How to Become an Influencer: 7 Simple Steps,
Are you interested in becoming an influencer on social media? It can come with a lot of perks, but it takes a lot of work. Read more to learn how to become an influencer in seven simple steps.
Good Trends results show that the interest in becoming an influencer has been growing for the past five years.
That’s no surprise given that some celebrity influencers can earn up to $500,000 just for a single sponsored post. But you don’t need to be a celebrity to be an influencer. In fact, consumers are more likely to purchase products endorsed by ordinary people compared to those promoted by celebrity influencers.
So, if you want to learn how to become an influencer, there are several steps you should take, and this post is here to guide you.
Keep on reading!
How to Become an Influencer: 7 Simple Steps
Want to know the ins-and-outs of becoming an incredible influencer? Here are the 7 simple steps you need to follow, from finding your niche to creating truly standout content.
1. Find Your Niche
If you want to become an influencer, the first thing you need to figure out is your angle and what sets you apart from other influencers. You should pick a particular niche you’re passionate about like traveling and begin to post content related to that.
So write up a list of your interests, hobbies, and talents, and consider which one you’re most knowledgeable and passionate about. Don’t worry if it’s not a common interest or if it doesn’t fit into a common category. Sometimes the most successful influencers are the ones who create content about very strange and specific niches.
If you’re struggling to identify your niche, think about who you want your target audience to be.
Try to develop a persona of your ideal reader or subscriber, and use that to identify what their wants and needs are, and how you can meet those with your content.
2. Choose Your Channels
Once you know what your angle is, you’ll need to pick the proper channels for your content.
Where is your ideal audience spending their time, and what kind of content are they generally looking for? If you’re not sure where to start, your best bet is Instagram as that is where most influencers find success.
But if you’re not interested in Instagram, there are other options. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Snapchat are other great channels for distributing content. We recommend that you test out a few channels and see which one works best for you and your content.
Regardless of which channel you choose, try to avoid posting too much content in too many places. Try to stick to 2-3 channels max. If you do any more than that, you’ll spread yourself too thin, and your content will suffer.
3. Create Content
The most important part of being an influencer is creating the content your audience is looking for.
Social media channels like Facebook and LinkedIn allow you to share a variety of content types, such as articles and videos. YouTube and Instagram, on the other hand, are a bit more limited in the kinds of content you can share.
4. Create Your Content Strategy
Once you know your niche and the channels you want to publish it in, you need to create an overall content strategy. Think about the value you are looking to provide your audience with, and what the overall story of your influencer efforts are.
Your brand, as well as your content, need to be relatable and informative, and your content must be consistent in its quality and production.
Think about why people will want to follow you, and what value you can offer them. Your content strategy will help you maintain a consistent level of quality, and keep you from veering off track or straying from your overall content mission and audience.
5. Plan, Plan, Plan
Once you have your content strategy in place, you can start planning on the logistics. Make a list of all your content ideas, and plan out the first few months of content publication. Make decisions about how often you are going to post content, and at what times you’ll be posting it.
Studies have shown that the more you post, the more your audience will engage with you and your content. So post content often, and try to post on the same days at the same time. This helps your audience know when they should be visiting your page, and when they can expect new content from you.
If you’re inconsistent with your content schedule, you’re more likely to lose your audience.
If you don’t think you can commit to a consistent content calendar, try to schedule your posts in advance with a tool like Buffer or Ripl. By creating content in advance and scheduling it ahead of time, you can give audiences regular content without really having to maintain a calendar.
6. Grow Your Network
Becoming a successful influencer requires establishing your credibility and expertise, which can take time. You can do this by growing your fan base and engaging with other influencers.
Blog as often as you can, and reach out to other influencers to see if you can provide each other with guest content. If you’re into fashion, for example, try to connect with brands like Stylinity. By serving as a guest contributor, you can expand your awareness, and demonstrate to new audiences who you are and what you can offer them.
The quickest way to grow your network is by collaborating with an influencer who has more success and awareness than you. Just remember that you’ll need to have something to offer them to get their help. Also contact other people and brands in your industry, network, and try to make as many contacts as you can in your field.
7. Constantly Evaluate Your Efforts & Improve
One of the most important parts of being an influencer is knowing when your content is and is not working, and identifying how you can improve it for maximum results. Always be sure to review your performance metrics, as this should inform what you do going forward. Consider what content is working, which platforms perform best, and who is actually engaging with your content
It’s possible that your audience is much different than you anticipated. By reviewing performance metrics, you can have a clear-cut understanding of where and how you should invest your energy. This will help keep your influencer efforts fresh and focused for all your audiences and platforms.
Final Thoughts on How to Become an Influencer
Becoming an influencer may only seem like a dream, but it’s possible if you approach the process in this right way. If you follow the seven simple steps outlined in this article, you’ll know how to become an influencer, and set yourself up for success!
Are you just getting started with influencer marketing? Want to learn about blogging, business, and marketing? Contact me to learn how we can work together!
