10 tips for getting started as a Social Media Influencer
So, you want to be a social media influencer? Fortunately for you, this business (yes, you should think about it as a business) has a relatively low barrier to entry. To get started as a social media influencer, you will need to identify your niche and target audience, create a consistent posting schedule (use this content calendar and planner), engage with your audience, collaborate with other influencers or brands, and utilize relevant hashtags and analytics tools to track your progress. It’s also important to stay authentic to yourself and your character while providing value to your followers.
In addition to all these things, before I got started, I listened to many influencer podcasts. I purchased influencer eBooks from Tina from Her Life Sparkles and Courtney from Cup of Consuella. While listening to podcasts and purchasing eBooks are not necessary, hearing accounts from successful influencers helped me develop my own strategies that have helped me find success in the social media influencer world. Here are my top ten tips for getting started as a social media influencer:
The First Step as a Social Media Influencer is to Choose Your Niche
A social media niche refers to a specific topic or area of interest that you focus on when creating content for your social media accounts. It helps you to target a particular audience and establish your brand identity. Decide on a specific topic or area of interest you want to focus on as a social media influencer.
In my case, my life is my niche. I consider myself a motherhood and lifestyle blogger. I blog and post from the perspective of a Black millennial working mother of two. My content revolves around my identity and how I experience the world through that lens. It is easy for me to make content because I am able to use my life experience as inspiration.
Consistently Create High-Quality Content
High-quality social media content is visually appealing, engaging, informative, and relevant to the target audience. It should be well-written and free of errors, and it should inspire users to take action or engage in conversation. In addition, high-quality social media content should be authentic, unique, and reflect your brand’s values and personality. When starting, you can create high-quality content using a smartphone and graphics using platforms like Canva. Then, as you begin to make money, you can upgrade to a camera.
Currently, I create most of my content on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Additionally, I also have a Canon EOS Rebel T7, which is a user-friendly starter camera. I have also invested in lighting. I have several ring lights that I use. My husband also gifted me with a vlogging kit that includes a microphone that is useful for when I need to voiceover content.
Post Consistently as a Social Media Influencer
Post regularly to keep your audience engaged and interested in your content. But what does being consistent look like? First, you have to determine what feels comfortable for you. There are some people you need to be present on your social media channels at least once daily. I try to live by this rule.
Instagram is the platform with my most significant following. I post infeed with either image, a reel, or a carousel post three times a week. However, I post in my Instagram stories every single day.
Posting consistently becomes a lot easier when you have a good internet connection, so make sure you check out the best internet providers for you and put your connection in place as a priority.
Engage with your Audience as a Social Media Influencer
Engagement is another way of saying interacting with your audience. It’s not enough to post on your page, and that’s it. Respond to comments and messages to build a relationship with your follower. I respond to every comment that I get.
One way to encourage engagement is to include calls to action in your posts. For example, end your post by asking your audience a question or requesting that your audience take action.
Connect and Collaborate with Other Influencers in your Niche
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My favorite creator to collaborate with is my mom @Mimisfoodielife
Try to connect with other influencers in your niche. You do this by following accounts that you genuinely enjoy in your niche and engaging with their content. I have had more luck with trying to connect with influencers who were of a similar size as my account, though some of the bigger accounts have also shown my account love. Some of them will reciprocate, and this will help you to begin building relationships with other influencers. As you start building relationships, you can bounce ideas off one another.
I have been fortunate to make some incredible connections in this space. Other social media influencers have recommended me for partnerships and connected me to brands that have led to paid collaborations. I have also done this for social media influencers. I don’t gatekeep, and I try to connect with others who operate as I do.
Don’t be afraid to Use Hashtags as New Social Media Influencer
While hashtags do not have the same impact that they used to, they are still beneficial, especially for smaller accounts. Hashtags can expand your reach and make your content more discoverable. When posting, add relevant hashtags to your content to help the platform categorize your content.
Stay Up-to-date on Trends.
Stay informed about the latest trends and updates in your niche. I do this by scheduling time to do research by scrolling and saving trending sounds and videos that are inspiring. When using other people’s videos as inspiration, do not copy exactly what they have created. Instead, recreate your content in your own style differently than they did it. That type of behavior is not viewed as flattery. Creators find it offensive when people copy their work exactly and don’t credit them.
Be Authentic – Your Audience Followed YOU for a reason
Be true to yourself and your brand. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. People that follow your account are doing it because there is something about YOU that they connect with. When you create a persona or inauthentic content, your audience can tell, and you’ll lose credibility.
Be Patient with your Account Growth as a Social Media Influencer
Building a following and becoming a successful influencer takes time and effort. It does not happen overnight. Don’t give up if you don’t see immediate results. By many standards, my social media following is small. However, I have built genuine connections with my community. They support me, and they trust me. My audience also purchases the products that I recommend, which makes me valuable to brands.
Don’t get hung up on the numbers. Instead, create valuable content for your current audience; eventually, more people will find your account.
Getting Paid as a Social Media Influencer
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This was my first paid brand deal!
Most people enter this space hoping to get paid, and I am no different. The wonderful thing about the social media influencer world is that you can have a small following and still get paid! Usually, brands only pay for content on accounts with 1,000 followers or subscribers.
I got my first paid collaboration when I had around 1,600 followers on Instagram from an influencer network. Still, I was getting in-kind (freebies) well before that point. Once I had about 3,000 followers, I started receiving more consistent offers and more brands responsive to my pitches.
These are my ten tips for getting started as a social media influencer. Is there anything else that I should add to the list? Let me know in the comments.
Follow me on Instagram for more snapshots of my life – @TiffanyDoesItAll
This is so helpful! Considering trying to quit corporate and do this 🤞🏼 Also your photos are so gorgeous and high quality!!!
Thank you so much! Working as a social media influencer has been an awesome experience. Go for it!
Did you reach out to brands or did they reach out to you at first?
I initially started off applying to partnerships via influencer marketing networks. Once I started posting more brand partnerships, other brands started contacting me.
Great tips, I’m trying to be a social media influencer after getting my full-time job being a blogger.
I have been able to leverage my blog as a social media influencer. You can definitely do both.
This post is full of great tips! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you! I am glad you found them helpful!
Thank you for these useful tips! I have been blogging for one year already but I still don’t have social media accounts. I think it is a good time to start to communicate with my audience.
Engagement is so important as is thinking of it like a business. What started as just a fun thing has quickly turned into so many people’s full-time jobs. I’m not an influencer but have considered looking into it. This gave me the push I needed to go for it!
You should definitely go for it! We need your voice.
This is great information, thanks so much for sharing. I always wondered if I was over-using hashtags.
You definitely don’t want to use more than 30. I usually try to use around 10. You want to make sure that you use a blend of niche, location and SEO-targetted words when utilizing hashtags.
I loved the tip about being authentic rather than becoming a copy of someone else’s feed.
You’re absolutely right. Everyone is unique and they are following you for what makes you different.
Hi Tiffany, thank you so much for sharing – I’m just starting out. It encourages me to hear that followers don’t grow overnight! We’re really struggling right now and I need to take time to think about who exactly we are targeting and what works!
Best of luck!
Thank you for sharing! Building an online community definitely does not happen overnight. It takes a lot of time, energy and effort to create a community.
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