According to recent research, the influencer marketing industry has more than doubled in size since 2019. With a current value of $13.8 billion and growing, it’s one of the most dominant industries worldwide. If you want to know more about the world of influencers, and are wondering how to become an influencer, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll explain what influencers are and how they earn money, as well as share tips on how to become one yourself.
We’ve provided you with an outline of this article below. You can click on any of the headlines to read about parts that interest you.
- What is an influencer?
- How do influencers make money?
- Being an influencer: Pros and cons
- How to become an influencer in 6 steps:
What is an influencer?
An influencer, and particularly a social media influencer, is someone who has a significant online following. This audience usually follows the person for a particular category or niche, such as gaming, modeling, comedy, beauty, fitness, etc.
How do influencers make money?
The main source of income for most social media influencers is a result of influencer marketing. This is a type of targeted marketing, done towards an influencer’s particular niche audience. These are done either through sponsored posts, public product endorsements, or more general partnerships.
Brands want to work with influencers because, when an influencer endorses a product, their devoted followers are more likely to invest in it. It also provides exposure to people who are not actual fans, but still follow the influencer for one reason or another. Either way, in the current digital age, it’s an effective method of getting your product or service out there.
Being an influencer: Pros and cons
Before trying to become an influencer, you should also consider some of the benefits and the downsides of influencership. We’ve listed some of these below, so you can check them out before delving into our tips on how to become an influencer.
| Perks of becoming an influencer: | Challenges you might not have considered: |
| – You’ll get to avoid the classic 9-5 office job, – If you truly enjoy your niche, you’ll be doing what you love as a job, – The opportunity to make a lot of money, – The chance to become famous and move on to other things (like acting, TV hosting, etc.), – Free products sent to you as gifts, or in exchange for public reviews as PR deals, – Working at your own pace & remotely (at least mostly), – More flexibility with your work schedule and jobs to take on, – Having a community of like-minded people with similar interests that support you | – Building up an audience to make enough money can be extremely difficult, – Even after you’ve built your audience, there is still no job guarantee for the future, – Always working under agency and brand guidelines might leave you with little to no creative freedom while posting, – You will always have to upkeep a certain public persona to protect your image, – Constantly having to explain to others what you do (+ struggling to convince them that it’s a “real job”) |
How to become an influencer in 6 steps:
1- Do your research before creating your brand.
The first step on how to become an influencer is to do research about being an influencer to see if it really fits you. Looking at the pros and cons above might be a good starting point. But keep in mind that these benefits and struggles do not apply to every influencer. For example, some people’s content goes viral overnight without effort, so they never have to worry about building an audience. And there are also a lot of people that keep up their social media presence as a hobby. It all depends on your perspective, and what you expect from doing it.
Another part of this is that you should decide on your branding and niche. What will your content be about? Which social media channels will you be posting on? Who are your audience, and how can you reach them more effectively? Are there additional skills you could learn beforehand that can help your image?
2- Create presentable and authentic social media profiles.
Before you start posting, you should optimize your social media accounts to be able to get the best out of them. Or, if you want to keep your personal and professional online lives private, you can create new profiles for your influencer efforts.
There are a few things that you should pay attention to while setting up your accounts. Here are some of them:
- Write an engaging bio that shows off your personality and purpose.
- Have an inviting profile photo, cover, etc.
- Switch your account to a business profile so you can track important data.
3- Formulate your content strategy.
Deciding on what you’re going to post is one of the most important steps of how to become an influencer. As an influencer, what you’re doing is essentially marketing yourself. Therefore, it’s important to create an effective content strategy to attract, engage, and grow your followers.
One of the most trusted beginner methods is to check out what works for other successful influencers in your niche, apply your own personal spin on it, and analyse the results. Trying different things until you find what works for you will probably be your best bet. During this process, it’s important to stay on top of your engagement data. You can also find outside ideas and strategies from reputable sources, such as this infographic from Socialmediatoday that provides 70 social media post suggestions.
However, know that there’s no be-all-end-all method for this that works across all platforms! New trends and influencers come and go every day. The only advice that’s stayed tried and true after all this time is to post consistently. Building your brand depends a lot on exposure, and consistency is one of the guaranteeing measures for this.
4- Offer something unique to your audience.
In addition to your social media posts, you might want to also create additional content to offer extra unique content to your audience. This might make you struggle at first, but in the long run, it will make you stand out from the other influencers in your field. It will also create more opportunities for you to connect with your audience through different mediums.
These can include:
- Creating Youtube videos such as tutorials, hauls, etc. that will fit your branding,
- Affiliate merch collaborations with other brands,
- Having your own online community with the help of an extensive community software,
- Selling online courses or digital resources (ebooks, sheets, etc.) about your certain field,
…and more. Knowing what will attract your audience and make them buy/subscribe to your content is essential for this step. Using a community software like Raklet’s can get you in direct contact with your audience, and help you with direct feedback. You can also sell memberships, share exclusive announcements, create events with different ticketing options, and much more. If you’re still not convinced, see how Theatre Deli, a UK-based artist community, used Raklet to drive their organization forward.
5- Attract influencer marketing opportunities.
In addition to being likable and genuine for your audience, your platforms also need to be attractive to potential influencer marketers that might want to work with you. After all, Youtube Adsense can only take you so far. Through influencer marketing, you will be able to create sponsored posts, share affiliate links to get commissions, or even have long-term partnerships with brands that will enable you to collaborate on multiple projects.
You can try reaching out for sponsorships yourself to create opportunities that you like. Research their sponsorship and marketing conditions (if they have them listed). Otherwise, make sure you have your contact information accessible on your social media pages, so that marketing companies and agents themselves can contact you with future offers. You’ll never know where a good opportunity might come from!
6- Celebrate every achievement!
Chances are you won’t see major growth on your social media platforms –especially if you’re just starting out. One of the most important things you can do from this point forward is to celebrate every achievement, no matter how small. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t immediately see the results that you wanted. Even if you’ve mastered the art of how to become an influencer, it’s an extremely competitive process. Getting noticed and reaching your goal might take a long time. If you’re in it for the long haul, you need to keep at it. We believe in you!
Using Raklet for memberships can help your audience engage more with you as an influencer. If you also want to help your business thrive, schedule a demo with us to see how we can help you.
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