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Influencer marketing is no longer a trendy topic in digital marketing, but an essential key to healthy branding and business development. Every successful startup has backed up its launch through powerful voices. And yet, these “strong” voices are the voices of simple people, who happen to be heard and acknowledged by many other ears.
Since basic psychology teaches us the principles of word of mouth marketing– showcasing the obvious manifestation of the crowd effect– influencer marketing is a straightforward and proven practice that helps businesses improve their performance.
In today’s post, I’m talking to you, the wanna-be social media influencer who’s starving for the proper knowledge. Well, being an influencer brings indeed a very interesting work.
It’s challenging, yet extremely satisfying. In today’s post, we’ll discuss the benefits of five different social media networks and the marketing advantages each of them brings.
In the end, we shall tap into several insightful psychological insights that should make you capable of turning your work into play, and then your play into art.
Shall we?
Your First Choices as an Influencer
Starting a career as an influencer is not as simple as it looks like. It takes focus, commitment, strategy, and lots and lots of hours. Still, FOCUS is the keyword here– like with everything in life, you must assume a position, stick to it, get good at it, and then master it.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that you must isolate yourself and work only with one platform. The key is to balance but to learn to prioritize at the same time.
Here’s my best advice– since you might be new to influencer marketing, pay attention to the following characteristics and perks of each social media platform and try to feel (and then analyze) what each of them speaks to you.
Choose one for starters, become good at it, and as you grow, develop your social media presence on others. However, focusing on two social media networks might put you in trouble because it’s never good to split your attention, energy, money, and time into half. Get one straight, then move on to the next.
- Facebook is, without a doubt, the most popular and active social media network in the entire world. It is universal– people use it to entertain themselves, to educate themselves, to communicate, to connect, to play games, to waste time, to stalk other people, to do bad deeds, and so on.
- It is the universal channel that every possible age uses, even though lately the middle-aged demographic has become more prominent than the younger demographics who have merged to Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and even to less conventional networks.
- 81% of digital marketers that Facebook marketing is a profitable business.
- 84% of digital marketers are currently running (and planning to run) influencer marketing campaigns targeted on Facebook and few other social media networks.
- Facebook gives you amazing tools to start and manage your personal brand. Excellent analytics, amazing advertising database, and unlimited reach.
- Facebook influencers can promote both B2C and B2B products, as the sky is the limit.
- Facebook is not a good place for intrusive advertising. Therefore, influencer marketing– being a less threatening advertising angle, becomes a profitable avenue for every business that understands its target audience.
Therefore, Facebook is definitely a great choice, regardless of your niche. Obviously, if you’re approaching the art industry where visuals are predominant, Instagram, Pinterest, or even Tumblr might be better choices.
- Instagram was launched in 2010. It was meant to be a photo-sharing digital application that was specially built for iPhone users. Instagram had a different purpose before it was bought by Facebook– it was an app that was simply applying filters on mobile pictures.
- In 2019, there are over 700 million active users, and most of them (60% of Instagram users) are young people aged between 18 and 29. However, Instagram is now quickly becoming used by more mature ages, the older generations catching up.
- If you want to start your influencer marketing journey through Instagram marketing, you should keep in mind the following two keywords: photos and videos. If you’re good at that, you’ll do very fine here.
- Instagram is a very mobile-friendly application. Very few people use laptops or PCs to access this platform.
Snapchat
- The youngest of the youngest, Snapchat was launched in 2011 and had the same destiny as Instagram (Facebook is the common parent).
- 60% of Snapchat users are younger than 25-years-old, which means that you’re looking at a very young demographic with very special needs and desires.
- If you’re a young influencer who’s approaching a Snapchat-friendly niche (anything that is based on many photos, videos, and short-form content), then you should probably give it a go.
- Snapchat’s main feature is the ephemeral content– the type of content that disappears (self-destructs) after a viewer gets to see it for the first time. That’s it– no saving, simply catching the moment.
- If you’re into the business of being “cool,” go for Snapchat!
- LinkedIn stands out from the crowd because it proposes a different direction. LinkedIn is designed especially for professionals who are looking for business creation. Network marketing is the main purpose, and LinkedIn offers the perfect environment and tools for this mission.
- Becoming a LinkedIn influencer is a different trick: you must have a real background, or rather said a recognized professional status and reputation. Of course, that’s not 100% fixed. You can become a person who connects the dots and gains a lot of followers by simply posting amazing content that is helpful to professionals and companies.
- LinkedIn is the perfect spot to improve your professional reputation and become an “authority” in the field.
- LinkedIn tools help you not only create amazing influencer marketing campaigns, but they also help build straightforward connections and relationships with relevant peers.
- If you’re looking to work in the B2B sector, LinkedIn is perfect for you.
- Twitter is the “news social media network.” They call it “a conduit for news,” and the individuals who are sustaining it are, again, young people aged between 18 and 29.
- Twitter’s main features are prioritized on news sharing, news curating, and real-time updates. If an important event happens now, it will be firstly shared on Twitter rather than other social media networks. Therefore, you can perceive Twitter as the perfect place to be if your posting style is random and based on real-time events.
- Twitter is preferred by highly educated people and used by many business owners and public figures as the main social media choice. Well, at least in the US!
- If “tweeting” short content on a regular basis is your thing, go for this platform!
Tips and Tricks to Become a Better Influencer on Social Media Networks
Publish Beautiful Content
As an influencer, you’re ought to become a good writer. If not a writer, a storyteller. I used to work for an essay writing service (Pro Essay Writings). I did it for a few significant years, and that taught me something: you can’t move people unless you tell great stories. I’ve learned to create the best essays by figuring out how to inflict emotions into the words I was putting on paper.
Therefore, as quick advice, when you post something make sure you send a powerful message. Inflict passion and purpose in your campaigns and you’ll amaze everyone.
Show Your Personality
The key to art and mastery can never be found unless you’re confident. What does that mean in terms of influencer marketing success?
You need to be real. You need to show the genuine side of you. If you can’t do that, at least build a solid and consistent mask that is close to that genuine personality and infuse it in every campaign. Also, use your personality to negotiate and ask for higher rates, pointing to the uniqueness and originality of your influencer marketing campaigns.
Your Client’s Needs Are Your Primary Mission
Never ever forget that you are an influencer. Through your personal brand, your personal image, you are influencing other people to try other people’s products. Therefore, your clients’ needs should always come first.
Develop Your Own Standards and Boundaries
Even though you should be always open to what your clients have to say, make sure you create boundaries. It is ideal to keep your standards high and demand respect. You cannot be a successful influencer unless your clients’ respect (and even love you).
Practice Consistency
Consistency is a very rare trait, one that should be always practiced and developed. As an influencer, you’ll be taking many campaigns and you’ll deal with a lot of work. Things get rough sometimes, but it’s important to remember that the key to major successes lies in consistency and persistence. Develop that and you’ll quickly climb up the ladder. Use your confidence as fuel and your intuition as the direction!
Takeaways
Becoming a successful influencer is no easy job, regardless of what platform you choose. Of course, having the right concepts and balancing between the right principles is definitely an easier way to reach the top of the ladder. Generally, every small influencer makes himself known in time, and through work.
Not just hard work, but especially smart work. The way you perceive your work– whether you see it money or art– makes an extremely big difference in your overall performance. Stay consistent, persistent, and resilient, and keep moving forward. That audience and that reputation of yours will always grow if you keep growing it. It’s simple!
