10 Easy Steps To Becoming Social Media Influencer
Influencer marketing means that one or more people are deployed to influence the behavior of
a target group. Well-known influencers usually have many followers on social media, and in
particular on the app Instagram. By posting specific content that is align with your content
strategy they can “influence” their followers.
So, what is an influencer? The definition of an influencer is someone who has the power to
influence / affect the purchasing decisions of others. There are several reasons why someone
has the power to influence others, amongst them are authority, knowledge or because they are
seen as experts. Furthermore some of them have a strong relationship with their followers,
their followers feel as connected to the influencer as to their inner circle. Whenever they
recommends a certain product / service they are very open to this recommendation. Note:
authenticity is key!
Anyone who thinks millennials don’t do that much and are lazy has probably never met a social
media influencer. This actually also applies to anyone who thinks that social doesn’t play a
crucial role in a business. Influencers are and will continue to be the future of advertising.
Old-fashioned advertising campaigns via TV, radio and banners on the internet are making way
for the popular millennial that (usually) advertises brands on social media platforms, mainly
Instagram. Influencers replace the billboard and TV commercial. And this strategy works for
businesses where old-fashioned marketing doesn’t, scientists say.
Nowadays they belong to the fixed mix of marketing methods of many major brands.
Influencers are a great, new way for businesses to bring brand awareness to people in a more
authentic and sincere way
Before you start, it is important to ask yourself what industry your interested in. Find something
that your passionate about and enjoy doing in your free time.
Whether its makeup, fashion, cooking, etc, this step will help you identify want audience your
trying to reach and from there you can now create your brand.
The tricky part of finding a niche is that, well, there aren’t necessarily a lot of them left to grab.
Just think back to those 8 million mummy bloggers – and there are probably equally vast
numbers of people sharing their views on fashion, beauty, fitness, travel and food.
But don’t worry. You don’t need to create an entirely new specialism to be a success as a social
media influencer. And if you did become a unique social authority on, say, monkey haircuts,
then it sort of limits your appeal to most brands.
The reality is that to be an authentic and engaging social media influencer, your subject needs
to be something you can speak about in an intelligent and inspiring way. In other words, you
don’t really find your niche as a social media influencer – your niche finds you.
The key is to make sure you specialise. If you have a passion for hill running, but you’re also
really into omelettes and woolly hats, then it’s important to focus on your most influential topic
– or at least only supplement it with related and relevant topics.
That’s not to say your Instagram should be filled with post after post of omelettes/woolly hats.
It’s just making sure that you are developing a clear identity for yourself in your channels.
Typically, when deciding on how to become an influencer, you can choose one of the following
categories:
Travel
Lifestyle
Fashion
Food
Beauty
Sports
Gaming
Entertainment
Tech
Health and Fitness
You don’t have to limit yourself to just one of these categories. You can combine two or more
of these niches. Make sure the individual niches align with one another. For instance, you can
combine travel and lifestyle or beauty and fashion when you decide on your niche.
It is not mandatory for you to stick to these established and well-known niches. The key to
becoming an influencer is adding your unique voice to everything you do. So, don’t hesitate to
experiment and carve your own niche that allows you to exhibit your strengths as well as your
quirks.
Or, if you can’t be bothered to do all that, you could always just go and arm-wrestle all the
other influencers in your space. That shouldn’t take too long.