How to Become an Influencer

By now, we have all heard the term “Instagram influencers”. An influencer’s definition is “the person's ability to influence potential buyers on social media.”

But, who are they? How can they have so much effect on people and live such glamorous lives?

In the simple answer version, Instagram influencers use many tools like the Instagram algorithm and insights to their favour and build their follower base. But how can someone use those tools in their favour?

People like what they see in Instagram influencers' lives and follow them. Then those followers become clients for their sponsors and their account becomes the new marketing platform. Followers are inspired and affected by them. So much so that these people can open a fan account to show their love and support for the influencers.

There are big words like algorithm and engagement rate, but don’t let them scare you. All of them will be explained, and they will guide you to inspire the lives of many. You can be a role model to people and make a living out of it.

How can you start being an Instagram Influencer?

Do you know who has the most followers on Instagram?

The answer is Instagram.

People follow the account because the platform has such a big effect on their lives. When you become an Instagram influencer, you will have that effect too. That’s why it is important that followers know who you are.

But first, how to start? I can hear you say, “just open an Instagram account and start sharing!” True, but not as easy as it sounds. There are questions to answer before you start, like in every business. Do you start a regular Instagram account or an Instagram business account? How to get Instagram ads so you can gain profit from all the marketing you are doing for brands? These questions can be very overwhelming if you are new to being an Instagram influencer. Before you start, the best thing to do is the answer this question; what kind of effect do you want to have? Do you want to be a blogger/vlogger and share your life experiences on a daily basis and show your way of life? Maybe you are an expert at something, and you help people with your expertise, like tech accounts and doctors? Are you an activist that helps raise awareness on issues like global warming? Or maybe you are a writer who shares thoughts and stories on subjects like parenting.

Choose what you want to do with your account based on who you are. Remember people will follow you because of who you are. Once you decide the purpose and type of your account, you can aim to build a follower base.

You opened an Instagram account, now what?

You opened an account and started your business. You attracted people, and you build yourself a follower base. Congratulations, you are an Instagram influencer. Before you jump right into making deals and taking ads, you need to analyze the situation you are in. we need to define some important terms. These are:
  • Instagram ads,
  • Instagram business account,
  • Instagram insights,
  • Engagement rate,
  • Instagram follower engagement rate,
  • Captions for Instagram,
Instagram ads are the promotions that companies pay for. The Instagram business account is the online store inside Instagram. It tells Instagram that you are using their platform to sell products. Instagram influencers usually don’t use this type of account.

Insights is the data of your account provided by Instagram. Your likes, comments, shares, saves, ad revenues, engagements, profile visits and much more helpful statistics are in one place for you to see.

Engagement rate means how many people are visiting and interacting with your account. That’s one of your interesting sides to brands. Your followers are potential buyers of brands and companies. So, you want as high as possible.

Instagram follower engagement rate, on the other hand, is a little bit different. Imagine a store that’s your account. You have a showcase of flashy items in the front and a lot of people coming in. But not everyone is making a purchase. That’s the importance of follower engagement rate. An account with 10.000 viewers can make their followers buy products more than an account with 100.000 followers. You don’t want people to just look and go; you want them to stay and interact. After these, you are ready to be sponsored.

Captions for Instagram plays key part in algorithm. Instagram influencers uses targeted words to reach more person.

4 key factors a sponsor look for

Social media influencers are the new key in marketing. So, how are they decide to sponsor someone?

There are main 4 criteria:
  • Expertise,
  • authority,
  • trustworthiness,
  • and audience.
If you are an expert on skincare products, you are more likely to attract beauty brands; a hoverboard selling company is probably not going to call you to promote their product. Authority is about your knowledge of certain topics and your works. Trustworthiness is what your community thinks of you. What do they say in comments etc? Maybe the most important thing about brands is your audience? They have a target audience, and if their target audience and your followers match, they are more likely to sponsor you. Instagram posts and Instagram stories are the 2 main things you share on Instagram. They must be of a certain level of quality. You are a professional now. Because of that, you might need social media management help. They can get you sponsors and help to be more professional in what you do. These people are experts on how to manage a social media profile and Instagram algorithm. Instagram has a complicated algorithm. It exists to give the user more relevant content for them. The algorithm promotes you to users based on your Instagram captions, stories, posts, and your follower base.

That’s why it is important to use things like hashtags and specific caption words. Day by day more companies investing on influencers. They are the future of publicity. More celebrities use social media platforms more actively because it is clear way to address to the audience.