HOW TO BE A SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER?

In this technology driven world, where the main source of social connection between people is also through social media, influencers play a huge role in the marketing field. In fact, many of the influencers use social media as a side subsidiary for income.

• Dhanya Bajpe

“I’m a social media influencer”, looked like a surreal point to put in your resume, until a few years ago. However, it is one of the most mainstream marketing tactics for social media users, especially, the Gen Z.

Now, who is a social media influencer? And what is it that they do?
A social media influencer is someone who has the ability to influence massive groups of people, who follow their social media account, and affect their buying habits or lifestyle. They use social media as a marketing strategy, and are generally comprised of people who appeal to the minds of the same generation. These people also happen to be trend setters, and are able to even earn money, and profit off of their social media usage.

In this technology driven world, where the main source of social connection between people is also through social media, influencers play a huge role in the marketing field. In fact, many of the influencers use social media as a side subsidiary for income. Isn’t that mind blowing? How far have we come, that we can, not just use social connections to make friends, but also earn money!
Now, as far as we know, in order to become a social media influencer, we need to have certain aspects regarding our social media usage and our accounts. So, coming to the topic at hand, let us see some of the important aspects of becoming a budding influencer:

1. SELECT A FIELD OF YOUR CHOOSING:
The first and foremost aspect of trying to “influence” your followers, and also gather more, is to evoke trending among the majority of your peers. Selecting a niche is not as easy as it is said. It takes time, research and efforts, as you need to properly understand both its personal and market value, amongst their further interest. This can be done through certain topics which you love, and which is also a source of interest for a few other users as well. However it is extremely important to be passionate about the topic you choose, as you will be required to post content based on it for a long period of time.

2. OPTIMIZE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA:
In order to efficiently post content on social media, and target followers, it is important to micro manage by keeping in track of the number of social medias you use. It is much easier and more lucrative to focus on efforts onto 1 or 2 channels. Once you have created a social media account, it is up to you to create various other accounts to manage your content or businesses.

3. CREATE A BUSINESS ACCOUNT:
Now that you have selected your preferred social media channels, it is time for you to create an account (s) to manage your content. It is always wiser to create a business account, as this helps to separate work from personal life. It is also helpful in the fact that you can target a set of followers without risking major losses owing to clashes of personal beliefs. For example, if you are an atheist, and a few of your followers are religious, and do not share positive or neutral sentiments about irreligion, you might incur a few losses amongst the number of your followers.
Also, business accounts help to create more outreach, and target specific audiences.

4. CREATE AN ATTRACTIVE BIO:
Your bio is perhaps the first thing that will interest potential followers, rather than your feed. Innovative, lucrative and humorous bios are generally more attractive. Keep it simple and short, as longer bios tend to get a little tacky very easily. Your bio gives an outlook of your originality, and is perhaps a selling point for your business as well.

5. ADD IN REQUIRED COMPONENTS OF YOUR PROFILE:
It is easier to identify you by your profile. So, make sure to keep a bright, well lit, and pleasant picture of yourself for your profile photo. Also, if there are other components, like email, or cover photo, etc. required, make sure to fill them in. An incomplete profile looks sloppy, and you need to make sure to good impression, eh!

6. INTERACT WITH AND UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE:
It is necessary to interact with your audience in order to establish a pleasant bond with them. Know what they need, understand their preferences, and respond to their comments and questions regularly, in order to maintain the number of followers at the very least.

7. POST CONTENT PERIODICALLY AND REGULARLY:
One of the most underrated yet important aspects of social media content reach is to post regularly. Some platforms like Twitter require the user to post content on alternate days to reach a wider audience. For some, like Instagram and Facebook, it is okay to post twice or thrice a week. Make sure you set up a routine and stick to it, posting on all the scheduled days, regularly. Regular posting of content helps to reach a wider audience and also invoke their interest to keep following you, for your content.

8. LET BRANDS KNOW THAT YOU’RE OPEN TO COLLABORATIONS:
In order to collaborate, and announce to the world, that you’re interested in brand collaborations, it is a must for you to open up pathways to opportunities where you can collaborate, of course! After all, it is important for you to build networks with brands and other sources in your niche.

To conclude, patience. Patience. Patience.
Patience and regular content creation is the key to become a successful influencer.
So to all the budding wannabes out there, good luck!