I Have A Lot Of Followers On Social Media. Am I An Influencer?

Influencer marketing focuses on relevant individuals to drive your brand’s message (and in some cases, revenue). Many think of influencer marketing as a celebrity-endorsed product or service, but just because you or someone you follow has a large following on Facebook, Instagram, etc., doesn’t necessarily mean that you or they are Influencers. The idea behind influencer marketing is that the individual promoting a product or brand can play the role of potential customers themselves, or can actually manipulate marketing activity based on an organic post.

Influencer marketing gets its value from reach, quality of content, and a degree of trust. I have interacted with many people who claim they are influencers because they have more than one million followers on Instagram or generate thousands of likes on each of the photos that they post, but what’s the outcome?

Do these posts that are generally well received and “liked” produce impactful results for whatever they are trying to promote? If it’s themselves, I certainly don’t think so (none of these individuals have gotten their big modeling gig or movie credit to this date and usually don’t drive quality, intent-driven users to a brand’s domain). Typically when it’s a brand that’s being promoted and tagged in the image description, this gets overlooked by the content within the image itself, and the focus is actually taken away from the product or service being promoted.

The key to being a successful influencer is to craft high-quality, engaging content that’s built on a foundation of trust. Users who engage with influencers are being sold on a person, not a product. When identifying whether a user that you discover, or yourself is an influencer, ask “Am I” or “is this person” someone who seems credible, transparent, and convincing in what they are trying to promote? I’ve seen lots of influencers post on social media about how great a product is, and no matter how many followers they have, or how recognizable they are, the engagement rates and conversion rates seem relatively low.

Figure out what your identity is and what themes, products, and causes you truly stand behind and find ways to communicate that conviction to your followers. You will learn that this will inevitably develop a stronger climate of mutual understanding, respect, and trust and you should see a community building behind you that consists of die-hard followers.