Being an influencer on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn isn't easy. It takes years of learning the social platform(s), producing valuable content that stands out, promoting yourself to a larger audience, and interacting with your followers. Even when you have achieved influencer status, it can be very difficult to keep that influencer status while staying profitable over multiple years. So much changes on a yearly, monthly, or even weekly basis on social media and Google so you have to stay on top of your game. Here are 3 mistakes that I want you to avoid making so you can continue to thrive as a social media influencer making the big bucks long term.
1) Taking Social Influencer Status For Granted
The biggest mistake I've ever made as an influencer was taking my social platforms and influencer status for granted. When you diversify your focus too much, stop grinding daily, become too busy to reply to your followers, and don't follow the nuanced changes in social media platforms... then you inevitably start to fall behind. There are countless people out there hustling to be the next top YouTube Creator or Instagram influencer that will devote all of their energy to being the next big thing and taking your place.
Enjoy the organic traffic on all platforms while you can because it is fleeting on all platforms just like it did from Facebook! It happened on Twitter and LinkedIn years ago and now it's happening on Instagram and YouTube. Strike now while the iron is hot and don't assume you'll get the same organic reach again tomorrow.
2) Not Being Selective With Paid Product Placements
The mistake I've made as an influencer involves accepting paid product mentions, reviews, and endorsements too soon. If you try and monetize your influencer status too early by peddling products (or pushing too many annoying ads) that don't fit with your brand, then you will lose a lot of credibility and followers. In the long run it could even cost you more lucrative opportunities with much bigger brands. While we all want to cash in on our influencer status, if you do it too soon or in the wrong way it will harm your reputation. It's great to build up a portfolio of sponsored content and earn a little money to invest in your online empire, but only select opportunities that will enhance your brand and not detract from it.
3) Not Diversifying Revenue Streams
I cringe whenever I see influencers, even the very successful ones, depend solely on a single source of revenue. For years I've seen this take the form of YouTube Partners that only made their money from YouTube ads and maybe T-shirt sales from Spreadshirt. What happens when your RPM (earnings per 1,000 views / impressions) starts to dip down due to market crowding or reduced ad spend from advertisers? Bloggers have made the same mistake depending on AdSense and other premium ad networks for consistent revenue. Instagram influencers usually do paid product promotion as their only source of revenue, but what happens when those offers start drying up or decreasing in value? You have to find other ways to earn revenue and continue monetizing your influencer status.
Conclusion
If you are a social media industry influencer or aspire to be one, make sure you work strategically towards monetizing your status in the long term. Keep in mind a variety of scenarios that could play out and don't take the opportunity for granted.
I hope you enjoyed this article about major mistakes to avoid when you are marketing yourself as an influencer on social media.
Interested in more articles about influencer marketing?
Read My Posts:
- Market Bigger & Lower Budgets With Micro-Influencers
- How To Grow Your Online Audience Long Term
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