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HOW TO STAND OUT
ON SOCIAL MEDIA
What is a
Social Media Influencer?
QUITE SIMPLY, AN INFLUENCER IS SOMEONE WHO CARRIES INFLUENCE OVER OTHERS
The form of influence can vary and no two influencers are the same.
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The right influencer is someone who can reach his or her target audience, build trust, and drive engagement.
They will create original, engaging content that is in line with their own brand (rather than following a template advertising style provided by a brand).
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For this reason, it’s critical to create a vision that is unique and authentic to your brand.
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There are a few things you can do to show you’re not just the typical run-of-the-mill influencer.
Know Your Audience
GROWING ON SOCIAL MEDIA IS ALL ABOUT KNOW AND UNDERSTANDING YOUR AUDIENCE
You can’t gain a competitive advantage over your fellow influencers if you don’t know who your target audience is.
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The way to go about doing all this is plain old research.
Create personas for your ideal audience, much like a brand creates buyer personas for their products.
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Master the psychology behind consumer behavior, and tap into their emotions and thought processes.
Be the solution to your readers’ content needs.
Publish
Quality Content Consistently
YOU DEMONSTRATE YOUR EXPERTISTE AND MAKE PEOPLE TRUST YOUR OPINIONS
Your content strategy can be the all-important distinguishing factor that separates you from the rest of the pack.
There are two aspects to consider here:
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The first concerns the quality and type of your content.
The second is your consistency.
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Speaking about the first, you want to create and share the kind of content that offers significant value to your followers. Product reviews, testimonials, how-to videos, and tutorials are the best ways to provide informative content.
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Talking about the second aspect, now, consistency doesn’t pertain only the quality of content but also your timing. Try to be as regular with your posts as you can be. Set up a schedule and plan in advance what content you want to share when.
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Consistency is a very important part of growing on any social media network.
It’s how you remain relevant and connect with as many users as possible.
Focus on
Visual Appeal
PRODUCING VISUALLY APPEALING CONTENT IS A GREAT WAY
TO INCREASE YOUR EXPOSURE AND REPUTATION
The meteoric rise of photo sharing applications like Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat show
that photos equal more engagement.
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Utilize strong visuals and share as high-quality of images as possible.
Experiment with ways to leverage visuals in creative ways like trying out different Instagram feed themes.
There are numerous other feed themes you work into your content. It’s a nifty way to showcase your uniqueness.
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Delivering this kind of content, though, isn’t always easy.
Even if you have managed to take the most perfect image you could, there’s always room for improvement.
Being handy with photo editing tools such as VSCO or Lightroom CC can go a long way to give your photos that extra appeal.
Engage with
Your Community
IT'S ABOUT MAKING SURE YOUR FOLLOWERS KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THEY ARE TO YOU
Brands look at an influencer’s ability to engage their audiences when finding people to collaborate with.
How do you improve your engagement rates, then?
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It goes beyond the likes, shares, and comments you receive on your content. The way to engage your social media community is to engage with them.
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Acknowledge them, whether it’s by liking their comments on your post or responding to their queries in a timely fashion.
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Get the conversation started by asking them for their opinions on a relevant topic. For instance, if you’ve reviewed a product in your latest post, you can ask your readers about their personal experiences using it.
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Redirect your followers to other influencers if they’re looking for something beyond what you’re offering.
As a thought leader yourself, you’re in a position to connect them with others.
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This is just another way of reinforcing your expertise in the industry. It gives them more cause to trust and rely on you.
Leverage
The Right Platform
IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU UNDERSTAND
THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM YOUR AUDIENCE FREQUENTS MOST
This point ties back to the first point where we talked about the importance of knowing your audience.
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So, instead of jumping the gun and creating a profile on every channel, do some research.
This is a lot easier if you know the kind of content your audience expects from you and on which channel.
You also need to understand the advantage of every individual social media platform and how you can best leverage them.
Trying to fit a square peg into a round hole isn’t going to benefit your content delivery strategy.
Especially, if you’re trying to push content on a platform your target audience is inactive on.
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Take a look at lifestyle blogger, Camila Coelho, for instance.
She demonstrates an understanding of what kind of content is best suited for which platform.
She leverages YouTube to share makeup tutorials, DIYs, and beauty pointers with her viewers.
At the same time, she uses her Instagram profile to share content on lifestyle topics like fashion, accessories, and travel.
Remain
True To Yourself
AS AN INFLUENCERS, IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMAIN AUTHENTIC
AND TRUE TO WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN.
Influencers build their followings by openly expressing themselves, who they are, their lives, and their honest opinions on things.
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Showing your viewers and readers the real you is the best way to connect with them, and to get them to relate to you.
It’s how you can build and grow your influence over consumers and their purchase behavior.
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Highlight your professional expertise while retaining a human side.
Don’t be afraid to show your vulnerable side because that’s how users will be able to identify with you.
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There’s no one size that fits all when it comes to building your audience. What works for other influencers may not work for you.
So remember to remain true to your beliefs and your content will automatically come off as more authentic to users.
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Say the brand you’re partnering with asks you for a product review.
Listing only its positives while ignoring all of its flaws, as minor as they may be, makes you look unauthentic.
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You want to be transparent and candid with your viewers, much like Angelina here.
Take
Advantage Of Videos
VIDEOS ARE ALL THE BUZZ THESE DAYS
Videos will surely remain a dominant trend for some time to come.
In the past year or so, alone, videos have seen a 17% increase in usage.
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To put things in perspective, the average person spends almost 1.5 hours watching online video content daily.
Additionally, 81% of businesses are, presently, using videos for marketing purposes.
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Clearly, then, video is something you want to jump on because both brands and consumers crave such content.
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The steep learning curve involved in producing video content is what turns off a lot of influencers from it. While it may take some effort and investment on your part, this is something you should be exploiting. It’s how you can stand out from other influencers.
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Talking about the type of video content you could be creating, there are quite a few options you can explore.
Tutorials, DIYs, and unboxings are great places to start.
You can also create more meaningful and emotional content documenting your life experiences.
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I say take it up a notch with live videos. Most platforms like Facebook or Instagram have a feature whereby you can share
in-the-moment live scenes with your audience. They provide you with an amazing opportunity to organically grow your audience.
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GET IN TOUCH WITH US AND LET'S GROW TOGETHER
We are
COLLABMENT
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