8 things an Influencer must know

So, how can influencers shift the focus back to what their real purpose is on social media and what can those who still want to become influencers do in an oversaturated market? Let’s find out.

• As mentioned above, the influencer market is oversaturated, but it shouldn’t stop you from wanting to be an influencer. There are millions of artists in the world, but that doesn’t stop someone from following their dream of becoming an artist. So if your end goal is to become an influencer, you need to change your perspective. Instead of thinking that the job is easy and you can get free things, take the job seriously. But if you believe your job is to get a free bag and influence people to buy them, then you are not the right person for the job. It runs so much deeper than buying the bag. The products will sell themselves when people realize you’re doing it for the right reasons.

• Don’t mistake being an influencer with being controversial. There is a huge difference the two. The problem is that people are doing the craziest things just to get internet fame and it has gotten out of hand. Influencers giving away stuff to homeless people and then posting it on social media is completely cringe-worthy. Most of these ones do it for likes, not because they genuinely care. It’s not wrong to help people, but do it differently. Get the person cleaned up, a place to sleep, some kind of employment and watch that person grow from strength to strength instead of just dumping cash in their lap and hoping for the best.

• Don’t influence by what you say but by what you do. We tell this to parents all the time. Your children watch what you are doing not what you are saying. Same with influencers, your followers are basically your children, so show them the right way to do things. You may have heard the saying: “Monkey see, monkey do.” If you are doing stupid and dangerous stuff, people will do the same and it’s just a recipe for disaster.

• An influencer is first a content creator. If this is the line of work you are keen on, then know that before you are an influencer, you are a content creator. You need to have your game on when it comes to creating content because you will need to find a niche in a market that already has millions of beauty influencers, millions of fit guys and several millions of travel & food influencers. Where do you fit in? How does your content stand out from the rest? What makes you unique from the rest? Work on all of that first before just hoping that good looks will suffice.

• Build a community around a topic you care about. To further expand on our previous point, find your passion. If your passion is becoming famous, you will need to rethink your strategy. Followers want someone who is making a genuine difference. Followers want influencers to be real and endorse things that actually work. At the end of the day, if you as an influencer are telling followers that a specific product really works and it doesn’t, it just reflects poorly on you.

• If an influencer has a million likes on a picture, but they only manage to sell eight of them, then that influencer has little market value. Brands need to see sales happening in order for it to be profitable and that is the influencer’s job. You are not much of an influencer if you can’t make the sales.

• Don’t look at celebrities as the blueprint for influencing. That influencer status is a byproduct of their fame. You shouldn’t compare yourself to what celebs are doing but rather look at people them as people who worked hard, persevered and succeeded. So many wannabe influencers quit far too early when they realize it’s tough to get really unique content going. But if you do it for the right reasons and with the right attitude, you can make a success of it.

• You need to be credible and truthful. There are so many influencers that are being called out for being dishonest or misleading to their followers and it’s a long fall from grace when that happens. Instead, just be honest and truthful from the get-go and remember you are your own PR executive. So you need to be selective with who you join hands with and who you promote and if their values align with yours.

Read: How Naomi Campbell sacrificed her love life for her career.