Want to Become an Influencer? Here's Your Guide

Becoming a top digital influencer is actually a more straightforward than you might think - here's our 10 step guide.

Patrick Hanlon

Nov 16, 2017 • 4 min read

If you’re wondering ‘how do I become an influencer online?’, it’s actually a more straightforward process than you might think. Here are our 10 steps to becoming a top digital influencer.

Create content

Seems like an obvious first step, right? However, sometimes you can get so caught up with ideas of sponsorships and branding that you forget to start at the beginning.

Specialise in a subject and find your niche, then become an expert in it by posting content confidently and consistently. There’s no way around this.

Prove yourself

There’s no point declaring that you’re an expert Instagram influencer when you don’t even know how to use its features.

Likewise, if you want to be a beauty influencer or fashion writer without a blog full of clear, concise, shareable beauty and fashion content, how can you influence an audience?

Readers, viewers and followers grow around personalities they look up to, respect and trust. Only then will they take an influencer’s advice, act upon their suggestions and follow their lead.

This, in its very definition, is ‘influence’. Pay your dues, demonstrate expertise and watch your influence soar.

Be human

A key secret to becoming a successful digital influencer is showcasing your human side, even if you’re always operating in front of a screen.

Read other blogs. Interact on social media. Ask and answer questions. Make human connections.

Top online influencers are not robots, they respond to comments, offer suggestions, interact with other influencers and have very clear personalities.

To become a skilled, influencer, whether your main platform is Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube or a blog, stick to it.

However, you should have a presence and share valuable content on other social media channels too, casting your net wider and growing your audience with a far bigger reach. Then you can reel them into your main platform.

Consult your calendar

If you’re really serious about becoming an online influencer, have an editorial calendar. Populate your calendar with planned posts, meetings, deadlines and free time so you have a clear vision of the next few weeks, months, even a year in advance.

Brands will be impressed with your professionalism and your audience will appreciate the consistency – your social media stats will be more consistent in turn.

Network

We all know what a social network is, and most of us are naturals at the social element, but don’t forget about networking, both on and offline.

Be assertive, look for opportunities, make real connections and chase good leads. Be pro-active and seek out situations where you might thrive – lots of incredible connections are made both online and offline.

Even in this digital age, both types of networking are equally important.

Working with brands

‘How do I approach companies as an influencer?’

‘Which brands work with influencers?’

‘How do brands choose influencers to work with?’*

Ever ask yourself these questions? There’s no straightforward answer, but one short answer is: brands will contact influencers as often as influencers contact brands and it will always involve a professional conversation and some negotiation.

To become a successful blogger influencer you should have a media kit to share – no more than two pages long – with key stats and figures, audience insights, demographics and geographical reach.

Top influencers include cases studies of how they’ve worked with brands before, awards and accolades received, and also may attach a rate card detailing any costs involved with working together.

Transparency

If you’ve achieved superstar influencer status from your channel and brands are lining up to work with you, remember to be open and honest.

Declare your brand collaborations, paid advertisements and sponsored content clearly. Your hard-earned influence can result in questions cropping up about your credibility or transparency.

It’s good practice to be open, honest and clear with your audience when you’re publicising products or working with brands professionally.

Sticky keywords & lists

Now you’re cruising along the path to becoming a top influencer, stay ahead of the game. Set up Google Alerts for specific keywords.

You’ll stay on top of opportunities that crop up or important articles, so you can easily and quickly digest what’s new. It’s also good for knowing who might be talking about you online, in case you’ve missed any mentions.

Twitter lists are also great for influencers to see what your peers, fellow digital influencers or brands you want to work with are doing in a totally tailored timeline.

Stay on top of your game

Keep informed of algorithm changes, software updates, new apps and emerging social media trends, whilst it always helps to keep a close eye on your competition.

You’ve made it to the top, now stay there. Having a contingency (emergency) plan in case anything goes wrong or having a longer-term plan with what you want to achieve is always useful, too.