Unleash the Power of Influence: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Social Media Superstar!

Becoming a social media influencer can be a rewarding and exciting career path, allowing you to share your passions and interests with a large audience while also potentially earning money through sponsored content and collaborations. However, the path to success as an influencer can be challenging and requires a combination of strategic planning, hard work, and patience.

Step 1: Choose a niche
The first step in becoming a successful influencer is to choose a niche or area of focus. This could be a particular hobby or interest, such as beauty, fashion, or travel, or a specific demographic, such as parenting or fitness. By focusing on a specific niche, you will be able to build a dedicated following of people who are interested in the same topics as you. For example, if you are passionate about cooking, you could create a food blog and share recipes and cooking tips.

Here are a few examples of influencers from different niches:

Beauty: Huda Kattan, also known as Huda Beauty, is a makeup artist and beauty influencer with over 52 million followers on Instagram. She is known for her makeup tutorials and product reviews and has also launched her own successful line of beauty products.
Fitness: Kayla Itsines is a personal trainer and fitness influencer with over 12 million followers on Instagram. She is known for her Bikini Body Guides and her emphasis on healthy living and body positivity.
Travel: Chris Burkard is a professional photographer and travel influencer with over 4 million followers on Instagram. He is known for his stunning photographs of outdoor adventures and remote locations and has also published several books and produced a documentary.
Food: Tasty, is a YouTube channel and social media brand that creates and shares food videos, with over 80 million followers on YouTube and Facebook. They are known for their recipe videos that are simple, fast, and easy to make.
Fashion: Chiara Ferragni, also known as The Blonde Salad, is a fashion blogger and influencer with over 21 million followers on Instagram. She is known for her personal style and collaborations with major fashion brands.

These are just a few examples, there are many influencers in different niches such as parenting, technology, entertainment, etc.

Step 2: Build your brand

Once you have chosen your niche, the next step is to build your brand. This includes creating a consistent aesthetic for your content and developing a unique voice and personality. This will help you to stand out from the crowd and make it easier for your followers to recognize and remember you. For example, if you are passionate about fashion, you could develop a signature style that reflects your personal taste and create a cohesive look for your Instagram feed.

Step 3: Create engaging content

Creating engaging and high-quality content is essential for growing your following and building a loyal audience. This includes taking the time to create visually appealing and well-written posts that are relevant to your niche and align with your brand. For example, if you are a travel influencer, you could create a mix of content such as written blog posts, videos, and photographs of your adventures. SPE format to master short form content. Using the SPE format (Serial Position effect) is a great way to make sure your content is structured to keep people hooked. With attention spans sinking, it’s important to pay attention to the formats you use on social media. New trends, like short TikTok videos with gaming clips, show that users are looking for content that is easy to consume in short bursts.

You don’t have to create content on a daily basis, you can post 3-4 times each week, posting daily is good to grow faster but if you can’t provide it then reduce the times of posting, meanwhile focus on the quality of your videos. It is advisable to keep up with the trends, so whenever there is a new trend, post a video and use the trendy sounds as well.

When you’re first starting out on social media, don’t just focus on making posts. It’s important to keep your community engaged through features like Instagram Stories/Reels or comments. When you’re researching content ideas, keep an eye out for popular keywords in your industry. They’ll help you stay on top of the latest trends. Being consistent doesn’t mean you need to post every day. It means sticking to a content style that will keep people interested.

Social Media Strategy ≠ Content Strategy. Your social media strategy is all about getting people to your page, but your content strategy is what will keep them there and make them want to buy.

Step 4: Utilize social media platforms

Social media platforms, such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter, are essential tools for building your following and growing your influence. It’s important to choose the platforms that are most relevant to your niche and where your target audience is most active. For example, if you are a beauty influencer, Instagram and YouTube might be the most effective platforms to share your content and engage with your followers. Understanding Broad Audiences. Before you start focusing on specific audiences, take the time to understand the overall appeal of each platform.

social Platforms Influencer

Influencers typically optimize their social media platforms through a combination of strategies, including:

1. High-quality images and videos: Influencers often use high-quality images and videos to showcase their products, services, or experiences. They use visual storytelling to capture their audience’s attention and make their content more engaging.

2. Consistent aesthetic: Many influencers develop a consistent aesthetic for their content, which helps to create a cohesive look and feel across their social media platforms. This can include using specific filters, color schemes, or layouts to create a recognizable brand identity. Visuality Speaks on Pinterest. Pinterest is all about aesthetics, so make sure you’re curating boards that represent your niche and focus on visual content.

3. Hashtags: Influencers use hashtags to make their content more discoverable and increase their reach. They use popular and relevant hashtags that are related to their niche to connect with their target audience. Remember Keywords lead to Hashtags. It’s not just about using hashtags, it’s also about understanding what people are searching for so you can use the right ones.

4. SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Influencers use SEO techniques to make their content more discoverable on search engines. They use keywords in their bio, captions, and post titles, which helps their content to appear in search results.

5. Engaging captions and call-to-action: Influencers use captions and call-to-action to engage with their audience and encourage them to take specific action. They use questions, prompts, and comments to start conversations and encourage their followers to participate. Incorporating user-generated content (UGC) into your social media feeds can help make your brand feel more relatable and personal to your followers. Using clickbait headlines can be a good way to grab attention, but make sure you’re also telling a story that leads up to your call-to-action.

6. Don’t pin Viral Posts. Viral posts might seem like a good idea, but remember that they’re not always tailored to your specific audience. Make Them Question or Answer First. Make sure you’re engaging with your followers by asking questions and encouraging them to answer

7. More than 1 link decreases conversions. Keep it simple by including just one link. Too many options can be overwhelming for people.

8. Algorithm Moderates, you repurpose. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram use algorithms to moderate content, sometimes resulting in engagement rate fluctuations. To overcome this, it can be helpful to repurpose popular content from the past to keep your engagement rates steady. Algorithm Moderates, you repurpose. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram use algorithms to moderate content, sometimes resulting in engagement rate fluctuations. To overcome this, it can be helpful to repurpose popular content from the past to keep your engagement rates steady.

9. Paid Advertising: Influencers also use paid advertising on social media platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, to reach a larger audience. They use sponsored posts, stories, and influencer marketing campaigns to promote their content and increase their visibility.

10. Collaboration: Influencers also collaborate with other influencers, brands, and companies to reach new audiences and increase their visibility. They can collaborate on social media campaigns, sponsored posts, and product reviews.

11. Social Media is more about networking. Social media is becoming increasingly pay-to-view, with platforms like YouTube and TikTok relying on recommendations to drive traffic. It’s important to remember that social media is about connecting with your audience, not just reaching them through ads. Building an engagement strategy, networking, and showing your audience why they should care about your brand are all key to success.

12. Perform a Year-End Social Media Business Audit. As the year comes to a close, it’s important for businesses to take stock of their social media efforts and assess what has been working well and what areas need improvement. A year-end social media business audit can help you identify areas for growth and set goals for the coming year. A social media audit is a process used to measure the success of your social strategy across accounts and networks. An audit identifies your strengths, weaknesses, and the next steps needed to improve.

By using a combination of these strategies, influencers can optimize their social media platforms and increase their reach and engagement with their audience.

Step 5: Network and collaborate

Networking and collaborating with other influencers and brands in your niche can help to grow your following and open up new opportunities for monetization. For example, if you are a fashion influencer, you could reach out to clothing brands and offer to feature their products in your content.

Step 6: Be patient and persistent

Building a successful following as an influencer takes time and patience. Be consistent in your posting and engagement with your audience, and don’t get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results. Remember that building a following takes time and effort, but with patience, persistence, and a solid strategy, you can become a successful influencer.

There are companies that help manage and boost a social media influencer’s presence and reach. These companies are commonly known as talent agencies, influencer marketing agencies, or influencer management companies. They offer a wide range of services, including:

1. Audience analysis and targeting: These companies can analyze an influencer’s audience and help them identify their target audience and the best platforms to reach them.
2. Content creation and strategy: They can help influencers create and plan their content and develop a content calendar to ensure consistency and engagement.
3. Campaign management: They can help influencers secure brand partnerships, sponsorships, and collaborations, and manage the logistics of these campaigns.
4. Analytics and reporting: They can track and analyze an influencer’s performance, such as engagement rates and click-through rates, and provide regular reports on their progress.
5. Legal and financial services: They can help influencers with legal and financial matters related to their work, such as contract negotiations and tax compliance.
6. Talent management: They can help influencers with personal branding, public relations, and career management.
7. Paid Advertising: Some agencies also offer paid advertising services, such as social media advertising campaigns, which help influencers reach a larger audience and increase their visibility.

Here are a few examples of companies that manage social media influencers:

1. The Influencer Agency: a full-service agency that specializes in influencer marketing, content creation, and talent management. They work with a wide range of clients, including brands, celebrities, and influencers across various niches.

2. Tribe: A platform that connects brands with social media influencers, it allows influencers to create campaigns, track their performance, and get paid.

3. Hootsuite Influencer: A platform that helps brands identify, engage and measure the impact of influencers on their social media campaigns. Hootsuite has a great article on how much influencers make on each social media network here and below:

Influencer rates

4. Klear: A platform that provides influencer research and analytics, it allows brands and agencies to identify, engage and measure the impact of influencers on their social media campaigns.

5. Influencer.co: A platform that connects brands with influencers, it provides a range of services such as campaign management, influencer research, and analytics.

Here are a few tips on how to reach out to influencer management companies and capture their attention:

1. Research the company: Before reaching out, take the time to research the company and familiarize yourself with its services, clients, and the types of influencers they work with.

2. Tailor your pitch: When reaching out, tailor your pitch to the specific company and show that you have done your research. Explain why you would be a good fit for their agency and how your skills and experience align with their services and clients.

3. Showcase your portfolio: Include a link to your social media profiles and a portfolio of your work. Make sure your content is high-quality and relevant to the niche you want to work in.

4. Have a solid online presence: Having a strong online presence, such as a website or a blog, will give you an advantage when reaching out to companies.

5. Network: Networking is a great way to meet people in the industry and get your name out there. Attend events, and conferences and participate in online groups that are related to your niche, this will give you the opportunity to meet people who might be interested in working with you.

6. Be professional: When reaching out to companies, make sure to be professional and polite in your communication. Follow up with them if they don’t respond, but be respectful of their time and don’t be overly persistent.

Remember that building a relationship with these companies takes time and effort, but with patience, persistence, and a solid strategy, you can turn your passion into a successful career.

Bonus tip: Here are a few examples of conferences that an aspiring influencer can attend to gain exposure and network with industry professionals:

1. Influencer Marketing Show: This conference, held in London and New York, brings together influencer marketing experts, brands, and agencies to discuss the latest trends and strategies in the industry.

2. BlogHer: This annual conference is one of the largest events for women bloggers, influencers, and content creators, it provides a platform for attendees to learn about the latest strategies, connect with other bloggers and brands, and gain exposure for their work.

3. VidCon: This annual conference is focused on the online video industry, it brings together creators, brands, and industry professionals to discuss the latest trends and strategies in the world of online video.

4. SXSW: South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of film, interactive, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas, USA. It’s a great platform for creators, influencers, and industry professionals to connect, learn and showcase their work.

5. Social Media Marketing World: This annual conference is focused on social media marketing, it brings together industry experts, brands, and influencers to discuss the latest trends and strategies in the world of social media.

6. Digiday Content Marketing Summit: This conference brings together publishers, brands, and agencies to discuss the latest trends and strategies in content marketing, it’s a great platform to learn about the industry and network with other professionals.

In summary, by following these tips and advice, you can increase your chances of capturing the attention and grow your specific Social Media account and ultimately become a Social Media influencer superstar!

How to Perform a Year-End Social Media Business Audit

A year-end social media business audit can help you identify areas for growth and set goals for the coming year. A social media audit is a process used to measure the success of your social strategy across accounts and networks. An audit identifies your strengths, weaknesses, and the next steps needed to improve. Here’s how to get started:

  1. Review your social media metrics: Look at your social media analytics to see how your pages have performed over the past year. Look at metrics such as engagement, reach, and followers. Make note of any spikes or dips in these metrics and try to identify what may have caused them. For each platform, record your username or handle the URL, and the number of followers or subscribers, engagement metrics, or any other KPIs that might be relevant to each channel.
  2. Assess your content: Take a look at the types of content you’ve been posting and how well they’ve been received by your audience. Think about what has resonated with your followers and what hasn’t. You may also want to consider what types of content you want to focus on in the coming year.
  3. Evaluate your social media strategy: Consider whether your current social media strategy is still aligning with your business goals. Are you using the right platforms for your target audience? Are you posting at the optimal times? It may be time to reevaluate your strategy and make adjustments as needed.
  4. Audit your social media presence: Take a look at how your business appears on each social media platform. Are your bios and profile pictures up to date? Do your posts accurately reflect your brand voice and aesthetic? Make sure everything is cohesive across all platforms. Tools such as Agorapulse can analyze your content on Twitter & Instagram. Hashtagify is a cool tool that will allow you to identify related hashtags to the one that has worked best for you. The tool is freemium and it will show you related and popular hashtags for free. Buzzsumo has a handy Facebook audit feature allowing you to analyze the content of any page, and even compare it to competitors’ pages.
  5. Identify areas for improvement: Based on your review of your social media metrics, content, and strategy, identify areas where you can improve. Maybe you must focus on creating more visually appealing content or engaging more with your followers. Make a list of actionable steps you can take to improve your social media presence in the coming year. See what popular posts within each platform and across platforms have in common. The type of post, the target audience of the post, the time it was posted, and any media in the post are things to explore.
  6. Set goals: Once you’ve identified areas for improvement, set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for the coming year. This will help you stay focused and progress toward your social media objectives. Your social media goals should be about how social media can benefit your business, including increasing brand awareness, engagement, and traffic to your website.

A year-end social media business audit is a crucial step in helping your business grow and thrive on social media. By reviewing your metrics, assessing your content and strategy, and identifying areas for improvement, you can set yourself up for success in the coming year.

Patience is Crucial to Social Media Success

Work bottom-up. Start with the basics. Set aside an hour a day. Write blog articles, schedule social media posts, and create images for your Pinterest page or Instagram account. One task at a time. Be “present” with creating content. When you’re on a roll, focus and let it flow. There is no such thing as overnight success in social media marketing.

Don’t wait to go viral. Grind. Persistence. Put in the work. Play the long game. Share your content across social platforms. All it takes is one of your followers to share a content post and the amplification goes 2x. Avoid looking at social media success in terms of volume. Take your time to create quality content. Attention is better than impressions.

Never Cold Pitch on Social Media Platforms

It comes off as desperate and will be ignored. If there is a conversation trending within your industry and potential customers, join in to offer meaningful commentary and interact with these potential buyers. Listening for these opportunities and finding out the pain points your potential customers are having will give sales people a feel for the conversation and allow them to add value.

Social media is “networking” more than it is “advertising”. The goal is to get them to call you (or vice versa), have an open mind about your product or service, and then make your sales pitch.

Social Media Marketing Is More Than Just Posting Once In A While…

Social Media marketing is more than just posting once in a while…Don’t let your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram gather cobwebs, you need to “show up” day after day with fresh content. Instead of spreading yourself thin across 5 different sites, focus on 2-3 primary accounts. Incorporating social scheduling and automation saves time and energy.

Social Media Crisis Action Plan For 2022

Whether your a big or a SMB company, a celebrity or some kind of a famous personality with a large amount external public exposure, chances are you may have to deal with some kind of social media crisis sooner or later. A crisis can occur at random (insensitive tweet), or it can occur with a product misstep or even a social media account hacked. In this digital world, speed of these harmful conversations can implode on you or your company in mere seconds.

While there is no “one size fits all” approach, the below basic social media action plan will help you quickly identify the crisis (issue) and resolve it before it goes viral and turns into disaster.

The first stage of social media crisis planning is to identify the problem or issue in real-time before it gets out of control and goes viral. There are many tools out there that can help you keep tabs and monitor the majority of social media platforms. Most of these social tracking tools depend on keywords important to you or your company. Keywords such as “Company” or “product name” “name of person” “events” “competitors” “social media accounts” etc.

A short list below:

  • Social Mention. A great social real-time listening tool for your brand. It measures your influence within four key categories: passion, sentiment, strength, and reach.
  • Google Alerts. Track your brand mentions across web and news sites.
  • Mention.net. Track your brand across blogs, news sites and forums.
  • Talkwalker. Track your brand across across mostly blogs.
  • HowSociable. Measure and track what your competition is doing in Social Media.
  • Sprout Social. Great tool for monitoring and measuring your brands.
  • Radian6. A salesforce product. It allows you to quickly and efficiently track, monitor, and react to comments, questions, and complaints as they happen on most all social media platforms.

Here are five basic steps to include in your social media crisis plan:

1. Act quickly. Speeds kills, but speed also resolves! Explain the issue or problem FIRST and what your going to do to address it ASAP before it takes hold on Social Media. Be very transparent. You need to do this before it destroys your brand or major lawsuit.
2. Take charge. Step up and take charge of the issue and move fast (even if its at 2am).
3. Be transparent. If its bad and your company screwed up. Take ownership. Own up to the problem or issue!
4. Engage. Engage all the nay-sayers. Engage all the Social Media Trolls and critics.
5. Spread the word. Post your PR response on your website, company blog, social media pages and media releases.

Bottom line: Don’t wait until the threat to your company’s reputation becomes visible. Identify the crisis and get out in front of it before it takes hold.

Fortune 500 Data on Social Media

As of 2018, nearly 97 percent of all Fortune 500 enterprises use at least one social media platform to promote their initiatives and foster positive communication with stakeholders. This statistic was back in 2017-2018. I’m guessing in 2021, the % change is almost 100%. Its clear that using at least one social media network, such as Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, in order to establish a good communication line with stakeholders, customers and advocates is crucial in 2021.

Determine which social platform serves your brand or service better. Whether you are a seasoned social media marketer, a marketer looking to venture into social media marketing, or a business owner looking to leverage on social media, it’s helpful to know the most popular social media sites around that will amplify your brand. Choose the most popular platform based on your company’s product or client demographics. For example, Financial Advisors would choose Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter over Instagram. Actual product Fortune 500 retail marketers that need more “visual” branding would gravitate towards Instagram or Pinterest.

Pro Tip: Don’t let your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram gather cobwebs, you need to “show up” day after day with fresh content. Instead of spreading yourself thin across 5 different sites, focus on 2-3 primary accounts. Incorporating social scheduling and automation saves time and energy. Picking and prioritizing your social networks based on your audience location. Repurpose content so your not always trying to reinvent the wheel. Build your presence and following on those accounts as much as possible. If you do not have Fortune 500 type social media resources, just pick and focus on 1 platform. Once you get the hang of it (content creation, scheduling) branch out and add another platform. You can also outsource the work to a contractor. When you outsource anything, one of the greatest outcomes is gaining expertise that isn’t currently available to you. This is especially true when you’re considering outsourcing social media management.

Content Posts: Facebook vs Instagram vs Twitter vs LinkedIn

Don’t post the same EXACT content or same post on each platform. The platform and the audience using each, are unique and as such require a unique post. Where does your business fit into all this? The main key to knowing which social media platform is right for your business is firstly knowing exactly who your target demographic audience is.

If you post the same content on each platform, you run the risk of customers “unfollowing” you on one if not all of your platforms. Customers (or audience) will grow tired of the duplicate posts/content. Posts can be similar, but not exactly the same. Facebook is the most popular social network among middle-aged adults. Instagram is mostly accessed via mobile and is more heavily-used by affluent youth. A majority of Instagram users are under 30, and many are in their teens. Instagram users are primarily looking at images and/or videos as posts or as Instagram Stories. Twitter has become a conduit for news, particularly with users between 18 and 29. Twitter provides a way for users to follow real-time news feeds. Popular with celebrities, politicians, journalists and news outlets, it is also well-liked by businesses in the tech sector. LinkedIn is a professional network that was initially created as a corporate recruitment platform. Now, it boasts many features similar to traditional social media sites, including status updates, blogging capabilities, and private messages. LinkedIn is better for lead generation.

Your content type will depend upon which Social Media platform your business will utilize.

Social Media Sales in 2022

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Forward-thinking salespeople are embracing a more “social” approach to break down old communication barriers such as Cold Calls, and Email = Social Media. Social selling allows salespeople to laser-target prospects, establish rapport and with their networks, and possibly even ditch the dreaded practice of cold calling.

While determining the best way to connect with prospects and help coax a consumer down your sales funnel, buyers are consistently going to social networks and the Internet to research products they have an interest in purchasing. Whether you are a B2B or B2C brand, potential buyers are looking on these social media platforms for product information. As smartphones are getting bigger form factors and faster processors, consumers are apt to looking, researching with these larger handheld mobile screens.

Here is a brief breakdown of Social Media as related to the Enterprise:

Business to Consumer = Facebook

Business-to-Business products (or services) = LinkedIn (if you have a first-level connection in common with the executive or buyer who will sign off on a PO)

All types of sales = Twitter

*Twitter is the best for “all kinds of sales” as it’s a very popular network (across all demographics) that doesn’t have privacy settings that keep you from high volume searches and actions.

Social Media Sales strategies

Twitter. Make sure you “add” to the conversation a little before directly engaging in customers:

  1.     Like (heart) a few Tweets
  2.     ReTweet one or two Tweets
  3.     Follow them

Friend, Follow, Follow Back or Connect with individuals with profiles that match you or your clients. Its VERY Important to build relationships on any Social Media platform. Not only can it help to generate leads, it can also help foster relationships with current customers.

Be in expert in your space. Provide solutions or tips and feedback to your customers or potential customers if they post a question or gripe on Twitter/Facebook. Prioritize the social channels and tools your audience is already using and that you’re familiar with, then organize those by their primary function.

Listening on social media is one of the most powerful tactics in a social selling strategy. Monitor for popular hashtags and keywords that are relevant to your industry or brand to find useful insights but also see what is being said about your competitors.

Never cold pitch on Social Media platforms. It comes off as desperate and will be ignored. If there is a conversation trending within your industry and potential customers, join in to offer meaningful commentary and interact with these potential buyers. Listening for these opportunities and finding out the pain points your potential customers are having will give sales people a feel for the conversation and allow them to add value.

Social media is “networking” more than it is “advertising”. The goal is to get them to call you (or vice versa), have an open mind about your product or service, and then make your sales pitch.

When its time to engage or pitch, follow these steps:

  • Ask for their email so that you can send them some info on your services.
  • Find them on LinkedIn and add “connect” with them.
  • Send a polite email and mention a conversation you had with them on Twitter or Facebook. You can also mention a tweet or Post that you “favorite” or “liked” from them.

Good Social Sales tools in this space that keeps track of conversations and engagement include:

Hootsuite. More for individuals and small business.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Enterprise grade and scalable.

Its apparent that Social Media like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are not fads anymore. These platforms are now mature options to generate leads and sales online. By experimenting with different Social Media sales strategies, you can find the best way to convert them into real quantifiable results on all levels. There are no participation medals in social selling: if you’re going to do it, you have to do it right. That means providing valuable insight to the right prospects at the right time.