How to be an influencer: A post for Beginners
Are you interested in becoming a social media influencer? 8 years ago when I started the title influencer wasnt even used. We were all known as bloggers. We used social media to promote and push our blog content. Now according to omnicoreagency.com there are 500,000 active influencers on Instagram!
According to Foxbusiness.com sponsored posts can pay anywhere from $50 to more than $50,000.
If you are looking for ways to build a side hustle, work hard at it and make some money here is your guide!
What is an influencer?
An social media influencer is someone who is able to sway the decisions of potential buyers.
They have the power to impact purchasing decisions.
There are all kinds of influencers in different niches on social media.
Depending on your niche and skills will determine what platform(s) you will launch on. You don't only have to be in Instagram even though this article will concentrate on Instagram but I do want to present other ones such as Tik Tok, Pinterest, Youtube and Facebook.
I do recommend that you try to at least be on 2 platforms. I say this because some of these platforms may not be around in 5 years ( ex: Vine) so be thoughtful and strategic on which platform works best for your skill set and content.
Here are 5 ways to become an Instagram Influencer:
1. Just start!
This is the first step obvi! Set up your Instagram profile.
When setting it up at the beginning focus on content around a niche. This can be fashion, beauty, wellness, fitness, and lifestyle.
Once you find your broad umbrella niche, try to narrow it down to a specific niche.
I say this now in 2020 because there are so many fashion and beauty infuencers, so you have to come in with a specific need and point of view.
Once you create your account switch it from Personal > > Business
Why?
- you gain access to Instagram insights. This is beyond helpful when strategizing and scheduling your content, discovering more who your audience is, where they are located, demographics etc etc!
- Access to contact information in your profile bio. This will make for quick access for brands to get in contact with you
2. Content Strategy
Before you grow your content I want to present this step first because I feel that value leads to longevity that implementing quick growth hacks and no tangible information to your community. You need to bring people value because value is GOLD!
Become the go to person.
The Authority person in the niche that you have created and strategize the content that you plan on delivering. If you are passionate about your content, you will be less likely to get bored and impatient with the process and quit.
Passionate people see the bigger people, enjoy what they are doing and serve from a genuine place.
The goal is to create IMPACT!
INFLUENCE DELIVERS IMPACT!
3. Establish your branding
Many people would disagree but I think you should have some sort of branding attached to your Instagram and brand. This is displayed by having a cohesive feed.
A cohesive feed means when you look at someone's feed it all flows well in either color pallete, style or mood.
It doesn't have to be a cohesive feed of all beautifully curated DSLR
camera photos because some influencers are successful with iphone photos. But I think its helpful to have a look whether its certain editing style, specific pre set used to edit your photos, particular fonts or graphics used in your Stories.
If you need some inspiration for this Pinterest is the place to GO! Pinterest is a great source for anything and everything inspiration. Here you can find your brand's style.
Just take some time, 1 hour or less, and start pining everything that you are drawn to when it comes to your brand. Collect photos from multiple sources and this will help you come up with a unique and personal look to your brand.
This will be your guide to your brand's cohesive style.
Some apps to use to create this feed are:
- Over
- Adobe Lightroom App
- VSCOCAM
- Presets (free or purchased via Etsy or on Instagram)
Create a pattern
This is helpful when to create and follow a content calendar. It helps your grid look consistent and cool.
You can do this scheduling the following: quotes, photos of your yourself, photos of family, flat lay, and blog post.
This builds a easy content calendar. You can use Unum or Planoly to plan out your grid ahead of time.
4. Grow your account
I want to express to focus on growing your account organically! Don't start off on buying followers or cheating just to develop quick growth. It won't deliver any results because brands have gotten smarter and diligent on organic growth.
Don't TRIP on how many followers you have! You want people to build an engaging community and followers you have build trust with and have cultivated a relationship with them. This will convert higher than a non organic followers.
Use hashtags
Posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement! It gives your post an opportunity to reach a huge pool of new eyes an potentially new followers.
Tip: When entering your hashtag chose ones with a smaller usage number. This will help you have a greate chance of being seen.
Be strategic with your hashtags and not use random ones that are not related to your posts. You can run into being flagged by Instagram for doing this.
Follow people in your niche
Search for people in your niche, follow them and engage in their feed.
Please don't follow them and then follow. Its bad in taste and people notice.
Use IG Stories
IG stories has become so popular since its launch. Many people prefer to view stories than feeds.
Use this feature to share an insight of your life and who you are. Just share what you are comfortable with sharing.
Posts of value
Posts that are delivering information or tips or how tos get shared and saved. When someone shares your posts to their Stories you know have a whole pool of new eyes seeing your posts and could bring them to check out your profile!
5. Package your Influence
Now you want to monetize!
If you want to work with brands you can start organizing your pitching materials:
- media kit
- rate card
- proposal template
- email templates
You can reach out to brands:
- directly via their social media page
- join an influencer agency
- tag brands in your posts and bring them in to reach out to you
This is the end of our post!
I hope this was helpful to anyone that is interested in dipping their toes into the influencer marketing world!
It is hard work but if you are passionate about it and stick with it, it can manifest it to an endless amount of opportunities.
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