Who Are Influencers and How Did They Get There
In a time when capturing the attention of consumers has become increasingly more difficult, influencer marketing has stepped up as one of the most effective ways to reach an engaged consumer base. Why? Simply put, people trust people. Today’s consumers prefer to engage with brands that are recommended to them by their peers - the very idea around influencer marketing.
Have you ever wondered how an influencer actually became an influencer? Have you ever asked yourself why you’re not one of these largely popular social media stars that are able to command thousands of dollars from a brand just to speak highly of them?
In this blog, Hollywood Branded shares five (5) tips how to become a social media influencer - and provides brand marketers a glimpse of the other side of marketing.
Define Your Niche
So you may wonder why brands that are recommended by influencers hold weight over others. Well, this is because consumers view influencers as a trustworthy extension of the brand, kind of like a friend or highly respected acquaintance. But you can't be everything to everyone.
You know the saying…“find a niche, get rich”. This is statement is just as true when building a personal brand as it is when building any other type of business. One must know what their audience is missing and try their best to establish themselves as the person that fills that void.
An aspiring social media influencer must think long and hard about what they’re able to provide that other influencers in their desired field aren’t already doing. This could be the type of content they create, the method through which they deliver their content or the target demographic that they are looking to reach. Whatever it is, one must really hone in on that niche and perfect it!
Create, Create, Create
This is one of the most important factors of becoming a successful social media influencer. People become social media influencers by continually posting relevant content that effectively reaches their target audience. Without inundating one’s follower base with a lot of great content, they risk losing their attention forever; and without attention, one will never be considered an influencer. Therefore, creating great content and knowing how to effectively deliver that content on a continual basis needs to be at the top of every aspiring influencer’s radar.
Network, Network, Network
It is impossible to expand one’s follower base without networking. In order to reach true influencer status, one must reach outside of their already existing network and make new connections, both online and offline. When it comes to online networking, try reading and commenting on other people’s blogs. Provide people with little inklings of advice or help on whatever topic they’re focused on.
Another good way to network online is by promoting other people’s content. Try finding people that create content similar to yours and push their content to your follower base. When someone sees you trying to help them out, they will be a lot more inclined to help you out in the future. To network offline, try attending as many networking events in your industry as you can. Introduce yourself to people in your industry and talk to them about what you do.
Also, don’t worry about networking only in your specific industry or field of interest; a true influencer is able to draw connections with people from all different types of industries. In doing this, you will only expand your network, making you an even bigger influencer in the process!
Never Stop Learning
As an influencer, you must be constantly learning and growing in your respective industry. Your followers will expect you to know about anything and everything that is going on in your area of focus. After all, your knowledge and expertise is the true value behind your influence. In order to stay up to date about industry related news, subscribe to all blogs and other online publications that cover topics related to your area of focus.
This will allow you to be one of the first few people to know about all new things that are happening in your industry. This “first-to-know” edge is something that can be leveraged to grow your follower base. If you are consistently the first person to know any and all advancement in your industry, more and more people will turn to you for industry related information. In time, you will solidify yourself as the “go-to” person for all things related to your specific field. So, in short, never stop learning
Be Patient
To answer the question in the opening paragraph, one of the main reasons that everyone is not an influencer is because it takes a lot of time and PATIENCE to build the follower base needed to become an influencer. Building a business out of your personal brand must be a passion project. Take your time, fall in love with your craft, focus on adding value first and slowly but surely you will rise to the ranks of “influencer”.
In The Meantime
Don’t worry too much about building your follower base to astronomical numbers right away. The majority of brands these days simply don’t have the funds to activate macro influencer campaigns anyways. The power of influencer marketing has shifted from mega personalities into the hands of their smaller, more nuanced counterparts, "micro influencers". These influencers typically have a follower count between 1,000 and 10,000 people -- much more achievable numbers! In fact, to learn more about why brands are favoring micro influencers these days, check out our blog here.
How Brands Work With Influencers
Interested in learning how brands best work with influencers? Check out and click our guide below to social influencer marketing!
