Social Media Influencers Gaining Traction for Nantucket Island

Nantucket is a small island in Massachusetts. While mostly a Summer paradise, some residents stay year-long. The island turned into a tourist county after the decline in the whaling industry. Nantucket’s peak summer population is 70,000 people. (Smartshop, Self Storage, 2023). 70,000 people represent approximately 0.0211% of the US population, which isn’t much in the big scheme of the U.S. population but in the small town of Nantucket, that is a lot of residents. The market is continuously expanding for Nantucket, some because of visitors brought from influencer advertisements. Many people who visit Nantucket have been doing it as tradition, the marketing of Nantucket is usually from state-funded marketers and individual businesses although with all the different kinds of influencers, it may allow for Nantucket to become a more popular vacation destination.

Meet The Influencers

In the realm of social media, a cohort of influences has emerged, each with their own distinctive voice and perspective. Among them are Grey Lady Girl, Kristy New England, Charlotte Drink Water, and Preppy Francophile, individuals who wield their presence online that captivates audiences through travel, lifestyle insights, and captivating imagery. This is a diverse ensemble of influences and they bring differences to the social media world. This cohort influencers are all different kinds, some travel influencers, living influencers, and photographers.

Grey Lady Girl — Nantucket Photographer & Influencer

@GreyLadyGirl on Instagram is one of the influencers with content solely of Nantucket/Nantucket living. @GreyLadyGirl otherwise known as Georgie Morely is a photographer who captures the beauty of Nantucket through her Instagram. She has 70.9k followers and gets a couple of thousand likes on almost every post. @GreyLadyGirl also has a TikTok where she turns her Instagram content into short videos about the beauty of Nantucket. @GreyLadyGirl, posts content about moving back to Nantucket in her twenties and captures the charm of the island. Morley captions her post “grew up on this island and moved back in my 20’s and no it doesn't get old.” (August 2, 2023). User Fran_Tompkins commented “Would love to be here and visit! Who knows, maybe someday soon.”(Tompkins 23). Morley is a Nantucket Photographer although on her personal account, she still accentuates how beautiful Nantucket is and her opinion on what is important to visit.

Kristy New England — New England Digital Creator

On Instagram, @KristyNewEngland, is a lifestyle digital creator that focuses on living in New England and also often posts about summers in Nantucket. @KristyNewEngland, also known as Kristy Cadawallder, has 44.3k followers on her instagram. She posts reels romanticizing Nantucket, focusing on the historical homes as well as the fashion aspect of Nantucket summers, a coastal wardrobe. She has an active website, Kristynewengland.com, where she has travel guides for her favorite places, including the beautiful island of Nantucket. Her posts about Nantucket summers receive on average about 415 likes on posts that are dedicated to Nantucket. This means that 1% of Kristiy’s followers interact with her Nantucket Island posts. All her posts aren’t directed towards Nantucket, but with her large following there are very different audience demographics Cadawallder reaches allowing Nantucket promotion.

Charlotte Drink Water — TikTok Influencer & Nantucket Lover

@CharlotteDrinkWater, a Tik Tok influencer, leverages the Nantucket aesthetic to enhance the allure of residing on the island. Charlotte Drinkwater can also be found on Instagram where she brings her followers along for a deeper look into what it’s like living on Nantucket. These influencers although on different platforms have brought traction to the Nantucket Aesthetic and beauty. While she is a TikTok creator, she also focuses on Nantucket living and creating content based on what she does while living on Nantucket even during the winters. @CharlotteDrinkWater has 20.4k followers on TikTok, where she posts 11-12 second clips about Nantucket living.

Preppy Francophile — Travel Influencer

On Instagram @PreppyFrancophile, a travel influencer, focuses her content on style. Known as Jen Fogelson, she’s a New England preppy-style influencer who often frequents Nantucket. Her account follows her personal travels to many different places, with one of those places being Nantucket. Jen Fogelson has 11.3k followers on Instagram. Her content is more fashion-focused, because of the unique shopping scene and coastal style in Nantucket. Some of her posts include collaborations with shops located in the middle of town. In November of 2023, Fogelson did a collaboration post with @townpool, where she posted a picture outside of the shop, highlighting some of their new arrivals.

Why Are Influencers Important for Nantucket?

These influencers are just the beginning of a possible new market for Nantucket. Although these are only some of the influencers that live and visit Nantucket, it brings attention to the fact that Nantucket’s tourism industry is growing and businesses can take advantage of influencers like these to collaborate with and increase revenue for both the influencer and the business.

“Decade ago, the influencer marketing arena was limited only to celebrities and a few dedicated bloggers. Now, social media influencers have risen and saturated the market. And while their followings may vary in size, these influencers pack a punch. Their tight-knit communities foster authentic connections, leading to higher trust and engagement,” (SproutSocial, 2023). Influencers allow a new market for the community of Nantucket to get more exposure, with almost nothing at stake. These influencers and many more have shown a glimpse of the beauty of Nantucket allowing their communities to become intrigued with the community and small businesses of Nantucket.

To Wrap up

Nantucket is becoming more accustomed to the digital age and it has been for years. Now social media influencers are becoming a key asset in many businesses. The purpose of this post was to shine a light on only some of the influencers who create content about the charm of Nantucket. Not only will small businesses be able to utilize these influences on the island, they will help Nantucket gain the exposure it so much deserves.

References

https://smartstopselfstorage.com/about-us/our-blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-living-in-nantucket#:~:text=Living%20in%20Nantucket%3A%20An%20Overview,-Best%20known%20as&text=In%20the%20off%2Dseason%2C%20the,favorites%20close%20for%20the%20winter.

https://sproutsocial.com/insights/influencer-marketing/

https://www.nantucket-ma.gov/1608/About-Nantucket

https://www.tiktok.com/@charlottedrinkwater

https://www.instagram.com/greyladygirl/?hl=en

https://www.point2homes.com/US/Neighborhood/MA/Nantucket-Demographics.html