Social media has become increasingly important and prevalently used in recent years. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are booming. Of course, everyone uses social media in their own, unique way.
Some people have profiles but don’t actually post. They like to browse the content that is presented to them and enjoy videos, images and other options that would otherwise be hard to find elsewhere. Some people post occasionally, using their pages as a sort of personal blog, showing their loved ones what they’re up to and how they are.
Some people have a passion and use these platforms to showcase their work and ventures. Then, there are the social media influencers. Social media influencers are individuals who generate a significant following and are able to monetize their pages. Influencing has recently become a viable – and often, extremely lucrative – career. Here’s some more information on the subject that can help you to determine whether social media influencing could be a good path for you.
How Influencers Make Money
First, let’s understand how influencers actually make money. Influencers make money, as brands recognise their potential. Influencers have a large following and, more often than not, this won’t be a random, widely mixed demographic of people. Instead, it will be individuals of a specific demographic. For example, someone who posts about beauty products will likely have a completely different following to someone who posts about van life and travel adventures. Brands seek out people who have large followings that correspond with their target demographic. If you have the demographic they’re looking for at your fingertips, they will pay you to advertise or promote their products. They know that if you post their products, their target demographic will be exposed to them and will be more likely to buy from them. Ads and sponsored posts are where the money is at.
Don’t Quit the Day Job
It’s important to note that you will likely need another source of income while you start out as a social media influencer. You have to post a lot of content and slowly build a following before you are able to monetize your pages. Most influencers start out with day jobs alongside their venture. So, don’t quit your day job and dive into the deep end. Influencing takes a unique combination of talent and luck. You need to ensure you can support yourself until you take off!
Choose Your Platform
Sure, some influencers operate across platforms, but most have one, specific platform that they specialise in. This is why you find “Youtube influencers”, “Instagram influencers” or “Twitter influencers”, for example. Each different platform has a different draw. Youtube tends to be good for those who want to post long format, video content, such as tutorials. Instagram is good for those who have beautiful images, such as models, travellers and others. Twitter is good for those who have something to say and are profiting from their thoughts, opinions or humour. You also have a subset of influencers, who are known as podcasters. These hold lengthy discussions in audio format. Research the different platforms and determine which best matches what content you want to create.
Choose Your Niche
What do you want to post about? What will be your niche? Honing in on your niche will help you to better cater to specific demographics, who brands want to profit from, and who will ultimately build your fortune. There are so many different areas to focus on. By choosing your niche, you will know what equipment to invest in and what kind of content to post. If you decide you like travel, you may find that you need to invest in a Go Pro, a drone like the Mini 3 and a lot of flight tickets. If you are more into beauty, you could benefit from a ring light, beauty products, beauty tools and more. If you want to post your recipes, a good set of pans, good lighting and good tripods to film your cooking can be great. Knowing your niche will guide every step of the journey. It can be tempting to post about everything and anything that interests you, but this can result in you losing huge groups’ interest.
Create Your Content
Creating content is probably the hardest part of the entire process. This is where you have to actually perform. Often, this will be a process of trial and error. You may try something simple and find that it is a huge success. You may try another idea and find that it flops. Only by a process of trial and error will you grow to understand what your audience likes, engages with and is actively looking for. Take time to ensure that everything is up to scratch. Don’t try things half-heartedly. Instead, you need to put your all into every post.
Come Up With a Schedule
If you don’t have a content calendar by now, now is the time to make one. A content calendar can help you to post regularly and routinely. People need to stay engaged. You need to ensure that you post as expected in order to stay relevant and maintain attention. Ideally, you should be posting multiple times a week, no matter what platform you use. Different platforms require different amounts of investment and effort. For example, Youtubers and podcasters tend to post less frequently than Instagram influencers. This is because videos and audio files take longer to record and edit than images. Note in captions when people can expect your next post, to ensure that they tune in and find the content you’re providing.
Reach Out to Brands
Do you have any brands in mind that you’d like to work with? If so, once you reach a good follower count, you should try reaching out to them. Many brands are very receptive to quality forms of advertising and may be more than happy to work with you. Being active can boost the number of clients you have and profit from. Remember that many big brands also offer freebies alongside payment. This can be great and can see you secure a few items or experiences you’d enjoy too!
Register With an Agency
There are also plenty of agencies out there that make it their purpose to match influencers with clients. These agencies can really make life easier for you, securing major clients and maximising your profits. Just bear in mind that the agency will take a cut of the money you make. Weigh up whether this will be worth it or not. For example, an agency that takes a 50% cut could not prove worth your time and effort.
Create Professional Contact Details
If you’re reaching out to brands or agencies, you do need to make sure that you’re doing so from a professional email address. You don’t want important messages getting lost amongst your personal emails and junk mail. It also gives you a more professional image, helping you to maximise the amount you’re able to earn from this venture.
Avoid Controversy
You don’t want to get caught up in cancel culture. Instead, you need to do whatever you can to avoid controversy. Saying or doing the wrong thing is something that people are held more accountable for nowadays. You need to ensure that you are avoiding any form of controversy, as this will prove potentially career-ending. Brands do not want to engage with people who share views that could be harmful to others. You really need to be careful. Tread carefully and ensure that you (put simply) aren’t being a bad person online. You also need to consider who you partner with. Some clients will be inappropriate. YOu should make sure to vet any businesses you’re considering collaborating with, ensuring that they have good products, good service and are ethical in all ways, shapes and forms.
Maintain Privacy
You need to ensure that you maintain a level of privacy when being an influencer. This is a trade that sees you profit from your personality and looks, which means that it can easily be an area where people start oversharing. But you need to ensure that you keep certain information to yourself. Consider your safety. When you influence, you tend to have a public profile in order to maximise engagement. You should never share personal details such as your bank details, address, specific location or other information that could be used to bring you harm. Be sensible. Be logical.
As you can see, there really is a lot to take into consideration when you’re planning on becoming a social media influencer. Not everyone will make it in this field, but it is a role that can help you to create a career that you actually enjoy. Hopefully, some of the information outlined here will help you along the way and could serve as your springboard towards success! You never know, you could find yourself with hundreds of thousands of followers by this time next year.
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