How to get started as an influencer *right now*
It's great that you're interested in becoming an influencer, but the question is… how? Nowadays, it's not as easy as simply posting once in a while and gaining followers. However, don't worry, we've got you covered! In this episode, we'll give you some comprehensive tips on how to get started. From figuring out your content pillars to landing a dream brand partnership, we'll cover it all. Let’s do this!
What is an influencer… really.
In today's world, an influencer is a social media personality who has the ability to influence their audience to purchase the products or services that they promote. They have a good blend of personal branding, content creation, and promotion on their social feeds.
Although the terms “influencer” and “content creator” are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between the two. A content creator is anyone who creates digital content, while an influencer has a promotional strategy as a core part of their social media presence. So, you can be one or the other… or a mixture of both.
Being an “influencer” is not always embraced by everyone. Some people are embarrassed to be called an influencer because of the negative connotations surrounding the term. Some critics argue that influencers promote superficial values and perpetuate a culture of consumerism. Others argue that the influencer lifestyle is inauthentic and that influencers are merely paid to promote products that they themselves may not even believe in.
Despite these criticisms, there are many influencers who use their platform for good, promoting causes they believe in and using their influence to inspire positive change. As with any profession, it's up to the individual to decide how they want to use their platform and what kind of values they want to promote. We will be talking about this more in-depth in an upcoming episode. The point is, being an influencer is what you make it to be.
Influencers are generally categorized into five different tiers based on their follower count. Brands often partner with influencers to promote their products, leveraging the influencer's reach and credibility to increase their visibility and sales. By forging meaningful relationships with their followers, influencers can help brands build brand loyalty and create a positive image in the minds of their target audience.
Nano Influencers: 0K – 10K followers
Micro Influencers: 10K-100K followers
Mid Influencers: 100K – 500K followers
Macro Influencers: 500K – 1M followers
Mega Macro Influencers: 1M+ followers
Now you might assume that having the largest follower count is best, but that’s not always true. Though Macro and Mega Macro influencers are definitely a great choice for brands when it comes to reaching a large audience and creating mass awareness. Nano and Micro-influencers have a smaller but more engaged audience, making them perfect for brands looking to tap into specific and hyper-niche communities. So don’t be discouraged if you are still in the Nano-influencer stage, some brands prefer it!
Create your personal brand
Before doing anything, you need to start by creating your personal brand. Developing your brand's identity is a crucial first step in your journey toward becoming an influencer. Your brand identity serves as the foundation upon which you'll build your online presence, and it's essential to get it right - but also know that it’s okay to pivot as you go. Just like we humans are everchanging, it’s okay that our brand changes along with you too!
Think of your brand identity as the lens through which your audience views your content.
To create a compelling brand identity, you need to ask yourself some fundamental questions. What is the message you want to convey? What’s your purpose? Who is your target audience, and how do you want to connect with them? Why should they follow or subscribe to you? Your answers to these questions will help you define your unique voice and position in the crowded influencer market.
Once you have a strong sense of your brand identity, you can start optimizing your social media profiles to reflect it. Your social media profiles are your digital storefront, and they should accurately represent your brand's personality and values. Make sure to choose a relevant profile picture, share your story, add a call-to-action and action buttons, and share your contact information. You should also use targeted keywords in the name field and tag related accounts with your branded hashtag.
Beyond that, on Instagram, the link in your bio is the only place on your profile where you can share an external link. This means that it's crucial to make sure that your link is up-to-date and relevant to your audience. You can use this link to direct your followers to your website, a new blog post, or a product you're promoting. You can also use tools like Liinks or Linktree to create a landing page with multiple clickable links to your various online platforms. Don't underestimate the power of your link in bio - it's a valuable tool for driving traffic and conversions.
It's important to create your personal brand and optimize your profile before ever posting content. If you don't have a clear idea of your message, purpose, target audience, and values, your content may come across as scattered and unclear. Additionally, building a community that trusts and engages with you is key to becoming a successful influencer, and that requires a strong personal brand and consistent content creation. By taking the time to create a solid foundation, you'll be setting yourself up for success in the long run.
Find a niche by first developing your content pillars
A niche is essentially what you’re known for - it’s a category or a subject area that your audience knows they can go to you for. In the world of content creation, we tend to think of niches are established communities like the “beauty niche” or the “travel vlogger niche” and while that’s part of the story, your niche is more than that. You could be a part of a mainstream niche like that, but - depending on how unique your offer or audience is, you may be in a niche all on your own. At the end of the day, your niche is what people are going to know you for.
Now, content pillars are the core pieces of your content strategy that, when combined essentially add up to create your niche. That might be a slightly different way of thinking about content strategy for you because a lot of people tend to think that you start with a niche, and then create content pillars that are essentially sub-topics of that niche. I have a slightly different philosophy. I believe that your content pillars are the main ways you provide value - and when you combine these pillars, the culmination of them is your niche. So essentially, your niche will be the result of your content pillars, rather than your content pillars being determined by your niche.
Using my van-life channel on YouTube as an example (which if you didn’t know, I have a separate YouTube channel just for my van-life and travel content called Katie and Dan in a Van, if you want to check it out), now… if we were doing this the traditional way and we were starting with a niche, and creating content pillars based on that - we might end up with something like this:
We might say the main niche is “van life” right? And maybe the sub-topics or content pillars could be; how to convert a van, how to plan a van trip, best van trip destinations, and the pros and cons of van life. Which is like, fine, right? But it’s a little boring. But if instead we start with our target audience, and think about what their values and interests are - we can actually come up with content pillars that have a lot more variety, and will probably be more fun for us to make, and also more effective grow growth. Let’s say that our target audience is young adults, 20-30s, who want to travel, care about sustainability, and value experiences over things. Maybe they want to reconnect with nature, and find a lifestyle that balances their work/career, and doing what they love: being outside, seeing new places, and having new experiences. We might have the following content pillars; how to live sustainably in a van; plant-based meal planning for van life, the best cheap adventures to take in your van in Canada (which makes sense for me because I am located in Canada), crazy challenges and adventure vlogs and how to work from the road as a digital nomad. These are getting more specific - and they allow you to really connect with your personal target audience. If you just start with your niche, you’ll end up with generic content pillars that might not really speak to who you want to reach. So start by thinking of your audience first. Then, you can determine your niche, which based on this example might be: sustainable van life for digital nomads.
Developing a Content Strategy, System, Content Calendar (yep, it’s a lot)
Now that you have solidified your brand as a whole - it’s time to develop a content strategy and system.
First, let’s talk about your content strategy, and before diving in, I want to make sure you understand the difference between a content strategy and a content calendar.
A content calendar is essential for a list of content ideas or concepts that are organized chronologically in a calendar, or a spreadsheet. These are the specific, fully formed ideas of exactly what you’re going to post on a given day.
Whereas a content strategy ****is your framework or the structure you put in place that will then guide what you put on your content calendar. Usually, it’s a repetitive structure that includes the formats that you know speak to your audience and that work towards your goal as a brand.
There is no “one size fits all” with a content strategy. Your content strategy is going to be different depending on your different goals. Whether you want to focus on growth, increasing engagement, or making more sales - each of these goals would require a different content strategy to achieve them.
But it also goes beyond goals, you have to make sure this structure fits well with your lifestyle and creative style as well! This is something that I really stress because I don’t often find a lot of people who are giving this kind of advice talking about this aspect. At the end of the day, if you don’t have the time for your content strategy, or you don’t like your content strategy - it’s not going to be sustainable.
Also, if you need help with this - I have something that can help. I have both The Sustainable Instagram Strategy Planner and The Sustainable YouTube Strategy Planner, these are guides that can help you with creating a growth strategy that you’ll actually be able to execute on and that will actually work. They will be linked in the show notes for you.
Now that you have a strategy in place, it’s time to create a system. A simple definition of a “content creation system” would be, “a habit or a routine that you can return to in order to stay consistent with your content creation.” So based on your strategy, you can choose how you can accomplish it - will you batch weekly, monthly, or will you be working on content day-by-day.
Lean into video (or whatever content type is trending)…
Videos can be an effective way to reach new audiences and engage with your existing followers. The popularity of short-form video has really grown in the last few years with TikTok, Reels, and now Shorts. Mastering short-form video and posting consistently can lead to massive growth and engagement.
Here are a few tips to get you started:
You just have to do it (and not care what people think. Learning short-form videos can be a bit intimidating. But, the best way to improve is to practice, practice, practice. At first, your creations may not be “perfect” and will definitely feel awkward, but with time, you’ll find your rhythm and start enjoying the process.
Don’t skip doing research. If you want to make engaging, short-form videos - take 15 minutes a day to see what others are creating. This will help you stay on top of trends and give you fresh inspiration for your niche. But also limits you - so you don’t fall into the scrolling trap.
Provide value. Make sure every video you post is either educational, inspiring, and/or relatable within your niche.
Learn the art of the “hook”. To get those views and maximize the reach of your videos, you need to “stop the scroll” by starting with some type of hook. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, such as a visual hook (like text) that calls out your audience’s problem or desire or through movement, like waving at the camera.
Don’t forget to post on a regular basis. Posting consistently will make your account shine and improve the performance of all your content. To stay on track with your video content, create them in advance for the next week and schedule them through Instagram directly for free.
Focus on building and connecting with your community.
It's important to keep track of your growth and engagement rates as an influencer, but don't forget to prioritize the quality of the community you're building. When you focus solely on building a large audience, you may not have the opportunity to engage with them in a meaningful way, which can lead to a lack of trust in your recommendations.
On the other hand, when you focus on cultivating a smaller, but more engaged audience, they are more likely to trust your advice, purchase the products you recommend, and follow you to other platforms. Regardless of where you are in your influencer journey, building strong relationships within your community is the most important thing you can do. So go ahead, connect and engage with your followers, and watch your influence grow!
Here are five tips for engaging with your social media community:
Respond to comments and messages: Take the time to respond to comments and messages from your followers. This shows that you value their input and are interested in what they have to say.
Host Q&A sessions: Hosting a Q&A session on your social media platform is a great way to engage with your audience and answer any questions they may have. You can do this in an Instagram Story, short-form video, or even a full-length YouTube video.
Share user-generated content: Sharing content created by your followers is a great way to show that you appreciate their support and are paying attention to their contributions. This could simply be sharing their content in your Stories.
Run contests and giveaways: Running contests and giveaways is a great way to increase engagement and attract new followers. Just make sure to follow platform guidelines and be transparent with your audience. And, I also recommend making the product or service you’re giving away to relate back to your niche - if you give away something like a Starbucks gift card in a feed post, you might attract those who just follow you for the free stuff and quickly unfollow once the giveaway is over. If you want to gift something like that - do it in your Stories for your already loyal community. 🙂
Show your personality: Don't be afraid to show your personality and share personal stories with your audience. This can help build a stronger connection with your followers and make them feel more invested in your content. Vulnerability can also help you stand out in a crowded influencer market, as it's a trait that many people admire and respect. So don't be afraid to open up and share your struggles, triumphs, and everything in between with your audience.
How you can make money as an Influencer?
Making money as an influencer can make an already fun career even more rewarding. While creating content and connecting with your audience is already fulfilling, being able to support yourself financially through your passion is an incredible feeling. Additionally, landing brand partnerships or developing affiliate marketing relationships with companies that you genuinely love and use can be a dream come true. Seeing your hard work and dedication pay off in the form of monetary compensation can also motivate you to continue creating and growing your brand. However, it's important to remember that building a successful career as an influencer takes time, effort, and patience. It's not a get-rich-quick scheme, and you must be willing to put in the work to reap the rewards.
There are a few major ways to make money as an influencer:
Brand Partnerships: First, let’s chat about brand partnerships, which some refer to as Brand Deals or Collaborations. This is when a brand pays you to deliver some sort of advertisement for their product or service on your content. This could be a 45-60 second mid-roll ad on a YouTube video or a mention of their product or service on an Instagram Reel or Story. You can negotiate all of this with the brand. But something very important you have to remember is making sure you have a niche audience, within the same demographic of the brands you are trying to work with. One thing most brands will want to see is the demographic of your chosen social media platform because they do not want to waste their time marketing to an audience that wouldn’t buy from them.
Affiliate Marketing: Another solid way to make an income as an influencer is with affiliate marketing. If you are new to this, affiliate marketing is where you mention products or services you like and provide your audience with a tracking link. If someone makes a purchase after clicking your link, you will get a small commission at no extra cost to your audience. You can set up affiliate links through the company's direct websites or there are companies like Amazon Associates and Reward Style that offer affiliate links through various products or companies.
Google AdSense: This is more relevant to YouTubers or Bloggers, but one way to make additional income as an influencer is through Google AdSense. Google AdSense is just referring to the ads you can place before, within, or at the end of your YouTube videos or if you are a blogger, you can place these ads on your website pages. The revenue you can make from ads is dependent on the niche and traffic you get to your platform.
Merchandise: Once you build up an audience and you have those ride-or-die “fans” - another way you can bring in additional income is through selling your own merchandise. You can go through companies like Spreadshirt, so you can avoid upfront costs. This is something that might not give you a lot of income, but it is something that can make your audience feel a bit closer to you and build a bigger sense of community.
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And that wraps up this episode on becoming a successful influencer. We've covered the importance of finding your niche, developing a content strategy and system, leaning into video, and building a community that trusts and engages with you. Remember, building a successful career as an influencer takes time, effort, and patience. But with the right mindset and strategy, you can get there. Thanks for tuning in!
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