Influencer marketing is a hot marketing phenomenon that everyone is talking about. It has become a mainstream marketing tactic and is no longer limited to a select few brands or agencies.
Almost every major industry has seen a rise in influencers.
And brands are leveraging them now more than ever. Being an influencer has
become so lucrative that it’s no wonder that everyone wants to be one in their
respective domains.
If you are one of those people who want to become an
influencer, then you have reached the right place. In this post, we will
discuss the step-by-step process of how to become an influencer. So, read
on and start on your path to becoming an influencer.
Select Your Niche
Before you start on your path to becoming an influencer, you
need to first select
your niche. You need to choose a niche that you are interested in and can
consistently create content about. You should also have some level of expertise
in the field to be able to establish yourself as an influencer.
As an influencer, you will have to research and post content
in your chosen interest area. So, it is important to choose something you’re
passionate about and will enjoy spending your time on.
Whether you love cooking and trying new recipes or are
interested in DIY crafts, you need to find your calling. You could also select
a combination of 2-3 interests, but don’t make it too broad.
Optimize Your Social Media Profiles
Once you have chosen your niche, the next step is to select
your preferred social media platforms and create/optimize your profiles. Most
influencers are popular on only one or two social media platforms. So, it is
best to focus your efforts on only 1-2 channels.
Once you have selected your channels, you need to either
create new profiles or optimize your existing ones.
Here are some of the things you can do to optimize your
profiles:
- Switch
to a Business Account
If you intend to become an influencer, you need to switch to
a business account, as that opens up a lot more options. Most platforms like
Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have the option to create a business account
in the profile settings.
- Create
an Engaging Bio
Your bio is the first thing someone sees when they visit
your profile and is, therefore, an important part of making a great first
impression. Your bio should
be able to tell your story in an engaging manner. It should also provide all
pertinent information about you like your full name, location, contact details,
and areas of expertise.
- Add
a Profile Pic and Cover Photo
You also need to add a profile pic and a cover photo for
your profile, as they are also important components of your personal brand
identity. People often recognize a social media profile by the profile picture,
so you need to carefully select a picture. Also, make sure that your face is clearly
visible, and that the picture quality is good.
Understand Your Audience
Before you start creating content and posting on social
media, you need to understand your target audience. Influencers have sway over
their audiences and strong connections with them. That’s due to the fact that
they don’t cater to everyone, but only those with similar interests in the same
niche.
To become an influencer, it is important that you know who
you’re targeting and then do it well to build a loyal follower base. To
understand your audience, you can first start by analyzing your current
follower base to get insights into their demographics and interests.
Most social media platforms have a built-in analytics tool
that provides such insights about your current audience. Twitter Analytics,
for example, provides insights into your current followers’ interests, genders,
locations, etc.
Once you know what your audience likes, you’ll be ready to
deliver it to them.
Create and Post Relevant Content
The next step in becoming an influencer is to post useful
and relevant content for your followers. The more you are able to engage with
your audience, the more people will be influenced by your opinions and
recommendations.
That’s the most important requirement for being an
influencer, the fact that your followers actually listen to you.
You need to formulate a content
strategy and use a mix of content types, preferably the ones that your
audience will most like.
Some influencers keep their feeds all about their chosen
field of interest like food, travel, fashion, beauty, etc. Such influencers
don’t mix posts about their personal lives in with their niche posts, and keep
their content focused only on their niche.
This means that a food influencer might post recipes, photos of restaurant visits, reviews, and even brand promotions.
Some influencers prefer to mix in a bit of content from
their personal lives, to connect with their audiences better. Adding posts
about their day-to-day lives helps influencers seem more authentic and
relatable. This strengthens their connections with their audiences.
No matter what content strategy you choose, make sure that
you make it broad enough to accommodate future brand collaborations. Your
sponsored posts should be able to fit naturally along with the rest of the
content you post. You can add reviews as a regular feature in your feed, to
make way for paid review opportunities that you may get later.
Overall, keep your content strategy focused on your niche,
but not too narrow. Think from a long-term perspective and start preparing to
be an influencer right from the start.
Be Regular and Consistent
After you have decided what types of content you will post,
you need to finalize a posting frequency and schedule. Most social media
platforms’ algorithms give preference to accounts that post regularly. This is
especially true for Instagram, which requires a regular posting frequency for
increased visibility.
You can choose to post daily, weekly, or at any frequency
that you’re comfortable with. You should also consider the platform before
deciding on that. Some platforms, like Twitter, are more dynamic in nature and
require a higher posting frequency if you want to become an influencer on that
platform.
On other social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and
Facebook, you can get away with posting once or twice a week. However, select
the days and times that you will post and be consistent.
This study by Sprout Social revealed that there are certain
days and times of the week when you can get maximum engagement on your posts.
For most platforms, the highest engagement rates can be seen during the late
morning and afternoon hours of midweek. Wednesday is the best day to post for most
platforms. You should check out the best times to post for your chosen platform
and build your posting schedule accordingly.
Engage With Your Audience
Once you start posting content on social media, you will
often get likes and comments on your posts. For an influencer, it is important
to connect with their followers, therefore, you cannot ignore these
comments.
It is a good practice to reply to comments and answer any
questions that your followers ask you. You can also just “like” their comments
to show your appreciation.
Another way to engage with your audience is to ask them a
question and start a conversation about a topic of mutual interest.
Interactions like these help build personal connections with your audience and
solidify your position as an influencer.
Let Brands Know You’re Open to Collaborations
The final step towards your quest to becoming an influencer
is to announce it to the world. You need to come out and declare yourself as an
influencer who is interested in brand collaborations.
You can do this by writing in your bio that you’re an
influencer and are interested in collaborations. You can also provide contact
details for potential clients, giving them an easy way to connect with you.
Another way to do this is by doing your own outreach and
messaging relevant brands with a pitch on what you can offer. It is best to
design an outreach template that you can use to reach out to different brands,
as that can save you a lot of time.
There are several influencer platforms where brands and
influencers can find each other. You can also use those to find brands in your
niche who are looking for collaborations.
These are some of the more direct ways to look for brand
collaborations. An indirect way is to tag brands and mention them when you talk
about their products in your posts.
It’s important to build a name for yourself and network with
brands in your niche. This might not yield immediate results, but will help you
form long-term brand associations that might lead to future collaborations.
Conclusion
These are tried and tested expert tips that you can use to
become an influencer in your domain. Follow these steps and give it time and
you will definitely see the desired results.
Remember that it is a process that takes time and effort to yield results. So, you can’t expect to become an influencer overnight. However, if you keep following these tips, you can become an influencer and start making money online.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many followers do you need to be an influencer?
To be an influencer, in many people’s opinions, you need at least 1,000 followers or subscribers. To join the YPP, influencers need at least 1,000 subscribers with more than 4,000 “valid public watch” hours over the past 12 months. In addition, YouTubers need an AdSense account.
Do influencers get paid?
Yes, influencers get paid. It’s an almost unspoken rule that influencers can get paid $10.00 for every 1,000 followers they have. However, influencers with around 50,000 to 80,000 followers get paid around $200 per post. The price will vary.
Can anyone be an influencer?
Nowadays, almost anyone can become an influencer on social
media as long as they put in the work. Content creators can specialize in
niches, and many micro-influencers will often have hundreds to thousands of
followers.