There has been a meteoric rise in a type of marketing that focuses on leaders or stars to deliver your brand message to your target audience.

These stars are called influencers, and they are an integral part of today’s content marketing strategies.

Influencers serve as liaisons between companies and potential consumers. They have one or more social networks ranging from Facebook accounts to YouTube channels that allow them to build a target audience and gain followers.

These followers look forward to advice and product recommendations from their favorite influencers, who they perceive to be experts.

Influencer marketing is a big business today. According to the Digital Marketing Institute, 86 percent of women get purchasing advice from social media platforms.

With so many companies scrambling to build an influencer campaign into their content marketing strategies, you may be interested in learning how to become a successful influencer.

This career path is not as easy as it appears. But with work, patience, and a focus on integrity, you can build and maintain a high engagement rate with your audience and start the journey towards becoming an influencer.

Here are six ways you can build a career as an influencer.

Identify Your Niche

Flourishing influencers have a particular area in which they specialize. They win and keep followers by sharing content related to their specific niche.

Below are some popular niches where influencers play an important role.

  • Fashion
  • Food
  • Vegan Cooking
  • Vehicle Repair
  • Gaming
  • Tech
  • Fitness and Health
  • Beauty
  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle

When you focus on one niche, you can more easily pinpoint your followers’ interests.

Pick Your Channel

Influencers build relationships with their followers through content creation on social media. Pick your channel or channels based upon where people whose interests fit with your specialty visit.

  • Facebook: Network with about 2 billion users each month
  • Instagram: Widely popular outlet for sharing photos and videos and especially liked by millennials and Gen-Zs
  • LinkedIn: Focuses on professional relationships
  • YouTube: Video network
  • Twitter: This platform works well in conjunction with others to share links and guide people to other sites and blogs

Other avenues influencers use include Snapchat and Pinterest. Pay attention to your specialty when choosing your channel.

Your best venue may not necessarily be the most popular but rather where your target audience spends most of its time.

Build Your Network with a Blog

Publishing regular, high-quality blog posts is a good way to engage your followers, build your trustworthiness, and establish your online personality.

Food bloggers, for example, really shine because this venue is an excellent way for them to highlight what they do best—develop, make, and share recipes and their thoughts about them.

An active blog helps you build your engagement rate, as you can post interesting content such as product demonstrations and reviews and interviews you conduct.

You can also work with companies to develop promotions and giveaways and promote them through your blog. This type of content helps you build relationships with your followers.

Hold Your Audience

If you do not have many followers, take heart. Marketers like to work with influencers who maintain a steady, loyal audience that regularly engages with content.

Such people are called micro-influencers, and they generally have about 1000 followers or even fewer.

Content marketers are learning that micro-influencers are important and that having more followers is not always the best option for overall success. 

Brand Yourself

To thrive as an influencer, you must create a personal brand comprised of your knowledge, honesty, and individual personality.

Focusing on an area you are passionate about and where you have experience or expertise brings authenticity to your role as an influencer, which is vital for long-term success.

Stay on top of what other influencers in your niche are posting to develop innovative strategies that set you apart.

Connect with Followers

Respond to followers when they leave comments or ask questions on your posts. Influencer success is all about connecting with your audience.

Timely responses directly to followers helps them feel they are valued. It can improve your relationship with them.

Some comments may be negative, but addressing them in a calm, respectful manner helps build a positive online persona.

Success as an Influencer

The world of the influencer may seem glamorous, but being successful in this career takes work, patience, skill, knowledge, and a passion for your niche.

People know integrity when they see it, and by posting honest, quality content consistently in the right places, you are on your way to winning an audience and working as an influencer, one of the hottest commodities today.