How to Become an Influencer? Here are our Expert Tips

Key Takeaways

• Influencer marketing is increasingly being used by marketers  and businesses. 68% plan to increase their budgets for influencer partnerships.
• Influencers can generate significant revenue through a variety of strategies, most of which involve partnerships with brands.
• To become an influencer, you need to be authentic, creative, and consistent, but also create valuable content and take care of your community to build loyalty with your audience.

• Customers : To attract customers as an influencer, you must first build an active network that will help you reach your target audience.
• People : To become an influencer, you need to build a strong presence on social media, create engagement, and build a loyal following.
• Subscribers : To become an influencer, you must first build a large number of subscribers to increase your reach.
• Agency : To become an influencer, you can approach an agency for help to develop a strategy to reach a wide and engaged audience.

At what point are you an influencer on Instagram and can make money with social media?

An influencer, as the name suggests, is a person who has the ability to influence the actions or buying decisions of their followers through their messages. In many cases, they are considered authority figures or speakers because of their specialization in certain areas.

Although influencers have existed throughout history, the term influencer as we know it today dates back to 2004 and 2006 when Facebook and Twitter were founded. On these two platforms, some users quickly began to recognize the potential and build solid communities.

Previously, it was assumed that only those who had accounts with millions of followers on social networks were considered influencers. However, as the market has evolved, factors such as engagement, reach, and the authenticity of KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) have led to people with fewer followers also being considered influencers.

Therefore, today we can divide influencers into the following categories:

Nano-influencers – 1,000 and 10,000 followers

Micro-influencers – 10,000 to 100,000 followers

Macro-influencers – 100,000 to 1 million followers

Mega-influencers – more than one million followers

Kolsquare Insight: To become a nano- or micro-influencer, you need to build an authentic profile, have a strong presence on various social media platforms, and build a loyal follower base.

How do influencers get started and is it even a profession?

Globally, 86% of young people between the ages of 13 and 38 want to become influencers in order to create new revenue streams and gain recognition in front of millions of followers. This reality is the dream of the new generations, but also a strong competition to succeed in the digital world. For this reason, if you are considering establishing yourself as a KOL, you need to keep the following basic points in mind:

1. Be authentic and creative
2. Define your style
3. Create valuable content
4. Take care of your followers
5. Continually educate yourself

Kolsquare Insight: While there is currently no college degree or formal qualification to become an Influencer, it is necessary to have certain skills and knowledge about the niche you want to work in. Among the aspects to consider are the ability to create high-quality and relevant content, as well as the communication skills to know how to reach your target audience.

Although it is not a professional career, there are many online and in-person courses that focus on teaching you skills and techniques that will make you a better influencer. These courses can cover topics such as content strategy, social media marketing, personal branding, communication techniques, and many other relevant aspects of being a successful influencer. Finally, you can also get support from related university courses, such as marketing, advertising, communication, graphic design or audiovisual production, which can provide you with valuable skills to develop in the field with greater autonomy.

How does an influencer get their money and how much do social media influencers earn anyway?

Influencer marketing is on everyone’s lips today because it has been proven that messages can increase the visibility of brands and influence the consumption habits of the target group. Today, this market is worth more than $16.4 million, which illustrates the economic opportunities it offers for those involved in content creation.

If you are considering entering this market, you should keep in mind that one of the most important characteristics of creators is consistency. Every time you regularly create valuable content and build a community, you can increase your engagement and brands will take notice of your profile.

Besides consistency, we  highlight other elements that are important to become an influencer:

1. Be honest with your community
2. Specialize in one topic
3. Support your content with high-quality photos and videos
4. Interact with your audience
5. Use relevant hashtags

Once you meet the above parameters, you can start tapping into money sources. Generally, influencers make their money through direct payments from platforms depending on the country they are in.

However, the most attractive way to generate revenue is through partnerships with brands. There are a variety of agreements that are determined by the goals of the campaign and the profile of the influencers. Read also: the Kolsquare Quick Guide to negotiating prices with influencers.

In summary, when asked how to make money as an influencer, these are some of the most common options:

• Payments from platforms for the number of views or plays.
• Publications sponsored by brands
• Affiliate marketing, where influencers receive a percentage of sales of a product or service
• Offer your own services such as consulting, workshops, ebooks, or courses
• Develop your own product line and offer it to networks

What is the income of influencers?

Keep in mind that the rates for influencers vary depending on the category. According to a report by Hype Auditor, an average content creator can earn $2,970 per month, micro-influencer can earn $1,420 per month, and mega-influencer can earn about $15,356 per month.

Note that prices are also set within the framework of collaboration agreements with brands and the type of publication. In Spain, Instagram influencers like Laura Escanes, who has almost two million followers, charge between 2,700 and 4,500 euros per post. If you want to calculate a concrete price, we recommend our Kolculator, a price calculator for sponsored content for influencers on Instagram. For both KOLs and businesses, you can use this tool to get an estimate of the value of content (posts and stories) shared on any Instagram profile.

6 tips if you can be an influencer and work with brands

If you want to become an influencer and be successful in the world of fashion, sports, beauty or any other field of interest, it is important that you take some tips to heart. Here are six suggestions on how to succeed and collaborate with brands.

1. Define your niche

The first tip we give you on the road to becoming a KOL in the networks is to define your market niche. To do this, you need to consider your tastes, interests, image, and knowledge about the subject. As an Influencer, you will have to invest many hours of work in preparing and creating constant publications, so the content must cover a topic you are passionate about. On platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or Pinterest, you can find different categories to focus on.

Main topics:

• Fashion
• Travel
• Lifestyle
• Beauty
• Sports
• Games
• Technology
• Video games
• Food

These are some examples of niches, but you should know that there are hundreds of topics in the social media industry that you can use to connect with your audience. While you’re at it, it’s also important to try out different niches, as you may find it easier to develop in an area that you may not have considered a priority.

It’s also a good idea to research the industries you’re interested in and the hashtags on different platforms for inspiration. Another important point is to look at what influencers are doing in that particular niche, as that can give you more clues to make your choice. Also important are TikTok content categories as they are relevant for influencer marketing campaigns.

2. Create your personal brand

Before you start building a community, you need to have built your personal brand. In the case of influencers, their personal brand serves as a reference in their field of work and for future marketing campaigns.

The first step in this process is to ask yourself: why do I want to be recognized? Think of your brand as a presentation of your personality, interests, values, and passions.

3. Choose a platform and optimize your profile

The choice of the most important platform depends on the niche you have chosen. Once you have defined it, it’s time to optimize your profile by changing it to the appropriate category, ideally Business or Creator, so you have access to more comprehensive tools.

Then you’ll need to create a compelling bio that will grab users attention from the first moment, and, finally, add a profile picture that matches your personal brand.

4. Build a community

To build a community, you need to know your target audience,  know how to best reach your (potential) followers, and get your message across. Remember that building a community is crucial, as they are the ones who will have your back and support you in your career as an influencer. A strong community of loyal followers can help you increase your reach and influence on social media.

In addition, a community allows you to connect with people who have similar interests as you. You can share content that is relevant to them and build a two-way conversation. When you interact with your audience, you get to know them better and understand their needs and interests, which allows you to create more relevant and engaging content for them.

Some ways to interact with your community and keep it informed are:

• Like and comment on your followers’ posts or comments.
• Encourage conversation by asking your audience questions about their interests and opinions
• Personal message your most engaged followers and ask them what kind of content they would like to see from you

A community is also important because it can help you get sponsorship opportunities and collaborations with brands. Many brands want to work with influencers who have a strong and engaged community, as this offers a greater guarantee that their message will reach their target audience.

5. Be open to brand collaborations

There are hundreds of brands on digital platforms every day researching and reviewing profiles that could be a good fit for planned marketing campaigns. One way to show brands that you’re interested in creating content for them is to leave your contact information in your bio and indicate that they can write to you for possible offers. We reveal how to create a successful Instagram bio here. Another option that many influencers who are just starting out use is to contact brands directly. Write a DM or email describing the content you can create to promote different products from the brand so they can see your motivation for collaborating.

There are also other ways to manage collaborations with brands. At Kolsquare, we have developed a free tool that is 100% tailored for influencers.

6. Monetize your audience

As you know, influencer careers can be very lucrative if you do it right. The most efficient ways to monetize content are collaborations with brands.

Below is a brief overview of some of the most common models for developing influencer marketing partnerships:

• Sponsored content: Brands pay KOLs to promote their products or services to their audience through posts, mentions, etc.
• Brand Ambassador: Brand Ambassadors are those who represent a brand and promote its products or services to their audience. They are KOLs in their community and are often chosen by companies for their ability to reach their audience in an authentic and credible way. It is a medium to long-term relationship, based in most cases on the content creator’s conviction and loyalty to the brand.
• Affiliate commissions: In this model, influencers promote products on their accounts and receive commissions for sales made through their affiliate link.
• Consulting Services: When KOLs become speakers or experts in their niche, they can offer consulting services. Nowadays you can often find creators offering advice on marketing, social media strategies, or data analysis thanks to their successful experience in the digital world.
• Product sales: In some cases, it is possible for influencers to sell their own products, such as books, online courses, merchandise , or develop their own brands.
• Events and appearances: launch events are an effective way to introduce a brand’s new products or services and allow KOLs and the press to experience and share their opinions. At these events, influencers can try out the product or service, meet other influencers and brand managers, and create live content for their followers. For appearances, they are often used for in-person events where brands create a space for influencers to meet and interact with their audience in person while purchasing products from the company.

We hope these tips will equip you to make the best decisions along the way, and better prepare you for the challenges of building and growing a personal brand on social media.