Over the last few years, more and more people have become influential on social media. Recently, this success developed into a viable career option if you know how to utilize your social media in the correct way. If you become successful at positioning your social media to draw attention to a topic, cause, or sell a product, you’re considered a social media influencer. While not everyone has what it takes to be a successful social media influencer, there are certain steps you can take to make this dream a reality.
Find your niche
The most important step for becoming identified as a social media influencer is finding your niche. A common mistake many social media users make is attempting to cover too many industries or topics as they develop their brand. Create a website and social accounts that focus on one or two specific topics. No one will believe you’re an expert in half a dozen industries, but if you regularly talk about and share news from one or two industries, you’ll find a niche fan base and position yourself as knowledgeable. Find something that really interests you and start using social media to talk about it.
Plan your brand
Much like carefully choosing a niche, you need to plan your brand. You want a succinct brand that uses a set color palette and is organized. Be clear about your brand; what are your interests, who are you presenting yourself as, etc. Having a clear brand makes it easier for people to identify you and makes your online presence seem very professional. Take time to plan your brand because it’s incredibly important to your future success.
Create content
Before attempting to become a social media influencer, a great method for success is building up a library of content that you can post whenever. Create evergreen content that can be shared throughout the year, especially if you run into a lull of creativity where you can’t come up with new ideas or you’re too busy to give your social media as much attention as it needs. Having a backlog of photos, videos, and blogs makes moving forward much easier.
Generate a plan
Once you create a solid amount of content and have a schedule for creating more, generate a plan of how you’ll use this content. How often will you post a new blog, picture, or video? Are there specific times during the week you want to post? What site do you want to focus on the most? Create a quality plan for when you’ll post your content and who you want to reach with it and you’re setting yourself up for success.
Interact with followers
You might not get much organic interaction when you first start working on your social media influencer career, but you’ll eventually gain more followers who send you messages and leave comments. It can be tempting to simply continue posting and not respond to users, but generating organic interactions with followers only helps your brand. Consumers love following someone who actually pays attention to their comments and questions; take a little time each day to respond to your followers and build a relationship with them.
Be consistent
Finally, once you choose your niche and create content to publish, be consistent with your posts. You won’t achieve success as a social media influencer if you post a lot at the beginning of your efforts and then severely scale back your posting. Be consistent with your posts and maintain relevance for your followers.