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The key to becoming an influencer is building an online community. I can tell you that my interviews that get the most views, are with the influencers with the most engaged community; not the biggest follower count.
So how you do you build these engaged communities?
Figure Out What They Want: You need to know what your audience wants first, before you can deliver appealing content . Twitter or Instagram surveys are a great way to poll your audience. If you’re a blogger, send your email subscribers a survey to find out what content they like best. If video is your thing, post a short clip asking your viewers what they want to see.
Solve Their Problems: This can vary, depending on your niche. But ask yourself, “Why do people follow me?” There’s no right answer. It could be to get social media tips, to be entertained, or to learn more about entrepreneurship. But whatever it is, it should be your core focus. One of the common mistakes I see is that people try to do everything on social media. They want to be funny, entertaining, informative, and share their personal life. It’s too cloudy a message for your potential followers. Stick with one thing and do it well.
Create Content That They Want: People can only communicate three ways online: Audio, video, or written. Most people are only good at one of these. Experiment with all mediums, but analyze the data to figure out what is the most successful. Data is the key. Look at your demographics, average view time, social shares, engagement, etc. to figure out what’s working, and create more content like that.
Engage, Engage, Engage: Don’t be too cool for school. Don’t strive to build a social media account where you only follow 100 people but have millions following you. You’re not Kim Kardashian. You need to reply to every comment, follow people back, answer people’s questions, share their content, etc.
Reward People For Following You: Offer a free consulting phone call, an assessment of their business, etc. Giveaways are an excellent way to do this. Most people look at giveaways the wrong way, though. They do it to gain more followers or add email subscribers. But what they don’t realize is that they are only attract people who are interested in the free prize; they don’t care about you. Instead, use a giveaway as a way to reward your fan base.
