Everything You Need to Know to Make BIG MONEY as an Influencer on Social Media

Shane Barker
Aug 23, 2017 · 4 min read

You have a few thousand Instagram followers, and although you’re slowly climbing the ladder as a social media influencer, you want to monetize your influence better. Or maybe you’re fairly new to the world of influencer marketing, and you want to start your journey as a social media influencer.

Whatever the case may be, this guide will help you understand what you need to do if you want to make money as an influencer through social media.

The Basics of Making Money as a Social Media Influencer

Before we get into the details of how exactly you can make more money as a social media influencer, let’s talk about the basics of establishing your value as an influencer. Getting these basics right can help you gain more credibility and win the trust of potential partners. Some of the basics will also make it easier for you to get into the radar of brands that are looking for influencers.

#1: Produce High-Quality Content

The quality of your content can determine the kind of impression you’ll make on potential partners. And of course, high-quality content is crucial if you want to make a good first impression. When brands look for potential influencers to work with, they’ll look at the influencer’s relevance, reach, and engagement rate. But they’ll also go through the influencer’s content just to see how good of a content creator they are.

So whatever content you post on social media should be of high quality. Invest in a decent camera if possible so you can produce better images. And make sure you use witty captions that will appeal to your target audience.

Take The Vegan Vibe for example. As you can see in the screenshot below, they only have a few thousand followers right now. But their photos are vivid, vibrant, and of high quality. There’s a good chance vegan food brands would want to work with them.

#2: Engage Your Audience

Brands also look for engagement rate when searching for influencers to work with. That’s why it’s crucial that you try to engage as best as possible with your audience. This will not only improve your engagement rate but also your relationship with the audience, which is crucial for building a loyal following.

Instead of simply creating content about yourself, you need to engage your followers in a two-sided conversation. For example, even if you post a photo of a certain product that you really like you could ask questions such as “Have you used it before? What do you think about it?” Or you could encourage them to create content in tune with what you’ve created and tag you in it.

Take a look at how popular micro-influencer Alex Aldeborgh (@daisybeet) engages with her followers in the following post. Even on her other posts, she normally engages her fans by wishing them a good day or even providing them with useful information.

#3: Sign Up for an Influencer Network

Whether you’re just starting out as an influencer or you want to further monetize your influence, joining an influencer network can be a great way to find brands to work with. It’s especially beneficial for micro-influencers who haven’t yet received a lot of proposals from brands and marketers.

These influencer networks match you with brands that are in search of influencers fitting your characteristics. In some cases, brands and marketers may also use the network to search for influencers in a certain niche. Some networks may even let you choose brands that you wish to promote.

All of these options will prove to be beneficial for both influencers and brands. And there are plenty of networks and platforms to choose from. Some good options are Scoutsee, Influence.co, HelloSociety, Activate, TRIBE, etc.

6 Ways to Make Money through Social Media

After you’ve completed these basics, you can start implementing some tactics to make money on social media. Here are some of the most popular and effective ways for influencers to monetize their influence using social media:

#1: Social Media Sponsored Posts

Sponsored social media posts are one of the most popular ways to make money for influencers. It’s when brands or marketers pay you to promote a certain brand or product in a social media post. The post can either be entirely about the product or it could feature several products at a time. You could create review posts, informational posts, or simply feature and tag the products…

Read the full post on Shane Barker’s Influencer Marketing blog.

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Shane Barker

Written by

Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant that specializes in sales funnels, targeted traffic and website conversions. #InfluencerMarketing Writer for INC.

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