Note: This blog post is a sponsored conversation written by Lynn Smythe, the Founder and Chief Blogger for The Creative Cottage lifestyle blog. The opinions, thoughts, ideas and text are all mine.
Influencer marketing has been trending for the past few years and it looks like it’s going to continue going strong in 2021 and beyond. As more brands show interest in UGC (User Generated Content) to help promote their products and services, they will need to allocate a certain amount of their marketing budget for working with influencers.
Have you ever thought about getting started as a social media influencer by starting your own blog or posting your first Tik Tok video? Congratulations if you said yes – that’s awesome! But, exactly how do you go about monetizing your blog or social media channels?
Influencer Outreach Services
I highly recommend working with an outreach service to help you connect with brands and get free products or cash money to test and review their products and services. Once you research and find an influencer network you are interested in joining, you fill out a profile with your interests, blog URL (if you have one) and links to all your social media profiles.
Brands that are potentially interested in working with you will take a look at your statistics (number of followers, fans, subscribers) and send you opportunities to work with them. Or, you can express your interest in working on a specific marketing campaign by pitching the brand you want to work with. This entails sending them information on exactly what services you will provide (1 blog post, 2 to 3 social media posts, etc.) in exchange for either free product or monetary sponsorship.
From Freelancer to Micro-Influencer
One of the outreach services I work with posts video interviews featuring their top influencers. As an avid cyclist, runner, and triathlete, I was especially interested in one of their Influencer Spotlight videos on Jessica Strange. Jessica lives in the United Kingdom and is a mountain biker (MTB), trail runner, writer, and founder of the Velo Me blog website. Her blog focuses on outdoor adventures with an emphasis on MTB. She also has serious street cred as a Staff Writer and Editor for the online magazine Total Women’s Cycling.
When asked about how she felt about being a popular influencer and acting as a role model for women she mentioned how she enjoyed going through comments and discovering how she’s helped her readers find the perfect piece of gear or kit after reading one of her reviews.
I can totally relate, a few years back before influencer marketing was really a thing, I started the Bike Diva blog. I’m not sure how it even happened but I slowly started collecting bikes and doing a few events. I started off with a beach cruiser, then my ex-husband and I signed up for our first-century bike ride (100 miles) to help raise funds for a national non-profit. Then I ended up with a road bike, a cyclocross bike, and finally a triathlon racing bike.
Bike – Bikes – Bikes everywhere. Since my day job was “Freelance Writer” I started writing about my training, my races, product reviews, and more and slowly started getting a small but dedicated following. It wasn’t long before my inbox started filling up with “are you interested in reviewing our gear on your blog” requests. It was kind of cool getting free gear such as water bottles, tires, cycling shoes, clothing, gear, etc.
I was ahead of the time and did most of those reviews for “free” in exchange for cool products. After a couple of years, I ended up getting divorced, ended up getting a full-time in-house position, and no longer had the time to devote to the blog. I kind of wish I still had the BIke Diva blog but I didn’t have a crystal ball back then so no use crying over spilled milk, blah – blah – blah.
Fast forward a couple of years and blogging, product reviews and influencer marketing really took off. I started reading stories of people actually making a full-time living doing what I used to do. I’m still working full-time, in-house as a Content Manager and only have limited time to spend on blogging but I decided to throw my hat back into the ring.
Getting Started as an Influencer
I am the Founder and Chief Blogger of The Creative Cottage lifestyle blog. I write about just about everything but Home & Garden, Food & Drink and Health & Wellness are probably my most popular topics. From my past experience, I knew this time around I would actually try and monetize the blog ASAP.
Are you still with me and curious about how to go about getting started as an influencer? The first step I recommend is to build an online following – either by starting your own blog or picking one or two social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest and building a following.
Since most of my day jobs have been as a freelance writer, content writer, or SEO copywriter, I went the blog route as I briefly detailed earlier. Whenever I publish a new blog, I also share it on my social media sites to help promote my latest post.
Then once you’ve been blogging for awhile the magic should start to happen:
- You’ll start getting unsolicited emails from companies wanting you to promote their brand, service, or product
- You can start reaching out to your favorite brands to see if they will send you free products in exchange for a review on your blog or social media site
- You research the top influencer communities, such as Intellifluence, to join and if accepted, apply to campaigns you’re interested in
My number one piece of advice? Here’s where I sound like a Field of Dreams cliche: Don’t give up! Just because you build it doesn’t mean they will come. There is so much noise, competition, and other influencers to compete with that you can’t expect your new blog or social media site to take off overnight.
Network-network-network with other bloggers and influencers and read their tips, suggestions and advice on how they got started. Blog or post on a regular basis, investigate guest post opportunities and work on growing your friends, fans and followers.
I am more of a micro-influencer. While I don’t have a ton of followers I do get my name out there on Pinterest, Facebook, etc. and I’m also a Contributing Writer on Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global website devoted to health and wellness.
So, pick your favorite topic (or two) and start creating great, informative, interesting content and you’ll be good to go!
Influencer Data Trends for 2021 and Beyond
Are you wondering what’s next for influencer marketing? Here are a few trends that are expected to hit big as we roll into 2021 and beyond:
- The rise of micro-influencers
- A focus on performance marketing
- Creating real content
- Increased demand for video content
- Continued popularity of social media platforms
Although the one and done approach can work, I highly recommend focusing on finding long-term partnership influencer opportunities, instead of single campaigns. This is a great opportunity to publish a series of blogs or social media posts while generating more content and building your audience of followers, likes, comments, etc.
As influencer marketing continues to change, it’s important to stay on top of current trends such as Tik Tok, especially when it comes to social media.
Let’s Keep in Touch
Do you have any tips or tricks you’d like to share? Leave a comment on this post or shoot me an email: info@thecreativecottage.net and I just might feature your story in a future blog post.
Take care,
Lynn Smythe
Founder and Chief Blogger
The Creative Cottage
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