The social media influencer market is set to reach $10 billion by 2020. Already 67% of marketers are promoting their content with the help of social media influencers. And marketers’ expenditure on influencers is expected to increase by about $50,000.
So besides the fame, there is money to be made. Maybe that’s why most people would like to be social media influencers. There are courses that can help you do this. Whatever your reasons maybe, you are in the right place to learn how to be an influencer. Let’s delve in and explore the nuts and bolts of what you should do.
1. Find your topic
First find a subject you are passionate about, and make it your own. Making a topic your own entails finding your voice among the crowd. This helps you stand out and offer value in an undisputed way.
The truth is, you might not be the first to cover such a subject. However, you can be the best among the rest. It all depends on the effort you put in your work.
Investing your time and resources in something you are truly passionate about is the sure way to avoid boredom along the way. It also makes it easy to offer quality content consistently. The more genuine your content is, the more enticing and convincing it is to your audience. This increases the chances of them coming back for more.
Once you figure out the subject you want to cover, it’s time to walk down the path of extensive research. Consume everything you need to know about the subject. You need to come out as an expert in what you are saying and doing. This way, your audience will consume your content without any doubt.
Stay on top of your chosen subject by engaging and following related news and blogs. This enables you to be among the first to know and discuss anything new in your industry. By comparing views from various outlets, you will get a better perspective to feed your audience with exceptional information.
2. Pick a Channel
The next step is to pick a channel to display your content. Some of the common social media platforms you may consider include; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. You need to settle for a channel that best suits your needs and can generate more returns.
For example, if your content is video-oriented, you can go the YouTube way. If it’s more picture-oriented you can go the Instagram way. If it’s word-oriented then you will need a blog or website.
In the beginning, you can sign up in a few platforms you are confident you can handle smoothly without straining and later increase your social media presence in more platforms.
For each network you sign up to, ensure you have similar handle names, easily identifiable bios, and relevant links to all your social media platforms. With multiple platforms, your audience gets to easily engage with you and your content.
However, handling multiple platforms smoothly can become tasking especially as your audience grows. This is where you engage the services of social media aggregators such as curator.io to ease the burden of tracking and engaging promptly with your audiences from different platforms.
3. Make a Plan
Now that you have your subject and the platforms to use, what next? Strategize. Take time and plan your way forward two or three months in advance. What persona are you going to use? Which tone will resonate best with your target audience? When will you produce,edit and publish your content?
Take time to have an inside-out understanding of the social media platforms you intend to use. Know its inner workings like the number of times you are allowed to post your content and how you can post your content.
Also, get to know the days and times when you are likely to get more views when you post your content. You can get such information from shadowing or mirroring those already covering your subjects and have a huge mass following, just never copy someone’s work.
4. Consistent Content Creation
As a social media influencer content production and curation is everything. In fact, 90% of your time will be spent creating and curating content. Your content,should be engaging and captivating enough to leave your audience hungry for more and hopefully share to increase your audience.
As per your plan, if you are to post content twice or once a week, stick to that. Consistency is key in posting content lest your viewers lose interest and move on, which is very easy. Social media moves on fast, what is trending this week might not be trending next week, or even worse the next day.
Your content should always be fresh and relevant. Therefore, you need to be on top of your industries trending topics and responding accordingly. To achieve this, you can utilize social media aggregators that help you keep an eye on relevant trending topics as per your hashtags and notify you.
Talking about hashtags, by utilizing them you can further your post reach to people also following them. This is because usually when something or someone is trending, there is a hashtag involved. Hashtags work well on Twitter and Instagram. You can also use live hashtags to engage your audience with the help of curator.io: an impressive and cost-effective social media aggregator.
Remember even as you grow content-wise, remember to stick to your area of focus. It is what attracted your audience to you in the first place. Veering off topic might cost you your audience.
5. Community
Your audience need to know and feel that you care about them. You are not just creating content to be famous and make some cash from endorsements. Engaging with your audience goes a long way in enabling you to build a robust community. A strong community stands by you even when things get bad and can even ease your come-back process.
Try to respond promptly to your audiences' questions. You can also ask your audience to suggest the content they would like to see you post next, which you later post, to show them you read and appreciate their comments. At the end of every post, you can ask your audience to leave a comment or question, which you respond to.
Connect with other key influencers within your industry. Participate in live events and engage with fellow influencers regardless of their niche. Sharing ideas with those who came before you and are doing way better can help you get constructive reviews and criticisms to help you grow.
Final word
All said and done. It’s your community that decides when you are worthy to be an influencer. Since you are at the mercy of your community, your work is to ensure you deliver quality content consistently and are frequently engaging them. The more your community likes what you have to offer the closer you get to them crowning you a social media influencer.