Have you ever thought about what it would take to become an influencer?
You might think all you need is a pretty smile or fancy editing skills, but there is a lot more to building an audience that believes in your work and finding related sponsors who will trust you to sell their product. (For instance, here’s a guide to becoming an influencer on Snapchat)
But let’s be clear: marketers at every level use influencers to launch their campaigns, whether it be for the latest energy drink to hit the grocery stores or for the newest in fashion, technology, or fitness.
Take a look at how you can become a trusted influencer on social media.
1. Find the Right Niche for You
The first thing you need to know when setting out to become an influencer is that you need to pick an area of specialty, properly known as a niche.
There are plenty of popular niches from which you can choose, particularly ones related to health and fitness, beauty, travel, fashion, and making money.
What binds all these topics together is how they help improve the lives of others, either with self-help or entertainment value.
As you research to discover the niche that suits your knowledge, skills, and personality, you will need to think about how you will become an expert in your area.
You will want to break down your niche in order to find a topic within that area that will help you stand out among the crowd, and then your job will be to learn as much as possible within that topic and share your knowledge with others.
One of the best ways to learn is to follow other influencers in your space and see what they are posting. You can find your favorite influencers on my site SoInfluential.
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2. Be Authentic to Gain Trust
If there’s one thing you need to learn before you make a single piece of content, it’s that being fake doesn’t sell.
If your audience is going to trust you, it will be because they believe you have their best interests in mind and that you aren’t just another sleazy salesperson.
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Let your personality shine through your posts!
The best thing you can do for your audience is to have an educated opinion, supported by facts and empathy while being truthful about what you believe regarding your niche.
3. Be Consistent and Post Regularly
If you study the top influencers closely, you will notice that they all have one thing in common.
They are not necessarily the most funny or the best content out there, but they post every day.
This helps them stay on top of mind, and also increases the chances that one of their posts goes viral.
Here are some social media secrets I shared during a presentation at Parent Heart watch.
4. Learn to Engage With Your Audience
You might believe in the power of numbers for social influence, and while you’re on the right track, you might be looking at the wrong numbers.
Markets don’t care if someone has a large number of followers, they care if those followers are being engaged.
The proof that you have an engaged audience is when you have presented them with information and they have a reaction to your point of view.
Learn to ask questions to your audience that will cause them to want to interact with your content.
These interaction triggers can be things like:
- drop a comment below
- tag a friend that can relate
- hit the like button (on Youtube)
- Ask “do you agree or disagree”
I’ve written quite a good amount about going viral and becoming influential on several platforms, here’s a roundup
- How to go viral on Snapchat
- How to go viral on Linkedin
- Go viral on Instagram
- Go viral on Facebook
- Best Pinterest scripts
Conclusion
At the end of the day, influencers have much to consider when it comes to becoming a trusted source of information to the audience they are building.
You’re going to want to learn to market yourself, networking with other successful influencers, and present yourself in the best light possible to those looking for what you have to offer.
Which niche are you going after? Drop a link to your social platform on the comments so I check it out!
Thank you! wonderful checklist!