Digital marketing can be used in a multitude of ways to generate revenue, both for businesses and individuals. For businesses, they will likely use the services of a digital marketing agency to set up a digital marketing campaign that can include several tactics and strategies across several online channels such as Google Ads, SEO, social media, and YouTube, for example.
Whilst some businesses may be owned and run by one person, when it comes to how an individual can make money online via digital marketing, one way that has garnered much attention recently is becoming a social media influencer. Whilst extremely competitive, those who do manage to become identifiable on websites such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, can reach celebrity status and earn income as high as seven figures per year.
We must throw in a huge caveat that the number of people making over a million dollars from social influencing is low, however, many individuals do earn a lucrative living from it, so let us examine what is required to become a social influencer and how to subsequently make money.
Getting Started As A Social Media Influencer
At the outset, you must be aware that becoming a social influencer is not an overnight phenomenon that will allow you to give up your job today and start earning thousands tomorrow. It is a process that takes time, effective planning, and no small amount of patience, as indeed any business would. There are three main steps that you need to take to become established, as outlined below.
Choose Your Niche: It is going to be easier to gain traction and start building your audience if you keep within a distinct niche, rather than just being all things to all people. Also, you want to choose a subject that people can readily identify with and for which there is a captive and passionate audience.
Identify Which Platforms You Want A Presence On: In addition to focussing on a niche, you also do likewise with the social media platforms you use. Some successful social media influencers use just one. It also has to be borne in mind that every platform will have differing rules, processes, and restrictions and having to learn and follow all of them can hamper your progress.
Know Your Audience: Based on the niche you have chosen, and the social media platforms you are going to use, it is now time to research your audience and identify what they are looking for. This is not just for products that you might choose to promote but also for the content they prefer, and how you can make it engage with them.
Making Money As A Social Media Influencer
There are three main ways social media influencers make money as follows:
Affiliate Marketing: With this, a social media influencer reviews, discusses, and recommends products and services for which they receive commission payments if someone buys via their trackable affiliate link.
Sponsored Content: This can be in the form of infographics, videos, advertorials, and other content that they allow businesses to publish on their social media pages in return for a fee.
Marketing Collaborations: Here, a social media influencer will team up with a business or digital marketer to collaborate on campaigns. This will involve content creation, guest posts, and often the influencer becoming the ‘face’ of a brand, product, or service in return for a significant fee and/or a share of the revenue generated by the campaign.