How to become a social media influencer in 6 steps

An influencer is a media personnel with an authoritative opinion. They know their subject perfectly, and so they have gained some success. That’s why users trust and follow them on social networks.

The number of followers is a key indicator of an influencer’s success. This is what ranges them into a category. A person may be a:

You can be an influencer too, here are the steps to follow. Share your expert opinion to gain followers on social media.

Think about what you are good at and what you can talk about for hours. This will be your niche. For example, you may know a lot about exercising and dieting, then you can become a fitness influencer.

Why are we so sure you can become a social media influencer? Because you are certainly good at something. What do you do in your leisure time? If you travel, you can become a travel blogger and give insights into foreign countries. If you bring up three children and are too busy to travel, you can start a blog about parenthood.

You don't have to confirm your qualification with certificates on social media to become an influencer. Though, they do give you credibility. Especially if you are a doctor or a lawyer.

Don’t worry if you can post only obvious things. They may not be so obvious to others. Remember, some people have only tackled what you’ve spent hundreds of hours on.

You may well become a lifestyle blogger. It’s your case if you have an interesting personality or your life is full of events. When life is like a series, then life updates are always engaging content.

As an influencer, you need social media platforms that your audience uses. Figure out the platforms considering the audience’s age, location, and interests. Statistics for these and other parameters you can find on such websites as Statista.com.

For example, if you are an influencer who targets the audience of 18-29 years old, turn your attention to such social media platforms as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok. According to the research of the 2021 year, these platforms are the most popular among the surveyed Americans of this age.

The more platforms you choose, the wider your audience is. But you shouldn't aim to become a social media influencer posting everywhere. Pick no more socials than you are able to run. You better choose fewer of them, where you can post regularly, than more of them, where you will upload content as luck will have it.

In the example above, we told you about the 5 platforms that give the highest reach for the case. If your time and ideas are limited, you should choose only the most popular socials. They are YouTube and FB in this case.

In Business accounts, as a rule, you have more tools for your account development. That’s why we recommend you switch to it where possible if you want to become a social media influencer.

For example, on Instagram, the statistics become only available after you switch to business. This is necessary for tracking your reach and engagement. And they, in their turn, are important for your understanding of what to post to gain followers.

Your TikTok marketing needs a business account to add a website, email, and to launch advertisements. All these are necessary if you want to become social media influencer.

Spare time for filling your bio. Here you can read an ultimate guide on filling a bio for a brand. 

Here is a short checklist for influencers:

It will be a tough way to become a social media influencer if you can link to only one website. And this is what you are allowed on most social networks. For example, on TikTok or Instagram.

One link is not enough if you want to be a social media influencer and build your brand. You may need a WhatsApp link in your bio to communicate with the followers, and you may need a link to an Amazon catalog you promote on Instagram.

We recommend that you create a page with multiple links to have more opportunities as an influencer. Then, you won’t have to choose what link to give users. You can give all of them at once.

A page with multiple links can be created in link in bio tools. On Taplink, for example, you can create a page with your custom design or use ready-made templates. Here are some examples of the templates that you can use:

Follow the links, after a quick sign-up you will get the templates:

Being a social media influencer is not merely enjoying your superiority. It’s also a regular posting because people forget about you if you’ve been out of the spotlight for long.

You may need a scheduler to post regularly. For example, try Instagram in-app scheduler. Schedulers allow you to upload photos and videos ahead, and set the posting time for them. The content appear in your profile in the set time. Thus, your profile will be updated timely even if you don't have an opportunity to post at this time.

The answer to the question of how often you should upload content to become a social media influencer depends on the platform. On TikTok you get famous only if you post every day, for example, and you better add several videos a day. But if you post that often on Instagram, you will be too much and you will lose followers.

Use new Instagram feature to schedule posts without third-party apps.

Here are the numbers on how many publications a day users usually add to their profiles:

You need to keep one topic in your profile if you want to be a social media influencer for long. If you want to say something on a different topic, make sure it will be interesting to your audience. Use the words they can understand and examples that they will relate to. Make the new topic connected to the main topic of your profile.

If you want to become a social media influencer, you need a social media calendar or a content plan. Make it ahead to avoid problems when you don’t know what content to make.

Here are ready content-plans for:

If your topic is different, you can adjust these plans. For example, "What has changed in flights around the world" becomes "What has changed in the film industry". Or, if you are a tattoo artist on Instagram, post about changes in the tattooing process.

Now you know how to become a social media influencer, but you should also know how to remain famous. We already told you about regular posting, but there is more to it.

Interacting with the audience is an important part of becoming a social media influencer. And you should keep talking to the people to remain popular. 

Invite users to voice their opinions under your photos and videos, or to react in Stories. Then, you get more chances for communicating with your audience.

Be active in both your and others’ profiles. Comment and like others’ photos and videos, reply to others’ comments. The more actively you interact with others, the more people know about you.

Choose your audience’s profiles for the interaction. Then you will get more attention from those who may get interested in you, go to your profile and subscribe.

Make sure your comments are meaningful. This communication is an opportunity to show your expertise. Then, your authority will grow.

Avoid commenting controversial content and remarks of users, don’t like them. For example, steer clear of publications that provoke aggressive behavior. Then, you will keep your influencer's reputation good.

Speak what you believe in. Don't advise what you personally don’t like or approve. Use your sound knowledge to explain your opinion. Users appreciate that.

Use your account statistics to understand your audience. This is necessary to be a successful social media influencer. The figures will appear in your account as you add content. We wrote how to use Instagram Insights here. Working with the statistics on other socials is similar.

The statistics give you insights into your audience’s interests, what’s relevant to it, and what content it likes. By choosing interesting and urgent topics, you get more likes, comments, and followers. Your authority grows, and so you become an influencer on social media.

Finally, we come to the most important part of being a social media influencer. Let's look at the opportunities to make wealth when you are a popular figure on the Internet. The more fame and followers you get, the more money you make.

Sponsored posts, collaborations, and affiliate programs are the main source of a social media influencer's income. For example, a sponsor sends them a product, asks to post a photo with it, and pays money for it. If you want this too, we recommend that you create a media kit.

Your social media media kit should be a summary for potential sponsors and other influencers. It should include:

Influencers' media kits are usually made in PDF. You can place the PDF on the page in your bio that we told you about above.

Here is how it may look:

But we recommend influencer's social media kits to be created on Taplink. Then, you won’t have to think where to upload it. You won’t have to free up space on your online file storage either. Create a page for the summary and place its link to your main Taplink page.

Here are examples of such pages made on Taplink:

Everyone has a chance to become a social media influencer. Choose a topic you are good at and create accounts on social networks. Create a content plan to make high-quality content posting an ongoing process.

Don’t forget to communicate with your audience and be honest. Then, very soon you will become an influencer with hundreds, and then millions of followers on social media. We believe in you!

Use these 5 tools for growth and content to get more followers and become more popular on social media.