The advent of social media has created new employment opportunities on the Internet. One of the most fun opportunities is becoming a social media influencer. The job has gotten a bad reputation for being easy and a get-rich-quick scheme, but this could not be farther from the truth.
The Tough Part of Influencing
According to experts, there are more than 500,000 social media influencers active on Instagram alone. When you factor in all the influencers who specialize in YouTube videos and those who only operate on Twitter, you get an environment with millions upon millions of people competing for clients. Aspiring influencers must work very hard to break through. First, they must earn enough followers to be noticed, and then they have to be unique enough to stand out. Even when they’re successful, they need to work even harder to retain their followers and represent their clients. They have to maintain their chosen image and avoid any scandalous missteps that can cost them their deals and followers.
Building Your Brand
If you’re trying to become a social media influencer, you need to build your brand effectively. Think of it like when companies buy customized pens to hand out to their customers. Your branding keeps you on message and reminds followers of who you are. The following tips can help you create a brand that followers will flock to.
Find your niche
Every influencer, from those with only a few thousand followers to those with hundreds of thousands, have a niche. This represents the areas and industries they are comfortable operating in and that their followers are interested in. Your niche has got to be something that has a lot of people are curious about but also a field that you personally are invested in. The key to finding a great niche as a social media influencer is to identify a topic that you can introduce a unique perspective to. For example, bookstragrammers bring their thoughts and reviews about books to the table. Even these general areas have specialties in them, which can help you narrow down your niche even more.
Choose your channel
Unlike a company or a business, you can’t afford to have a presence on every social media platform. Mastering and maintaining your account on just one platform takes a lot of effort, and the adage about running after two rabbits holds. Focus on only one or two social media platforms, preferably ones that work better together. For example, you can use Instagram photos to attract people with beautiful imagery and engage them with exciting anecdotes on Facebook.
Study your audience
Being a social media influencer isn’t just a hobby; it’s a business. And like all businesses, you’ll need to understand what your audience likes. Who is interested in your niche? What are they like?
Take a look at who interact the most with influencers who operate in your niche. This is key to creating content and making posts that they will enjoy. Aside from their age or physical locations, you should also dig into what language they prefer to use, what issues they care about, and which aspects of your niche they want to be addressed.
Determine specific goals
As a business, social media influencing requires goals. The more specific your goals, the easier it gets to come up with effective plans to achieve them. An umbrella goal like “get more followers” isn’t going to be much help but a more specific goal like “get 100 more followers by the end of the month” has the necessary specificity. Aside from identifying a specific goal for your account, you need to determine what’s your goal with the business in the first place. Is it to use your account as a platform for an advocacy? To establish a bigger business in the future? Determining these goals is vital for a successful career as a social media influencer.
Be genuine
Social media allows you to connect with followers in a way that seems targeted to each individual. When you look at a camera, your audience doesn’t see addressing a crowd. It looks like you’re addressing them directly. This level of genuineness is crucial is amassing and maintaining a substantial following. Integrate your thoughts, ideas, and opinions with your business concerns, such as sponsorships. Finding the balance between these two is difficult but necessary in projecting an air of authenticity. Your creativity is also an outlet for being genuine, so always present a unique spin to any of your content, whether they’re videos or photos.
Being a social media influencer isn’t simple because it’s a form of self-employment. You need to approach it like you would a business: with proper strategy and an appropriate mind-set. So build your brand the smart way if you want to be a success.
