Influencer Marketing is a hot Marketing phenomenon that everyone is talking about. It has become a mainstream marketing tactic and is no longer limited to a select few brands or agencies. Almost every major industry has seen a rise in Influencers. And brands are leveraging them now more than ever. Being an Influencer has become so lucrative that it’s no wonder that everyone wants to be one in their respective domains.
If you are one of those people who want to become an Influencer, then you have reached the right place. In this post, we will discuss the step-by-step process of how to become an Influencer. So, read on and start on your path to becoming an Influencer.
1) Select Your Niche
Before you start on your path to becoming an Influencer, you need to first select your niche. You need to choose a niche that you are Interested in and can consistently create content about. You should also have some level of expertise in the field to be able to establish yourself as an Influencer.
As an Influencer, you will have to research and post content in your chosen interest area. So, it is important to choose something you’re passionate about and will enjoy spending your time on.
2) Optimize Your Social Media Profiles
Once you have chosen your niche, the next step is to select your preferred social media platforms and create/optimize your profiles. Most Influencers are popular on only one or two social media platforms. So, it is best to focus your efforts on only 1-2 channels.
Once you have selected your channels, you need to either create new profiles or optimize your existing ones.
3) Switch to a Business Account
If you intend to become an Influencer, you need to switch to a business account as that opens up a lot more options. Most platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have the option to create a business account in the profile settings.
4) Create an Engaging Bio
Your bio is the first thing someone sees when they visit your profile and is therefore an important part of making a great first impression. Your bio should be able to tell your story in an engaging manner. It should also provide all pertinent information about you like your full name, location, contact details, and areas of expertise.
5) Add a Profile Pic and Cover Photo
You also need to add a profile pic and a cover photo for your profile as they are also important components of your personal brand identity. People often recognise a social media profile by the profile picture, so you need to carefully select a picture. Also, make sure that your face is clearly visible and the picture quality is good.
6) Understand Your Audience
Before you start creating content and posting on social media, you need to understand your target audience. Influencers have sway over their audiences and strong connections with them. That’s due to the fact that they don’t cater to everyone, but only those with similar interests in the same niche. To become an influencer, it is important that you know who you’re targeting and then do it well to build a loyal follower base. To understand your audience, you can first start by analysing your current follower base to get insights into their demographics and interests.
7) Create and Post Relevant Content
The next step in becoming an Influencer is to post useful and relevant content for your followers. The more you are able to engage with your audience, the more people will be influenced by your opinions and recommendations. That’s the most important requirement for being an influencer, the fact that your followers actually listen to you. You need to formulate a content strategy and use a mix of content types, preferably the ones that your audience will most like.
Some Influencers keep their feeds all about their chosen field of interest like food, travel, fashion, beauty, etc. Such influencers don’t mix posts about their personal lives in with their niche posts and keep their content focused only on their niche.
8) Regular and Consistent
After you have decided what types of content you will post, you need to finalise a posting frequency and schedule. Most social media platforms’ algorithms give preference to accounts that post regularly. This is especially true for Instagram, which requires a regular posting frequency for increased visibility. It is also the biggest Influencer Marketing platform.
You can choose to post daily, weekly, or at any frequency that you’re comfortable with. You should also consider the platform before deciding on that. Some platforms, like Twitter, are more dynamic in nature and require a higher posting frequency if you want to become an Influencer on that platform.
9) Engage With Your Audience
Once you start posting content on Social Media, you will often get likes and comments on your posts. For an influencer, it is important to connect with their followers, therefore, you cannot ignore these comments. It is a good practice to reply to comments and answer any questions that your followers ask you. You can also just “like” their comments to show your appreciation.
10) Let Brands Know You’re Open to Collaborations
The final step towards your quest to becoming an Influencer is to announce it to the world. You need to come out and declare yourself as an Influencer who is interested in brand collaborations. You can do this by writing in your bio that you’re an Influencer and are interested in collaborations. You can also provide contact details for potential clients, giving them an easy way to connect with you.
Let us know if these 10 steps helped you navigate your way through the Influencer industry. Tag us @itp.live.