Yes, you read that right. While you may not realize it the first time you go viral, building a social media empire is building a business and a brand. In a world run by Reels, Shorts, and TikToks, personality isn’t just a commodity – it’s a product that you’re actively marketing to the world wide web.
As your community grows, so do your responsibilities. In addition to content creation and marketing, you’ll be tasked with managing your newfound income, establishing brand partnerships, and diversifying your income streams through new ventures (creating a product line, etc…).
In the wild west of the world wide web, what sort of influencer consulting services exist? What exactly should you be looking for in a consultant when it comes time to scale your brand?
Your Brand is Your Business
Let’s break it down a little further to better understand how being an influencer runs in parallel with being a business owner or entrepreneur.
- Products/Services: All businesses exist to either sell a product or a service. Your product is your content. Your services are what people derive from your content – be it education or entertainment.
- Target Demographic: Businesses typically have a defined customer profile they’re actively marketing their products or services to. Your target demographic is built organically through your audience – your viewers and followers. Most social media platforms have in-depth creator analytics where you can learn more about your audience’s demographic information (their age range, gender, location, etc…).
- Revenue: Just like a business, you may have several different revenue streams, including advertisements, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing. Perhaps you also have a physical or digital product you sell to your audience, as well.
- Operations: Your day-to-day operations include content creation, community management/engagement, partnership negotiations, and market research (viewing other videos online to analyze current trends).
The Challenges of Being an Influencer
Dealing with internet trolls isn’t the only hard part of being an influencer. Believe it or not, the challenges of being an influencer mirror those of running a small business.
- Competition: With over 200 million content creators worldwide, you’re tasked with standing out and differentiating your content in a pretty saturated market.
- Financial Management: Budgeting, taxes, and financial planning can be overwhelming – especially as your online income continues to grow.
- Scaling and Growth: Scaling your channel is an arduous process. As your audience continues to grow, you’re faced with figuring out how to keep expanding without sacrificing your authenticity.
- Staying Relevant: With microtrends and popular audios changing every other week, you need enough foresight to stay ahead of the curve and keep your videos relevant.
What to Look for in Influencer Consulting Services
While being an influencer is very similar to running a business, there are still many nuances that are unique to being a successful content creator. Thus, when seeking out influencer consulting services, it’s imperative to find someone with enough expertise to tow both sides of the line.
Trust, agility, and experience within both the business and the online realm are key.
As for specific services, here are a few you should keep in mind when seeking outside expertise on your influencer endeavors:
- Business Planning: While you’re refining what your content calendar is going to look like for the next week or two, find an expert who can craft you a strategic business development roadmap for upcoming quarters.
- Operations: Being a one man show isn’t easy, nor is it efficient. Find an expert who can streamline your operations and help with the heavy lift.
- Growth Strategy: Forecasting for the future isn’t as easy as peering into a crystal ball for the answers. But a seasoned strategist can help guide you through what your next major moves should be as an influencer.
- Financial Management: That first big paycheck from social media is an incredibly exciting and significant milestone. But it’s important to find someone who has your financial best interest at heart to help you navigate budgeting, investing in your business, and setting aside a salary for yourself.
- Data Analysis: As an influencer, you are sitting on a treasure trove of data. But if you’re not sure how to utilize it effectively, it loses all the potential it holds in helping you grow. Find someone with a strong background in data and analytics to help you better understand your audience and how to tailor your content towards them.
- Website Development: When you’re broadcasting yourself across the internet on several different platforms, a website might feel moot. But a website is essential to establishing your brand credibility and showcasing your expertise. Your website also acts as a platform where potential business partners can connect with you. Find someone with a strong website development background to create a site that embodies what your brand is all about.
- Search Engine Optimization: In addition to website development, search engine optimization (SEO) is also incredibly important to ensure you’re appearing on the first few pages of your audience’s online searches.
Influencer Consulting Services Are Essential to Scaling
Whether you realize it or not, being an influencer is just another form of being an entrepreneur. It takes dedication, innovation, and creativity to cultivate and grow your online audience.
But it takes a village to maintain that level of success, especially in the competitive social media landscape. Seeking out influencer consulting services can maximize your potential.
Ready to take that next big step together? Contact us or schedule a free 30-minute consultation with iCre8Solutions.