Connect with us

Success Advice

How to Become an Influencer in 2020

Published

on

Image Credit: Unsplash

If you’ve ever wondered how to become an influencer, you aren’t alone. Influencer marketing is on the rise as consumers and social personalities can now get paid to review brands to their audiences, promote glamorous lifestyles, and receive free products and services, including the luxury of complete wardrobes and travel accommodations.

Millennials and GenZ rely on these everyday people to provide valuable information within their realm of expertise. Companies are increasingly setting budgets aside to capitalize on this growing field of marketing. In 2017, over $2.1 billion was spent on influencer marketing on Instagram alone. The demand for social media influencers is anticipated to increase, especially for micro-influencers with less than 100k followers.

Influencers are the credible voice of this generation. Although everyday people, these consumers have positioned themselves as experts in their respective industries, earning the trust and attention of hundreds of thousands of follows, followed by contracts that pay real money. 

As an influencer, you can use your voice to share information relevant to your passions or help your peers with purchasing decisions by reviewing products. While it may look like glitz and glamour from the outside, influencers can attest that they are required to be “on” 24/7 to cater to their brands, promotions, and audiences.

Inevitably, more people are looking to explore the world of influencer marketing. Despite the glamour, influencers are free agents who must create content that is both intellectually and aesthetically pleasing. They perfect the process of publishing and promoting content online and learn how to monetize their content. While the role is creative, it is also data-focused. As consumers grow more selective about who they follow, it is impertinent that influencers provide value, remain authentic, and indulge in the continuous task of having a robust and engaged following.

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” – Seth Godin

So how do you become an influencer in 2020?

First, define your brand, niche, and audience. Your brand should have a unique, consistent voice that reveals to the audience what you want them to know about you. A successful influencer finds a niche, a subject in which they are an expert and are passionate about it. Journalists and thought leaders in a variety of industries have successfully crossed over into influencer marketing by consistently providing valuable information in their niche. Your brand should speak to who you want to appeal to.

Next, choose your social media channel and develop your content strategy. Your voice should reflect the sponsorships you hope to receive, even in the beginning. Consider blogging, guest posts, and curating content from other thought leaders and similar accounts when developing your content strategy.

For influencers hoping to build an audience using career, job, or academic-focused content, LinkedIn would be a great platform. For influencers seeking to post a video or photo-based content such as tutorials, sponsored endorsements, or other content that might relate to a brand or product in a variety of industries, Instagram would be the platform of choice.

Now, you must organize your content so that it is published efficiently. Content scheduling allows you to schedule ahead and prepare in case of unexpected distractions. Your content schedule should have a month’s worth of pre-planned content; a content calendar can ensure your content is consistent and also track your performance and engagement.

“Numbers are hollow. It’s all about community and involvement” – Andrew Steinthal

What’s the best time to post on social media?

Have you ever wondered the best times to post on each social media platform? The answer varies with every social network and the type of audience being engaged. According to an article on the best time to post, “Facebook and Twitter both see high engagement at 9 a.m., whereas one of the best times to post on Instagram is 5 p.m. LinkedIn caters to B2B audiences, with an ideal posting time of 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Pinterest sees high engagement as late as 4 a.m. With many businesses facing a growing global audience, varying time zones have become a growing concern, especially when it comes to the best times to post.

After you’ve created your schedule, it’s time to focus on your followers. Find 50 similar accounts and make them your besties! Get from behind your device and make friends face-to-face. You can host and attend events, or even take a social media class to apply to your new platform. It also helps to learn how to pitch yourself, your metrics, website visitors, and engagements effectively to companies you’d like to pay you for your social media posts.

Speak at conferences, be a guest on a podcast, and position yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Just keep in mind that it takes time to see success from influencer marketing, as most influencers report months or sometimes even years of hard work before landing contracts. You must be willing to build relationships over time, and not just digitally.

It’s easy to become an influencer as the entry barrier is very low. It’s not so easy to really become an expert in your field. This takes time. Niche down as much as possible, stay consistent and most importantly, have a great vision in place which can change this world for the better. 

Have you ever thought about being an influencer? Share your thoughts on it below!

Tina Dahmen helps coaches, consultants and purpose-driven entrepreneurs to gain more influence in their space. She helps influencers to scale their online presence by creating digital products and implementing automation so they can serve more people, make more money and have more free time in their lives. She is also the founder of Coach Marketing Hub (CMH). CMH is an all-in-one marketing platform that replaces all other tech subscriptions you are currently paying for as well as reduces tech-overwhelm, automates mundane tasks and increases profits.  

Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Success Advice

12 Skills to Acquire in 2024 for Career Success

In 2024, the professional world is evolving rapidly, so taking the initiative and planning strategically for skill development is essential

Published

on

skills required for a successful career

In 2024, the professional world is evolving rapidly, so taking the initiative and planning strategically for skill development is essential. If you want to do exceptionally well at your job, moving past the ordinary and concentrating on improving various skills is essential.

This article looks at key abilities that will contribute to your future career. (more…)

Continue Reading

Success Advice

How to Use Link Building to Get More Traffic to Your Website

A meticulously executed link-building strategy can transform your new website into a digital powerhouse

Published

on

link building strategy

Why do some websites skyrocket to the top of search engine results while others languish in the digital abyss? Does the new site you’ve just created have a chance to get a target audience and organic traffic? (more…)

Continue Reading

Success Advice

Simple Secrets to Building a Profit Pumping Freelance Business

Freelancing is a highly profitable venture, but its overwhelming nature tends to be daunting

Published

on

freelance success

Freelancing is a highly profitable venture, but its overwhelming nature tends to be daunting. To maximize profit, it’s important to adopt favorable mechanisms and workflow aids. You can increase your productivity to a significant level by staying true to your workflow. (more…)

Continue Reading

Success Advice

Here’s Why Your Digital Marketing Efforts Fail and What to Do About It

A key distinction between traditional and modern marketing is targeting.

Published

on

reasons digital marketing is failing

In a renowned anecdote, Albert Einstein is said to have given his graduating class the same exam paper two years in a row. His assistant, worried that the great scientist had made an error, alerted him. Einstein’s reply was simple: “Yes, it’s the identical test. But the answers have been altered.” (more…)

Continue Reading

Trending