How to Become an Influencer And Make Money in 2024 (2024)

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If you spend any time on social media you’ll know exactly who the influencers are. But the big question is how to become an influencer? And can you make money doing it?

Influencers are usually the ones with the perfectly-curated posts, millions of online followers, and the body of a supermodel.

They’re the online personalities and ‘gurus’ that seem to have so much clout online.

So is that it?

Do you have to be under 40 and an expert at air-brushing, TikTok dances, and fish lips to become a successful influencer?

As it turns out: NO!

You’ll be pleased to know that being able and willing to flaunt a six-pack isn’t a prerequisite to building a smashingly successful online following.

To become an influencer on social media is about so much more than taking a great selfie. (Phew!)

Influencer Marketing is Big Business

10 years ago becoming an online ‘guru’, meant building an audience of super engaged fans and selling your own products and services.

These days as a social media influencer your audience are your product and you’re effectively selling access to your audience to a brand.

And it’s no small potatoes.

Over 55% of businesses used influencer marketing to promote their businesses in 2019 and that’s predicted to grow to over 72.5% in 2023!

Facebook (or Meta) now have an entire social media influencer program dedicated to connecting brands with influencers.

And influencer agencies specialising in influencer marketing are now ten a penny.

That’s because it works. A good buddy of mine has spent the last year or so building his successful art brand on Shopify using only influencer marketing campaigns, and has gone from zero to 6 figures a month.

So what’s the key to become an influencer online if it’s not great dance skills & a bod like Arnie?

In a nutshell, It’s about creating a solid personal brand, connecting with an audience by meeting a need, and being consistent and persistent.

In this post, we’ll go over the ins and outs of what it means to be a social media influencer, how to become an influencer, and how to go about building your own massive following from the ground up.

If you’re thinking of Kim Kardashian, you’re not wrong. She’s considered the original influencer in many circles — but not all social media influencers follow in her footsteps.

An influencer is someone who has a large audience and following. Through knowledge, passion, and social intelligence, he or she has developed the authority and the social power to affect the purchasing decisions of his or her audience.

That being said, a social media influencer isn’t just a savvy marketer. They don’t just post ads for their products and call it a day.

To become an influencer, a person needs to have developed a genuine, personal connection with their audience.

It goes beyond simple advertising and into the relational space; which is what makes the influencer identity so powerful.

People might be tempted by an effective ad, but they’ll put their faith in someone they feel a relationship with.

Why Become a Social Media Influencer?

According to one study, for every $1 spent on influencer marketing, businesses make $6.50. And 92% of millennials trust Instagram influencers over traditionally famous celebrities.

Rather than becoming an influencer for fame or fortune, think of it this way: becoming an influencer could be good for your business.

It can get you an audience and give you a voice.

You’ll have a platform you can leverage to suit your needs, like marketing your products, promoting someone else’s products, or gaining traction on a new business venture.

To become an influencer isn’t easy. There isn’t a magic word and you can’t wave a magic wand and poof, you’re an influencer.

It takes time, dedication, and work.

Let’s go over the steps in that long — but often rewarding — journey below.

How to Become an Influencer in 6 Actionable Steps

1. Decide on Your Market

A recent study claim that 63% of Americans would quit their regular jobs immediately if they knew they’d become influencers in the next 6–12 months. One of the first things you need to do to become an influencer is to find your segment of the market.

It’s tempting to try to appeal to anyone and everyone who might be interested in your personal brand, product, or service.

But here’s the secret: you need to narrow your potential audience in order to grow your audience.

If that sounds backwards, that’s okay. It might feel counterintuitive.

It’s natural to want to appeal to the broadest range of people possible, and you might feel scared to leave some people out.

But the truth is, the person who markets to everyone appeals to no one.

If you try to appeal to a very broad audience, your content will feel a bit too vague and watered-down.

It’s by having a clear understanding of who you’re marketing to, their interests, and how you are helping them specifically that you can start to create compelling, rich content that attracts a loyal following.

Also the more defined your audience the easier you’ll find it in the long term to work with brands looking for a very specific demographic.

2. Decide on Your Niche

Because people understand the benefits of influencer marketing, most platforms online are saturated with influencer hopefuls vying for the attention of the masses.

So the best way to give yourself a leg up? Niche down.

Choose a niche that you’re interested in and can see yourself creating content about for hours at a time.

You should have experience in that niche and ideally some level of expertise. (However you can also start as a newbie and build an audience of people following your journey).

Say for example you want to become an influencer giving financial advice.

That’s a great start, but you might even want to niche down further. Find your “niche within a niche”.

For example, instead of marketing yourself as a finance expert, you may instead choose to specialise in ‘how to pay off debts, save money and retire early’, or ‘how to invest in stocks and shares’, or ‘crypto investing’, or ‘finance for kids’.

By picking a specific niche, you’re committing to becoming an expert and a voice of authority, in your chosen area.

Learn everything you can, and share that knowledge.

Soon, you’ll get noticed by your target audience, and they’ll trust you as the expert social media influencer you are.

3. Decide What Makes You Unique

You’ve picked your target market and your area of expertise, and now you need to understand what you uniquely offer your potential audience.

How will your content stand out from everyone else’s?

For example, lots of people blog about technology. You could choose to be the person who writes about tech in a conversational, relatable manner that cuts out confusing technical jargon.

Or you could be a foodie instagram influencer who turns every photo caption into a cultural history tidbit.

To get a good idea of how you can stand out from the crowd, try my guided exercise document here to analyze your competition, your target market, your industry, your ideal customer, and your USP.

4. Decide Which Social Media Platforms You Want to Dominate

When you’re starting out, it’s best to limit your presence to one or two social media platforms.

Odds are, that you don’t have unlimited resources or time, so trying to be present everywhere will just lead to burnout.

To decide where to focus your efforts, try thinking about what kind of content excites you:

• Are you a good writer? Blogging might be for you.
• Are you a photography pro? Consider choosing a visual platform like Instagram or Facebook.
• Do you love making videos? YouTube or TikTok might be your platform of choice. Starting a vlog might suit you.
• Have a voice made for radio? Perhaps a podcast is where you’ll shine.

And of course, don’t forget to analyze your choice with questions like:

• Is this social media platform already saturated with wannabe influencers in my niche?
• is this social media channel declining in popularity (like Snapchat, for instance)?
• Are my social media platforms of choice, the place my audience is likely to hang out? Instagram is a great place to find millennials, while you’ll find teens on TikTok (although the fastest growing demographic is now 35 – 55) and baby boomers on Facebook. If your audience is in the business space, consider LinkedIn.

Once you’ve chosen your social media platforms, get to work optimizing your profile. Even though the platform has been slowly declining, I have a great article on 10 fun strategies on how to make money on Snapchat in 2023.

Since it’s the first thing someone sees when they visit your profile, make your bio clear, engaging, and informative. Include your name, location, and website (if you have one).

And of course, make your niche or area of expertise extremely clear also.

Check that your profile picture (and cover photo, if applicable) are professional and align with your personal brand identity.

You may want to invest in some professional headshots so that you have high-quality photos of yourself.

Becoming a social media influencer means you have a solid understanding of who you’re attracting and what they’re interested in.

Switch to a business account, which on most social media platforms allows you to monitor your engagement rates, metrics, and create promoted content. Here at 15 social media marketing tips to help get you started.

Analyze your current follower base to get a better understanding of their demographics and what interests them.

5. Build a Following: How to Grow Your Social Media Audience

Once you’ve decided on your audience, your niche, your unique angle, and the social media platforms you’re going to focus on, it’s time to start creating the content which is going to engage and build your target audience.

Here’s where the ‘experts’ would say;

• Be strategic with your content
• Don’t overload your audience
• Only post at specific times
• Create a detailed content strategy
• Schedule a detailed content calendar
• etc, etc, etc.

And to be totally honest with you, in the first iteration of this post, that’s exactly what I did say.

However, we are our own worst enemies when it comes to self promotion and marketing our businesses, so truly my advice is just to post, post and post some more!

Your first posts may be rubbish, you may get zero engagement and in the future you may even wince when you see some of your early pictures, videos or opinions.

But that’s ok. You have to be in it to win it and if you spend your life creating content strategies, calendars, analysing your competition, reading articles on the best times to post, etc, you’re wasting time!

If you’ve identified your target audience, understand your niche, know what you stand for, and have a rough idea of what messages you want to convey then take action.

The only question you need to be asking yourself on a regular basis is;

How does this piece of content, entertain, inform, educate or add value to my target audience?

If you can answer that with a positive response, then push publish and move on to your next piece.

You won’t know what truly resonates with an audience until you’re out there with your head above the parapet.

You’ll get feedback soon enough on what works and what doesn’t.

The whole point of becoming a social media influencer is to start influencing on social media.

So get to it!

One more thing to note.

To become an influencer you need to be the King or Queen of networking.

You’ll want to develop an authentic relationship with your growing audience, and nothing does this faster than demonstrating that you’re there for them.

When they comment on your social media posts, reply to them!

When they ask questions, be there with an answer.

Becoming an influencer is about more than just amassing thousands of followers. It’s about getting true, authentic engagement. And building that interaction starts with you.

How to Become an Influencer and Build a Following on Instagram

Though it may feel like it sometimes, Instagram isn’t just the realm of the young.

Many older influencers are thriving on Instagram, like American fashion designer Tory Burch, whose Instagram feed is relatable (she often posts adorable dog pics) and focused on empowering other women.

In fact, she states plainly in her bio that she focuses on “empowering women entrepreneurs.”

She’s chosen a niche within her niche (fashion) and knows exactly how each post ties into her purpose and USP.

Since Instagram is a highly visual medium, make sure you’re posting high-quality photos.

This doesn’t mean you can’t use your phone to take pictures, but make sure to utilize good lighting and free editing tools.

And try to incorporate a variety of posts, including:

• Educational posts — teach your followers something useful to them. If you specialize in gardening, post an infographic about the times of year to plant different veggies. Or post a lovely photo with a caption about how to choose the right fertilizer.
• Quotes — these do well on Instagram. If it’s a short quote, turn it into an image (be sure to include your logo somewhere in the graphic). If it’s a longer quote, place it in the caption instead, along with a nice photo to capture your audience’s attention.
• Behind-the-scenes — a surefire way to build a following is to help your audience feel like they know the person behind the brand. Share your creation process, your workspace, or something personal about your life (just don’t overshare).
• Introduction — new people are being exposed to your brand every day, so it’s wise to do a re-introductory post every month or so. Share your story, who you and your team are, and why you started your business.
• Product showcase — this one speaks for itself. Show off whatever it is you’re selling (if applicable), but don’t be too salesy.

Take advantage of the different features Instagram offers and engage with your followers and the existing communities within your niche.

Post often and consistently, use stories, upload reels, respond to comments and DM’s and you’ll be an Instagram influencer in no time if you follow my instructions in our how to write Instagram captions for business article.

How to Become an Influencer and Build a Following on TikTok

If you think Instagram is a young person’s game, think again! Latest stats show that the fastest growing demographic on TikTok are the 35 – 55 year olds.

Go TikTok!

Even someone in their eighties can thrive there, like the 82-year-old social media influencer Old Man Steve (as he’s known), who’s is a TikTok darling with 1.3 million followers.

He specializes in videos depicting his bucket hat, cooking demonstrations, and cheery words of encouragement. He embraces his age, making it part of his online personality: he’s TikTok’s “grandpa” — and uses it to his advantage!

And 46-year-old dentist Tim McNeely (or Dr. Tim on TikTok) specializes in showcasing trendy dance moves and tricks with a dad-like sense of humor.

While it can seem intimidating to build a following on TikTok (it is the app that originated the phrase “OK boomer,” after all), the way to succeed is much the same as with any other platform: organically.

Interact with others’ posts, increase your network by friending other accounts, and create content that others will appreciate and share.

Making popular content on TikTok comes down to the following:

• Create original videos — don’t just lip-sync and call it a day. TikTok is the place to let your creativity shine! Pick soundtracks to your videos that your audience will enjoy and appreciate.
• Upload content daily — in a perfect world, you should create new videos daily for maximum exposure and growth. But as always, choose a pace that’s sustainable and works for you.
• Use trending hashtags — make the hashtags relevant to your video, of course. Consider occasionally making a video that relates to trending hashtags, if it will interest your audience.
• Engage with others — like and comment on other users’ videos, especially others in your niche. Make your comments something of value (not just another “good video” or “I enjoyed this”)!

How to Become an Influencer and Build a Following on YouTube

Like TikTok, YouTube is all about being video-savvy.

But if your target audience isn’t necessarily just millennials or Gen-Z, you might decide to focus on YouTube.

Many middle-aged (and beyond!) folks are killing in on YouTube, like 73-year old Tim Rowett, whose 1.45 million subscribers tune in to watch him demonstrate interesting and wacky toys and games from his extensive collection.

One of his most-watched videos, “Tim Whistles,” demonstrates various interesting and unusual whistles. Tim shows off a few whistles from his collection in an informative, down-to-earth manner.

While it can be tempting to follow in the footsteps of many YouTube personalities and upload random videos made for general laughs or interest, don’t forget where we started: focus on your niche and create with intention. Remember your USP and keep your target audience at the forefront when designing your YouTube content.

Follow these tips to build your YouTube following naturally:

• Record & post lots of keyword rich videos. Use a tool like VidIQ or Tube Buddy to find keywords your target audience are searching for within your niche and make a video! Don’t get caught up in perfection. Just record and publish. Record and publish. You’ll improve the more you do!
• Use keywords in your titles — as with any online content, you want it to show up organically when people search for the topic. Try to phrase your title the way people would type it into the search bar. Remember that on YouTube, only the first 45 characters of your title are visible in the search results, so it’s best practice to frontload your keywords.
• Make good use of your thumbnails — on YouTube, the thumbnail for your video is like a still-shot preview of what your video will be. If it’s boring or bland, people probably won’t click on your video. Including the title of your video in the thumbnail along with a brightly-colored and high-quality image should do the trick.
• Take advantage of playlists — YouTube allows you to create playlists that appear along with individual videos in search results. You can create a web series or series of videos and place them in a playlist to help your audience watch them in the order you meant them to be viewed. And when you’re getting started, you can curate a playlist with other creators’ content to help entertain your target audience while you build up your own content.
• Use a branding watermark — you can easily upload watermarks to your videos that let viewers become subscribers to your channel with a click. The option to use watermarks can be found in your channel settings.

How to Become an Influencer and Build a Following on Facebook

Facebook may feel like more familiar territory to many, since it’s just been around longer.

There’s also a lot of room to experiment; you can post written content, photos, videos, and share from other sources very easily.

There are also many different ways to use Facebook, be it with a business page, facebook groups, Facebook marketplace, ads, Facebook live, and your personal profile — and ideally, some combination of a few of these.

The brand CatLadyBox, founded by cat lover Dorian Wagner, is a subscription box service for cat lovers. The company is doing very well on Facebook by posting relevant and visual content for their target audience — cat ladies — and hosting many interactive events like giveaways.

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Try to keep these tips in mind to become an influencer and build a following on Facebook:

• Invite your friends to like your page — when you start a professional page, draw people in from your personal life. Invite them to like your page, and suddenly you’ll have a much wider reach; the fact that each one of them liked your page will appear to their networks in turn.
• Host giveaways and promotions — a great way to invite engagement is to share a giveaway on your professional page. Ask participants to visit your page to enter the giveaway, which will increase the chances of getting a few more followers.
• Lean on humor — memes and jokes go viral quickly on Facebook, so use that to your advantage. If you can create a funny or witty video/meme on your own, go for it. But you can also share relevant viral content from your niche that you think your audience will enjoy (just make sure to always credit the creators).
• Get their attention — Facebook users will scroll by unless you can get their attention with an eye-catching video or graphic. Try to incorporate something creative or unique to help stand out from the hundreds of other posts your target audience scrolls by on a daily basis.

How to Become an Influencer and Build a Following with Blogging

If you love to write, starting a blog may be a great fit for you.

Unlike the social media channels we’ve gone over, blogging is primarily about written content — and you can go more in-depth and long-form than other platforms.

A blog can be an amazing tool for increasing your reach online. Every day, there’s an average of 3.5 billion Google searches, meaning you have that many chances to answer someone’s questions or provide the content they’re looking for.

Exciting, right?

Here are a few tips to developing a strong audience for your blog and using it to become a social media influencer:

• Use SEO best practices — you can easily disappear down the SEO rabbit hole, but the main things are to (1) master keyword research and create content based on what people are searching for and that you can rank for, (2) build links to your posts via outreach campaigns, guest posting and responding to Haro (help a reporter out) requests.
• Use a consistent and appealing brand voice — as always, keep your eye on your target audience and your USP. Don’t fall to the temptation of making your blog your personal diary; your goal is to provide reliable, entertaining value to your target audience. Stick to your personal brand voice (whether it be conversational and sassy, formal and information-packed, etc.) and keep your focus on your readers’ interests.
• Update your older blog posts — blog posts gain traffic over time, so it’s important to go back and update older posts to make them more relevant and increase views on those pieces. That’s also good news for you, since it’s less work to update something you’ve already written than to be continually creating brand-new content.
• Blog as often as you can create quality content — according to HubSpot, brands should publish as much optimized content as they possibly can. To increase organic traffic (meaning they found you through a Google search), post 3-5 times per week. To increase brand awareness, focus on publishing diverse and educational content 1-4 times per week.

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• Republish your blog content across your social media platforms of choice! Take segments of your posts and turn into mini list posts for Facebook or LinkedIn, create quote images for Instagram, create a short video going over the main points and upload to TikTok. If you’re going to spend the time publishing amazing and valuable content in your blog, why not use it as leverage to grow your social media following!

6. Use Becoming an Influencer to Monetize Your Business

And now we come to the exciting part.

You’ve done the work, you’ve built the organic following and the network of fellow influencers, and you’ve got that social capital.

It’s time to elevate your personal brand and start earning some money!

Before we go further, the first thing to remember is this: your route to sales is always going to be about adding value for your audience.

As Nas says in Nas Daily, “if you optimize for attention, the money will come. If you optimize for money, you’ll lose the attention.”

That being said, how will you monetize the value you provide to your audience?

Creators use many different approaches to make money from their online content.

According to a 2017 Social Media Examiner survey, the most popular ways are advertising, selling your own products, and providing consulting services.

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1. Advertising

Though there are many approaches to monetization, some of them are better than others.

Advertising is a popular choice, but due to monopolizing by megalith corporations like Google, your chances of making bank this way are slim.

Let’s look at YouTube for example.

In recent years, YouTube has changed the way it monetizes content to focuse more on the big hitters. To be allowed to run ads, a channel must have:

• At least 1,000 subscribers
• At least 4,000 “watch hours” over the last 12 months
• An approved Google AdSense account

While there was understandable uproar over this shift, it makes sense from YouTube’s perspective.

They have to spend a lot of time moderating content and keeping offensive — and even illegal — content off the site. And advertisers understandably don’t want their ads thrown up next to bigoted or extremist videos.

So YouTube needs to reign in its content, and part of that strategy is to hire more humans to screen videos and limit the money-making opportunities to a smaller number of “legit” platforms who can be closely monitored for abuse.

But for small brands looking to monetize, these kinds of barriers to entry make advertising a difficult way to make money off of their content.

2. Sponsorships and Brand Deals

The barrier to entry is pretty high for sponsorships and brand deals.

While more and more companies are starting to rely on influencer marketing over traditional advertising these days, there’s no standard rate for how much they’ll pay influencers to promote their products.

It turns out, the people who’re making millions from sponsored posts are the people who are already rich and famous.

Micro influencers, or nano influencers and middle influencers tend to charge modest prices.

For instance, a health and nutrition blogger who’s in the micro influencer camp (with 30K followers) shared her price packaging in this post by Later, which included:

• Dedicated Instagram Post: $325
• IG Giveaway: $350
• Brand IG Takeover (minimum 2 photos + Stories): $250 per day
• IG Caption Mention (No visible product): $75
• Series of 5 IG Stories: $85
• Series of 3 Dedicated Posts: $825
• Series of 5 Dedicated Posts: $1400

These prices are nothing to sneeze at, but it’s still a risky way to depend on income.

Those sponsors can leave at any time, and by choosing this monetization route, you may feel pressured to promote products you don’t legitimately like.

Depending on sponsorship deals, while doable, can easily spiral into a bad place.

So what are some good ways to make money with your influencer marketing, you ask? Let’s look at a few of them below!

3. Affiliate Marketing

Possibly one of the best ways to easily monetize your brand is through affiliate marketing.

Much like sponsorship deals, a company pays you (the influencer) to promote their products or services.

However, while a brand deal involves negotiating directly with the brand and proving your high engagement/follower numbers, affiliate marketing is usually done through programs that don’t have such a high barrier to entry.

Translation: you don’t have to be a huge influencer to monetize your business with affiliate marketing.

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With affiliate marketing, you simply need an audience that’s engaged and willing to try what you recommend. Once you have that, you can join an affiliate marketing program and start dropping links to recommended products in your content.

Every time one of your followers buys that product, you’ll earn a commission.

Sounds amazing, right?

Of course, the downside of affiliate marketing is that you must keep your audience consistently engaged and growing so that they’ll continue making those purchases.

But as an influencer, that’s part of your mission — so no sweat!

See my post on How to Crush Affiliate Marketing here.

4. Digital Downloads

If you’re still leery of depending on other companies to give you a commission on the sale of their products, you might consider creating a product of your own.

And no, you don’t have to start an Etsy shop or sponsor a new fashion line (though if those things are up your alley, go for it!) — as an influencer, you have something equally valuable at your disposal: your expertise.

No matter your niche, you’ve got some knowledge that people will pay for. That’s where digital downloads come in.

Essentially, you’re creating an offering that your followers pay to download. No inventory management, no shipping, and minimal upkeep over time.

Sounds great, right?

And keep in mind that you don’t have to be a prolific writer or designer to create something your audience will buy.

A digital download can be one of many kinds of downloadable content to match your skill set, like:

• eBooks
• Apps (for computers or mobile phones — or both)
• Calendars and other printable templates
• Fonts
• Workbooks
• Photography
• Audio lectures
• Premium podcasts
• Pre-recorded webinars

Take Vanessa Ryan, who built a business around providing templates and digital designs for entrepreneurs. She charges anywhere from $19 to $475 for her Canva and Adobe templates.

If digital downloads sound like something you’re interested in, check out Shopify’s post on how to create and sell digital downloads for more tips.

Online courses

If you like the idea of creating a digital product that’ll earn you money over and over, another (slightly more labor-intensive) option is to create an online course.

Now, before you start shaking your head: you don’t have to be a professor or hold a certain number of credentials to create a lucrative online course.

Build a solid following and understand how to price your course reasonably, and you’ll be shocked at how many people will be willing to pay to learn what you know.

What are the benefits of an online course, you ask?

• The cost is relatively low: after the startup costs of creating the course, you’ll just have to pay for marketing, hosting, and occasional course updates.
• You’ll get to pass on your expertise and advice to your audience, effectively being a personal coach and mentor to each of them (without spending hours of your time per day).
• You’ll get to keep all of the revenue (unless you use a platform like Udemy, which charges a fee).

By creating an online course, you’ll put in the work to create it once, and then you get paid each time someone purchases the course. It’s the content that just keeps giving!

Just read my story of how we generated 7,000 in 7 days with my first course launch.

If that doesn’t get you eager to try out online courses for yourself, I don’t know what will!

You don’t have to be the top expert in your field or hold seven PhD’s to offer an online course; just a bit of bravery and the confidence to market your specific expertise.

— And, of course, a loyal following that’s willing to buy your knowledge and spread the word about your course to others.

Read my posts on ‘How to Create a 6 Figure Online Course’ and ‘How to Build a 6 Figure Online Membership Site’ for more details.

Pros and Cons of Becoming an Influencer and Making Money in 2024

Pros:

1. Targeted Audience Reach: By choosing the right niche, influencers can effectively reach a targeted audience. This focused approach helps in creating more engaging and relevant post content, increasing the likelihood of successful engagement and follower growth.
2. Opportunities for Sponsored Posts: Many influencers find lucrative opportunities in creating sponsored posts. Collaborating with other brands allows influencers to monetize their social media accounts effectively.
3. Diverse Platforms for Content: With a variety of social channels available, influencers can choose one platform or multiple other social media platforms to showcase their content, be it informative content, video content, or other creative social posts.
4. Building an Online Community: Successful influencers often build a robust online community. This not only enhances their influencer career but also creates a supportive environment for sharing ideas and experiences.
5. Potential Collaborators Abound: The influencer marketing hub is teeming with potential collaborators, ranging from other brands to fellow influencers, offering numerous opportunities for growth and partnerships.
6. Market Research Advantages: Engaging in influencer marketing and content creation allows for hands-on market research, understanding what content resonates with the audience, and tweaking strategies accordingly.
7. Showcasing Creativity and Expertise: Influencers have the unique opportunity to share their expertise on a particular topic, using their media kit to attract collaborations and showcasing their journey through engaging content.

Cons:

1. High Posting Frequency Requirement: To stay relevant, influencers need to maintain a high posting frequency on their social media accounts. This can be time-consuming and requires constant creativity and content planning.
2. Saturation in Some Niches: Finding the right niche can be challenging as many influencers may already be populating certain areas. Standing out requires unique content and a fresh approach.
3. Dependence on Social Channels: Influencers’ success is often tied to the algorithms and policies of social media platforms. Changes in these can significantly impact reach and engagement.
4. Pressure to Maintain Authenticity: Balancing sponsored content with regular, organic posts can be tricky. Influencers need to maintain authenticity to keep their audience engaged and trust intact.
5. Need for Constant Learning: The influencer journey is a continuous learning process. From updating media kits to keeping up with the latest trends in influencer marketing, the learning curve can be steep.
6. Risk of Overexposure: Exposing too much personal life or over-branding can sometimes backfire, leading to a loss in follower interest or trust.
7. Vulnerability to Market Changes: Influencer careers are susceptible to market trends and audience preferences, which can change rapidly, impacting an influencer’s relevance and income.

While the path to becoming a successful influencer in 2024 offers many exciting opportunities, like targeted audience engagement and potential collaborations, it also comes with challenges such as maintaining high posting frequency and the need for constant adaptation to stay ahead in the influencer marketing hub.

How to Become an Influencer in 2024: No Bikini Required Summary

The influencer world of old may seem like it’s reserved for swimsuit models and Kardashians, but if you start digging into the process, you’ll discover it’s an industry like any other.

True influencers gain influence by understanding who they are, the unique value they offer, and who their audience is.

They let those things guide everything they produce online — and they grow their audience organically by being someone their followers can engage with and trust.

And once you’ve become an influencer, you’ll be able to reap the benefits involved, like monetizing your content and using your platform for whatever subject or movement is important to you.

So what are you waiting for? You’ve got this!

How to Become an Influencer: FAQ’s

How many followers do you need to be an influencer?

To be considered a social media influencer, the number of followers can vary. Nano influencers might have 1,000 to 10,000 followers, while mega influencers could have millions. It’s not just about “how many followers,” but also the quality of audience engagement and relevance to a particular niche.

How much do influencers make?

Earnings can differ based on the social media platform, number of followers, engagement rate, and relevant brands that collaborate with the influencer. Some might earn a few dollars for sponsored content, while others might earn thousands or more.

How do I start an influencer career?

Learning how to be an influencer is not necessarily hard, but establishing yourself as an influencer requires dedication, high-quality content, and building a loyal follower base. Most influencers emphasize the importance of authentic content and meaningful personal connections to succeed.

Begin by determining your niche and creating content for your social accounts that’s unique and authentic. As you grow, consider joining a social media influencer program to connect with potential clients and other influencers.

What qualifies you as an influencer?

Anyone with a social media account can potentially become an influencer. However, consistent posting, creating visually appealing and relevant content, and engaging with followers are extremely important.

How do influencers get paid?

Not all influencers receive monetary compensation. Some might get products, services, or experiences in exchange for their posts. It often depends on the influencer’s agreement with brands or influencer platforms they’re affiliated with.

How important are personal connections in the influencer world?

Personal connections play a significant role. Collaborations with other influencers, attending influencer events, or even simple networking can provide increased visibility and opportunities.

How many posts should I make to maintain an active influencer presence?

The number of posts varies based on the platform and the influencer’s audience. A steady stream of relevant and engaging posts is essential, whether it’s daily on platforms like Instagram or weekly for a blog post.

How can I collaborate with brands?

Ensure your social media profiles are professional, with clear contact details. As your audience grows, brands may approach you, or you can use influencer marketer tools and platforms to find brand collaborations fitting your niche.

What are macro influencers and mega influencers?

Macro influencers typically have followers between 50,000 and 1 million, often specialists in respective niches. Mega influencers have more than a million followers and have widespread recognition.

How can I ensure my content remains authentic while also creating sponsored content?

Transparency with your audience is key. It’s vital to collaborate with brands that align with your values and disclose any sponsored content appropriately.