How To Become an Influencer: 7 Tips From An Expert

Influencer, a dream job?

Influencers are stars on the Internet. They travel the world and attend the most exclusive parties. Lisa and Lena, Dagi Bee, and Pamela Reif are among the best-known German influencers.

Many young people cry out in happiness when they see their idols. In Frankfurt am Main, the opening of Sephora had to be evacuated because the crowds were too great to handle. Let’s find out how to become an influencer.

The dream of many young people is to become an influencer. With our tips, you can get a little closer to your dream.

Choose your area of expertise

First, you need to analyze your interests. Realize in which area you would like to become an influencer.

Do you have an unusual hobby?
Are you exceptionally knowledgeable in a particular area?
Are you fascinated by a subject area?

If you are unsure, ask family, friends, and acquaintances. These people can tell you in which area you are seen as an expert and contact person.

You can only be successful if you have a great passion for your field.

Formulate a clear goal and always try to achieve it.

Stand out

You need to stand out from the crowd and develop your style to deliver new, impactful content to users.

Opportunities to get noticed are:

minimalistic image compositions
extremely colorful posts
creative image descriptions
competitions
“theme days” – Dedicate one day of the week to a specific area of interest

Imitating the content of other influencers does not lead to success.

Ask yourself questions such as:

How can I differentiate myself from the competition?
Which elements are not included in my subject area?
How can I implement these aspects? (e.g. theme days, live streams)

Once you’ve found your style, it’s essential to stick to it. Your feed should be consistent so that you don’t lose your unique selling point.

For example, you can always use the same filter or watermark. This way, you increase your recognition value.

Without an exceptional profile, you will quickly get lost in the mass of users. There are now 600 million active users on Instagram.

Select the appropriate channels

In the beginning, you should focus on one or two platforms. It is impossible to serve all channels. Furthermore, there are specific platforms that your target group does not use.

Top 3 platforms for influencers

Instagram:

Influencers should be increasingly active on Instagram. The app combines elements of individual platforms in one network. For example, the Story function from Snapchat is one of them. Instagram is also known for its high interaction rate.

The social media platform is suitable for visually appealing content. After all, you can market an Audi A8 better than an elevator.

YouTube:

If you want to produce videos, YouTube is the right platform for you. The competition is very large. However, with high-quality videos, you have a good chance of becoming well-known.

YouTube is of interest to musicians, comedians, and filmmakers, among others.

LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is especially suitable for professional networking. You can provide insights into your professional life on the platform. For companies, there is the possibility:

• to share blog posts,
• present products and
• introduce employees.

As an entrepreneur, you should use LinkedIn to expand your professional network. Users can establish themselves as a personal brand. Additionally, LinkedIn is an attractive option for employees. More and more companies offer jobs online via the company profile.

Spotify:

Spotify is the world’s largest streaming platform. If you produce podcasts or music, don’t neglect this channel. For musicians who are at the beginning of their career, Spotify allows you to tackle branding.

3 additional Social Media platforms

Facebook:

Facebook was the first major social network. Images can be shared, liked, and commented on the platform.

Meanwhile, networks like Instagram are more appealing. It is easier to achieve an extensive reach there. In addition, the number of active Facebook users declines.

Pinterest:

Artists can share their works on Pinterest. Therefore, creative freelancers should contemplate the platform. Chefs, fashion photographers, and interior designers are recommended to use Pinterest.

Snapchat:

Teenagers mostly use Snapchat. The unique feature of the platform is that no content is visible for more than 24 hours.

With the aid of Snapchat, you can provide insights into your private life. Topics such as travel or food are mainly present on the channel.

You can slowly use new channels to increase your reach further as you grow. However, it would help if you only use channels that aid in showcasing your own brand.

Adjust your strategy

Platforms like Instagram and Snapchat are primarily used by young people. That’s why you can present something crazy there. 20 bananas in one minute? That could be a viral hit 😉

Before deciding on a particular strategy, consider the following questions:

Are my products visually easy to market?
Do I want to reach a very young target group?
Do I have a strong presence in the business sector?

On LinkedIn, a reputable demeanor is crucial, as this network has a significant business component.

Instagram is an excellent place to start due to its high interaction rate. A combination with YouTube is possible without any problems.

Increase your reach

The prerequisite for becoming an influencer is a large number of active followers.

However, do not buy fake followers in any case. They do not interact with your profile and are therefore useless.

Another way to increase your reach is to use hashtags. Only use hashtags that are appropriate for your post.

Which hashtags describe my image?
Do I get the necessary likes to land among the top posts for my hashtag?
Do my hashtags align with my target audience?
Do the hashtags fit my personality?

Your goal should always be to appear in the top posts. Therefore, you should start with unknown hashtags (#fashionismylife or #eatamazing). As the number of likes increases, you can use popular hashtags (e.g., #fashion #food).

Be active

Post regularly

It is crucial to publish new articles at regular intervals. This ensures that you remain interesting for other users. If you stop posting new content, your reach will decrease.

Nevertheless, you should not exceed one to three posts per day. After all, you don’t want to overwhelm your followers with new content.

From experience, 3 to 5 posts per week are recommendable.

Post at the appropiate time

Most people are active on social networks after working hours. Therefore, evenings are the best time to present new content.

Set a time of day. Then you should always publish posts at that time. 6 pm and 9 pm are successful publishing times.

Interact with posts of other users

Besides, you should like and comment on other users’ posts. This will arouse the interest of some users. New profile visitors are then possible.

Nevertheless, you should only like high-quality posts that you genuinely like. Two hundred arbitrary likes are not authentic.

Respond to questions and comments

To build a large following, you should respond to questions and comments beneath your posts. Through this interaction, other users will identify more closely with you.

Always remain professional and polite. It would help if you ignore or delete hate speech.

Quality of your posts

Your posts are the basis of your success. Therefore, your images and videos must be of high quality.

This issue can be very time-consuming. Nevertheless, you must never neglect the post creation.

Users have high-quality standards. Poor implementation destroys even the best idea.

Ensure good image sharpness and exposure
Choose a suitable background
Set the focus on the critical picture elements

Authenticity

Small glimpses into the private life

Give your followers insights into your life, even if it’s not perfect. This behavior will increase your credibility and build a bond with your followers.

You don’t necessarily have to reveal your complete sphere of privacy. Small glimpses are enough.

Stay down to earth

Success goes to many people’s heads. To be successful in the long run, you have to stay down to earth.

Even if you eventually have over 1 million followers, you should still respond to questions and comments.

Carefully examine cooperation inquiries

The profile should not become a 24/7 advertising platform. Stay true to yourself and only initiate suitable collaborations.

As an influencer in fashion, for example, you should not advertise tomato soup. You will lose authenticity and, ultimately, your fans.

Tap into a network

Collaborations with other influencers may be beneficial. Not only do you increase your reach, but you can also learn from each other.

Is the influencer active in the same field?
Do they have a similar style?
Does the influencer have approximately the same number of followers (+/- 10%)?

Attend the most significant events in your particular field. You can achieve increased awareness via astute event marketing.

The event may be a visit to the appropriate influencer conference and a fashion show in Milan.

• DMEXCO, Cologne
• FIBO, Cologne
• re:publica, Berlin

Establish your website

Why should I create a website?

You can convey more information via a blog. Unlike a short Instagram post, you have the opportunity to elaborate on a topic at length.

As a fashion blogger, you can appeal to all users’ senses via video, image, and text.

You can link from your Instagram profile to your website and vice versa. A high-traffic website can increase your follower base even more.

A website may well be your life insurance.

Time and time again, social networks are put to the test. Hackers, viruses, and fake news are no rarity.

After the data theft, it is practically impossible to recover your account. If you use only one channel, you will lose your existence.

A website is an insurance policy. You can use the synergies between the website and social media account. Thus, you can forward targeted visitors to your profile. This will increase your followers even if you create a new profile.

Moreover, you can set up an online store on your website. You become more independent from brands and collaborations by selling your own products.

In a nutshell: You build a second foothold via a website and further increase your authenticity.

Recommendations by users

If you impress your followers, they will recommend you to others. Therefore, be sure to provide added value for users.

As a fashion blogger, the following elements could add value:

Interviews with fashion designers
Live videos from a fashion show
Insights into the production of premium brands

Host contests or encourage your followers to tag friends below your post. This will help you expand your reach.

Know the latest trends

You always have to keep an eye on new trends as an influencer. Therefore, inform yourself as precisely as possible about your target group. Statistics are particularly helpful in this regard.

Which areas of my target group do I reach?
Which content is particularly popular?

Your posts on social networks must always be up to date. As a result, you have the chance of a viral success. Such a post increases your reach immensely.

If you have enough followers, you can create your own trends. For this purpose, cooperations with other influencers are expedient. For example, invent your own hashtag.

Be open for criticism

Constructive criticism is extremely helpful as an influencer. It’s the only way you can make improvements to your profile.

Nevertheless, you should remain true to your point of view. Do not apologize when you have done the right thing. Remain authentic!

Schedule your posts

Numerous programs (e.g., Later, Hootsuite or Buffer) can help you schedule your posts. You can take a break without neglecting your followers by scheduling posts in advance.

Do my posts get published at the right time?
Do my hashtags describe my image?
Do they fit the target group?
Do I have a good chance of being among the top posts?
Are call-to-actions a part of my image description?
Do I stay true to my style?

Use statistics

Nearly all social media platforms offer statistics. Through these, you can identify weaknesses in your profile and orient yourself to other, more successful posts.

In addition, you receive valuable information about your target group. This allows you to further optimize your strategy.

When is my target group online?
How do my follower numbers change?
Where does my target group originate from?
How old is my target group?
Which gender do my followers belong to?
What language do my subscribers speak?

The collected data influences all the issues we have pointed out to you in this article. Depending on the target group, you need to develop distinct strategies.

Further options are Instagram apps. With these programs, you can find out additional information about your target audience.

In a nutshell

Many people consider the profession of an influencer to be a dream job. The glamorous life is deceptive. You should think carefully beforehand. Are you prepared to sacrifice a large part of your privacy?

Becoming an influencer involves a lot of work. You need incredible tenacity to build your brand. Thus, you ought to increase your reach daily. In the process, 12 hours of daily work is not uncommon.

Apply now!

Have you successfully implemented our plan and built your brand? Then apply directly to our agency now. We cannot wait to support you in your endeavors.