The life of a social media influencer can look, well, easy. That’s because our favorite influencers are amazing at their jobs––selling us an attractive lifestyle. The reality, being an influencer is a high-wire act in public relations, content creation, sales, brand management, and more.
Here’s the top 5 skills you’ll need to be a social media influencer–
Communication Skills
No surprise––social media is a communication platform offering fans of influencers a direct channel to their DMs. Some of the best influencers know how to keep the conversation going through the use well-timed humor, empathy, anger, and sincerity. Get it wrong and the backlash can be swift. Take Drew Barrymore as a recent example. She issued a tearful apology after receiving backlash for her plan to override the work of the writer’s strike. But people weren’t having it. She has since deleted the video.
Creativity
The expiration date for internet ideas is rapid. Remember the salad cat meme? Sigh. We miss salad cat. To keep up with the feeds of your followers, you’ll need to always be on, regularly dishing out fresh new content to keep your fans entertained. And when an idea fails to spark ‘shares’ and ‘likes,’ you’ll need to have the creative insight to bounce back and learn from your miss.
Time Management
The idea of managing time can sound a bit like controlling gravity–impossible. It’s not like you can “Marty McFly” it on the job. But you can plan your social media calendar in advance, establish clear goals, and keep clear boundaries. When you’re a social media influencer, these skills are essential to warding off burnout, a serious hazard to the job. According to a survey by Awin and ShareASale, 80% of creators suffer burnout.
Data Analysis
Remember when you told your high school math teacher you won’t need any of her stupid lessons because you’re going to have 450 million followers on Instagram? Better work on that apology letter. Social media influencers are also marketers. And marketers rely heavily on data analysis. That is, using engagement rates combined with predictive analytics to determine the best time to post, what content to share, and more. As you get bigger, you’ll want to use this information to convince sponsors on your charge rates for specific content.
Brand Management
As a social media influencer, you are the brand. If you go off-brand, you’ll risk losing followers, sponsors, or worse, complete cancellation. For example, you can’t be a vegan cosmetic influencer and be seen at a trendy new hot-chicken popup. Aside from managing your own brand, if you get big enough, you’ll also be responsible for managing your relationship with partner brands. Remember the fiasco from the influencers who visited the Shein clothing company? It did not go well.
Yes, being a social media influencer is a job. An extremely busy, difficult one at that. But you’re smart, funny, kind, and likable. You totally have this in the bag. But don’t forget to send your apology letter to your math teacher and brush up on brand management skills.
