Want to work less, but make more? Of course you do. Building up your personal brand and your authority in your industry is one way to do that. As an industry influencer, you’re valued for your experience, opinions, and advice, not just your deliverables. You’ll get in front of more clients, land bigger accounts, and turn your opinions into profits.
But becoming an influencer in your industry isn’t always easy. You need to have the tools and strategies to make your life easier—and differentiate you from the crowd.
Tip #1: Get the Right Tools
Between blogging, making videos, and posting it all to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, it can be hard to keep up with the schedule of a successful influencer. But they have a secret—they don’t do it all themselves.
Influencer pros use tools like BuzzSumo, Answer the Public, and Hashtagify to choose the topics that people most want to hear about—and perfect their hashtags. They use a social media management platform like Hootsuite to schedule posts weeks ahead of time and track their results. They always know their Klout score, and use that platform to connect with other influencers, too.
Tip #2: Post Blogs and Video
If you want to become an industry influencer, you need a blog—period. It’s the easiest way to get started, incorporate organic marketing best practices, and drive traffic to your website. Don’t stop at blog posts, though. Video content is in high demand: 54% of consumers want more video content from brands they support.
Create a video based on your blog, discussing the top three or five main points. Make it less than 10 minutes long, so you can post it on the main social media channels. (Sidenote: Twitter limits videos to 60 seconds. Create a cropped version and point viewers back to the full video.) Start with YouTube—no matter your industry, this is a valuable channel.
Tip #3: Find Your Own Voice
There’s a lot of content out there. What makes yours so special? This is a question you better be prepared to answer if you want to become an influencer in your industry. Everyone has unique experiences and perspectives that they can turn into a niche—like B2B marketing for startups, or freelancing as a single mom. Discover yours.
Important: Have an opinion—especially one that goes against the grain. If everyone in your industry thinks chatbots are the next big thing, find a unique angle. Better yet, create a post about “Five Tools That Are Better Than Chatbots.” People love controversy.
Tip #4: Use Unconventional Channels
Depending on your audience, you might want to create profiles on sites like TikTok or Twitch, a video-streaming platform, in addition to the five usual suspects. Don’t stop at social media. Answer user questions on forum sites like Quora, and your answer just might show up in the Google answer box.
Another great way to get your name out there is Help a Reporter Out (HARO). Sign up on the website and choose your areas of expertise. You’ll receive emails with questions from reporters. Send back your answers—as quickly as you can—and your quote could be featured in industry publications. You’ve never looked more professional.
Tip #5: Educate Others
Top influencers aren’t content to sit behind their computers. They network at conferences and give presentations to others in their industry. They create and host webinars—then repurpose that content as a downloadable offer to drive traffic. They send out press releases that relate their business to wider industry trends.
Perfect your speaking skills and go on podcasts and radio shows to share your knowledge. It’s not a completely selfless strategy—you then invite the person on your show, increasing your authority. Dream big: the top industry influencers are authors, speakers, and all-around leaders.
Ready to Get Started?
With compelling content and the right strategy, becoming an influencer in any industry is possible. These five tips can make your journey a little easier. Want more? Check out my blog and video on the One Trick to Become an Influencer with Minimal Effort. Then put yourself out there and start creating content.
John Lincoln (MBA) is CEO of Ignite Visibility (a 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Inc. 5000 company) a highly sought-after digital marketing strategist, industry speaker and winner of the coveted Search Engine Land “Search Marketer of the Year” award.
