It’s no secret that being an influencer is the hottest thing right now. Who wouldn’t want to get paid to tell people what products and services to buy? With seemingly endless free merchandise, access, and money coming from brands, influencing seems like a very viable career choice for people who deem themselves important enough to their followers.
To the average consumer, influencing seems like an easy gig. But, there are hundreds of thousands of people trying to break through into the influencing industry and trying to get the eye (and sponsorship) of popular brands. So what will help aspiring influencers in “securing the bag”?
First and foremost, aspiring influencers must understand what is important to marketers, which is making an ROI. Marketers cannot justify spending money on an influencer just because of their follower count. Can you authentically engage with your audience, no matter how niche it is? Do your followers trust you? Does your opinion hold enough weight in your followers’ eyes to actually lead to a purchase? These are questions you should ask yourself before you pursue influencing, even with the smallest of brands.
Second, what kind of content are you making that will draw in your audience? Depending on your industry, the content you curate should at some level make you seem like a subject matter expert, vulnerable and trustworthy, attention-grabbing, and consistent. Creating content is the most demanding part of being an influencer, so if you aren’t ready to be original in what you create and do it regularly, there’s really no point in doing it.
Some of the most popular influencers and my personal favorites make it a point to be honest in everything they review or do, make it engaging, and engage back with their followers. No matter how high or low your follower count, you have to be willing to engage.
If you work on the above consistently, then you have the winning formula to break into influencing. Just remain patient, consistent, and most of all, humble.
