Udemezue John
Introduction.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram e.t.c came alongside innovations for businesses and job creation for those who care to know how it works.
Social media has the power to give every individual a voice; every individual is allowed to contribute and influence without restrictions without hurting anybody’s feelings.
By the year 2020, social media influencer marketing will be a 10 billion-dollar industry, according to Adweek Magazine.
Do you have the following Questions;
- how to become a Facebook influencer
- how do you become a social influencer
- how to become a social media influencer as a teenager
- how to become a social media influencer on Facebook
- how to start influencing on Instagram
- how to become a digital influencer
- how to get into Instagram influencing
- how to become a Snapchat influencer
- how to become a Twitter influencer
- how to become an influencer on Snapchat
- how to become an influencer on Pinterest
- how to become a travel social media influencer
- how to become a Snapchat influencer
- how to become a Twitter influencer
This article has been created to help answer the above questions with clarity. Make sure to stick to the end to get a comprehensive understanding.
Who Is a Social Media Influencer?
A social media influencer has established trust in a particular industry or content type that has access to a vast audience on any social media platform. Social media platforms to exploit as an influencer are Facebook, Tik- Tok, Instagram and Twitter.
An influencer should have large Followers and the power to spark conversation and inspire action or change in behaviour on any desired social media platform.
Companies hire social media influencers to help expand their social reach and build more business trust among potential customers. Social media influencing ranged from sharing helpful content with specific niches in Entertainment, Lifestyle, Education, e.t.c.
Why Should You become a Social media influencer?
As earlier stated in this article about the viability of the social media influencing industry.
By 2020, social media influencer marketing will be a 10 billion dollar industry.
So if you are seeking a career change or new income stream, then becoming a social media influencer can be a perfect starting point.
Here are a few reasons you should choose social media influencing as a new career.
1. To Have a voice.
As a social media influencer, you will have tons of followers, and engagement is likely going to spark from time to time. In addition, people tend to see you as a source of inspiration and would want to seek your opinion on their decisions. This can, in turn, lend you a voice both in the online and offline community.
2. Make money.
The current estimated value for the social media influencing industry is over 10 Billion dollars, and this value is expected to increase over the years. This is because consumers feel confident in recommending a product or a service from an influencer. As a result, more companies and brands are likely to partner with you as a social media influencer.
How to get started as a Social media Influencer.
You are fully equipped with the technical and physical tools to begin your social media career. Here are handy tips to help you build your social media influencing career.
1. Choose your Niche.
As an aspiring social Media influencer seeking to make an impact, you should choose a niche or topic you are comfortable with. Additionally, it is essential to choose something you’re passionate about and will enjoy spending your time on.
Choosing a niche has a lot to do with the kind of audience you intend to have. To be successful as a social media influencer, you have to decide what niche to get started with. Also, make sure that you choose a place that sells well and would attract many audiences.
Here are some fantastic niche Ideas to choose from.
1. Entertainment/celebrity.
Everyone loves to be entertained and wants to keep up with what is happening with their favourite celebrities. However, it looks like a saturated industry but with endless opportunities.
2. Sport.
Another niche you could consider getting started with is the sports niche. Are you a sports commentator or just a sports lover who loves to keep a sound update on what is happening on the sports scene worldwide? Then this niche is for you.
3. Travels.
The travel niche is another money-making niche that can make you big as a social media influencer. It has been discovered that most people look up on the internet for the intended destination before going on a visit. However, you never can tell; your social media profile can serve as a guide to people who intend to travel to their prefered tourist destination.
2. Choose your social media platform.
There are so many Social media platforms out there that it is left for you to decide which one works for you. Deciding on your most preferable social media platform is determined by the kind of content you intend to drop on per timely basis; we all know that video content should stay on YouTube while text content can stay on Twitter or Facebook. Most influencers are popular on only one or two social media platforms. So, it is best to focus your efforts on only 1-to two channels. Once you have selected your gutters, you need to create new profiles or optimise your existing ones.
1. Facebook.
Facebook became the largest social network globally, with more than one billion users as of 2012, and about half that number were using Facebook every day. The company is currently headquartered in Menlo Park, California, USA.
Entree to Facebook is free of charge, and the company earns most of its money from advertisements on the Web site. New users can create profiles, upload photos, join a preexisting group, and start new groups.
The site has various components, including Timeline, space on each user’s profile page where users can post their content and friends can post messages; Status, which enables users to alert friends to their current location or situation; and News Feed, which informs users of changes to their friends’ profiles and status.
Users can chat with each other and send each other private messages. In addition, users can signal their approval of content on Facebook with the Like button, a feature that appears on many other Web sites.
Facebook has a vast audience to help you connect with your desired audience; I wrote a comprehensive guide on how to help get started with Facebook; click the link below to get started.
2. Twitter.
Twitter is an online microblogging service for distributing short messages among a group of people known as followers. These messages that individual users of the platform send out are called Tweets and are limited to 280, which was increased from 140.
A user types a tweet via mobile phone keypad or computer and sends it to Twitter’s server, which relays it to a list of followers connected to you on the same platform by pressing the follow button.
In addition, users can elect to track specific topics and create certain tweets around them, which also stands the chance of hitting millions of Twitter users outside the present audience.
Twitter is one platform where influence marketing thrives because it has a massive audience like no other; it has also been given the title of a big tech company because it has connected people from different backgrounds and countries worldwide.
I wrote a comprehensive guide on how to get you to start with Twitter; click the link below to get started.
3. YouTube.
YouTube was created to make video sharing easy. It was built on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, and later acquired by Google, Inc in 2206, after a failed attempt to clone a YouTube and call it Google video.
Since the acquisition, YouTube has become a critical major generating earning factor for the company; also adding to its achievement, it became the second most-visited webste after Facebook and also the second most queried search engine after Google.
YouTube has become a gold mine for social media influencers, becoming the only platform that shares revenue from advertisers with its creators.
I wrote a comprehensive guide on how to get started with YouTube; click the link below to get started.
4. Tik Tok.
TikTok, formerly known as Musical.ly, is a video-sharing social networking platform owned by ByteDance. TikTok remains a destination for short-form mobile videos. In addition, social media features like hashtags can be used alongside its platform.
5. Instagram.
Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social networking service launched in 2012 and is now presently owned by Facebook, Inc.
Instagram allows each user A simple, fun & creative way to capture, edit & share photos, videos & messages with friends & family.
Each social media has its expertise, so you must analyse which social media platform would work for you. For me, I would recommend it on your behalf. YouTube will probably work for every social media influencer if you need a steady income.
3. Get The Necessary Equipment.
The next step would be to get the relevant tools needed to start up as a social media influencer and most of which include.
1. Smartphone.
The above mentioned social media platform provides an interface to interact with their platform, which is possible via the web and on smartphone devices such as Android and IOs. Therefore, you need a perfect start as a social media influencer—one with a powerful processor and huge memory. You can choose any operating system for mobile, either IOS, Android or Windows Os.
2. Camera.
You can say that a smartphone does the heavy lifting of a native camera. But I tell you, A smartphone does not replace a camera, no matter how sophisticated that smartphone might be. You tend to need A camera when working with YouTube because of the resolution.
Or else you would shoot crap videos. A camera helps you generate the perfect resolution and pixel needed to create appropriate content.
3. Computer.
After successfully shooting with your camera, You need to do some video editing to cut and add the required effect, and the use of a computer can do this.
Video editing software like Photoshop and Adobe premiere pro is needed in this case. I mentioned the need for a computer because Video editing is a skill necessary for media. You never can tell you can develop and start your career in filmmaking from there.
4. Internet Connection.
As a social media influencer, the internet is your lifeblood because it is needed to facilitate your day to day activities on social media, so you cannot do without it.
You should make sure you choose a perfect internet service provider. Just in case you need something stable and limitless, You should subscribe to the use of an Optic fibre service in your country.
4. Post Relevant Content.
Content is King, so you should try as much to engage your followers with relevant and valuable content.
The more you can engage with your audience, your opinions and recommendations will influence the more people.
The most critical requirement for being an influencer is that your followers listen to you. Therefore, you need to formulate a content strategy and use a mix of content types, preferably the ones that your audience will most like.
Some influencers strictly keep their social media feeds all about their preferred niche like food, travel, fashion, beauty, etc. Such influencers don’t mix business posts about their personal lives, which keeps them more focused on their interest.
This means that a sports influencer might post about sports, highlight the game, and even offer some brand-promoting services.
5. Be Consistent,
Rome was not built in a day, so don’t expect to reach your peak too fast.
There are so many people on social media, most of whom do what you are doing. After deciding what types of content you will post, you must finalise a posting frequency and schedule. Most social media platforms usually give more visibility to accounts that post regularly on their forum.
This is especially true for Instagram, which requires a regular posting frequency for increased visibility. Therefore, it is also the most effective influencer marketing platform.
You can choose to post at any frequency that you’re suitable for. You should also consider the platform before deciding on that.
Some platforms, like Twitter, are more dynamic and require a higher posting frequency if you want to become an influencer on that platform.
On other social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, you can get away with posting once or twice a week.
However, choose the days and times you will post and make sure you are constantly attracting engagements and loyal fans. For Instagram, it is advisable to post in the cool of the evening because engagement is more active then.
6. Connect and engage.
As a new and upcoming influencer, connecting with your audience is very wise and essential.
Learn and engage them by replying to their comments, taking and generating live feedback via reactions and feedback forms. As an influencer, you must strive to connect with your followers to build a connection.
7. Follow Other Influencers.
There are no online tutorials or certifications on social media influencing, making learning and mastering it a bit complicated. Therefore your source of inspiration and tactics should be from other influencers you follow. You can learn and analyse from them what process works and what does not.
8. Declare Openness to Collaborations.
As an Influencer, you need to come out and declare yourself as an influencer who is interested in brand collaborations. You can do this by writing that you’re an influencer and are interested in collaborations in your bio. Make sure you provide contact details for potential clients, giving them an easy way to connect with you.
9. Sign up on the Influence marketing platform.
Influencer marketing platforms intermediaries, helping you interact with top influencers in your most prefered niche of operation. See it more like an online platform where influencers and brands can meet each other.
With an influence marketing platform, all you need is to get signed up and have database access to more influencers in a concise minute. In addition, most influencer marketing platform allows you to create a campaign and scout for influencers.
There are so many influence marketing platforms, and I will be listing a few.
1. Upfluence.
Upfluence is an influence marketing platform that allows businesses to connect with relevant influencers.
With Upfluence, you can sign up as a creator and a brand; with the inbuilt chrome plugin, each brand gets the opportunity to analyse the performance of a specific influencer.
As a brand, you also get to create campaigns for your business and pay influencers after they might have finished the campaign job.
TRY IT NOW – Upfluence.com
2. Tagger.
Tagger is another excellent influence marketing platform designed for businesses to connect with influencers to work with.
With Tagger, you get social listening capabilities to measure & benchmark social engagement, Plan campaigns and discover the perfect influencers with a database of over 3.6M+ influencers.
Lastly, the inbuilt tracking and analytics functionality helps you to be able to track campaign success in real-time data.
TRY IT NOW – taggermedia.com/
3. Hype.Buzz.
Hype. Buzz is another excellent influence marketing platform that acts as an online marketplace where the brands get to connect with social media influencers to work with.
Hype. Buzz is restricted to the Nigerian scene, so if you are an upcoming influencer based in Nigeria, you can get signed up on this platform.
Brands can also create a campaign and seek out influencers in such categories to help spread the news.
TRY IT NOW – HYpe.Buzz
How to make money as a Social Media Influencer.
I will be breaking down this post into pieces by highlighting how you can make money on your favourite social network because monetisation on different social network platforms differs from each other. I will be talking about a few.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. So you have to seek ways to earn money yourself, and a few of them are
1. Affiliate marketing/ Promotion.
Affiliate marketing/ promotion involves selling a particular product or service to get a commission attached to it.
This can be as easy as sharing a blog post that has an affiliate mentioned in it; in most cases, you would be given a custom link and a back end dashboard that would enable you to track all sales and withdraw earnings. Though Instagram does not support links, they can be included in your bio.
Here is an article I recommend you read to get started with affiliate marketing.
2. Paid Partnerships.
Paid partnerships are a conventional way to get paid from social media influence.
If you have a massive following and engagement, companies may offer to pay you to post about them.
This is popular among celebrities. However, it does not mean an average social media influencer cannot get a sponsored partnership deal with a reputable company. In Nigeria, you can use an online service like Hype. Buzz, or better still, sign up on the influence marketing platform mentioned above.
3. Sell Your Products.
Social media can be used as a platform to sell your products. Whether you sell physical or digital courses, they can be integrated alongside your social media marketing plan.
Consider subscribing to Facebook and Instagram ads to market your products.
You can use social media features like stories to feature your products, and an external link to your online shop can be added via your social media profile.
I wrote an article on how you can get started selling stuff online using an E-commerce business model; click the link to read it.
4. Blogging.
Blogging is another avenue that can be utilised to make cool cash as a social media influencer. Traffic can be diverted from your various social media accounts to your blog, which can be monetised.
I wrote an article on how you can start a blog and make money; click the link to read it now.
In most cases, you might be famous for a special kind of services you offer on social media; you can promote your services to your audience.
5. Google Adsense.
Do You know that if you are a signed up YouTube publisher, you can earn close to 2k dollars per month on views your uploaded videos get?
YouTube collects Ads from end-users and displays them across its network, some of which might be distributed into your personally uploaded videos. In turn, YouTube splits profits with you by how many times that ad was engaged by people who streamed your video at that particular point in time.
Here is an in-depth article on how you can scale your YouTube channel from Zero to Hero.
Google has a policy of collecting from advertisers and splitting profit across its network of publishers signed up in the Google Adsense program.
The Google Adsense program allows you to monitor and cash out all earnings every month.
Are you new to Google Adsense? Click the link to learn how to get started with Google Adsense.
Conclusion.
Social media influencers are more important to digital marketing than ever before, and this will continue to thrive.
Now is the time to get started as a social media influencer; we now live in the digital age where connections are inevitable; get started now and start connecting.
Final words.
Dear reader, I want you to know that we are predestined to meet in this world but maybe not physically; I am so glad that we could meet on this platform today.
I want you to know that I value relationships and friendship, and I want to get to know you more, connect and express feelings towards each other.
I am appealing that you drop your email in the email subscription box below; you never can tell we might have solutions to the problem each other and even help ourselves from there.
You never can tell; great relationships start from somewhere, don’t forget to drop your email.
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See you in the next email.
This was an excellent read. Thanks so much for writing this.
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