Put simply, influencer marketing is marketing that is based on relationships already built up between influencers (e.g. social media users and bloggers) and their audience. As far as brands are concerned, working with influencers provides a win-win situation, particularly in niche markets. The world of the influencer is an attractive one but how do you become a great influencer in 2019?

Be yourself

With both brands and their customers seeking authenticity, it would be foolish to attempt to mislead your audience and brands as to your values, activities and interests. In order to show your true colours and sell them as influencer potential, you need to establish yourself as bona fide across all of your online channels.

Be clear about which brands you would like to promote

Brands in general are moving away from a scattergun approach to influencer marketing and are instead looking to build more strategic relationships that can help with customer loyalty, market insight and niche credibility.

Offer user generated content

UGC is set to gain ground for 2019 and the smart brands will be looking for influencers who can offer, not just a social media following, but authentic and consistent content in the form of blog posts, email contributions, product displays and advertising. The goal is for cross-channel brand consistency, so examine your offering and get creative.

Get going on Instagram

If you don’t have an Instagram account yet, you need one. Instagram is set to continue as the leading platform for influencer marketing and there are opportunities out there for those with creative input and larger audiences. Instagram stories are currently seeing particular success.

Always be honest about your role

Apart from the necessity of meeting advertising standards and legal requirements, disclosing  your relationship with the brands that you are promoting is a key matter of transparency and honesty. Your role as an influencer is based on consumer trust so check out the rules and stick to them.

Being a marketing influencer can be a great way to see some return on your social media or blogging efforts but being a good one does entail more work than you might think. Find your niche then build your audience carefully and honestly and hopefully the brands will come looking for you.