Crafting Your Influence: Building a Successful Career as a Lifestyle Influencer

You are certainly interested in becoming a lifestyle influencer if you are the kind of content creator who enjoys sharing everything from life hacks and motivational quotes to your everyday routines. We're here to show you how. Even some of the most well-known lifestyle influencers, like Chiara Ferragni, had to start somewhere. 

1. Start building your own personal brand 

Identifying your personal brand is the first step in developing an influence. The basis on which you'll build is the identity of your brand. Your ‘why’ will help you develop your voice, the look of your postings, and your community engagement strategies. Consider this: In one sentence, how would you summarise the brand's image? 

• What do you want?
• Whom are you trying to reach?
•  Outline why Instagram users should follow you. 
• You can make your social media profiles mirror your personal brand once you've got a handle on it.

2. Optimizing your media profiles 

These days, your social media profiles essentially double as a resume, online portfolio, and website.As a result, here is what you need to say on all of your social media platforms in the few seconds that you have: 

• Select a Valuable Profile Photo
• Tell Us Your Story
• Add specific keywords to the name field.
• Add action buttons and a call to action.
• Give your contact details
• Add Your Branded Hashtag and Tag Related Accounts
• Put a link in your bio. 

3. Find your niche 

The easier it will be for you to build a community that respects and enjoys your work, the more concentrated and specialised you should be in the beginning. Why? Because it's preferable to be a master of a few things than a jack of all. 

So, in order to assist you find your specialization, consider these questions:

• What do I feel the most strongly about?
• What do I know the most about?
• What might I cheerfully write for without getting paid anything?

After you've determined your broad niche, you can concentrate on your content pillars, which are the three to five subjects you'll frequently write about. If you're a fashion blogger, your content pillars can include lifestyle posts, social media analysis, and styling advice.

4. Perform Audience Research

Knowing information about your followers will help you generate content that resonates with them and ultimately performs well, which will help you flourish as an influencer.

Your Instagram or TikTok native analytics dashboard is the simplest way to receive a rapid overview of the demographics of your audience (such as age and location).
Additionally, for even more in-depth insights, Later's Instagram insights tool provides you with a visual breakdown of your audience and the effectiveness of your content.

• Make sure the objective of your videos is clear. Every video you publish should be relevant to your audience and either informative, inspirational, or relatable.
• Your videos should "stop the scroll" by starting with some sort of hook if you want to increase views and the viewership of your content. You may achieve this in a number of ways, such as using a visual hook (like writing) that highlights the issue or need of your audience, or by moving in some way, like waving at the camera.
• Posting frequently will benefit your account and the effectiveness of all of your material. Batch your videos in ahead for the following week and schedule them with Later to maintain consistency!
   

5. Connect with your community

Influencers should be aware of growth and engagement rates, but they should also pay attention to the calibre of the network they are building. Building relationships in your community is the most crucial thing you can do, no matter what stage of your influencer career you're in. 

Here are some ways you can build your community: 

• Present yourself on camera and reveal the individual behind your business. This can personalise you or your brand and establish a stronger, more meaningful bond with your audience.
• Use engagement-boosting features to get your audience to interact more, such as poll and question stickers.
• Your community should be heard. Inquire about the products that your audience would like to see next. Keep in mind that interaction requires reciprocity.
• Promote your goods and services using user-generated content to show off actual customers (from your neighbourhood) who are using and loving them.
• Get your audience involved. To react to your comments and direct messages can be as easy as blocking off some time each day or week. 
  
   

6. Diverse your social platforms 

Focusing on one social media platform when you're first starting out is a terrific strategy to develop an active community. However, ignoring other platforms may restrict your capacity to generate income and attract new audiences.
Cross-promotion is here. 

7. Find brands that work with influencers

Whether it's on TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram, creating sponsored video for brands is a terrific way to monetize as an influencer and increase your reach. The best thing, though? You are not required to have a massive following. To market yourself and pitch to brands, use these three steps:

Step 1: First, start by writing a pitch email. This should be succinct—no more than two to three paragraphs—and provide an outline of your achievements in increasing brand recognition or boosting conversion rates. 

Step 2: Once you've written your pitch, it's crucial to make sure it reaches the right audience. Either look up the company on LinkedIn and get in touch with someone on the marketing team, or send a direct message (DM) on social media asking for the most suitable point of contact.

Step 3: Make sure your pitch has these 5 key elements:

• Design the Ideal Subject Line
• Identify Yourself
• What You Love About the Product/Brand, in Brief
• Make a media kit and attach it.
• Share Your Rates and an action call (CTA)
   

You can stand out from the crowd and begin to create a long-term partnership when you craft your communication with attention and intention.

Hopefully, these pointers have provided you with motivation and knowledge to enhance your influencer social approach. Success doesn't happen quickly, but with dedication to your social media channels and a regular posting schedule, you'll soon see the results of your work.