At Vanity Studios, we have been up close and personal helping influencers perfect their image as some of our most dedicated clients are self-made influencers in a variety of industries! We've gathered our experiences for you to learn how to become an influencer in just a few easy steps.
Nowadays, deciding to dedicate your career to video blogging, reviewing products or simply being fabulous is more attainable than ever. But living the life of an influencer isn’t as easy as it looks. It takes a ton of dedication, time and energy, and results are certainly not instantaneous. Learning how to become an influencer is something you have to commit to in order to see success.
If you want to explore how to get started as an influencer, here is your go-to guide to everything you need to get started.
How to Become an Influencer in Your Niche
The most important part of becoming an influencer is deciding what niche you want to try to dominate. Are you looking to review makeup products, or do you want to teach people how to do something? Do you have a particular skill you excel at and think others would be interested in following your progress?
Pick something that differentiates you from existing influencers. If makeup is your passion, you’re going to have a lot of competition. What makes your page worth a follow?
Take the latest trend in makeup tutorials for example. Bailey Sarian, a 31-year old YouTuber, found fame in filming her makeup tutorials as she describes and discusses unsolved murder cases. It’s a combination one wouldn’t expect to amass a following, but it has garnered millions of views and other, more famous influencers have started to take part and do their own murder mystery makeup tutorials.
Finding a niche or topic that works for your social media is an absolute essential!
Select a Platform
Depending on your niche and content, you might be better suited to focus on select platforms over others. Choose one or two platforms rather than trying to grow your following on every platform at once, as it will stretch your time thin and might not be efficient for your brand.
If you are trying to learn how to become an influencer in fashion, for example, focusing on Instagram might be more useful than spending time on Twitter. From Instagram and Youtube to Pinterest and TikTok, each platform has its strengths and weaknesses. Focus on what will allow you to showcase your skills and content in the best possible way.
When you create your profiles, make sure to optimise them by keeping a few things in mind:
- Make sure your profile picture is unique and engaging. This is the first thing followers will see so make sure it’s the best you can offer!
- Switch to a business or creator account. This will give you valuable insights about your posts, audience and reach that you can use to evaluate your performance week to week.
- Create a biography or “about” section that showcases what you’re all about. Make sure to include hashtags in your niche and any contact details or links you might need.
Define Your Audience
When you have an understanding of who your target audience is, you can begin to create relevant content that will garner more engagement. Who do you think will enjoy your posts the most? Create a few follower avatars to keep in mind when you post to ensure you are ticking all the boxes and achieve maximum engagement. This will also help later when you consider paying for ads to promote your profiles as audience research is the most important factor in a successful campaign.
Use insight tools within each platform, or invest in a cost-efficient but useful analytics tool to find out who is responding to your content, and who your audience is.
Engage with your audience! Followers really appreciate a community feel when dedicating their feed to certain influencers. Respond to comments and reply to messages when you can. Ask your audience questions and take their feedback into consolidation and you can lay the foundation for a loyal following.
In the end, an influencer is only as popular as their followers make them, so your audience is everything!
Network
Networking with other influencers in your niche is crucial! It sits at one of the later steps when learning how to become an influencer, but if you start early you can create great partnerships and produce shared content that can give you a decent boost in views or followers. Strike up a conversation with influencers you might be able to bond with the best. If your followers enjoy your banter, for example, it will help you provide more unique, enjoyable content that people want to follow.
Partnering with influencers will allow you to create a sort of “social circle” element that can boost clout, and the potentials are endless.
Use Hashtags
Regardless of what type of influencer you want to become, if you don't have a large following, using hashtags is your first line of defence when it comes to reach and visibility. A post without hashtags will barely get any views compared to one with at least 15 to 20 hashtags on Instagram, for example.
But you need to do your research! Some hashtags have more value than others, and if you use too many generic hashtags you might not get the attention of the audience you desire.
For example, take this scenario: You are a women's fashion influencer and you mainly target women aged 18 to 34. You want to post a photo of yourself in a nice BMW to show your audience your new car. You can use hashtags such as the brand of the car, but that can target people from all over the world, different genders and ages that likely won't be the type of people who want to follow you for women's fashion advice.
You can use a couple of initial hashtags such as the make of the car and general #instagood or #carsofinstagram tags for "fluff" likes, but you'd also benefit from more niche hashtags like #ladydriven or #womenwhohustle. This way you can still target the followers you need, whilst staying relevant to the content you are posting.
Create High Quality Content
Of course, the biggest and most important part about learning how to become an influencer is content creation. This is where you, your character and your skills shine! Aim for content that is unique and engaging, and gives you an edge that other influencers do not have.
The higher the quality, the better your image will be so try to make sure the photos you post are clear and aesthetically pleasing. Get a professional photoshoot done! If you want to be a YouTuber, invest in a setup that will allow for bright, clear videos that makes you look more professional, rather than the typical "bedroom vlogger" vibe.
Be Consistent!
Posting as often as possible keeps your audience engaged and looking forward to your content. Also, what most people don't know is that the more active you are, the higher reach you'll get over time as platforms like to promote pages that produce engaging content.
You'll also find that as you post, your follower count will grow. Between appropriate hashtags, high community engagement and consistent posting, it's only a matter of time before you reach influencer stardom!