Social media influencers are made, not born. There’s a huge amount of work that goes into becoming a social media influencer; while it may look easy from the outside, the fact is that social media influencers are constantly grinding in order to make their money. Brands must be contacted, profiles must be maintained, and content must be created pretty much constantly in order for any influencer to keep the influence they’ve managed to attain.
Although hard work is always incredibly helpful, it’s also true that successful influencers generally tend towards certain personality traits. Some of these traits are innate, and others can be learned; you can always work towards improving aspects of yourself if you want to become an influencer. WP Dev Shed claims that it can be a lucrative job, but it can also break you down if you’re not the right kind of person. Here are 5 personality traits that make a great social media influencer.
1. Adaptability
Social media changes like the tides. There’s always something new going on with each individual platform; the concept of social media is largely built around trends, which change regularly. As such, a great social media influencer must be adaptable and willing to change their approach in order to amass followers. You can’t simply work at the same thing you’ve been doing for years and expect it to constantly yield results just because it has done in the past.
One way in which social media influencers should be adaptable is in gathering followers. For example, if you want to be a successful influencer, you could consider using services like Free Tik Followers, which will fill your account with organic followers and help you establish yourself as an influencer. Sometimes, the followers just aren’t coming no matter how great your content is, and that’s when you need to be adaptable and consider alternative approaches. Speaking of which…
2. Determination
A great social media influencer must also be determined. Sometimes, you’re going to experience periods of drought, meaning people won’t contact you with work offers and you won’t be able to connect with brands for whatever reason. When this happens, you shouldn’t despair; a brand is looking for the right influencer just like you’re looking for the right brand, so an offer will eventually come along. Determination will help you weather the worry and anxiety you may feel during down time.
You can learn to be determined; it will come with time. At first, you may find it difficult to face periods of uncertainty, but after a while, you’ll come to recognise the peaks and troughs of any self-employed career. Determination means being able to stick with your chosen career path no matter how barren it looks. It also means being able to consistently create content, even if you’re not getting the views or engagement you used to get.
3. People skills
Being an influencer is all about networking. You’ll be creating lots of content, yes, but you’ll also be engaging with people who view your content and want to express opinions about it. You’ll need to be personable and approachable, as well as having thick skin for criticism (more on which later). Being able to talk to your commenters, fellow influencers, and even detractors and find middle ground is what separates great influencers from also-rans.
It’s not just about talking to your following, either. People skills will also help you to establish relationships with brands. While you will primarily be entering into business relationships with businesses, you’ll naturally need to talk to them to find common ground and a “way in” for the campaign, and people skills will help immensely. If you’re not someone who enjoys spending time with others, then being a social media influencer may not be for you.
4. Diligence
As we’ve already established, being a social media influencer can be incredibly hard work. You need to approach your content creation with the same mindset as any job; take it seriously and don’t assume any old half-baked video, post, or tweet will get you engagement. That might work for bigger, more established celebrities, but if you want to establish yourself as an influencer, you’re going to need to give people a reason to follow your content.
In order to effect the diligence you need to be an influencer, we’d recommend drawing up a strict schedule and sticking to it (that is, if you want to take it seriously as a professional, of course). Create content once or twice a day if possible, and if not, make sure your content creation is at least regular. Set aside other parts of the day for working on your branding and image; as an influencer, your branding is just as important as it would be if you were a business owner.
5. Resilience
Our final personality trait – but far from the last one you’ll need to be a great influencer – is resilience. You’re putting yourself out there and on display for everyone to look at and potentially criticise. As such, you’re going to need a thick skin in order to resist criticism. Sometimes, people will say particularly nasty things about you online; they might flood your comments section with hurtful remarks, but you’ll need to be able to rise above that in order to achieve success.
Of course, that’s not to say you should simply stand by and let yourself be trolled. In most cases, your following will come to your defence, but if they don’t, you need to stand up for yourself. You’ll need the skill to do so without coming across as entitled or overly defensive; simply state your piece and move on. Doing so will deny your trolls ammunition and will give you the confidence you need to get through your life as an influencer.
