There has been an ongoing hullabaloo about social media influencers and social media influencer marketing. Most brands are gravitating towards social media influencers and ditching the traditional Television adverts. Have you wondered how to become an influencer and make money off social media? Keep reading to find out how.

 

WHO IS AN INFLUENCER

According to the Cambridge Business English Dictionary, influencer(s) refer(s) to a person or group that has the ability to influence the behavior or opinions of others: The influencer is the individual whose effect on the purchase decision of others is in some way significant or authoritative.

Research has shown that over 3 billion people actively use social media, which equates to slightly over 40% of the world’s population. Imagine the impact of reaching that magnitude of people would have on a company’s business. Most people rely on reviews from influencers, family or friends before making a purchase online. This goes to show the importance of social media influencers today. In this article I shall be revealing all the secrets that has worked and is still working for me using Instagram as a case study.

CHOOSE A NICHE

The first step in becoming an Instagram influencer is to choose a niche. This could be an area of interest or passion. Niches could be fashion, beauty, technology, travel etc Choosing a niche would enable you stand out as an expert instead of being all over the place. It would also make the right brands gravitate towards you and offer you paid collaborations. You can choose to be in more than one niche but I would advise you to restrict them to two at the most so your page doesn’t get confusing. You want someone to look at your page in 30 seconds and tell what niche you are in.

GROW AN ENGAGED AUDIENCE

This sounds easier than it actually is. One of the hassles us influencers face is growing our audience and increasing engagement. I would suggest you follow and engage with other accounts in your niche. Like their posts and leave relevant comments and they would come back to reciprocate. This would drive traffic back to you and get you on your way to first 1000 followers. Do not focus solely on gaining numbers but strive for an engaged audience because a non-engaging, unenthusiastic audience means nothing for your business.

PAY ATTENTION TO CONTENT CREATION

I cannot stress this enough! Content is king and that is how you sell yourself to brands. Your Instagram page is like your Curriculum Vitae and should be carefully and beautifully curated. Brands have to first see what you have to offer before signing you up.

The best way to create amazing contents is by looking at other top influencer pages and taking notes from there. However, this should not take the place of originality.

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START PUBLISHING YOUR CONTENT

When you have a handful of banging contents, its time to create time first Instagram post. Use captions that have call-to-action. This would increase interaction with your audience and increase your engagement rate. Also, hashtags are very important for increasing exposure and reach. Use only relevant medium sized hashtags so your posts are discoverable.

START PITCHING BRANDS

After you have about 10-15 contents published, it is now time to take the bull by the horn and start reaching out to brands. But not so fast! Create a media kit and find a suitable email pitching template before you send your first pitch email. There are tons of samples on google. Google is definitely your friend. Search for brands on Instagram that you would like to work with and shoot them an email. Start with smaller brands first as they are more accessible.

BE PATIENT AND CONSISTENT

Good things take time and Rome was not built in a day. You may get a few rejections at first but don’t be perturbed, we all passed through the same stage. Focus your attention on creating excellent contents that would resonate with your audience and keep your eyes on the prize. Network with other influencers in your niche, share ideas and brainstorm. Don’t be an island.

Conclusion

Social media influencers have come to stay and NOW is the perfect time to start your journey. Brands spend millions of dollars on influencers every year and the budget is only going to keep increasing. There is a lot of money to be made on social media and that is not about to change anytime soon.

Follow these steps to slowly but surely build your online presence as a social media influencer, and soon you could be creating content that is highly engaging, getting lots of interaction from your audience, seeing your followers growing and consequently gaining short and long term brand sponsorships.

If you have any specific questions that was not covered in this article, please feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] or send me a direct message on Instagram @_nonsky. I would be glad to help. Don’t forget to click that FOLLOW button while you are it.

Cheers!