Celebrated and maligned in equal measure, the influencer is now a staple fixture of the digital world, with the most successful Instagram and YouTube stars now making more money than some management professionals and public sector workers. Despite what the cynical doomsayers who reside in comments sections and social media timelines might have you believe, being a successful influencer takes a lot of work. There’s a lot more to a sustaining popularity and driving engagement than yelling “hit subscribe” at every given opportunity. Here are some of the things that influencers can do to make sure they stand out.
Quality Sound and Video
Let’s start with the absolute basics. If your audience can’t hear what you’re saying or worse, the quality of your stream looks as if it has been filmed using a low-resolution phone from a time before Wi-Fi, the chances are they won’t take you seriously. Though you don’t necessarily need expensive equipment, all influencers should make sure that they’re putting out content that looks and sounds clear and professional. A passable webcam is always a better option than your budget laptops built in camera.
Be an Expert in Your Chosen Area
As any gaming enthusiast or sneaker freak will tell you, it’s not enough to have a passing interest in something if you want to be a successful influencer. You need to eat, sleep and breath your subject. People gravitate towards influencers because they feel as if they’re being given a kind of insider knowledge. Offering your audience rich and well researched pieces of information they can’t find anywhere else means they have a reason to keep coming back.
Learn How to Measure Engagement
Phrases like that usually apply to digital marketing professionals such as web developers and marketing officers but this is a key factor in becoming a successful influencer, too. Understanding when your posts perform at their best can be critical, so use an analytics tool to help you gauge when you should release new content. Similarly, pay attention to comments and feedback so that you can learn what people react well to, plus anything that drives them away.
Be Original
This may seem obvious but as the seemingly endless parade of people imitating other, more successful influencers demonstrates, doing this is not as simple as it sounds. To be truly original, you need to offer something that nobody else can. Whether this is a quirky new approach to esports commentary or an innovative way to review pre-release business software, you need your audience to see you as somebody who can offer genuine value.
Study Trends and Keep Up with the News
Even if it’s only a side gig for you, being a successful influencer requires you to stay up to date with the main news stories and developments in your own area. This means you can’t just create your content and throw it out there without checking what else has been said about the subject. Even if you feel as if you’re covering old ground, giving a unique perspective on a trending topic or news item can be an excellent way to attract new followers.
Be Genuine
People respond to displays of genuine, heartfelt human emotion. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be overly dramatic or reveal personal information about yourself to win over your audience, but it’s usually a bad idea to try and project a fake or overly contrived persona. Though you will naturally behave differently when creating content for your followers, compared to how you might interact with people in everyday life, its essential to show off some of your true personality.
Don’t Ignore SEO
Though the landscape of SEO changes and evolves regularly, you need to make sure you’re doing everything you can to attract people to every platform you use. From hashtags to well written blog posts and descriptions, the written text that accompanies any videos and images you use is critical. Quite simply, if people can’t find you, they can’t enjoy any of your content.
Collaborations and Networking
Influencers may appear to be single, self-governing entities but, the connections they build with other people are often a key part of their success. Collaborations are particularly effective as they present an opportunity to pick up new followers from an already receptive pool of existing audience members. Similarly, reaching out to other fledging influencers or perhaps those with a little more experience can be a great way for newcomers to learn the ropes.
Respect Your Platform’s Rules
Whether its risqué clothing or colourful language, influencers have their accounts suspended daily for flouting the rules on their chosen platforms. It can be frustrating, especially if you feel that some of the regulations are unfair or unnecessarily prohibitive, but a few compromises about content here and there is a preferable alternative to dealing with bans and suspensions.
Talk to Your Audience Directly Whenever You Can
People love to feel connected to content creators and even a quick thumbs up or a polite “thank you” can brighten somebody’s day. Take the time to engage with your users in the comments sections and try to make time to mention them in videos if you can, too. This personal touch is what separates influencers and online figures from the traditionally inaccessible celebrities we see on TV or in Movies.
Have a Content Strategy
Even if it’s as simple as a bullet pointed plan that covers the next couple of weeks, it’s important to have plan in place so you can avoid a break in content. Without a clear content strategy, influencers risk losing followers due to irregular updates or disjointed, seemingly random content that has no discernible narrative. You don’t necessarily need to plan everything meticulously, but having an idea of subject matter, running time and release dates should be a given.
Choose the Right Platform
Though most influencers generally use more than one platform, focusing on the one that creates the most engagement is essential. There’s no point in maintaining a twitter account with a handful of followers if it means neglecting millions of regular YouTube viewers. Pay attention to where people are responding to you the most and capitalise on this.