Our Guide on How to Become a Social Media Influencer

The world of social media is vast and has lots of ins and outs involved. However, becoming an influencer nowadays has never been easier. With the rise of nano influencers and micro influencers, you don’t need to have the follower count of a celebrity to score some great brand deals. Our guide details all the things you need to become a social media influencer today.

1. Pick a niche

This is something you may have heard about before, but a niche is one of the most important parts about developing your brand as a social media influencer. Make your niche something that you are passionate about or interested in.

If you really like beauty products or you shop frequently at Sephora, then you definitely should focus in on cosmetics.

Before you pick your niche, research what other influencers in that particular sector are doing and see how they succeeded. Niche research is extremely important in this phase.

2. Decide which platform you want to focus on

Depending on what niche you’ve selected, you should figure out which platform works best with said niche. For example, if you’re in the fashion niche, Instagram would probably be your best bet to becoming an influencer.

You want to scout out each platform that you’re thinking of and find which one is the best to focus on depending on what trends. Twitter is great for news and blogging. YouTube and Twitch are a great place to start if you’re in the gaming niche.

However, don’t neglect the other platforms. You can simultaneously grow on the other platforms while focusing on one more.

3. Create relevant content

If your Instagram page is full of pictures of your dog one day and then a random picture of your video game setup another and then a random Reel showcasing your trip to work, it doesn’t really work.

When people followed you for your dog pictures, they expect dogs. You can’t suddenly drop pictures of things unrelated to pets when that’s what your brand is all about.

Related: How to get free products to review using Influenster

Stick to your niche. Don’t try to branch out and go all over the place because it just won’t stick with your audience. They followed you to see something particular. Even if you have more than one interest that you want to showcase, be sure to involve the thing that your page was built around in it somehow to keep consistency up.

4. Network with other influencers

Once you’ve selected your niche, opened your pages, and adjusted your content to become relevant to what you want, then you’ve got to do something that may seem daunting but is extremely important: Network, network, network.

You need to find influencers in your niche and reach out to them, follow them, comment on their posts, reply to their stories, etc… Engage in your niche, as that’s the best way to create for yourself a name. It builds your brand, gives you more legitimacy as an influencer, and shows people that you care about what it is you’re promoting on your page.

5. Engage with your audience

If you’re still working on building your audience, one of the most important things to remember is the idea of engagement.

Your audience is following because they are invested in you as a person, content creator, and influencer. They want to see your content. However, you need to be sure that you’re engaging with your audience and giving them a reason to come back.

Like comments, follow some back, respond, etc… These are all great ways to show your viewers that you value them and will give them a reason to come back and continue engaging with your page.

6. Be consistent

Consistency is key when it comes to becoming an influencer. The more consistent you are, the more your followers can expect out of you. Consistency is also important for your followers to see that you actually care about what you’re posting.

A day lost is potential money lost as well. Without consistency, brands will not find your page worth investing in. They’ll find that you’re not investing your time in your own brand, which is discouraging for them to invest in you.

7. Make sure your social media is optimized

By this, we mean that you need to ensure that your social media is that of an influencer. Make sure to let brands know that you’re open to collaborations in your bio and put a link in the description.

If you want to put several links on your Instagram for example, Instagram doesn’t let you do that, but you can use something like Shor or Tap Bio to place all your relevant links in one landing page. It makes it easier for people to view what you have to offer there.

Also make sure you’ve set your social media to have a creator or business account (depending on what platform you’re using). This way, you can get access to all the tools for content creators.

Let us know what tips have worked for you and how your influencer journey has been in the comments below. Or, if you want to submit to us a story to feature, feel free to reach out to us on our contact page.

Zainah Yousef is a writer for The DZSH Group. She is also the author of “The Fallen Age Saga.” Her areas of focus are on psychology, politics, public security, and war. She is also a frequent contributor in articles on video games and entertainment news.

The DZSH Group Staff