Table of Contents
By Ryan Eaton
The rise of social media came suddenly and continues to evolve. Since its emergence, many participants have struggled to find the sole purpose; however, social media influencers have begun to take numerous platforms by storm, using them as a tool to promote and grow their brand and quickly becoming one of the main products of the social media craze. There are many questions surrounding influencers and their purpose in the grand scheme of social media. Here, we’ll be discussing how to become a social media influencer by utilizing sites as tools and focusing on easy tricks to help grow your following.
Find Your Target Audience
To be a successful influencer, you must find your target audience. It is important to know your target audience so you can create specific content tailored to them. To pinpoint an audience, you must determine who you are trying to reach by self-reflection. Find what interests you! It will make creating content a lot easier too. If you are a vegan and enjoy cooking, you would appeal more to vegans and those who cook. So, creating a vegan cooking channel on YouTube and Instagram would best reach this audience. Other popular topics include fitness, beauty, travel, sports, and photography.
Choose Your Social Media Platform(s)
The next step is choosing the social media platform(s) that will help you grow the most. YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook are the most popular platforms that social media influencers use. These sites allow influencers to upload their content and connect with their followers. Other popular platforms include Twitter, Pinterest, and Snapchat. It is important to choose the platform(s) that relates to your talents and vision. If you’re good at being in front of the camera or make videos regularly, then YouTube and Snapchat would be your primary social media platforms. If you’re interested in sharing your DIY’s or showing off your trendy outfits, Instagram and Pinterest would be your best options. The key is to know which platform(s) best highlights you.
Be Consistent
Once you’ve created your account and have gained some traction, the difficulty is being consistent. Continuously creating original content can be difficult at times. You may begin to feel like you’re running out of ideas. This is why it is important to choose a theme or topic that fits you. In order to grow your account, you must prove to users that you’re worth the follow. By constantly posting content, your followers are being engaged and entertained, helping you maintain and gain them. It is also important to not post too much. You must find the middle ground where followers are given the right amount of posts each day. Consistency is key. Take fashion blogger Xenia Adonts. She posts about two photos a day and edits them the same to make her Instagram page look uniform.
Expand Your Brand
Expand Your BrandAfter establishing themselves, many popular influencers begin to expand their brand. Many social media platforms have enough users that some accounts could have marketable value. If you experience enough account growth, companies may begin reaching out to you. You could also try DM’ing brands and offering to collab with them. Through sponsorships and advertisements, you can widen your markets and also make money. Sponsorships can provide access to an entirely new audience for something as simple as a shout-out. Check out Shay Mitchell advertising for Lulus on Instagram.
Let’s say you’ve just blown up across social media. You’re making money for posting videos on YouTube, brands are sponsoring your Instagram posts, and your tweets are constantly going viral. What’s the next step? Truth is, there’s no one answer. The influencer trend is fairly new, and many popular influencers are beginning to see just how far social media has let them go. Some are considered A-List celebrities, appearing in movies, living in LA mansions, and attending red carpet events. As future generations become even more involved in social media, the ceiling for influencers will continue to grow higher and higher. However, you shouldn’t become a social media influencer for fame, money, or attention. It should be more of a hobby that you love to do without the consideration of fame or fortune.
Still interested? Learn more about influencer marketing here!
