How To Become A Social Media Influencer
According to the 2016 Influencer Marketing Report more than 60% of all marketing professionals have admitted to using social media influencers as part of their marketing strategies. According to Forbes, brands spent almost $25,000 to $50,000 per campaign on influencers and this is projected to rise.
Becoming an influencer has become the ultimate social media dream for most individuals. Although it looks easy, it involves a lot of hard work. How do you become the ultimate social media influencers? Here are six important and easy tips to get you started.
Find a niche. To become an influencer you need to be a subject matter expert at your chosen field. Don’t just be a generalist, be specific so that you will be the point person of individuals for the key categories in their life. The focus can be specific to a topic category such as fashion, or more specific ones such as men’s street fashion, or go the platform root, such as Instagram Fashion Blogger. Start by researching on the specific category. Form your own ideas and opinions and dictate what’s normal versus following the trend. The most important step at this point is to establish what makes you different and why your voice needs to be heard.
Stay on top of other relevant influencers. Establish relationships with other influencers in your field. Collaborate with other influencers and create posts that highlight your relationship with them to equally promote the both of you. This will enlarge your network and enable you to reach another fan base. Don’t beat them, join them.
Be updated on trends and changes. People want to follow influencers who are on top of trends, insights and valuable information. Study news, other opinions and features that are published or shared by people that are important in your field. Subscribe to topic and keyword alerts on Google Alerts and Social Mention. Be in the know of all platform changes and updates on your chosen social media platform. Changes in the algorithm and new added features can drastically alter how your audience interacts with you.
Create constant and relevant content. Your aim is to create new content at least once or twice a week. Create an editorial calendar and stick to it. Plan what you need to create in a span of three months. Schedule and release production schedules that you’ll be on time. Use this editorial calendar wisely in designing your content buckets. By doing this you can create a series of posts that your followers can subscribe to.
Be a guest, contribute. Contribute content to other blogs or publications that matter. Being a guest contributor increases your reach, increases your traffic and builds your credibility. Look out for the most relevant sites and pages, coordinate for submission and get published. After being published share it with your own audience as well.
Last but not least the most important of all, engage your audience. Social media influencers need to regularly take part in relevant conversations, answer questions on Quora, and share ideas on Facebook groups, participate in talks and webinars, don’t just listen to the conversation, be a part of it. Comment and reply to your own followers and build your reputation and your relationship with them.
Becoming a social media influencer is not an easy feat, but it is doable. Your business or brand can employ influencers to grow and achieve your objective. How do you do that? Download this free PDF on the complete guide to influencer marketing to learn more about the power of influencer marketing and the magic it can do for small businesses. For other great tips and tricks on social media marketing click here to subscribe.