Brands which truly understand influencer marketing, are often eager to work with niche influencers because they have built a community that is identical to their target market groups.

Therefore, as an upcoming influencer your channel of influence must exude a certain feeling or atmosphere that attracts a community that wants to engage with your content. So, let’s talk about social media channels, audiences, and how to position yourself to be found.

In my last article, we discussed the importance of discovering your niche as the first step towards becoming an influencer. Now that we have that out of the way, we can choose the platforms we would like to influence through.

Currently, the most popular social media channels for influencer marketing are Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok. LinkedIn is gradually pushing through, especially for brands who want to carry out B2B influencer marketing campaigns.

But, before I go any further, it might be worth noting that your niche area will influence the platform you choose to adopt as an influencer. For instance, if your niche is fashion and beauty, which is heavily aesthetic, you may want to consider Instagram or Tik Tok as your platform of choice.

However, if your niche area is around career journeys, LinkedIn may be better suited for you, because the audience there, expects such content. Understand the strengths of each platform and leverage them in your content creation efforts, to attract your audience.

Essentially, your “Vibe”- what you transmit or give out (a feeling or atmosphere) will attract your “Tribe”- a distinctive or close-knit group.

This goes without saying. You can influence through two platforms simultaneously. But when starting, it is advisable to focus on one channel at a time. Build the foundation, then introduce your community to your other channel after the original is well established.

Now, assuming, like most of us, you already have a social media channel you would like to leverage as an influencer, you would need to optimize your page to make your brand an attractive candidate for business brands looking to collaborate with influencers.

What do I mean? Let's take Instagram for instance. You will want to optimize your page across two main areas; the account type and your bio section.

Account Type

This is how Instagram differentiates between Businesses, Content Creators (influencers), and Personal account holders. You can choose an account, based on your goals for using the platform. This is important because influencers need to be able to show results for work they have done with brands to enable their sponsors track the Return on Investment (ROI).

This is only possible if you can access the 'insights' feature of your Instagram account. This feature is only available on the Business and Content Creators' accounts.

Aside from being able to access your account insights, the Content Creator account type, gives you wider access to Instagram's music library. This comes in handy, when you are ready to start creating content.

The Business account does not provide this level of access. You can switch your account type by following the red arrows in the steps below.

In step 5, you do not not see the Content Creator option, because this is an example from a Creator account.

Your Bio Section

Your bio section should be doing two main things, telling brands what your page is about and making it easy for them to get in touch with you. There is a word limit in the various parts of this section. So, it is advisable to use a mixture of emojis and sentences to get your brand message across as quickly as possible.

Your bio should include a visible picture of you, clearly state who you are, what your page is about, and social proof of what you do, how to reach you, and a link to a blog or podcast page if you have any. See the example below:

In the first part of this series, finding your niche, I mentioned that your niche may be a combination of different things. Just below your bio, you have a section called highlights, where you can show snippets of what your page is about (don't worry if you do not have content for this yet).

Break these combinations, also known as your content pillars, into highlights. This makes it easier for brands to see at a glance, some examples of your content creation efforts. This section is also a good place to insert your rate card (This would be discussed further in the upcoming series).

That’s all for optimizing your page, a quick word of advice if you happen to already have content on your page before choosing to become an influencer. Refrain from deleting all of your content to start afresh. When brands or prospective followers visit a page with a large number of followers with no content, it often screams bought followers, which is a huge turnoff.

What you want to do instead, is to create your new content and as the page grows, you gradually archive old content that does not correlate with your current brand image. Yes, my friend, you are a whole brand.  

So, now that you understand how to identify your niche, how to determine the platform to influence through, and how to optimize an existing Instagram page for your influencer marketing efforts, in our next part of this series, we will get into the nitty-gritty of strategy, some tools to help you create amazing content, engaging with your audience and letting brands know you are ready for collaborations.

Until then, remember, as an influencer, your vibe will always attract your tribe and not the other way round.

Therefore, stay authentically and unapologetically you….of course on the right platforms.