Do you want to become an influencer? Now may be a better time than any before.
Influencing is expected to be a $13.8 billion industry by the time 2021 ends. Have you ever wondered why? If not, I'm 500% sure you have at least 2-3 friends/colleagues who are either part time or full time influencers on their blog, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube. What prompted them?
Well, with more and more users joining social media platforms everyday, their reach is expanding everyday. There are platforms for all types of content- text-based, photo and video. Videos, however, are the most loved format. According to SocialMediaToday, people spend 18 hours per week watching videos on the internet. YouTube alone has 2 billion active users. Even TikTok, despite being new to the market, has 1 billion users.
Due to Covid lockdowns, people spend more time online than ever before. This has given a much celebrated boost to the influencer market. Brands, big or small, now have a separate budget for sponsored content to increase their reach.
Influencing is not just a hobby. If you play your cards right, it can be a full-time profession. Creativity is a key though. Content creation is one of the first steps on the checklist of influencing. This is a crucial step.
As you grow, you will find like-minded people in your niche to assist you. Online world is surely a competitive one. But, friends make everything- be it life at large or day-to-day issues easier. When you're an influencer, you're the camera incharge, the copywriting, the optimiser, the actor- every role you can think of that's required to make a particular type of content- you will have to fulfill it yourself unless you have a big reach and can afford to have a team assisting you.
Another anomaly in the world of influencers is- you don't need to have a big reach to be good. Peer influencing is much more important- that is, when the audience you do have, though small, is closely connected to you and will act on your recommendations and suggestions. Such influencers benefit brands the most. Ofcourse, you'll have to invest a lot of your time, and attention building that kind of audience.
Becoming an influencer, on a personal level, is definitely empowering. You learn to appreciate your value more and you have an audience to attest your worth. You get to touch more and more lives everyday. You make a difference to your audience. Some people end up choosing money over value and end up promoting shady brands for money. It's more of a personal choice though.
Always choose your dignity and the safety of your audience. Only promote the brand's you trust. It's a tough pill to take initially and the money may be tight. In the long run, however, having a closely knit audience is much more rewarding than numbers that mean nothing and make no difference.
Not all influencers earn in cash. Many brands offer free samples or exclusive discounts to influencers instead of money. According to a report by intellifluence, upto 69.5% of influencers prefer a combination of product and cash compensation in exchange for promotion. According to the same report, however, 41% of influencers feel that they are being under compensated. As you grow and as the awareness of influencer marketing increases though, you will overcome this issue.
If you are always full of ideas, jokes, or information about your niche, you can easily cross this off the "How to become an influencer" checklist. Picking a niche is also important. It's not imperative to know exactly what content you want on your blog or video or tweet but you should have a rough idea on what you want to create content about. As you grow your channels and spend time researching for content ideas, you will have a more specific idea of your niche.
