Have you ever been wondering why Brands pick some Influencers but skip over others? Well, this has to do with more than just their followers’ count and engagement. Whether you’re a micro or macro Influencer, these tips are here to help you shape your online persona, in a way that will attract Brands and maybe even get you a Campaign.
Your Feed’s Aesthetic
Let’s start off with the Basics. We all know how important first impressions are and the first thing a Brand will notice is your feed. All successful Influencers, who’ve done lots of successful campaigns, have breathtaking feeds.
The look and feel of your account set you apart from all the rest of the ‘clone’ Influencers. Posting random pictures, might get you likes, but at what cost? If you ruin your overall authenticity by posting a selfie, just because it had good lighting, is simply not worth it. However, there is a workaround, so that the image doesn’t go to waste. You have stories available. If you think that a certain picture is not worthy of your feed, but you just can’t help but post it – put it on your story, and then save it as a highlight. You keep your authenticity, yet you still get to post your picture.
Not that I’ve mentioned highlights, let’s talk a bit about highlight covers. These little bubbles filled with images are located front and center on your account. This makes them very easily noticeable. Well, this is a great chance to use them to reinforce your aesthetic. By creating covers for your highlights, you not only spark up your feed, but you also show a level of professionalism (which Brands love).
To pop out more easily, you can incorporate a certain element that will be associated with you. One good example would be Iris Apfel with her oversized glasses. She made them a part of her persona, so now whenever someone sees big glasses, they think of her.
The Community You’ve Created
If a Brand contacts you for a campaign, they are probably doing so because their target audience is the majority of your followers. Ultimately, your followers are the ones who will attract the Brand, that’s why it’s important to build a good, healthy community.
You might have 8000 followers, but if 5000 of them are inactive, 2000 are not relevant that leaves you with a mere 1000. And you might think you’re getting great engagement with 100 comments per post – but again, if half of those comments are about self-promotion or even worse haters, you’re going to scare away any potential Brand.
It’s very important to take time and focus on your community, chat with your fans, reply to their comments, advise them. This will also build up trust, which is super important when it comes to Campaigns. Oh, and one great way for dealing with haters – block!
Your Personality
We all think we’re the best, it’s a natural born placebo caused by our egos. But let that get to your head too much and now we have a problem at our hands. Nobody wants to work with a stuck up b…person. Brands want to be represented by someone who is down to earth and who resonates with the people. If you look at your audience from up above, well, they’re going to kick you in your ankles. Probably one of the most famous cases of disrespect towards fans belongs to Justin Bieber. He would spit at his fans when they were gathered to see him – surely enough, his career fell apart shortly after.
Now, I know that that’s an extreme case, but disrespect is disrespect. Nothing will get you followers, as well as potential campaigns, quite like being humble.
So even if you don’t like a Brand, even if you don’t like a comment, try to keep your emotions at bay and always speak with respect and a sense of professionalism.
Previous Campaigns
Having a finished campaign in your back pocket can never hurt, no matter how small the Brand was or how little you got paid. Every finished campaign is like adding a few certificates to your CV. It not only gives you more experience, but it also attracts other Brands. Put yourself in the shoes of the Brand, would you rather work with someone who has proven experience, or a novice.
So don’t wait around for that high paying campaign, try to finish as many offered campaigns as possible. But again, try not to damage your authenticity and reputation, in doing so.
If you haven’t done any previous campaigns, fret not, everybody has to start somewhere. Work on following the rest of these tips and you’ll change that in no time.
Your Current Location
Informing your followers and Brands of your current location is key for a successful Influencer career. Sometimes, Brands are looking for Influencers in specific locations. Without the knowledge, if you are in that said location, they can completely skip over your entire profile (since you’d automatically be labeled irrelevant). Why miss a campaign, when you can simply update your profile bio to feature a “currently at” line.
If you’re an Influencer that’s bi-lingual and located in a specific language area (other than English), then you have even better chances to get hired. Having the ability to represent the brand in an authentic language (bonus points for dialect), is a major benefit. This can drastically increase the campaigns success rate with the local target audience – making the campaign authentic in a whole other dimension.
I hope you find these pointers useful and let them help guide you toward a successful Influencer career, because after all, we all need a way of earning a living. Also, if you have any questions regarding profile management or anything connected to Influencer Marketing in general, feel free to contact us at hello@famenote.com we’d be more than happy to help.
