Being an influencer is the ability to hook people into believing in you and your opinion to the extent of parting with their hard-earned money just because you sold them the dream.
Why should we believe you?
To influence adequately, you need to produce high quality content on a regular. This means it must be great to experience. At the end that’s what we are selling as content creators. We are selling experiences. The good and the bad. Don’t just tell the readers the good parts, open up to them about the bad parts as well. This will help them to trust you. Let’s not forget the case of Visa Bae. People want to experience your life, selling perfection is a lie.
What qualifies you to tell us these things?
If you’re going to be discussing things such as health, fitness or politics, you’ll need to explain to your followers why they should listen to you. What qualifications do you have to speak on that subject matter? How long have you been in that industry? If you have won any awards or accolades, this is where you mention them. All this can be detailed in your ‘About Me’ page. This will also help when brands are shortlisting influencers to strengthen your case.
The best advert doesn’t look like an advert
I can’t say this enough! I get that its ethical to state that a post is sponsored but the way you package the post is the key to its success. Your audience is familiar with your voice and your tone, when you step away from it, they can tell. If hard sell adverts telling them to buy, buy, buy didn’t work why would you repeat that mistake? Blend your adverts into your content seamlessly to keep your audience engaged. Be like MUNASHE in the advert below:
Be authentic
Don’t sell out for the money! It will cost you your credibility and the trust that you have built with your audience. Never accept to push a product that you don’t believe in. The audience isn’t stupid, they can feel when something is fake. Don’t accept offers to push products that your target audience won’t appreciate. For example, a hair blogger starts peddling tech courses vouchers. You are setting yourself up to fail and this harms your reputation as an influencer.
Provide value. All eyes are on you. People are waiting to hear what you’ll say. What will you do with your influencer status?
