Story Brunch
Social media influencing has become significant in the age of digital information and the trend will only continue to grow in India as most Indians are still aloof from active SM. Penetration of free data and low cost smartphones in rural areas will ensure that the field remains wide open for growth of SM influencers.
Social media influencing has its own advantages– such as promoting one’s product/ business / book etc or making an impact in a particular niche to bring out needed changes, to run a political/ marketing campaign, run a digital marketing agency etc.
SM Influencing in itself should not be seen as a money making exercise.
SM becoming as effective means of communication as Mainstream media may not be too far.
Different SM platforms require different kind of skill sets and communication strategies to connect with followers. Facebook is mostly story based and thrives on sharing of stories based on familiarity factor,specially with those in friend circles in initial days till one gets some traction,while Twitter is a text based platform where one needs to be precise with 140 characters. Twitter handles flourish based on the skill sets in their niche ,for eg- Twitter Money, Twitter writing community etc, or similarity/differences of political opinions .
Instagram is an image based platform to showcase beautiful clicks, design skills,graphic designs, ,paintings,memes etc.
StoryBrunch team,after doing research of celebrity handles and interviewing tens of SM influencers found out that certain ingredients remain the same to achieve SM Influencer status across all the platforms.
Here is the list of attributes needed to be an SM influencer irrespective of platform and niche area.
1. Value/ Expertise
What is the Value you are going to add to the niche / domain in which you aspire to be an influencer? Are you going to bring some great political insights/analysis in politics niche through your writings? Will your content add value to learning of new online money making techniques which can really help them in passive income,will it aid to their writing skills,will your suggested recipes enhance the flavor of food in their kitchen ?
Value addition has to be real,and something which your followers experience through positive changes in their own lives. Value can be added only by doing good research in your niche area,because people out there are really smart and can call out one’s bluff within no time.
You cannot dominate your niche without expertise in the domain. Value creation reflects the output of your efforts.
2. Impact Quotient
Does your content have an impact factor? Or is it simply another piece of writing/image/meme among millions being generated online every other second on SM ?
Can your content persuade your followers to go for a particular brand, political party, an ideology,particular share stocks etc?
Art of Persuasion ,
as we all call it,determines the impact factor of content or the person. Persuasive power is directly proportional to the value you add in followers’ lives through your content, intellectual or entertaining.
StoryBrunch will post a series of articles on The Art of Persuasion- Hit Subscribe to get notified.
3. Novelty Factor
Have you got something new to offer to the world than the general copy paste texts,posts without rationality and un-funny memes/gifs? If yes, you have already set the ball rolling.
Novelty factor can be imbibed through two methods- making unique content in already popular niche, or choosing a very novel niche.
Let’s understand both the ways.
For illustration,there are some SM influencers who offer only sarcasm,and are doing great,while some do only serious political content. Influencers who combine both sarcasm and political messaging in content can get far more traction than the rest two.
To understand second method, let us take example of an emerging niche- Vegan Cosmetics, in which beauty experts combine the niche of veganism and cosmetics, resulting into a very precise and specialized novel niche. Since these niches are new ,content has novelty factor by default. Popular example is Kabukirune.com , @KabukiRune on Twitter, a cruelty free beauty and sustainable lifestyle blogger.
Its also important to understand that an old niche in USA or Europe may be a novel niche in India or China.
Let’s pull out a popular example from mainstream media- Magsaysay award winner NDTV anchor Ravish Kumar, who came out with novel content in his TV series-
‘Ravish ki Report’.
The show established him in his niche- Hindi journalism, as it was a fresh content in an era of anchors screaming from their TV studios.
4. Unbiased/ Rational
Irrational bias is what undoes the careers of many SM influencers as followers perceive them to be paid influencers. Bias should not be towards a particular brand of smartphone or a cosmetic company or for any such brand in your niche. In political niche, ideological bias is apparent ,but to stand out from the crowd, one has to sound rational and not a blind follower of a particular ideology or a personality cult.
Taking stands is an important attribute of leaders, and it matters in case of influencers too, but the arguments in favor of your stand must appeal to the rational side of the brain of your followers. Mere sloganeering won’t make one an influencer ,content should be thoughtful and logical.
5. Entertainment Value
People flock to social media sites mainly for 3 reasons –
- To learn – a small section of active users
- To be entertained – a large section of active users
- To get validated – significant number,but better ignored.
The trick you have to do is to combine learning and entertainment values in content delivery. If people can satisfy their intellectual and emotional (humour,satire ,romance ,etc),bth kind of needs through your handle/content,you can do wonders in personal growth as an SM influencer.
