Influencer Best Practices
You want to be an influencer, but you're not exactly sure what some terms mean or what you should be working towards. There can be so much false information about social media and becoming an influencer online. Let's start with understanding what type of influencer you are, what a good engagement rate is for your size, and how to differentiate yourself as an influencer in today's world.
Influencer Tiers 📱
Remember, these categories aren't meant to discourage anyone. They are just terms meant to categorize and differentiate the variety of influencers.
Nano influencers: between 1,000 to 10,000 followers. Even though they have a smaller following, they are trusted experts within their niche.
Micro influencers: between 10,000 to 100,000 followers. While they maybe have a larger following than most, they are not necessarily celebrities.
Macro influencers: between 100,000 to 1 million followers. These types of influencers are still insanely beneficial if you want to reach a specific audience and have a larger budget for influencer marketing.
Your follower count can impact your engagement rate. You might notice that the bigger the following size of an influencer, the lower the engagement rate is on their profile. According to a recent study, micro-influencers’ engagement rates on Instagram are the highest across all the different influencer types.
Engagement Rates 📈
How to calculate your engagement rate?
Engagement Rate = (Likes + Comments)/Total Number of Followers
Less than 1% = low engagement rate
Between 1% and 3.5% = average/good engagement rate
Between 3.5% and 6% = high engagement rate
Above 6% = very hight engagement rate
Nano influencers, due to their smaller following, credibility, and authenticity, have an average engagement rate of 4%. Micro influencers have an average engagement rate of anywhere between 2%-3%. Macro influencers tend to have a lower engagement rate, at about 2.5%, due to their social media presence.
Standing Out ✨
It can seem like everyone is trying to become an influencer nowadays, so how do you make yourself stand out? This might be a hot take, but having something that you are known for can help jumpstart your journey because people will recognize for that. Take Bria Lem and Shelby Sacco. On TikTok, Bria is known for making her famous Cowboy Caviar and Shelby is known for helping others go from sad to savage through her Sad to Savage series.
This doesn't mean that they are not allowed to make any other types of videos, they most certainly can. But, in the beginning, sticking to something that you enjoy speaks volumes. Why? When you are doing and speaking about something that you are truly passionate about, people on the other side of the screen, can sense that. You come across as genuine, authentic, and excited, which in turn, catches people's attention because it's contagious.
Niches 🎨
Since we're on the subject of finding your place on social media, should you or should you not have a niche? Everyone's opinion on this may vary. When you are starting out on social media having some sort of guide on what to post may be beneficial because people will begin to know what to expect from you. You can have a few niches, some that are related while others aren't. Also, you can have different niches on different platforms which will allow you to highlight different parts of your identity and interests.
