How you can become a successful influencer
Being an influencer doesn’t necessarily have to do with the number of followers you have or how many people give you products to post. It could have more to do with how dedicated you are to being active on your Instagram account. At this point, you may be wondering what an “influencer” is. For the social media savvy, an influencer is someone who has above-average impact on a specific social media demographic. They can be connected to key roles of media outlets, consumer groups or industry associations.
So, what does it take to be a successful influencer? I’ve been told by my co-workers at Musefind that anyone with a voice can be an influencer. But is this really true? I’d say no. I believe only a certain group of people are fit to be an influencer. I have around one thousand followers on Instagram, as well as a voice that I want heard-does that mean I’m an influencer? I would say no. Most of my followers are friends and acquaintances. I don’t have many followers from overseas thus limiting my exposure to mainly the Greater Vancouver region. Becoming an influencer takes time, effort, and dedication. You don’t just wake up one day with ten thousand followers. That’s why I’m here to teach you how you can become a successful influencer.
1. You need to have a high engagement rate.
An engagement rate shows how active your followers are in terms of liking your pictures and commenting on them. One way to increase your engagement is to add hashtags in your comments so it doesn’t make your caption look too cluttered (as shown below).
2. You need to have an active, focused, and useful presence.
The number of people publishing content on social networks is growing. To stand out doesn’t necessarily mean having content that appeals to everyone in every category of social media. Stand for something specific and spend your time going deeper and learning more about the topic. “Become the best answer for what you want to be influential about, and stand out by being unique.” — Lee Odden
3. Be approachable.
Being an influencer doesn’t mean you are a celebrity and you can ignore your followers. You must be prepared to receive many questions and be ready to engage with your followers by replying to questions and comments.
4. Be patient.
Getting a lot of followers takes time. In my case, it took a year and a half to get up to one thousand followers. I had to be active, like others’ pictures and follow others. Don’t be scared to follow a lot of people. You don’t necessarily need the ‘perfect’ ratio of followers to following. Let the followers start coming to you. You definitely don’t need to start buying inactive followers.
In all, you need to establish a friendly and approachable presence online. As Mark Zuckerberg said, “People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message.”
Follow my blog for more of my adventures and thoughts of the social media world. Find out my thoughts on mega star Instagram accounts like Selena Gomez on my next blog. Is she a true influencer? If you have any questions about anything feel free to email me at Jeremy@musefind.com
