19 Strategies to Become an Influencer

19 Strategies on How to Become an Influencer

influencer marketing has increased 90 times since 2013. And I hesitate to pat myself on the back, but I am recognized as an influencer in the field of digital marketing.

But how? Why? In this article, we will discuss how I became one and how to become an influencer in your field.

1. Start by becoming an influencer in your field.

The reason you need a niche is to start as a micro-influencer in your specific field.

Micro-influencers create strong word-of-mouth awareness for small groups. While they don’t have the following of the Kardashians, they are much cheaper and can still reach enough people to influence product sales.

And what’s more: research shows that they generate twice the sales compared to paid advertising and with a 37% higher customer retention rate.

How to become an influencer – influencer marketing success statistics
It’s not enough to just choose an area you want to influence.

Digital marketing is a broad topic, and I didn’t reach the top by focusing only on a broad keyword.

I started in the trenches of SEO before learning content marketing, conversion rate optimization, influencer marketing, social media marketing and more. I worked hard to get to nearly 300,000 followers on Twitter.

One day you might get to 300,000 followers too; but to become an influencer, you have to start with one. Start as an expert among your friends and colleagues.
Work on becoming an expert in your city and state.

From there, become an influencer.

2. Create a content strategy

Once you have a niche, it’s time to create a content strategy. Content strategy can be a vague term, but for the purposes of this post we mean things like publishing cadence, author tone and voice, and content elements (text, graphics, etc.).

Even the Content Marketing Institute admits there is no template for this because the needs and goals of each person and brand are different.

How to become an influencer – developing a content strategy
On Usability.gov you will find a practical table to help you get started.

How to become an influencer – table for creating a content strategy on usability.gov.
For my content strategy, I have strict goals that I set, namely to create a certain number of social media posts on each network while maintaining the quality of my blog and working on side projects. I also made sure to use the same conversational tone and voice in my content (you’ll recognize it?).

It’s not terribly difficult, is it?

Once you’re armed with this information, you can choose your channels.

3. Selecting channels

There is no wrong answer to which social channels to be on and which to avoid.

The most popular is Facebook, which as of January 2020 is used by 94% of marketers worldwide, followed by LinkedIn with 76%.

Facebook is by far the most popular, with a 61% market share in 2016. However, it has declined from 65% in 2015 and other social channels still have their merit.

Although I prefer some channels over others, I don’t play favorites when communicating with my audience.

I’m trying to be visible everywhere.

Besides Twitter, I’m on Facebook.

My page has huge traffic and a great conversion rate.

I’m also active on LinkedIn and Pinterest, which I think is even more visually appealing than Instagram. I also think it has greater marketing potential than Instagram.

And last but not least, I have almost a million followers on my YouTube channel.

Each channel has a different audience (and audience size) that expects different content.

These are just my social channels. I’m not counting my blogging and guest blogging efforts.

You don’t need to be this active on so many channels, but pick one or two where you start building your influence.

Treat each social channel as another platform where you can reach your customers (and the general public).

4. Build networks within the industry

To become an influencer, you need to make real contacts.

Everyone wants to sit at home on the couch and connect with influencers on social media.

That’s just not possible. For example, popular tech influencer iJustine has 1.2 million followers on Twitter.

She’s very active with her followers, but it’s not possible for her to meaningfully engage individually with all 1.2 million.

Where you can connect with Justine Ezarik is at tech trade shows like CES, Webby Awards, Streamys, and several other events. You can follow her social media accounts and find out which events she attends.

Event marketing is a big trend, and the opportunity to boast about having influencers attend is huge.

Why not make it a marketing priority for yourself too?

Get off the couch, get out of the house, and head to major events related to your industry. Or even simpler, attend online events, which are still popular in the post-COVID world.

You can start your search on the Trade Show News Network website, where you’ll find lists of trade shows from around the world in all industries.

5. Participate in forums outside of work

Becoming popular on one social network has its advantages. For example, in 2020, the most popular YouTubers earn more than a billion dollars a year from ads and sponsorships.

Not all of us can be that lucky. The rest of us need to venture outside of social networks and participate in forums, comment sections, and other online discussions to increase our followers.

Every discussion you can participate in online increases your reputation, influence, and contacts.

6. Create a website or blog

The conversation doesn’t end on social media.

You’ll always have more on your mind than fits in a tweet or Instagram post.

With a website or blog, you have a place to direct your social media followers to once you acquire them.

I’m personally a big advocate of blogging.

One of the best content management systems for creating a website or blog is WordPress.

Don’t be an influencer without purpose.

Be ready to guide your followers into a well-designed conversion funnel, starting by including a link to your blog in your social media posts. A link to your website or blog can really boost your audience’s engagement on social media.

And of course, longer blog content must provide even greater value than a social media post in order for you to get clicks.

7. Provide Value to the Conversation

If you don’t provide value to the conversation, you’ll never get the ear of anyone influential.

To become influential, you need to be a person that people talk about among themselves.

Word of mouth is today’s most influential element driving purchasing decisions.

How to become an influencer – word of mouth
If you can impress people enough with your knowledge and conversational value, they will sell you to everyone else.

Then they’ll tell two friends and so on… until you become an influencer!

8. Stay on Top of Current Events

There are two types of content: evergreen and timely.

Evergreen content remains relevant forever, for example an article about a historical event.

Timely content is hot right now, but will soon be forgotten. Essentially, it’s anything that’s happening today.

When writing a blog post, I would keep it as evergreen as possible, because you don’t want to have to constantly update the content. But on social media, the key to staying relevant to current events is to be shared.

For example, Ellen Carmichael’s biggest tweet for Lafayette Company in 2017 connected the 2016 presidential election with Super Bowl 2017.

How to become an influencer – Hillary Clinton’s tweet
Using these timely images created a win for the Carmichael brand because it reached Super Bowl fans who remember the election.

Staying current is a way to go viral on social media.

To stay on top of social media trends, you can use tools. You can also set up Google News alerts and monitor the entire internet for specific keywords and phrases.

Do what you need to do to stay current.

9. Understand All Channels

Even if you don’t use a particular social media channel, if you want to become an influencer, it’s still important to understand who uses it.

For example, I’m not a big Snapchat user, but I understand that its more than 250 million (mostly younger) users cannot be ignored.

Because the demographics of who uses each channel are very diverse, each social network requires a different strategy.

Here, for example, is a table showing best practices for posts you can share on each channel during the holidays:

Holiday content ideas2
While these differences are small, they determine whether you are a hero in your field or a zero.

This type of chart will help you prepare posts for planning ahead.

10. Stay Authentic and Stay True to Your Brand

When we come back to the Super Bowl, it’s an interesting event. Why? Because brands have made their advertisements as anticipated an event as the game itself. Many of them come up with epic TV spots that tell the story of their brand.

The conclusion: To become an influencer, it’s important to be authentic and stay true to your brand’s voice.

Digital advertising spending increased by 18% in February 2021 compared to the previous year. Television advertising spending in the same period decreased by nearly 27%.

This means that an authentic voice on social media is more important than expensive Super Bowl advertising.

It is free and it will help you climb the rankings from nobody through micro-influencer to a significant influencer.

11. Respond to Comments

If you have ever visited my blog or social media profiles, you know that I actively respond to comments.

Here is an example from a recent blog post that I promoted on Facebook a few years ago.

How to become an influencer – respond to comments
My followers like to ask me questions and comment, and I like to respond to them.

This is how I built a social community that participates and engages with my content.

When responding, make sure you are consistent and friendly.

Do not respond to trolls and other haters unless you have a great hook that will help your brand image.

12. Engage with the Community

Simply responding is not enough.

To become an influencer, you need to start a conversation.

When Procter and Gamble was preparing a Super Bowl ad called Mr. Clean, the company launched into social media.

Within a minute of the Mr. Clean Super Bowl ad airing, it had 11,700 mentions across social media.

And people continue to engage on these platforms.

Here is a practical chart that shows social media engagement broken down by platforms and industries.

How to become an influencer – social media engagement by industry and platform
The more you engage with the community outside your channel, the more you will expand your influence.

Do not just respond to comments on your Facebook page.

Post in groups, on friends’ pages, and tag other influencers to engage the community.

Do not be afraid to create your own Facebook group to attract even more followers.

13. Consistently Publish Fresh Content

I have been publishing at least one blog post a day on this page for a long time.

How to become an influencer – neil patel blog
It is not easy, but I manage to do it. Why? I want to keep fresh content online for my readers.

I also have an online marketing strategy based on content that is driven by my blog.

It is the heart of my Facebook page content and my Twitter content.

How to become an influencer – Facebook post with link to blog
It is also the heart of my Twitter content.

I can broadcast my blog to my other social channels as well.

Focusing on the blog gives me rich content that I can share across all my other channels.

It is the center of my long-term digital marketing strategy.

My blog is the foundation of how I got to where I am today!

14. Listen to Criticism

Being a creator of any kind or being in the public eye for any reason means dealing with a lot of criticism.

Neither the President of the United States nor the richest person in the world can escape criticism.

No amount of money or power can prevent it!

Yet few of us can handle it.

Here is a Venn diagram of people who need and are able to handle constructive criticism.

How to Become an Influencer – Venn Diagram of Criticism
If you become someone who truly handles constructive criticism well, criticism will shape you into a more perfect influencer.

Being an influencer does not mean dictating to people what to do. It’s about creating a movement, and constructive criticism is essential for that.

Nobody wants to be surrounded by “yes” men.

Which reminds me…

15. Stay Approachable

Phil DeFranco with his SXEPhil account is one of the most influential YouTube users.

The reason is to some extent production values and longevity.

More importantly, however, Phil remains approachable despite his success.

When addressing such diverse topics as politics, social media, pop culture, and the nuances of the YouTube platform itself, Phil maintains an approachable demeanor.

Never let yourself get so caught up in social media fame that you become a prima donna detached from reality in your ivory tower. If that happens, it can have consequences.

The more approachable you are, the more influential you will be.

16. Explore New Topics Daily

I cannot stress enough how important it is to constantly generate new topic ideas.

In the long run, it’s harder than it seems. That’s why I use Google Alerts

I can set up alerts that will be delivered to my email whenever my name is mentioned at any frequency.

There are plenty of other customization features.

In addition to setting up Google News alerts, choose a few publications you want to stay informed about.

I check blogs like Moz, Entrepreneur, and Hubspot daily to keep new topic ideas in mind.

The more knowledge and perspective you have, the easier it will be to gain influence.

17. Automate Posts

Automation is the newest marketing trend and it’s easy to see why.

You get efficiency and speed along with valuable data.

How to Become an Influencer – Automate Posts
There are plenty of free tools that automate social media posts and allow you to schedule content in advance using content calendars.

This is how professional publishing and social agencies operate.

For example, PowerPost can create a powerful content calendar across social networks, blogging platforms, CMS, and more.

Whatever you use, remember to automate your posts so you have a steady stream of content.

Also keep in mind that blog posts can be automatically set through a blog CMS to be promoted on social media channels.

Whatever you use, remember to automate your posts so you have a steady stream of content.

Also don’t forget that blog posts can be automatically set through the CMS system to be promoted on social media channels.

18. Follow Influential Figures and Give Them Collaboration Suggestions

If you want to be an influencer, you need to know other influencers.

Who you follow is almost as important as who follows you.

To expand your influence, you need to show people that they also have influence on you.

On Twitter, there is a group with the hashtag #Teamfollowback that believes in returning every follow.

I don’t go that far, but I try to follow other influencers to engage their audience along with my own.

Many influencers also like to give shout outs to their followers, fans, and subscribers.

Through shout outs, people feel like they are personally contributing to the community. It motivates participation.

And last but not least, there is the data we will need to quantify all of this work.

19. Quantify your efforts using data

Every social media page will display numbers for your impressions and audience engagement.

Usually it’s on the home page.

However, this only shows half the picture of your actual influence.

With a website and Google Analytics service, you will see the rest as well.

We can find out which social channels the clicks to our website come from and how many people convert from there.

Once you understand how many posts are needed to create a conversion, you will be able to calculate the return on investment in your social media activities.

That’s not the only benefit of being an influencer.

As I said at the beginning, you can influence other influencers and drive the conversation.

Just make sure you use your power for good.

How to Become an Influencer Conclusion

Influencer marketing is the newest trend in digital marketing because social media influencers are now able to quantify their audience.

What started as a hobby for many has become a big business and influencers like PewDiePie often outperform celebrities, politicians, and other prominent professions.

Today I am an influencer, but I was not always one.

Everyone starts from scratch, with no followers and without anyone knowing who they are.