With the technological industry continuously advancing, digital marketing has turned into one of the most in-demand and fastest-growing sectors in the world of business. Unsurprisingly, the popularity and importance of influencer marketing have equally increased due to its effectiveness. As a matter of fact, the market grew from $9.7 billion in 2020 to $13.8 billion in 2021, with experts projecting this trend to persist for years to come.?�
But first, what is influencer marketing??�
Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing whereby key opinion leaders (KOL) collaborate with companies to improve brand recognition and sales. This is not to be confused with services and products that are endorsed by famous celebrities seen on billboards and television commercials. The distinction between an influencer and a celebrity is that anyone anywhere can be an influencer should they have the right amount of public attention (aka followers).?�
Yes, you read that right. YOU can be a part of influencer marketing too!
That said, the growth of micro influencers has been steadily increasing, and with that comes immense competition to get sponsorships and deals with brands. So, the question is no longer how to be an influencer, but how to be a good influencer.?�
Naturally, the first step is to choose the right social media platform that helps target your audience depending on your preferred medium. If you�??re unsure of which platform to use then the next best step is to follow the numbers! According to a report by Hootsuite, Instagram remains the leading social media application for influencer marketing due to its reach and attributes. As such, let�??s dive into the common mistakes that people make when building their Instagram profiles!
Here are the 4 deadly sins to avoid when growing your Instagram account:
1. Buying your followers
This is a classic rookie mistake to make when you�??re first starting out as an Instagram influencer. While the number of followers you have does play a significant role in getting people and companies to recognize your potential, it is not the end-all-be-all of your career as an influencer. This may seem like the easiest shortcut to building your community, but these �??fake followers�?� are bots or ghost accounts that serve no real purpose to your mission as an influencer.?�
In fact, resorting to buying followers could actually hurt you in the process by causing you to lose public credibility. Instagram has the technology to detect and purge bots or ghost accounts as it violates their guidelines, which will cause your numbers to be low again eventually. Not only that, brands and other users may steer clear of you completely due to the low engagement rate of your profile when compared to your number of followers, which indicates inauthenticity.?�
Therefore, what you should focus on instead is growing your followers organically by curating meaningful content and building genuine relationships. The power of an influencer is not in the number of followers or �??fans�?� that they have but in their ability to influence people�??s life choices.
2. Producing irrelevant content?�
As mentioned, building your community of followers from scratch requires a lot of work and you will need to create interesting content that attracts attention. Sounds simple enough right? The problem that most people find with this aspect of social media marketing is not focusing on their chosen area of niche, which disrupts the flow of interest of followers. For example, if you have an Instagram food profile and suddenly post more about fashion, people might get confused and hit the �??unfollow�?� button.?�
Why? Because you�??re producing content that is no longer relevant to them. A person who is interested in food may not be the same person who is interested in fashion. Of course, there will be people who are entertained by both topics, but why take that risk?
What you should do instead is decide on one niche that your profile will be based on and stick to that for as long as possible. This will help you to establish your identity and brand in the virtual world, so ask yourself what do you want to be known for. Social media is a relatively simple tool to understand, whereby every �??like�?� and �??follow�?� comes down to a very specific reason - the content you produce intrigues them and they would like to see more of it in the future. As such, you should avoid deviating too far from your niche to keep most of your content aligned.
3. Writing poor captions
Captions are one of the most important parts of a social media posting that many amateur influencers overlook. The common belief is that captions are used as a medium to express an after-thought when it is actually the ideal medium to bring out your character and add more context to the image or video. Not only does it allow you to showcase meaningful and thought-provoking content, but it also gives a human touch to your media.
Anyone can post a picture of a vacation by the beach or a bowl of chia pudding, but what is the story behind it? That is what your followers want to know! Not just a simple statement of how you love the sea breeze or having breakfast, but a deeper look into who you are as a person and what you can offer to them. Maybe your content makes them feel good as a person and encourages them to view things in life in a different light.?�
This also opens up the opportunity for dialogue where your followers feel welcomed and excited to engage with you and other members of your community, which increases your visibility and connections. Of course, you could never go wrong by adding a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of your captions to make it clearer that you are interested in their opinions and would like to interact with them.
4. Ignoring your Instagram analytics reports
A crucial aspect of being a content creator or influencer on Instagram is understanding the algorithm and discovering ways to see how it can benefit you. A simple built-in tool that many often neglect is the Instagram Analytics report that allows you to view your audience profiles, engagement rates, and content activities. Besides that, it also calculates your profile and content reach and impressions, tracks your daily progress, and gives you an overview of your week's overall engagement or achievements.
So how does this help, you ask?
For starters, this report allows you to narrow down your target audience with more accuracy by establishing what kind of profiles are interested in you, such as gender, location, and age range. Another reason you should make use of the report is it depicts a better picture of your followers�?? active hours on Instagram, allowing you to capture your community the moment they are on the app; boosting your engagement with them. Lastly, you gain better insights into the type of projects your followers prefer and this will greatly help with your content creation. Always remember if you are only writing for yourself and not for your community, then you will never be able to build an affinity connection with them.
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Now that you know everything, let�??s start growing your Instagram profile and paving your way to being a social media influencer! Don't know where to start? Download the Partipost app today and start participating in campaigns. Not only do you get to work with brands that you love without sourcing but it also provides relevant advice on how you can create proper and engaging content.
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