Do you aspire in becoming an influencer?
Who wouldn’t want to quit their day job and earn through sponsors and supporters? Influencers make thousands, if not millions, due to the size of their audience. They earn by doing what they love, whether it be gaming or cooking, or hosting makeup tutorials.
Of course, becoming an influencer is no easy task. The good news is we’ve listed all the important tips and tricks right here to get you started. Continue reading and launch your influencer career today:
Know Your Niche
The first step is to identify your niche. You can’t become an influencer without knowing what you’ll focus on. The most successful influencers attained their status by discovering their niche and mastering it.
Do you want to focus on makeup tutorials or video game playthroughs? You could focus entirely on cooking tutorials and recipes or find a niche in fashion. Some people focus on travel vlogging and others forged a niche in comedy skits.
Find the Right Platform
Once you know your niche, it’s time to find out which platform to pour your efforts into.
Remember that each social media platform is different. Instagram is better suited for fashion icons, for example, due to the visual nature of the platform. YouTube is a great option for people who want to make vlogs, video game videos, comedy skits, and cooking or makeup tutorials.
The platform you pick will also determine how you’ll earn. Remember that each platform has a different set of requirements to become an official partner.
Have Measurable Goals
To become an influencer, you need to remember one of the most important digital marketing tips: have definable goals.
Don’t simply state you want thousands of followers. Go for something specific like gaining 5,000 followers in six months. You can measure that kind of goal and you can study different metrics to determine if you can hit it.
Instead of simply stating you want to earn a lot of money, jot down how much you want to earn per week and see if you can attain that goal. The analytics data should help you figure out whether or not these are achievable goals.
Focus on Relevant and Impactful Content
One reason why some people don’t become influencers is that they don’t put out relevant or impactful content. Don’t fall into the same hole.
Look for what’s trending. This is why you should invest in analytics tools to study trending hashtags, keywords, mentions, and more. Use that data to create content people currently talk about and show interest in.
If, for example, you want to be an influencer in the video game community, make content relevant to the latest releases and gaming events. If you’ll stream in June, you’ll want to make videos covering the latest game trailers and announcements taking place during E3.
Your Unique Spin
Do you want to be an Instagram influencer focused on cooking? If you only make traditional cooking videos, it’ll be too easy for other creators and influencers to bury your content. You need a unique spin to stand out and make people want to check out your page instead of others.
You could focus entirely on Asian fusion food or street food. Instead of making traditional videos, make a unique spin by using puppets or by focusing the camera only on your hands. Something different will help make your content shine through and this will garner more followers.
Stick to a Schedule
Influencers don’t make content simply for fun. It’s a job and to make sure they can retain all their followers they have to maintain consistency. This means putting out a schedule and sticking to it.
A travel vlogger, for example, can state they’ll always do live videos on IGTV or Facebook Live every Friday. They’ll then put out edited videos on Mondays and Wednesdays and host AMA videos on the weekend. People will follow this schedule and expect the influencer to stick with it.
Sponsors rely on this consistency. They pay influencers because of the audience size and the regular schedule since it means they can expect how many people will see the paid ads and when.
Build a Solid Community
To become an influencer, you need to build a strong following. You can’t do this if you present yourself as some kind of faceless corporation. You need to make your followers feel like they matter and that they’re not simply a statistic to you.
Make it a habit to include your community in everything you do. Host Ask Me Anything (AMA) videos so people can get to know you more. Run things like polls and always take time to respond to likes and comments.
If you host live videos, which most influencers do, take time to respond to the live chat feed. Many influencers use tools like Super Chat, which prioritizes chat messages paid for by supporters. Always prioritize replying to those paid messages since they come from your most avid supporters.
Connect With Other Influencers
As mentioned, becoming an influencer requires building a following. You won’t gain sponsors and endorsement offers unless you have thousands of followers. One good method to gain likes and followers is to connect with other influencers.
Yes, you can use tools to get more likes on Instagram and other platforms too. Focus on tools that connect you with other influencers. Like their content and they’ll do the same for you.
You may have to pay an influencer for them to mention or showcase your content to their followers. It’s a worthwhile investment since doing so exposes your page to the influencer’s millions of followers. A good percentage of their followers will likely check out your content too and this helps build your own reputation.
Set a Standard For Sponsors
How much should you charge a sponsor if they want you to endorse a product or service? Don’t belittle yourself but at the same time, keep your standards appropriate based on your reach and niche. A TikTok star with millions of followers can easily charge a few thousand dollars per minute while someone with fewer than 10,000 followers should keep their prices moderate.
That said, don’t let sponsors bully you. If you set a price and require something like a free sample — and you have the audience to back up your claim as an influencer — then don’t settle for anything less. It’s okay to set your foot down.
You may not get every sponsor but that’s fine. When one turns you down, another one will come in its place with a better offer. As long as you continue to keep your followers and consistently put out engaging content, expect that sponsors will keep approaching you.
Launch a Support Program (like Patreon)
Do you want to keep things strong even when you don’t have sponsors? Launch a support program like Buy Me a Coffee or Patreon. These platforms will allow you to keep earning even when you’re only putting out content for your loyal followers.
Of course, these platforms aren’t easy to maintain. You need to make content exclusively for your Patrons, for example, to convince more people to financially support you. Take your time to learn how to use crowdfunding platforms like Patreon.
For example, you can make regular videos for your followers on Instagram. This is the stuff sponsors will want to approach you for. For your Patreon supporters, however, give them sneak peek videos and behind-the-scene photos.
Don’t Hesitate to Branch Out
Did you start your career on Instagram or Facebook? That might’ve been a good choice five years ago but are these platforms still solid today? Are your followers still on these platforms or are they moving on to new social media platforms?
It’s okay to experiment. Don’t hesitate to try out newer platforms like TikTok, which already has millions of users and famous influencers. If it doesn’t work out, it’s still safe to go back to the platform you started in.
You’ll want to jump ahead of the competition too. If there’s a new platform coming out, let your audience know you’ll give it a try. Some of your followers will move over to the new platform just for you, especially if you’ve established a strong connection with them.
Launch Your Career Today
There’s a lot to learn when it comes to becoming an influencer. Fortunately, these tips and tricks will help you get on the right track. Take it slowly, find your niche and platform, and continue to release good content to build your community and attract sponsors.
But why stop with building a career as an influencer? You can also learn how to make the best content to help you stand out or how to use modern tools to improve your current content. Learn how to use tools like OBS or how to make unique TikTok content by reading more of our guides right here!