It looks like influencer marketing has become one of the most profitable professions in the past couple of years and something that a lot of people are raving about. And this comes as no surprise since it seems like anyone can become one with a little bit of effort and dedication.
What’s interesting is the fact that practically every industry today has witnessed a rise in influencers which is one of the major reasons why you can stumble upon an influencer on every corner.
However, although it appears to be easy to become one, there are still several steps that need to be taken in order to be accomplished and popular on social media platforms. If that’s something you would like to pursue, then check out my tips below.
Determine your niche
If you want to become a successful social media influencer, then you first must pick your niche. How can you figure that out? For starters, it needs to be something that piques your interest, and that you're passionate about.
Why does it matter? Well, that’s because only then you’ll be able to continuously create content that’s engaging and interesting to your future followers. Also, it wouldn’t hurt if you had previous experience in that particular field.
That’s surely one of the best ways to establish yourself as a reputable social media influencer. If you want to succeed, then you first must do your homework and uncover the latest news in a certain industry so you can constantly be updated.
That’s precisely one of the reasons why you simply must select something that you’re passionate about, otherwise, you will quickly get tired of this job. Of course, if you’re interested in various industries, feel free to combine them, but just make sure not to make it too broad.
Select your favorite social media platform
The online world is flooded with a variety of different platforms, starting from Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. For starters, you should choose the one that’s most appealing to you. Does it mean that you must stick to only one?
Most definitely not, however, I would certainly recommend you to (in the beginning) focus on one, until you gain a huge following. But what are you going to do if you have little to no followers?
Don’t stress over it too much. For example, if you opt for Instagram, then you can always buy Instagram views to boost the strength of your profile. Something like this will not only take your brand up a notch but will also bring you more followers. Fortunately, there are a number of websites where you can purchase Instagram views for a very reasonable price.
Perceive your profile as a small business
Since you're planning on earning money from your social media platform (at least I hope that's part of your plan) then you must approach your profile like you would your imaginary company. Only then will you be able to attract a larger audience and of course, earn some cash?
So what needs to be done in these types of situations? Implement the following:
- Focus on your influencer's goals, which frequently refer to creating a following around your passion, collaborating with brands that perfectly match your needs and aspirations, and generating income.
- Put everything regarding your career as an influencer on paper. Out there you will write down the topics you want to cover, the aspects of your both personal and professional life that you want to share, and various strategies that you will develop that will help you earn more money, such as sponsored social media posts, affiliate links, and many more.
- Don't forget to put the price on everything that you do. This way, brands will know exactly how much you charge for a specific service (which is mostly related to promoting their services or products).
- Set a particular payment solution that you will use to send and receive cash from brands that you’ll be working with.
- Concentrate on developing a detailed business plan where you will outline your goals, the services you’ll be providing, etc.
- There are a plethora of influencer tools that you can make use of. For instance, Linktree is great for aggregating links to the URLs you want people to click, while Canva is ideal for creating simple, yet effective graphics.
Define your audience
As you probably figured out by now, there are a variety of different steps that need to be taken on this journey. Some of them are more or less relevant. However, if there’s one that is among the most important ones then that’s precisely this one.
Bear in mind that it’s crucial to find the right audience who is going to support you. Without them, any goal that you set regarding your social media profile is going to become worthless. So before you start posting anything on your platform, first ensure you defined your target audience.
You must focus on people who are going to take your brand to the next level. The audience that’s perfect for you will mostly depend on the type of market you’ve chosen.
For example, if you would define yourself as a lifestyle influencer, or makeup influencer, and you want to educate people on these topics, then I suggest opting for Instagram (at least for starters) because out there you’ll stumble upon lots of people who are interested in these things.
Further, if you want to hunt down the best audience’s demographics, then you need to ask yourself these questions:
- What is my target audience’s gender?
- What is my target audience's age?
- Where do these people live?
- Are they generally interested in technology and the internet or not?
Additionally, if you want to uncover their challenges, then these are the questions you need to consider:
- Have they heard of your brand or product?
- Is there a reason they wouldn't want to employ your product?
- Or if they do, are they utilizing it as much as you would like them to?
There’s no doubt that influencer marketing works and can be extremely profitable, but just like with most things, in order to succeed, you need to focus on certain aspects of this journey. If you share my opinion, then be sure to implement my tips above.
