Social Media Influencers - 7 Things You Should Know Before Becoming an Influencer
Influencer marketing isn’t a new term. Since the birth of popular social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Vine, and Snapchat, it has grown into a very profitable industry, and the craze for being a social media influencer has grown right along with it.
Social media influencers have power on social media platforms because of their knowledge, experience or authority in a particular niche. They often influence their audiences’ consumer behaviour.
Many brands are now following the trend and looking to celebrities, industry experts, and now more than ever, bloggers and content creators to engage their audiences, and to market their products and services. Some of these brands are willing to pay thousands of dollars for a tweet or blog post from an influencer.
Social media users with clout, (way more than a handful of followers), some know-how and a bit of luck, can find themselves rising easily to the “influencer” status. But, we must warn you it takes a bit more than elbow grease to become successful.
If you are hoping to catch the train to social media stardom, here are 7 things you should know before becoming an influencer.
1. Being an influencer is emotionally taxing
Influencers are often under emotional pressure since their life and performance are always under public scrutiny. The job is lonely and heavily reliant on self-motivation. Many influencers especially YouTubers complain about developing anxiety, depression and other mental disorders from constant pressure and the quick-pace environment. It is crucial to take steps to manage your mental health.
2. Work-life balance gets tricky
As with most social media influencers social media management is their full-time job. Their life is their job, and their job is their life. It can be hard to disconnect since the job requires you to be online all the time. A good idea would be to get into the habit of planning and sticking to schedules to balance your work time and your personal time and avoid burnout.
3. Consistency is key
Social media influencers are always on. Followers expect consistent quality content and find it easy to turn against influencers when expectations are not met. Brands also set standards for the frequency and type of content to post. Consistency is thought to be more important than creating quality content, but to be successful you should stick to a regular publishing schedule without sacrificing quality.
4. Transparency and authenticity are crucial to influencer success
It is becoming increasingly harder to pick out the genuine influencers, since many resort to bots and fake followers, and conveying ideas that they don’t subscribe to. It is important that you remain true to yourself and your values and stick to topics that you’re passionate about. You may also need the expertise to build credibility.
5. Numbers Aren’t Everything
As an influencer, it is easy to fall into the habit of validating yourself by numbers. That is, how many subscribers or followers you have, the number of views or likes under your posts, or the number of engagements that each post brings. The numbers often do not correlate with how well an influencer can motivate their followers to buy or use a product or service, so brands do not use them as a defining metric when selecting influencers.
6. Becoming an influencer takes skill
Social media management is all about creating attractive, compelling content, so apart from your niche, you should have a bit of knowledge or experience with photography, videography or writing depending on your platform. Creativity, time management, planning and communication skills are also required. There is the option of hiring professionals, but as a budding influencer, it will take some time before you can afford to.
7. It’s a “whom you know” business
It doesn’t matter how much you know about a particular niche if you are not held in high regard by your audience. To gain credibility you should at least be acknowledged by other thought leaders or influencers. Build clout by engaging and collaborating with other influencers.
So, you see, while life as a social media influencer may seem fun and glamorous, it can actually be quite gruelling. Consider these 7 things when making your first steps towards being a social media influencer and you will be on the right track.