Online marketing has changed rapidly in just a decade’s time and social media is more important now than ever before. Understanding the value of social influencers is not just important; it’s vital to your own success either as a personal brand or a company. Many people want to become social influencers but don’t know how. Many more people don’t even understand why social influencers are important in today’s Internet climate. The ultimate goal of an influencer is to build a targeted audience that hangs on your every post and treats you like an authority.
Attention
Major social channels are becoming even more popular for marketing opportunities. Social influencers are people who have large followings on the web & social. These influencers draw massive attention to every post they make across various platforms. And in the marketing game it’s all about going where the attention is.
Each social network has its own benefits & drawbacks. But the value of an audience can be defined by the niche/target audience, the interactivity of followers and how posts are organized on the network
Diversity
The first step on your path to social influencing is to decide how you want to promote content and which platform(s) appeal to your areas of interest.
You certainly don’t need to limit yourself to one single network. But it’s best to start with most of your attention placed on one network to learn how it works. Sharing content, building a following, and connecting with others takes time. The more time you invest in one network the more you’ll get out of it. Just pick one place to start and learn that network well. If you love taking photos then start on Instagram. If you love recording videos then start on YouTube.
The network you start with doesn’t have to be your primary network. But you have to start somewhere to learn the ins & outs of gaining followers, connecting with others, and sharing content that connects with people.
Content
Model your social account to present yourself as an authority on whatever topic you pick. Keep posting on a regular schedule and post daily if possible. This will help your audience learn to expect consistent posts and it give you a chance to build credibility while testing different content styles.
The more content you produce the more people will see you as an active authority. This builds your personal brand, your account’s reputation, and helps others find you through search and/or re-sharing(pinning, retweeting, etc.)
If you’re not sure what type of content to post just browse through related accounts.Focus on quality and get into a schedule of maintaining that quality. From there you’ll be more receptive to building an audience that cares about what you share.
Audience
When you’re happy with your content then it’s time for outreach. Start by contacting others in your niche and building rapport with them. Show them support and learn about their audience.By meeting other influencers you’ll be networking with people who can help you build your account and your online brand. Networking is huge in this business; in fact it’s pretty much the main part of being an influencer.
Your audience will grow much quicker with support from others so be sure to give just as much as you get.
Give shoutouts to bigger influencers and give credit when it’s due. Share recommendations for other influencers with your followers to anyone who you think is worth following.
Forward
The concept of an online influencer is a very new idea. The old media was guarded heavily by major corporations and media suits.But nowadays a kid anywhere in the world can grow a following into the millions with the right network & content strategy. From this point it’s possible for anyone to become their own media outlet. Brands and sponsors will pay influencers to publish recommendations for their newest products or services. And honestly it doesn’t take having 1M followers to start getting promotional offers.
Everything laid out in this post takes time. Nobody did anything of immense value in a day or even a month. But if you follow these strategies and keep active you can become a powerful influencer in whatever space interests you the most. Just be sure that you produce valuable content that’s unique compared to what others are posting. Give your followers a reason to follow you and the lofty title of social influencer will soon be yours.
