From beauty, sports, and fashion to travel and home design, it seems like a new influencer is popping up every day. But what makes a great influencer?
Successful influencers know that being good isn’t enough. You must be the best and stay on top to survive today’s competitive marketplace. The most successful influencers keep their finger on the pulse of what is happening, dig deep into the why behind it all, and take advantage of those unique insights before anyone else.
Personality
Good influencers have great personalities. They can be funny, serious, or both. They are self-confident and open-minded, which means they’re willing to listen to other people’s opinions. They are not afraid to admit when they’re wrong—or when someone else is right! A good influencer is also humble. They know that their success is not about them but the community they’ve built around them.
A good influencer knows how to connect with their audience, a skill that comes from strong self-awareness and knowing what you’re comfortable sharing.
If you have the right personality for being an influencer, it will come through in your content—and people will respond.
There are some key things to remember here: be likable and friendly, don’t appear desperate, and always keep it relevant.
Passion
There’s nothing more compelling than a person who is passionate about what they do. It shows in their work and words, making them memorable and relatable.
Passionate influencers have a powerful voice, and they use it to express their interests and beliefs. It’s not about creating content that will get you paid—it’s about creating content that you’re excited about and want to share with others.
A passionate influencer will always find audiences regardless of their messaging or niche.
Engagement
It’s not enough to get a lot of followers—you also have to keep them engaged. It means that you’re sharing things people want to see and doing it excitingly and compellingly.
To build a relationship with your target audience, they must feel like they’re part of your community. And that means they need to be able to interact with you and each other in a way that makes them feel heard, respected, and valued.
If you don’t have engagement, you won’t be able to convert your followers into customers. You’ll be posting irrelevant content that people ignore, which doesn’t help anyone!
Authenticity
Authentic influencer is honest, open, and real with their audience. They don’t hide behind a persona or lie to their followers—they’re as genuine as they can be, even if that means showing off some embarrassing moments.
An influencer needs to be authentic because it makes them relatable. People don’t want to follow someone who doesn’t seem like themselves; they want someone they can trust, who will tell them the truth, even if it’s something hard to hear.
A good influencer believes in the products they promote and can speak to their value in a way that others can relate. It means they have experience with the product or service or at least know enough about it to be able to speak about it. It also means that they are honest about what they like and don’t like about the products or services they promote—and why.
Mind for Marketing
You don’t need to be an expert in the marketing field to be successful, but you need to have a good grasp of how it works and how to use it to your advantage.
Your success as an influencer will depend on whether you can promote yourself and your products. You’ll have to know how to attract attention, get people excited about what you’re doing, and convince them that your offer is worth buying or following.
Credibility
People will only trust you if they believe you know what you’re talking about, so it’s important to build up your reputation and make sure that people know who you are. You can do this by sharing your experiences and opinions to show your expertise and being willing to get involved in conversations about the topics that interest you.
Credibility comes from being honest and upfront about who you are and what you do, as well as what your interests are. You should never pretend to be something you’re not; honesty is always better than deception in the long run! If people know what they’re getting into when they hear from you or see something from your brand, they’ll trust you more, which can lead them to become loyal customers.
Visibility
Influencers should be able to reach their audience with ease. They need to be able to find the best ways to communicate with their followers, which means they need to know how their audience consumes media.
There are two types of visibility: content visibility and social media visibility. Content visibility is how often your followers see your posts, while social media visibility is how often you post on social media.
For example, if you have a Facebook page with 500 likes, but you only post once every six months, then your audience isn’t going to see much content from you. If they don’t see enough of your content, they won’t know who you are or what you do—and they won’t trust that you have valuable information for them.
The same goes for social media visibility: if the followers can see on Instagram a few posts per month and no interactions between them and their favorite influencer, then they might not feel like following that influence anymore since it seems like there’s nothing new happening around them!
Tech Knowledge
Good influencers deeply understand their chosen social media platform, whether it’s Instagram or YouTube. They know how to work the camera and edit photos and videos.
They must understand the specific nuances of each platform—and how to use them to their advantage.
Creativity
Influencers must be able to think outside the box and come up with original content that is interesting and engaging for their target audience. A good influencer has a talent for making content that gets people excited about their actions and makes them want to share it with their friends.
Creativity requires more than being able to come up with new ideas, though—it also requires having the ability to execute those ideas. It means that influencers have to have an eye for detail and the ability to use editing software and other tools that help them turn their ideas into reality. Besides creativity, good influencers also need discipline and persistence to create regular content consistently.
Uniqueness
Good influencers should have a unique style, voice, and point of view that can’t be found elsewhere. It will make them stand out from the crowd and give their audience something to look forward to when they watch or read what they create.
Commitment
Good influencers get involved in a project and stick with it to completion. An influencer should also be willing to do whatever it takes to help the project succeed.
They are committed to their craft, and they are committed to their audience. A good influencer has a strong sense of purpose and knows what they want their work to do. They don’t throw content out there, hoping that it will somehow stick; they know what they want to say and how they want to say it to impact the world around them. They are also committed to their audience—not making sure that what they’re saying is relevant and helpful but also maintaining a relationship with them over time. Influencers aren’t content creators; they’re community builders. And being able to build a community takes time and effort—two things that all good influencers have in spades!
Conclusion
Building an online presence isn’t going to be easy, and it certainly isn’t without its challenges. But if you can understand what makes a good influencer, you’ll be well on building a brand that works for you. In the end, there’s no shortcut to success. You’ve got to give to get. But if you can do that and follow the tips above, you’ll be well on establishing yourself as a good influencer in your niche.