Are you reaching your African American customer base with your influencer marketing? A 2018 study from Nielsen found that while African American people made up just 14 percent of the US population, they spend $1.2 trillion annually. African Americans with annual incomes of over $75,000 are particularly active on social media, according to a different Nielsen study. So, if you want to reach your African American audience, you might want to use African American influencers.
Check out the top 25 along with what they have to say that’s making everyone pay attention:
25 Top African American Influencers
Issa Rae
Issa Rae is the African American influencer behind “Insecure,” a popular comedy on HBO. Before “Insecure,” she created and starred in “Awkward Black Girl,” a web-based comedy series. She keeps her million+ followers up-to-date on what’s going on with her career and life on Twitter and Instagram.
LeBron James
LeBron James is a basketball player with a strong social media following and presence. As one of the top African American influencers, he uses Twitter to raise awareness and money for several charity efforts that he supports.
Beyoncé
When Queen Bey posted a photo of herself to announce that she was pregnant with twins, it darn near broke the internet. The photo set the record for most number of likes (6.4 million in just a few hours). When she’s not posting pregnancy announcements, the top African American influencer is busy putting up snaps of her family, as well as info about her latest tours and musical releases.
Rihanna
R&B singer and makeup mogul Rihanna is one of the most-followed African American influencers on Instagram, where she has over 61 million followers. She recently showcased the breadth and scope of her influence when an Instagram story she created in response to a tasteless ad on Snapchat caused the platform to lose $577 million in value, as “Elle” reported.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey has been able to translate her massive real-life influence to social media and online influence. She has 42 million followers on Twitter, where she tweets about her work and the work of others who help to change people’s lives for the better.
Serena Williams
Tennis star Serena Williams holds the record for winning the second-most number of Grand Slam women’s single titles. She ranked as the number one player in the world eight times. Her social media influencer (more than seven million followers on Instagram) shows that she’s a star both on and off the court.
King Bach
King Bach is another one of “Forbes'” top African American influencers for 2017, this time in the entertainment category. An actor and director, he started with the micro-video platform Vine, and now has 15 million followers on Instagram.
Shameless Maya
Shameless Maya built up her influence on social media by embarking on a year-long experiment. The top African American influencer decided to “shamelessly” promote herself for 365 days. The rest, as they say, is history, as she now has more than one million YouTube subscribers, and got to host the 2016 BET Awards red carpet live stream.
Angela Davis/The Kitchenista
Angela Davis is the African American influencer behind The Kitchenista Diaries. A self-taught cook, she’s managed to turn her hobby into a full-fledged career and company. She’s built a following of 65,000 on Twitter.
Quinta Brunson
If you pay attention to the internet at all, Quinta Brunson needs no introduction. A former creator and star of Buzzfeed videos, Quinta has nearly 900,000 Instagram followers. She’s recently been able to turn some of her social media influence into on-screen influence, getting cast in a pilot for the CW and hosting a show on the Verizon network.
Sai De Silva
Sai De Silva is an African American fashion, lifestyle, and family blogger who created Scout the City. Photos of her and her adorable daughter have helped Sai De Silva rack up more than 335,000 Instagram followers.
Kitty Cash
Kitty Cash is a DJ who’s built up a following on Instagram and IRL. where people follow her to clubs around NYC to see what she’s spinning next.
Maxine Waters
Representative Maxine Waters has recently become a source of many internet memes. But her influence extends beyond a few giggles. She’s among just a dozen black women currently in Congress, for one thing. For another, she’s gathered up 235,000 followers on Instagram.
Barack Obama
You could argue that former POTUS Barack Obama is one of the most influential African Americans influencers alive today – not just a top African American social media influencer. With 101 million Twitter followers, he’s one of the most-followed people on Twitter in the world.
Michelle Obama
Former First Lady Michelle Obama is no slouch when it comes to social media influence, either. She has 10.5 million Twitter followers.
Jessamyn Stanley
People tend to have a stereotypical image in mind when they think of people who do yoga. Instagram star and yogi Jessamyn Stanley sets them straight. She shows that yoga is for everyone, and gives the popular practice a much-needed injection of body positivity.
Laverne Cox
Laverne Cox, a regular on the popular TV series “Orange is the New Black,” uses her social media clout to raise awareness of trans issues.
Kimberly Drew
Kimberly Drew is the current social media manager for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She also has her own blog, Museum Mammy, and started the Black Contemporary Art Tumblr.
Chloe x Halle
Chloe x Halle are a pair of sisters who make music together. When this duo of African American influencers aren’t promoting their music on social media, they’re campaigning for change.
Francheska
Francheska is one of the trio behind the Friend Zone, a podcast that focuses on mental health, wealth, and hygiene. She’s also got her own YouTube channel, Hey Fran Hey, where she posts a new natural living video every week.
Denene Millner
Denene Millner is the editor of My Brown Baby, a parenting site specifically for Black moms. She’s also the author of several parenting and children’s books.
Bunmi Laditan
Bunmi Laditan is another African American parenting blogger. But she takes a different approach. Her claim to fame is Honest Toddler, which is both a Twitter account and several books about a toddler who’s gone too far. Laditan has also written other books about the ups and downs of parenting.
Kid President
Kid President (aka Robby Novak) is on a mission to help grown-ups and kids work together and help each other. His videos have had more than one million views.
Simeon Panda
“Forbes” named Simeon Panda one of its top 10 fitness influencers for 2017. His fitspo posts have helped him gain nearly four million followers.