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How many followers do you have on your social media platforms? Do you know you can turn your followers into a lucrative online business? A social media influencer leverages their popularity to influence an audience’s purchase decision.
How can I become an influencer?
Social media jobs and the opportunities they bring influencers and other technical people make it a business idea to consider. There is no clear-cut way to become a preferred influencer. However, you can learn the basics and work hard into your online engagement and become one. Consistency in your creativity is the best way to grow from a nano-influencer into a mega-influencer.
The first step to becoming an influencer is to have an interest and a desire to teach or entertain a bigger audience. Some influencers can also stumble on popularity because of their jobs and place in the society. For instance, an idolized TV personality can have many followers, while a successful business person can have people and mentees who follow them. However, earning a living from social media influence is a deliberate goal.
Skills required to become a social media influencer
An influencer needs to have people and gadget skills. People skills are interpersonal skills. On the other hand, gadget skills are technical skills to help one work on their electronic device to package content for an audience.
1. Interpersonal skills
These skills include:
- Communication skills- you should be able to communicate clearly and precisely to pass information and give feedback.
- Creativity- creativity is the bedrock of a successful influencing job. You should know how to package your content in an interesting, informative method that arouses your audience’s emotions. Your creativity should invite your audience to share, subscribe, and like your posts to increase your popularity.
- Flexibility- a flexible influencer uses every opportunity and circumstance to create content and engage the audience.
- Goal-driven– influencers should have a well-planned business plan to help them strategize their marketing business. The number of followers an influencer have determines their worth and paycheck by a contracting firm.
2. Technical skills
Technical skills help you to package your creativity into a consumable form. These skills include:
- Video, audio, and lighting skills- Although the LED light ring is the new trend, you’ll also need video and audio editing skills to record your shots. Your target audience appreciates well-edited content and high-quality clips.
- Graphic editing skills- Social media marketing depend on visuals such as reels, GIFs, and images. You’ll need fine-tuned graphic and image editing skills such as Lightroom Photo Editor.
- Analytical skills will help you to understand the figures behind your followers. You can also learn more about SEO analytic tools to strategize your marketing. SEO analytical tools give you feedback on the consumers’ needs, trends and recommend topics depending on the feedback on your platform.
Potential employers for influencers
Social media influencers can create jobs for themselves and other technically talented people. While an influencer may be excellent at producing new content, another team could work on the technical crew to produce high-quality posts for the audience. Therefore, an influencer creates a job for themselves and other people.
Further, the influencer can sign contracts to become a brand ambassador for leading brands and companies. A social media influencer can get marketing from industries such as;
- Health and wellness
- Beauty and lifestyle
- Travel and tourism
- E-commerce
- Gaming
- Training and education sector
- Film making and entertainment industry
In a nutshell
A social media influencer is a promising career path to explore. Online marketing has many job opportunities for technically talented people such as editors, videographers, social media managers, and data analyst. Influencers and technically-talented people are the game-changers in the online marketing platform.
