Instagram Influencer Spotlight On: Hector Castillo Zuniga @itsHECTORNOW

1) Tell us a little about yourself. What are you doing now and where do you come from?

I am a social media manager from Miami, FL, USA who is also an interior stylist and I’m studying floral design. When I’m not working I like to hang out with friends and entertain at home. I like to travel and enjoy seeing and photographing beautiful sites, things and spend my time with amazing people. Oh and I am also vegan and a minimalist!

2) What are your topics of interest? What do you post on Instagram the most?

My topics of interests are style, hair styling, interior styling, floral design, beauty and vegan foods and products. I like to post a lot of my most current floral design creations and fun moments with friends at different places.

3) How did your Instagram name come about?

For a very long time I was known as “HectorBusyBee” because I would do so much. I was involved in public relations, social media, event planning and hosting all while I was working full-time and going to university. Once I graduated from university I felt it was time to update my brand and I thought of sharing moments in life that reflected me, now! And that’s how itsHECTORNOW came about. It is also the name I use on all social media platforms.

4) What are some apps you use to edit your photos? Share with us your photo-editing routine!

I like to use mainly my iPhone 6S Plus to photograph and I normally use the device’s photo editing featuring as well as FaceTune for editing images. From time to time I may use photoshop to do some corrections but I perform very little manipulation to my images. Sometime I might use the app called Superimpose.

5) Any Instagrammers whom you really like? Which Instagrammer inspires you the most?

I really love Gabriel Soares (ggsoaress). He is an amazing barber and hairstylist from Barcelona. He’s amazing! I also like @Menshair.jpg because they post so many cool hairstyles ideas for men. I like posts by a model from Sydney named Dennis Dee (dennis_theo) he has amazing style and share interesting photos. I can’t get enough of the photographer, blogger, and minimalist interior stylist Tracy (anti.d.athome).

6) If there’s one thing your fellow Instagrammers just gotta try now, what’s it gonna be?

Superimpose, it’s a pretty neat app that allows you to take an image in the foreground, remove it from its background, and place it on another image.

7) What’s your favorite part about being an influencer?

My favorite part about being an influencer is being able to share my experiences as well as life moments with other people all over the world and I get to interact with so many people.

8) What are some of your top tips to brands for running campaigns? How do you maintain authenticity?

If there’s one thing that I try to communicate to brands when they run campaigns is to strive to create quality content that is meant for the social media platform that they are publishing for. Another tip for brands is that they should do a lot of social “listening” and engaging instead of being pushy. There is no bigger turn off than a brand that is pushy, tacky and desperate. Yes, the bottom line is important but you’ll attract a quality audience / customer by focusing on building relationships and listening. The way I maintain authenticity is by letting any brand that I work with that I must consume their brand or products. If I have not tried the product then I must learn enough about the brand. I always post content that is very “me”, and it has to have my signature look and feel. I try to work with and use brands that fit into my life and that I believe in.

9) What would your advice be on the importance of quality and original content?

Great quality and original content is a must in engaging people. It’s not enough to just post something for the sake of posting it. Content should bring value to the people who see it. It also needs to entice them to learn more. If quality doesn’t exist in the content created then you will be easily ignored and can’t be relevant.

10) What do you like best about partnering with brands?

What I like best about partnering with brands is the collaboration aspect. I love it when they give me guidance but allow me to tell a story. It’s fun to work with brands that like to experiment and be creative.

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