as potential customers.

Because followers trust influencers as experts in their industries, marketers can collaborate with influencers to promote their brands through recommendations or featured content. This can be explicit, but it’s most effective when it’s subtle, woven into the influencer’s social media content without disrupting style and message. By incorporating an influencer into your marketing strategy, followers may be more likely to believe your brand is aligned with a philosophy or interests they trust, which leads them to engage with your brand.

It's also big business. A survey found that nearly 90% expect their influencer budgets to increase in 2026. The global influencer marketing platform market is projected to reach $97.5 billion by 2030. 

Top influencers by category

Influencer Marketing Hub defines an influencer as someone who has the power to impact consumers' purchasing decisions because of their "authority, knowledge, position or relationship" with their audience. These individuals typically have a following in a particular niche and actively engage with that following.

So, which social media users are the most influential in your industry? Using a combination of influencer lists and social media platform research, we've identified five of the top individual social media influencers across nine major industries, with current follower counts for their top social media channels as of September 2026.

Automotive

• Alex Hirschi (supercarblondie): Automotive presenter, Co-founder of SB Media Company, and Founder of the SBX Cars auction platform. Roughly 60M combined followers across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. 
• Lewis Hamilton (lewishamilton): Formula One driver and one of the most-followed athletes in motorsport. 43M+ Instagram followers, 6M+ Facebook followers.
• Daniel Mac (itsdanielmac): Creator behind the "What do you do for a living?" supercar interview series. Almost 14M TikTok followers, 2.7M Instagram followers.
• Richard Rawlings (gasmonkeygarage): Automotive entrepreneur, television personality, and Owner of Gas Monkey Garage. 8.8M Facebook followers, 5.4M Instagram followers.
• Gabe Florido (carlifestyle): Automotive blogger and Founder of CarLifestyle. 4.2M Instagram followers, 761K Facebook followers.

Beauty

• Huda Kattan (hudabeauty): Makeup artist and Founder of Huda Beauty. 56M Instagram followers, 12.4M TikTok followers, and 4.5M YouTube subscribers.
• Nikkie de Jager (nikkietutorials): Makeup artist, beauty vlogger, and Founder of Nimya. 18.5M Instagram followers, 15.3M YouTube subscribers.
• Bretman Rock (bretmanrock): Beauty and lifestyle creator. About 8.8M YouTube subscribers, plus 19M+ each on Instagram and TikTok.
• Patrick Starrr (patrickstarrr): Makeup artist and Founder of ONE/SIZE Beauty. About 5M YouTube subscribers and 4.1M Instagram followers. 
• Avani Gregg (avani): Beauty and dance creator. 41M followers on TikTok, nearly 15M on Instagram. 

Business

• Gary Vaynerchuk (garyvee): CEO of VaynerMedia, author, and investor. More than 50 million followers across platforms. 12M Instagram followers, nearly 5M+ YouTube subscribers. 
• Satya Nadella (satyanadella): Chairman and CEO of Microsoft. 12M+ followers on LinkedIn, 9M+ followers on X. 
• Simon Sinek (simonsinek): Author, speaker, and leadership expert. 5M+ Instagram followers, 2M+ YouTube subscribers.
• Adam Grant (adammgrant): Organizational psychologist, author, podcast host. 6M followers on LinkedIn, 2.8M on Instagram.
• Steven Bartlett (steven): Investor, entrepreneur, and Host of "The Diary of a CEO" podcast. 5.2M followers on Instagram, 20M subscribers on YouTube, 3.2M on LinkedIn. 

If your customers are other businesses, LinkedIn creators may matter more than Instagram stars. Influencer content can also support an account-based approach that targets a short list of high-value buyers.

[Read more: 5 Business Lessons From Shark Tank's Daymond John]

Fashion

• Chiara Ferragni (chiaraferragni): Fashion blogger, designer, and model. 27M+ Instagram followers, 1.1M Facebook followers, 6.5M TikTok followers, 833K X followers.
• Camila Coelho (camilacoelho): Fashion blogger and designer. 10.4M Instagram followers, 2.5M Facebook followers, 1.4M TikTok followers.
• Wisdom Kaye (wisdm): Model and menswear creator. 9M followers on Instagram, 1.34M subscribers on YouTube, 14.6M followers on TikTok.
• Aimee Song (aimeesong): Fashion blogger, designer, and author. 7M Instagram followers, 340K YouTube subscribers, 57.7K X followers.
• Matilda Djerf (matildadjerf): Swedish model and clothing designer. 2.6M Instagram followers, 1.4M TikTok followers, 275K YouTube subscribers.

Food

• Burak Özdemir (cznburak): Chef and restaurateur. 51M Instagram followers, 565K X followers, 18M YouTube subscribers. 
• Amaury Guichon (amauryguichon): Pastry chef and Owner of The Pastry Academy. 23M Facebook followers, 19M Instagram followers, 28.5M TikTok followers. 
• Gordon Ramsay (gordonramsay and GordonGram): Chef, restaurateur, television personality, and writer. 24M Facebook followers, 22M YouTube subscribers, 19.4M Instagram followers.
• Nick DiGiovanni (nick.digiovanni): Former MasterChef finalist who has turned his passion for cooking into a social media empire. 46M+ YouTube subscribers, 13M+ TikTok followers.
• Matt Stonie (mattstonie): Competitive eater and YouTuber. 16.4M YouTube subscribers, 3.5M TikTok followers, 518K Instagram followers. 

Gaming and technology

• Rachell Hofstetter (valkyrae): Gaming vlogger and Co-owner of 100 Thieves. 4M+ YouTube subscribers, 3.1M Instagram followers, 2.3M TikTok followers, 3M X followers.
• Mark Fischbach (markiplier): Gaming creator known for horror games and high-production series. 38.9M YouTube subscribers, 12.5M Instagram followers, 8M TikTok followers. 
• Seán William McLoughlin (jacksepticeye): Gaming and comedy vlogger. 31M YouTube subscribers, 8M Instagram followers, 7.1M X followers, 5.4M TikTok followers.
• Marques Brownlee (mkbhd): Technology reviewer. 21M+ YouTube subscribers, 5M+ Instagram followers, 2.3M TikTok followers.
• Imane Anys (pokimane): Gaming and lifestyle streamer. 5.7M Instagram followers, 7.2M TikTok followers, 6.5M YouTube subscribers. 

Health and fitness

• Pamela Reif (pamela_rf): Fitness model and YouTuber. 8.7M Instagram followers, 10.8M YouTube subscribers.
• Jen Selter (jenselter): Nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle blogger. 12.8M Instagram followers, 9.3M Facebook followers, 61K YouTube subscribers.
• Kayla Itsines (kayla_itsines): Fitness vlogger, trainer, entrepreneur, and author. 15.3M Instagram followers, 417K YouTube subscribers, 328K X followers.
• Simeon Panda (simeonpanda): Fitness vlogger and entrepreneur. 7.4M Instagram followers, 2.7M YouTube subscribers.
• Chris Bumstead (cbum): Multiple-time Mr. Olympia Classic Physique champion and Co-founder of Raw Nutrition. 25M+ Instagram followers, 4.8M YouTube subscribers. 

Home and parenting

• Maia Knight (maiaknight): Full-time mom and digital creator. 1.6M followers on Instagram, 7.5M followers on TikTok.
• Cat and Nat (catandnat): Content creators and podcasters. 1.4M followers on TikTok, 957K followers on Instagram, 1.6M+ followers on Facebook.   
• Aspyn Ovard (aspynovard): Lifestyle and parenting vlogger. 3.29M YouTube subscribers, 2.2M Instagram followers, 1.2M TikTok followers. 
• Caitlin Covington (cmcoving): Lifestyle blogger. 1.3M Instagram followers, 8.13K YouTube subscribers, 278K TikTok followers. 
• Joanna Gaines (joannagaines): TV personality, interior designer, author. 13.6M Instagram followers, 6.1M Facebook followers, 1.2M X followers.

Travel

• Drew Binsky (drewbinsky): Travel vlogger who has visited every country in the world. 1.4M Instagram followers, 7.4M YouTube subscribers.
• Chris Burkard (chrisburkard): Photographer and travel blogger. 3.7M Instagram followers, 677K Facebook followers, 33.7K X followers.
• Josh Platillero (megaamerican): Nature and travel creator known for cinematic short-form videos of remote landscapes and lesser-known destinations. 31M+ TikTok followers, 9.3M Instagram followers.
• The Bucket List Family (thebucketlistfamily): Travel bloggers/vloggers. 3.2M Instagram followers, 1.5M+ YouTube subscribers.
• Lexie Alford (lexilimitless): Youngest person to travel to every sovereign country. 1.8M Instagram followers, 754K YouTube subscribers, 216K TikTok followers. 

How to find and vet influencers for your business

Most small businesses don’t need to work with creators with 50 million followers to achieve their campaign goals, and it's not realistic, budget-wise. Look for creators whose audience overlaps with your customers, and confirm that the audience is real and engaged.

Start with your goal and your customer

Decide whether you want to work with an influencer to build awareness, website traffic, sales, or content you can reuse in your own marketing. Then create a profile of your ideal customer as specifically as you can: age, location, interests, and the platforms they actually use. 

A creator who is perfect for a national e-commerce brand may be less relevant for a neighborhood shop. Local businesses often do best with nearby nano- and micro-influencers whose followers can walk through the door. 

Look where your customers already are

Search hashtags and keywords related to your product, industry, and city on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and note who posts consistently and gets real comments. Use platform-native tools, such as TikTok Creator Marketplace, Instagram's creator marketplace (inside Meta Business Suite), and YouTube BrandConnect to discover creators by niche and audience.

Check who already follows, tags, or reviews your business. Customers who love you make the most credible partners. Ask other business owners for referrals. Fellow entrepreneurs will tell you who delivered and who didn't.  

Finally, don't forget to look outside the main social media platforms. Pinterest creators can be a strong fit for home, food, wedding, and fashion brands. Substack and Reddit are other good places to look for creators. 

Vet the audience, not just the follower count

Just because an influencer has a massive following doesn’t mean their audience is paying attention. Many influencers aren’t actively engaging with their followers, or have inflated their follower counts with spam or bots. 

To find out if the audience is real and interacting with the influencer’s content, calculate engagement rate. Divide average likes plus comments per post by total followers. As a benchmark, on Instagram, nano-creators (1K to 10K) run 4.2 to 5.0% engagement rate; micro around 3.86%; and mega (1M+) just 1.21%. A large account with a very low rate is a red flag. 

In addition, take a look at the comments on an influencer’s post. Generic replies, repeated emojis, or comments in languages that don't match the creator's audience can signal purchased engagement.

Some influencers can provide a media kit and screenshots of audience demographics. Every major platform gives creators a breakdown of follower age, gender, and location. If most of a creator's audience lives outside your service area, keep looking. 

Look at past sponsored posts. Did the creator disclose the partnership clearly? Did the content feel natural? Did followers respond? Review the creator's recent content and values to make sure they align with your brand identity and the visual cues your customers recognize. 

Put the agreement in writing

Even a small gifted collaboration should spell out deliverables (number of posts, format, and timing), how long you can reuse the content in your own marketing, any exclusivity, and payment terms. Require the creator to disclose the partnership with a clear label such as "#ad" or the platform's paid partnership tag; the Federal Trade Commission's endorsement guides apply to influencers and the brands that hire them.

Micro vs. macro-influencers and typical costs

Influencer tiers are usually defined by follower count. Exact cutoffs vary by source, but these are the most common:

• Nano: 1,000 to 10,000 followers.
• Micro: 10,000 to 100,000 followers.
• Mid-tier: 100,000 to 500,000 followers.
• Macro: 500,000 to 1 million followers.
• Mega or celebrity: more than 1 million followers.

Smaller creators are where most of the action is. Nano-influencers (1,000 to 10,000 followers) now represent approximately 75.9% of Instagram's total influencer base, and micro-creators (10K to 100K) deliver cost-per-engagement of $0.20 versus $0.33 for macro.

What creators charge

Rates depend on platform, format, niche, usage rights, and whether you want exclusivity. Short-form video costs more than a static post, and YouTube integrations cost the most. Here are the most common ranges for 2026:

• Nano: Many will work for free product or a small fee. Paid rates typically run from tens of dollars to a few hundred per post.
• Micro: Typical Instagram feed and static posts cost ~$150 to $500 per post, with Reels and TikToks priced higher. For YouTube, the median per-post rate is $1,000 among micro-creators with confirmed rates.
• Mid-tier and macro: Expect several thousand dollars per post, and more for video or multi-post packages.
• Mega: Tens of thousands to six figures per post. This tier is bought for reach, not engagement.

Beyond creator fees, budget for product costs, shipping, any paid amplification, and the time it takes to manage the relationship. Influencer marketing works best alongside your owned channels, so plan how you'll capture the new attention through your website, email list, and other content.

Quality over quantity: Why follower count isn't everything

While the above influencers do have massive followings on social media, you shouldn't necessarily discount micro-influencers (10,000 to 100,000 followers) or even nano-influencers (1,000 to 10,000 followers) for your brand. Many brands have found great success with influencers who have smaller but very highly engaged audiences.

"It's about their engagement rate rather than follower count,” said Patrina Couling, former Head of Sponsorship and Events at Rooftop Cinema Club, in a previous interview with CO—. “It's important to know their followers care about what they share. We’ve found those who have already engaged with [our brand] are more likely to share quality content that will resonate."

Couling recommends selecting influencers based on the following criteria:

• They understand, value, and appreciate your brand.
• They are within your core demographic.
• Their own brand and audience "fit" and align with yours.

When it comes time to approach the influencer about working with your brand, Couling says it's important to offer them something of value. Then, provide clear guidelines and criteria for what you expect in return (e.g., posting, engaging, and sharing).

"Work with them, too,” she said. “Be flexible in finding offers that are enticing for their followers."

For more influencer marketing tips, check out our guide to finding and working with influencers.

[Read more: How Big Brands Are Leveraging Micro-Influencers to Spur Growth]

Nicole Fallon, Lauren Kubiak, and Jacqueline Medina contributed to this article.

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