Since the rise of social media, there has been a new wave of online celebrities known as influencers.
The term ‘influencer’ describes a content creator who has built a decent following on social media. This person has authority in a specific industry and they have a strong influence over their audience’s buying decisions.
When an influencer shares a product on their social media channels, their followers are more likely to purchase the product based on their favorite influencer’s recommendations.
Influencers can be split into three categories - macro, micro, and nano. Those who have fewer than 10,000 followers are known as nanoinfluencers.
Although there was once a time that nanoinfluencers struggled to make money through social media, this is no longer the case. Despite having a relatively low number of followers, you can make a lot of money as a nanoinfluencer. Over the past years, brands have started to lean towards nano influencers due to their great engagement rates.
Here are some of the top ways to make money if you’re a nanoinfluencer with fewer than 10,000 followers.
Define Your Niche
The first step to becoming a successful nanoinfluencer is defining your niche. This involves choosing a specific industry to create content around and it needs to be an industry that you love. One that could easily talk about for years to come.
What are your passions? What could you easily create great content about on a regular basis? What brands do you regularly buy from?
Defining your niche is important because brands will be searching for nanoinfluencers that create content within their niche. Brands will want to partner up with you for their paid marketing campaigns when they see that you regularly post high-quality content that is relevant to their brand.
Focus On Storytelling
Storytelling is vital to your social media channels. It allows your followers to resonate with who you are and what you stand for.
Through your content, you should try to connect with your audience and share parts of your personal life. Allow your followers to come along your social media journey with you.
When your audience feels like they are a key part of your life, they will be more loyal and you will find it much easier to gain a significant following.
Consistently Post High-Quality Content
Consistency really is key when it comes to growing your following and being noticed by brands. This doesn’t mean that you need to post every single day, but try to follow a regular schedule with your posts.
When you consistently show up for your audience and post valuable content, your followers are more likely to stick around. It builds trust in your audience and enables you to build authority on each social media platform. A trusting audience is more likely to buy products that you recommend, and this is key to being successful as a nanoinfluencer.
When you create high-quality content, it will capture the attention of brands within your niche. These brands may then reach out to you and offer a paid partnership.
You don’t need to be a photography expert to post high-quality photos. Just make sure the lighting is bright, the photos are clear, and your backgrounds and clutter-free.
Reach Out to Brands
When you’ve built up a small audience and you’ve established a regular posting routine, it’s time to start reaching out to brands.
Ideally, you should have a great engagement rate on your posts (lots of likes, comments, and shares). Brands search for nanoinfluencers with high engagement rates as this indicates a loyal and trusting audience.
At this point, you can start formulating a pitch that you will send to different brands. The brands you reach out to need to be within your niche and they should be brands that you genuinely love.
Your pitch should be friendly, yet informative. Tell the brand that you love about them and why you want to partner up with them on their next campaign. You should also send over your top performing posts as well as the rates that you charge per post or story.
Once you’ve participated in a few different paid campaigns, you can include these in your pitch as examples when you are reaching out to new brands.
If one campaign was particularly successful and lots of your followers bought a brand’s products based on your personal recommendation, make sure to include this in your pitch.
You may need to negotiate your rates with the brand depending on their budget. Make sure that you don’t undercharge and don’t feel pressured to lower your price!
