You see all the social media influencers online and have decided to take a step ahead into the influencer’s world? Don’t fret! We have your back.
We know you aren’t sure how exactly to step into that world and become an influencer. We know you went through a million other blogs and found that studying other top influencers will help. But let us tell you, there is more to becoming a successful influencer. And we will help you out here.
We have created a list for all the newbies who wish to step into the world of social marketing influencing, which will help them establish themselves as an ultimate influencer.
But, first, let’s decode the riddle, i.e. becoming an influencer, their working, and how they work their magic?
Who are Influencers?
Influencers are these online, social media stars or personages who are recognized for their niche and the work they do. They generally carry with them a mass of their bewitched, and loyal followers. Most of the influencers share quite a close bond with their fans! They do this by revealing their personal life, drawing them closer to their fans.
All thanks to the social media platforms, influencer marketing has shaped up things for the influencers. These fans religiously follow the recommendations of the influencers and share their profiles with others too, making influencers authoritative figures with a lot of knowledge about the things.
You will not be surprised to know that 70 percent of the Millennials think that they are more influenced by influencers than celebrities that claim products to be the goody in the advertisements. This may also be because stars and celebrities have a mysterious life. They live a life that is not open to all, but we guess, they have opened their lives a little after the introduction of Instagram?
Influencers can also be called as these social media celebrities who have a way out with their followers. Some influencers are so big; they even have their communities built and administered by their fans for their benefit.
Alex Tooby rightly says, “Being an influencer is all about the relationship you build with your audience.”
Spot on!
The secret to a flourishing influencer lies in the way the marketing for the influencer is done. And this brings us to the next segment of the article, which is, Influencer Marketing.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing has become a priority now. There was a time when all the influencers used to hoard or advertise, but now the game is all about promotions, which has also become a prerequisite for the brands. Fortunately, there are ways to do successful influencer marketing. This can be done at a personal level (the influencer himself/ herself doing it, mostly initially or while establishing themselves as influencers.) Or later, with the help of a team (who can help the influencer market their efficiently brand digitally.)
Influencer marketing is done to attract brands since; there is no shortage of establishments who are willing to spend their time and assets on influencers looking for collaborations and promotions. But how does an influencer create an audience to accomplish all these goals?
Ways to Become An Influencer:
Here are the ways to become an influencer:
1. Start by choosing the right niche/ category that resonates.
To connect with the audience, you need a niche that you are passionate about. The audience will only resonate with your thoughts if they can relate to the niche you choose, whether you are turning into an influencer or a blogger. The niche that you want for your blog or website should also match with your personality and your interests. It should be a category that you should not get bored with.
For example, if you are an avid food lover, becoming a food influencer or reviewer or a blogger can be your best option. But if you choose something like cooking when you don’t even love it as much as eating, you will quickly get bored with it.
We believe, influencers should choose what reveals and mirrors their personality more.
2. Find your voice:
The main difference that we have noticed online, between influencers who make it big in the digital world and the ones who don’t are finding their voice. Those who fail to find a voice rarely can volume up to their content and post it out aloud. They keep posting in their circle, not getting out of the safe cocoon.
So, if you are reading and you are one of those people planning to become an influencer but holding their voice down, DON’T!
Find your voice and channel it up along with the volume.
3. The Biographies Say All About You!
One of the very first things that online users notice in an influencer’s profile is their biography. So, it is crucial for you as an influencer to build your profile and your biography mirror each other. Do not commit the mistake of posting travel pictures and calling yourself a food fanatic in the biography. Also, make sure your bio is super short and straightforward and creates trust in the eyes of your audience.
4. Become authentic to build the trust of your budding following:
The best way to connect with your followers is to connect on an emotional level. This gives your followers a reason to trust you and engage more in your content. But for building that trust, you as an influencer are required to be transparent with your followers who are supportive of you.
People look forward to influencers who are true to their name, what they display online and their passion. So, always stay true to your identity, be transparent and remain personal.
5. Being Consistent Is The Key To Success:
Another way to gain an emotional trust with your followers is to stay consistent with your posting. This will include posting on all social media profiles. Count on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Consistency is the key. We have seen a lot of bloggers and influencers fall out of the game just because they don’t stay true to their passion and understand the concept of being consistent in posting.
Creating a content calendar can help you out a lot. You can even create a media box of compiling all your media and make notes, schedule your posts. There are a lot of ways that influencers can stay consistent.
6. Focus on Quality than Quantity:
Whenever you tend to stand the journey of an influencer, it becomes overwhelming sometimes; getting a lot of audiences and love in return. But you need to make sure that you are an influencer.
You need to be strong-headed. You are running your business, and the brand requires more engagement and return on investment rather than the number of followers. It also is necessary that the participation of the followers is optimum, or else everything will fall apart.
7. You can be Vulnerable, of course. But be Smart:
Your difficulties should not paint you in a very negative light. As an influencer and because you need to be personal and transparent, sharing your struggles is a must. But sometimes, sharing a lot of negative stuff about yourself can put you in the wrong place. Why does it? Instead, paint a pretty picture.
Everything is not supposed to be perfect, but you can choose to display how to show the world what your imperfections are. For example, delaying work and posting about it all the time, can bring you in the spotlight. Why do that when you can joke around about it and choose to color your story differently.
8. Shortcuts may put your reputation at risk:
Buying followers, using bots and engagement pods to increase the following might be a quick solution for most of the influencers but not for you. It is not advised, and it should not be, as well.
However, all social media platforms are now smart enough to track down profiles that use bots or pods and shut them down using the power of algorithms; we need not worry. But, shortcuts are a simple no-no, if you are an influencer in the making. It will bring down your reputation, and the trust amongst the audience will be gone. Do we know you don’t want that? Do you?
9. Create Curated Content:
Create content that pleases your audience and what they look forward to. Remember that the influencer world is all about the readers and the viewers. Hence, it is highly advisable to create content that increases your reach and traffic, along with something that is not personal.
While your audience loves how you post your personal stories, also make it about a little research. Push in keywords, research more and implement broader trends into your content. You can even use Pinterest to your website or also create a unique theme in your Instagram account.
10. Network:
The fastest way to know and let other influencers see you as an influencer in the same niche is networking. Networking can be done both ways; personal and digital. You can network personally with people by going to meetups and events that cast influencers.
You can even reach out to them online, talk to them and learn more about the influencer world. There are also many applications available to search for events and meetups happening around. You can use them to know more and get ahead in your networking game.
Networking is all about choosing to communicate about yourself and your brand and as an influencer. An influencer is supposed to do that.
Market yourself!
Conclusion:
Social media influencers are essential to the world of digital marketing now. They are earning big. In the coming centuries, this trend will be growing more. For sure! We conclude this is the right time to start, in case you are planning to become an influencer as well.
These steps will slowly and steadily if followed, will help you become a successful influencer. Soon, you shall be creating highly engaging content that is bringing a lot of business in return and audience interaction. But becoming an influencer isn’t an overnight journey. It takes a lot of time, consistent work and a lot of patience.
While an influencer life might look luxurious and rich, they took a lot of pains and worked hard to reach there. It is going to take tremendous energy, time and hard work too. But if you are passionate about it, nothing will stop you.
Hence, stick to your goals, and you will turn your fate in no time. It may take weeks or even months, altogether, but it will happen!