Being a social media influencer is no longer about just publishing posts – there is another story behind it. Now, social media influencers are fully aware by their power, and they are trying to monetise it and make the most of their reach. A lot of platforms were created to answer their needs and help them generate extra income in exchange for their influence. Today, we are going to cover the world of social media influencers and identify high-paying platforms that could come in handy for them.
Who is a social media influencer?
Social media influencer is a person leading their communication and gathering their own community around selected social media platform. They established the credibility in the chosen industry. The majority of social media influencers successfully manage their presence at Facebook or Instagram, but there are also other platforms worth considering when it comes to being a social media influencer: Linkedin, Pinterest, Snapchat or the novelty popular among teenagers: Tik-Tok (known before as Musical.ly). Also, social media influencers are increasingly more often willing to expand their influence for more platforms than just one: even if they started out on Instagram, they are likely to set up a Facebook Page and offer brands even more.
Social media influencers have the power to influence important decisions (business or shopping), make movements and simply persuade others to their opinion.
What makes a social media influencer?
- the size of social media reach
- A loyal following base – if the target group of an influencer is broad, dedicated and active, also, if followers engage and interact with a brand: engagement rate matters!
- regular social media posting – publishing new content on a regular basis
How do social media influencers make money?
There are quite a few ways social media influencers can earn quite a few dollars or get some valuable products.
- The most popular way is to publish sponsored posts – brands pay influencers for spreading the message about the brand itself, their products, services or projects. The influencer can publish only one post or a series of posts, on one platform or several of them, depending on a type of agreement.
- Product placement in “Stories” format – for example unboxing, where the advert lives only for 24 hours.
- Guest publishing on social media profiles of a selected brand – this form is increasingly more popular as “takeover” – a social media influencer takes the profile over, make some live videos and create content for a specified, usually brief, period of time.
- Promoting their own digital products, like e-books, webinars or podcasts to download for money or e-mail address. Then social media influencers are able to manage remarketing campaigns, use e-mails in their marketing lists and of course drive sales in their own stores.
- Affiliate marketing – this way is often connected with other types of social media promotion. Social media influencers not only promote the brand or product but go an extra mile and provide their audience with a link to that product. Then, they get some commission according to how much traffic they generated, and how much revenue their followers brought to a brand. A lot of social media influencers start from (and carry on) this type of promotion and brands are willing to give influencers a try as they spend no money for their fees.
It is all developing due to technology and opportunities of social media platforms!
Where to monetize my social media influence?
This is a question that many social media influencers keep asking. Once influencers established their roles and ways of monetising their social media reach, it is high time for them to find some sources and brands. Of course, they can do it manually – why wouldn’t they? However, it takes time and patience, and efforts may not be as effective as it seems. Where should they look for orders and projects?
- Are you a social media influencer? Look no further but in social media! Join some popular Facebook groups not only about Facebook itself but also Instagram or Twitter to find out about interesting projects that could draw your attention.
- Bloggers groups. For some, this point can make no sense as they don’t regard themselves as bloggers. That is wrong! Join some bloggers groups, for example on Facebook, and look for projects that are focused on social media. Not every blogger has a great social media presence, for many social media profiles still need a lot of improvement. This is a place for you to shine and make a good impression.
- Cold e-mailing. Social media influencers can make a database of agencies and brands and reach them directly with an offer. It works wonders when it can be personalised or if an influencer already knows someone responsible for this kind of contracts – however, then it shouldn’t be called “cold e-mailing”. Remember about preparing a good offer first – without it, you won’t be taken seriously by any brand.
- Recommendations. Maybe someone could recommend you further if they already cooperated with you? Brands trust recommendations and are more likely to spend money on cooperation with someone they know.
- Influencer marketing platforms also offer social media posts that you could put prices on and sell afterwards. You can choose those who are social media oriented or go for general blogging ones. Does it sound interesting? It should, as this is considered as one of the easiest ways of getting your first contract.
What are influencer marketing platforms?
Influencer marketing platforms connect brands, agencies, organisations and individuals with social media influencers and bloggers. This is a win-win collaboration between publishers and advertisers: each of the party fulfils their business needs and ensures the quality of cooperation. Advertisers can find social media influencers for joint activities and verify their statistics within the platform, and publishers can pick projects that could be interesting for them and put offers on the platform with hopes of getting noticed. This can include social media posts, but many social media freaks put other options, even out of social media, here. Both brands and influencers have a lot of choices to go for.
Influencer marketing is in high demand since it is regarded as one of the most cost-effective ways of promoting the brand or idea. Advertisers can gain a lot of valuable social media reach by contracting just a few influencers, instead of making a paid campaign or spending money on an entirely different kind of advertising. It does not come as a surprise in the light of many recent statistics – people rather believe recommendations from peers than adverts in the TV or press, so brands to improve their recognition, decide to hire some influencers. Simple as that!
What social media influencers’ platforms are high-paying?
We would not be surprised if you knew some of those platforms before – they are well-known and used by many social media influencers worldwide. However, we decided to select a few that could offer you good terms of collaboration. Remember not to limit yourself only to one platform – be everywhere, you never know which door your potential client is going to knock!
We hope that you will find our list of social media influencers’ platforms worth checking out, testing out and sharing a message about, too!
- BlogVertise – even if it is more dedicated to content and sponsored articles, also social media influencers will find something for themselves! Influencers are involved in single campaigns or are part of longer, larger projects. Campaigns can be managed on behalf of a brand by BlogVertise crew, or directly by the brand.
- Pressboard collects publishers’ entries as for creating content, also social media content, for a particular project. Influencers need to do their best as brands and agencies have access to tracking and analysing features in real time.
- Whitepress.net is a marketplace where bloggers and social media influencers can offer their services and create own, selling profile. The size of Whitepress’ base is rapidly growing, for now, they have gathered over 10,000 influencers who offer a variety of services. Influencers can update and adjust their offers all the time.
- Indahash is a global solution dedicated to social media influencers, who can sell here their posts’ advertising space, single photos and publication. Influencers can take part in huge campaigns or simply take just a few projects. Indahash has over 2000 collab cases in the portfolio, so the platform is a popular and reliable choice.
- Linkhouse.co gives you an opportunity to add an offer (not only for social media, but it can be a part of the pricing). Even though it gathers mainly websites, for some cases it can also be used by social media influencers for whom the site is a back-up, or they are in progress of creating it. The more information you provide with, the better: Linkhouse delivers to advertisers a lot of data such as keywords, price, links and statistics.
- GroupHigh is one of the best platforms for social media influencers. Why? Influencers provide numerous statistics: the number of followers on social media, authority, traffic, target groups’ details, language, location. GroupHigh requires a lot, but then offers are so personalised that it is hard to reject them!
Any platform can be a high-paying platform if you know your value! There are a lot of social media influencers who underestimate their power and have no clue what the real pricing should be. Take a few factors into account: what is your real reach, what is the demographics of your followers, age groups and location. Calculate not only your overall reach but also identify the best performing posts to know what your offer should include. Make an appealing but short, attractive but concise offer – focus on what you can do and how it is going to be an added value for your followers and a brand. This means more than words or promises you may not deliver. Good luck!