7 steps on how to become an online influencer

First and foremost, in the world of digital marketing and especially in our own country Uganda, there is a large number of people who refer to themselves as “social media influencers" who only have a Twitter account with unclear header image and a bio that describes their love for food, sports teams like Manchester united, Barcelona, PSG and other things they interested in. Moreover, when you scroll through their feed you have hard time getting a sense of their direction or focus since their tweets are about their day to day activities, food, sports, sex, alcohol and many others.

For starters, a Social Media or online Influencer is a user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry or someone who generates content in order to shape an opinion, change behaviour, and amplifies a message.  A social media influencer has access to a large audience and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach.

According to (Glucksman, 2017), the success of social media influencers is vitally important to brands; therefore, technology has been developed to identify and track influencers’ relevance to a brand or organization. This technology tracks the number of hits on a blog, times a blog is shared, likes and comments, and followers. All of these points are pivotal aspects of a social media influencer’s success

Now have you ever wondered how you too can get into this space and get paid to enjoy the finer things in life? Here are a few tips on how to become a credible and trustworthy online influencer.

1.  Understand your audience

Define your target audience through the people who follow you. Invest a considerable amount of time in finding who your audience is, what do they love and want. If you can understand them, you will know what type of content you should be focused on creating on a daily or weekly basis.

2.         Content generation.

After understanding the kind of audience you have, determine what kind of content you will be generating online and stick to it. If its Sports, lifestyle, technology, fashion, politics, entertainment. It is important to be consistent and continuously put out this content to position yourself as a thoughtful Influencer in the field you chose to specialize in, thus build your audience that will trust your content.

3.  Be active on social media

After knowing what content and specific field you want to venture in, then start being active throughout by sharing information about the field chosen.  You will notice social influencers get a considerable number of comments and shares on whatever they post. That is because they have already established themselves and have developed a community of their own.

4. Identify the companies you would like to work with, and find ways to grab their attention.

See that restaurant that you always love to go to like KFC, Cafe Javas? Tag the restaurant and talk good about it every time you post a selfie dinning from there, highlight what made your experience so memorable. These authentic endorsements will definitely catch their eye.

Continuously document your experiences or interactions with a product or brand online, and always tag them. Review their products on either your platforms or there’s, and give them constructive feedback.

Companies value customer's sentiments and where possible, even go as far as implementing them where possible. They will notice you and may even consider working with you to advocate for their products or campaigns whenever they have them.

5.         Build your portfolio

After all the gigs you have worked on, develop your profile as an online influencer clearly indicating your current audience (followers), sample content that you generated that received a wide reach, and document any work you have previously done for other brands, or content you have proactively generated about a company or brand. Paint a picture showing why any company would benefit from working with you as their influencer of their brand, product or service. This can be done using the google analytics on the campaigns you run. Use a power point for a good presentation.

   6.  Promote your content and yourself

To be an influencer, you need to have people to influence. You cannot expect people to go to you when you don’t introduce yourself to them. In order to grow your audience, you may need to promote some of your posts online in order to reach more people. Social media marketing is very targeted and allows you to be specific with regards to the people you would like to reach with specifications of age, region, cities, countries or interests.

7.         Collaborate with other influencers

Don’t worry if you haven’t established yourself as an influencer yet. Because one way of achieving that is to be friends with other established ones. Thanks to the event and hashtag of Ugandans on twitter #UOT that happens on Wednesday every week. Now this is the best time for you to join these fellows and make a good collaboration with other influencers. You can collaborate with those within your industry but doesn’t sell something that you do. When you contribute on their blog, you are also tapping the audience that they have. But also collaborate with those that are not in the same filed with you to gain more confidence and experience.

Conclusion

Becoming an online influencer doesn’t happen overnight. It will take you months, even years to get to a point where people recognize your name without them having to search for it. But with hard work and a right amount of luck, you will surely get there. Remember to always put up good content and always tag the brands, products or services that you would love to work with.

References

Benitez, C. (2018). 10 Ways to Become a Sought-After Online Influencer. [online] Available at: https://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/10-ways-become-sought-online-influencer-02005869 [Accessed 6 Jan. 2020].

Ethangatta, V. (2018). 5 steps on how to become an online influencer. [online] Linkedin. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-steps-how-become-online-influencer-vivienne-ethangatta/ [Accessed 6 Jan. 2020].

Glucksman, M. (2017). The Rise of Social Media Influencer Marketing on Lifestyle Branding. [online] Elon.edu. Available at: https://www.elon.edu/u/academics/communications/journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/153/2017/12/08_Lifestyle_Branding_Glucksman.pdf [Accessed 6 Jan. 2020].