How to Become a Social Media Influencer without a huge following in 2023

Do you have what it takes to be a social media influencer? If this sounds like something you’re interested in pursuing, read my step-by-step process for becoming a social media influencer.

Network marketing gets a bad reputation and it’s because the education out there is wrong. It feels like the blind leading the blind oftentimes. So what can you do instead and still build a successful business?

Back in 2013, I was a brand ambassador for a network marketing business and I remember asking my upline, so I asked all my friends and family to buy my stuff. Some of them had a home party for me but I made no sales.

Fast forward 8 years, multiple courses, training programs, and mentorships I realized that the solution to my problem was the influencer marketing industry. 

I wanted to be a social media influencer, not a spammy person.

That’s when I created the R.E.A.L. framework on how to become a social media influencer. 

Step 1. R is for the relationship with your audience

Be a person first. Someone who doesn’t spam what they offer but instead talks about 5 core concepts of who they are. A social network is designed specifically for building relationships. It’s not about selling things.

If you forget about the sale and build relationships you’ll be able to connect genuinely with people you can help. So I chose 5 core topics that I could talk about endlessly.

Ask yourself – what 5 core topics can I talk about forever to build a relationship with my audience?

side note if you scroll back in my personal Facebook profile far enough at the time my content strategy was about Keto, Running, Marriage, My cat, and Montreal. 

That’s when I began to build relationships, build the know, like, and trust factor and start being the hunted instead of the hunter.

Step 2. E is for education

What I mean by this is choosing a topic that you want to be known for and understanding it deeply. For example, let’s say you choose to be the go-to person for all things metabolic health.

That would mean understanding metabolic health.

Knowing what habits can improve metabolic health and what food/lifestyle choices can worsen metabolic health. Now let’s back up a second, why metabolic health?

Perhaps you are in a network marketing company that sells supplements and these supplements are known for helping with cell turnover and reducing free radicals in the body. By being the go-to person who can talk about metabolic health forever and never get bored of it (that’s key!) when your audience finds you in the future they’ll know you are the expert.

So by building a brand around a bigger theme (not a specific product) if your company decides to terminate your contract (it happened to me when I was selling my own products on the front end to be able to build an email list), or you no longer are passionate about the company and it’s mission or you switch companies because you’ve built a brand around you and a bigger topic such as metabolic health you don’t have to worry about losing your audience.

A lot of people in the corporate world will tell you that in order to be an expert you have to have years of experience. You have to be certified. That’s not true.

If we take a page out of Frank Abagnale’s book, your only requirement is to be a chapter ahead of your audience. Even if you’re not a chapter ahead of your audience and you’re sharing your journey with them as you go, people will follow and rally around you. It’s why reality tv is so popular.

Here are the steps to figuring out what topic you want to be known for and build your brand around:

2a. What topic do I love talking about and would never get tired of it even if no one bought from me?

2b. What type of people would I want to hang out with and discuss this topic with?

2c. What products do my network marketing company offer that could fit into my larger theme/brand?

2d. What topic, (if not currently an “expert”) do I want to learn about in great and tiny detail so I can share it with my audience?

2e. Pick a niche – what are you passionate about and what do you want to share with the world?

If you want to become a social media influencer, the first step is to pick a niche.

Find something that excites you, that sparks joy in your heart, something you just can’t help but talk about. Finding your niche will be the foundation for your personal brand identity because it allows you to create content that connects with people on a personal level.

A social media influencer’s success depends on their ability to be authentic and honest to build trusting relationships with their followers and inspire them to take action. But be careful, choosing a specific niche and choosing a company are two very different things.

Many network marketers fall into the trap of loving a company and they brand themselves to the company on social media, they talk about product names on social media. This is a mistake.

What happens if the company closes down or gets investigated for unethical business practices or they change the products completely and no longer align with what you care about?

Brand you. Not your network marketing company.

By being an ambassador of your personal brand, you can create unique value and expand upon your current skillset.

Step 3. A is for Amuse

For anyone who wants to learn how to become a social media influencer, it’s critical that you’re never boring.

If you’re a social influencer, then you understand that boring is the kiss of death in influencer marketing campaigns.

Boring means no one wants to watch your content, and you aren’t capturing anyone’s attention. You’re basically posting content on a social media channel and no one cares.

So how do you ensure you’re never boring? How do you captivate your audience’s attention and keep them watching your content on your social media channel and reading your blogs?

You provide relevant content that is valuable. This means you are creating content that answers your audience’s concerns, addresses their fears, and shows them how to achieve their dreams. You are solving problems with your content.

You are entertaining with your content by showing you’re a real person they can relate to. You talk about your kids, your husband, or your wife and about the mundane daily things that may seem normal to you but are entertaining to your audience.

A good way to test how to be entertaining is to try a variety of different forms of content.

Create pins on Pinterest, create short-form videos for TikTok, Instagram reels, Facebook reels, and, Youtube shorts. Create short posts on Facebook that include quotes or ask a question and include other content that’s a long story post.

Some influencers will share parts of their personal lives on Instagram and Facebook stories as a way to connect with their potential clients. It’s not all about making money it’s about connecting on a level that shows your audience who you really are.

You might be asking, but which platform do I choose to do all of this?

3a. Choose your platform – which social media site do you want to use to share your content (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube)?

When it comes to becoming a social media influencer, one of the biggest decisions you will have to make is choosing which social media platform is best suited for your content.

By exploring different social channels and weighing their pros and cons, you can make sure that the platform you finally choose will be best positioned to help grow your niche following as a social media influencer.

Another factor to consider is where does your niche audience spend their time on social media? Are they mostly on TikTok? Could you learn to create short-form videos? By meeting your niche audience and where they spend their time you’ll be able to build your social media accounts more quickly.

3b. Create an engaging bio to attract your target audience

Crafting an engaging bio on all your social media profiles is the perfect way to attract your niche audience. Start by focusing on what makes you unique in your field- this could include key skills, specialties, or something specific that sets you apart from those offering similar services.

Focus on what you can do for your niche rather than yourself and keep it short, so it’s easy for potential customers to digest.

3c. Create great content – post interesting photos, videos, or articles that will engage your followers

A content strategy is all about how you give shape and direction to content, so the first step when beginning your content journey is to determine what your content goals are.

Setting a few specific goals can help point the content in the right direction. If you need some inspiration, start by researching content strategies for similar businesses and then customize yours for your particular needs.

Once you’ve developed your goal-oriented content plan, find ways to measure success so that you can tailor the content in real-time as needed.

If you aspire to be a social media influencer, one of the easiest ways to keep your audience engaged is by creating valuable content such as photos, videos, and articles.

Keep experimenting with different types of posts and find out what resonates with your followers – in no time, you’ll be on your way to becoming a social media influencer!

3d. Be consistent – post regularly and interact with your followers on a regular basis

Becoming a social media influencer requires consistent effort and interaction. Posting relevant content regularly helps keep your followers engaged and interested – nobody wants to follow an inactive social media account!

Make sure to interact with your followers on social media too – comment back, like their posts, and start conversations whenever you can.

There is a secret hack with social media that not many know about when it comes to creating content.

Many people think they have to create content for every single social media platform, but if you work a 9-5 or have a life, that’s not sustainable and you will burn out.

So how can you be omnipresent without burning out in content creation? You repurpose your content. There are automation tools that you can leverage so with a simple click of a button your Youtube video becomes several TikToks or IG Reels.

When you publish content on multiple platforms you can test and see which one brings maximum engagement from your followers. Once you know this information you can double your efforts on that platform and just keep testing on the other ones.

Step 4. L is for Leads

If you consistently create content that solves a problem then you can offer your niche a lead magnet.

A lead magnet is something that solves a bigger problem for your niche. Think of PDFs, videos, cheat sheets, templates, or a consulting call.

This is a key strategy in influencer marketing. Once you start to leverage an email list you’re building a relationship with your audience. Most influencers don’t have an email list, they simply rely on affiliate marketing or the social media platforms they’re on to sustain their business.

But this is a mistake. If you aren’t building an email list, you are missing on what social media influencers understand. They don’t own the social media platforms, big companies do.

If their social media channels were banned, how would they reach out to their audience?

They treat their social media platforms as an amplifier but are always focused on their email list.

4a. Accelerate your path to becoming a social media influencer by leveraging automation

As a social media influencer you have two choices; leverage your time or your money.

You can create different content formats on several social media channels, see what content your audience engages with and keep creating without spending any money on ads, or you can leverage speed.

When I created my Facebook group I was running ads to insurance agents on their key problems around lead generation.

In the ad, I talked about a guide that would show them 6 secrets to unlimited leads. It was a simple exchange. They gave me their email address and I gave them a solution.

Side note, make sure you have a business account for running Facebook and Instagram ads.

I quickly grew my Facebook group to almost 1000 insurance agents. I didn’t even need to build a bigger audience because my niche was so specific that the insurance agents were highly engaged.

I built that brand for over a year and to this day many still on Facebook when they think of my name, think of insurance leads.

Side note, make sure to choose a business account for Instagram if you want to run ads.

How to become a social media influencer in 2023?

How to become a social media influencer is hard work and requires lots of determination and enthusiasm.

It’s more than just taking some pretty pictures or recording videos, it’s about becoming passionate about your topic, engaging with other influencers in your niche, growing your following, and consistently providing high-quality content that resonates with your followers. It won’t happen overnight – there are no shortcuts.

FAQ

How much money do social media influencers make?

It’s no secret that social media influencers can make a lot of money from brand deals. Depending on the type of campaign and reach of an influencer, they can make anywhere between a few hundred to thousands of dollars for every post they make.

Another option I’ve seen on most social media platforms is an Instagram influencer will have an e-commerce store and sell their own products through IG stories. You could also build passive income as a successful influencer by being an affiliate marketer.

You can do reviews on your preferred social media platforms, tag brands with your authentic content, and build your social media influence.

On Instagram, and TikTok it’s common for micro influencers to have sponsored posts and on Youtube, it’s very common to watch a video that has sponsored content. It’s a way social media influencers leverage affiliate marketing to create passive income.

What is influencer marketing?

Companies will partner with influencers to promote their products or services in an effort to reach a wider demographic base.

The goal is to build relationships and trust between the company and their customers. Influencers will often post content related to the product or service they are promoting, which can be in the form of reviews, tutorials, giveaways, contests, or other, sponsored content.

This content will be pushed out through the influencer’s own channels, allowing companies to tap and gain access to a new market without having to do any promotion themselves.

Some influencers will actively reach out to relevant brands and pitch why they want to represent them, other influencers will grow their niche audience and different brands will actively reach out to them instead.

What are the best social media platforms to build a following with?

I recommend Youtube for the fact that your target audience is actively searching for solutions to their problems.

If you aren’t comfortable with being on camera then your next best option is a blog. A blog is designed for search engine optimization for your target audience to do a search on google and it’s the best way to future-proof your own business from worrying about social media profiles being banned or shut down.

If you are a big fan of social media and don’t want to learn SEO then the next best option is Facebook. Facebook is designed for building relationships quickly with your target audience and they have a behind-the-scenes look at who you are through Facebook stories.

Successful influencers will leverage all three.

How many followers do you need to be a successful influencer?

The answer varies – there is no definitive number for the number of followers one needs to become an influencer.

What really matters are loyal followers. Having a loyal follower base that understands your unique message and values your advice will be more beneficial in the long run than having thousands of anonymous faces that don’t connect with you or your content.

When I sold high-ticket coaching to insurance agents I only had 1,000 followers. So it’s not about the number, it’s how you build a community.

The ultimate goals of a successful social media influencer are a steady stream of passive income, brand partnerships, and influencer status. When someone thinks of your name you want them to automatically associate it with a certain theme.