How to Become an Influencer (And Get Paid) in 2024

Influencers are social media stars who get paid by brands to use their visibility to promote certain products or services to their followers. While there are many different tiers and types of influencers, the base requirement for being an influencer is having a well-established presence and high follower count on one or more social media platforms.

Successful influencers typically post interesting and/or informative content and engage with their followers on social media to garner a large and loyal audience. They can post about anything—from stock market insights to daily life on a farm.

The products and services that influencers promote are often related to their niche. For example, if you regularly post about food, you may become a food influencer, partnering with food brands and introducing their products to your followers.

How many followers do you need to be an influencer?

While there’s no hard and fast rule specifying the number of followers you need to qualify as an influencer, the minimum threshold most people agree on is at least 1,000 followers. From there, influencers are ranked into different levels according to the size of their following.

Your title and status as an influencer depends on which of the five main tiers you fall into:

• Nano-influencers: 1,000–10,000 followers
• Micro-influencers: 10,000–50,000 followers
• Mid-tier influencers: 50,000–500,000 followers
• Macro-influencers: 500,000–1,000,000 followers
• Mega influencers: Over 1,000,000 followers

The number of followers you have will impact your earning potential as an influencer in a pretty predictable way. Brands are willing to pay mega influencers much more money than micro-influencers because they offer a broader reach.

With that said, you don’t necessarily need to already be well-known to become an influencer. Even if you’re completely new to social media, it’s possible to create an account and start building a social media following from scratch.

Social media influencers get paid by brands to promote their products. Once you’ve established a strong enough following among a particular audience, brands may start reaching out to you with influencer marketing opportunities.

As an influencer, you’ll get paid for producing sponsored content on a user-generated content platform. This happens when you have a large enough fan base in a particular market that brands are willing to pay you to give them exposure to your audience.

Some influencers also monetize their social media channels in other ways, such as selling their own products or services, running ads, or using affiliate marketing. However, these are content monetization strategies that go beyond the definition of what it means to be an influencer.

How much do influencers get paid?

There’s no limit to how much you can earn as an influencer. As a realistic estimate, an influencer can make anything in the range of $100–$10,000+ per post during a collaboration.

Social media influencer Kody Desmond told us that you can realistically earn anywhere from $500 to $50,000 per month, depending on how many followers you have and your engagement levels. He currently has 750,000 followers across all his active platforms, and he earns anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 per post.

These figures may seem high, but they only reflect the potential earnings of regular influencers. High-profile celebrities are estimated to earn millions of dollars for a single sponsored post.

Your income potential as an influencer will mainly depend on the following factors:

• Niche
• Reputation
• Platform
• Audience size
• Engagement rate
• Content quality
• Negotiation skills

Certain niches and brand collaborations are more profitable than others, and each platform has its own monetization potential. The bottom line is that the more people who engage with your content and the more skilled you are in negotiating deals, the more you’ll earn.

Becoming an influencer isn’t just about racking up a high follower count. To land brand collaborations and make money, you need to take the right steps from the very beginning.

1. Hone in on one theme or focus

Assuming you aren’t already a celebrity, it’ll be pretty tough to become an influencer by simply posting whatever’s on your mind. A much more efficient strategy is to build a cohesive and well-thought-out brand identity and then use that to guide your social media activity.

“I value fitness, beauty, makeup and fashion,” Desmond told us. He claims that it was honing in on these core four themes that caused him to blow up on TikTok initially.

Start by thinking about what you’re most passionate or knowledgeable about and the qualities that make you stand out. Pinpoint some influencers you follow or aspire to be like, and take a look at their posting history and how their page comes together as a whole. This will help you get a sense of how you can do the same.

Ideally, you should build on your current interests or skills. If you’re a parent who posts a lot about your family, lean into that. If you’re a therapist, you could center your profile around mental health. If you’re unsure where to start, hop on social media to see which topics are trending.

2. Choose a social media platform

You can certainly be active across all social media platforms, but it’s advisable to pick one primary channel to build on. Once you’ve established a solid following there, you can gradually expand your reach on other platforms.

Your niche and target audience will play a crucial role in helping you pick a primary platform. Factors to consider include the content format that best suits your topics and the popularity of different platforms among your target audience.

Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are well suited to posting videos, whereas LinkedIn is the right choice if you’re building a reputation based on your professional experience or credentials. Twitter, on the other hand, is the go-to platform for quick opinions or updates.

Top Influencer Social Media Platforms

3. Learn about your audience

The bottom line is that the brands you partner with are most concerned with your audience—namely who they are, what they want, and your relationship to them. You’re the middleman helping them advertise to that community. For this reason, having a well-defined audience that businesses care about is absolutely essential.

Choosing a niche and platform should give you some idea of who your target audience is. Think about their demographic and socioeconomic factors, such as age, gender, location, profession, hobbies, interests, values, and beliefs. These factors will help you make more informed decisions about how to engage with your audience and attract new followers.

Most major social media platforms offer built-in analytics tools for tracking your performance and gathering audience data. Take advantage of these offerings. Pay close attention to what’s leading to the most engagement among particular users, and use this knowledge to inform your strategy.

4. Develop a content strategy

Developing a content strategy tailored to your niche, target audience, and social media platforms is crucial to your success. It serves as a roadmap for you to follow as you build your social media empire and achieve your objectives.

A good content strategy should lay out key information, such as content types, distribution channels, publishing schedules, marketing strategies, performance assessment methods, and timelines for different goals.

At this stage, you should also consider certain details that shape your content and overall personal brand, including the tone, theme, and key messages of your posts. This information ensures your profile remains cohesive and consistent throughout.

Remember that your content strategy isn’t a fixed plan. You can and should make adjustments to it as you execute your initial strategy. Successful influencers excel in adapting to changes and learning from their mistakes.

5. Optimize your online presence

The final step in preparing for an influencer career is optimizing your social media profiles. If you’re building off of an existing profile, start there. Add relevant keywords, hashtags, pictures, and descriptions, and delete old, irrelevant posts from your accounts that don’t match your brand identity.

Next, do the same with your other social media accounts. Giving your other profiles some love will strengthen your main account and improve your searchability. You can link to your primary social media account from all of your profiles, driving traffic to your main platform.

Although not essential, you can also strengthen your online presence by creating your own website. Your website can serve as a comprehensive hub where followers and brands can learn more about who you are and discover other projects you’re working on.

You can’t become an influencer overnight, but there are a few shortcuts and hacks that’ll help you build your following fast and situate yourself as a prime candidate for brand collaborations.

Follow the trends

Social media is a constantly changing landscape. It’s this turbulence that can either destroy or make your influencer career.

“If you want to grow your following fast, the number one rule is following trends that are recent and doing well at the moment,” Desmond said. You should be actively consuming content as well as creating it. Additionally, pay close attention to hot topics, breaking news, and market changes in your niche.

Post regularly and consistently

“Another key opponent to growing your following on social media is consistently posting every day and also putting out quality content that your followers would enjoy,” Desmond told us. To attract followers and keep them engaged, you need to stay on a consistent posting schedule.

Knowing when to expect the next post builds anticipation among your followers and makes them more likely to stick around. However, finding your posting pace can be tricky at first.

You don’t want to sacrifice the quality of your content just to be reliable and on schedule. Preparing a backlog of posts that would work on any occasion is a good way to fill in any gaps when things slow down.

When you develop a posting schedule, consider which days of the week and times of the day work best for yourself and your audience. You’ll likely have to experiment with different posting times and frequencies to find the sweet spot.

Don’t go overboard with sponsored posts

Be sure to balance the amount of promotional content and non-promotional content you post. Publishing too much of either can cause you to lose followers or lose out on potential earnings. Additionally, try to add value to any promotional content on your account so as not to alienate your audience.

Interact with your followers

As you generate content, you should simultaneously strategize ways to grow your audience and network. One of the best ways to increase engagement and attract new followers is to show them you care by building a two-way connection.

There are many ways to engage with your followers. You can respond to their comments and messages, include shout-outs to loyal followers, leverage interactive media like quizzes and polls, and ask for feedback. You could also host Q&As and livestreams to interact with your audience directly in real time.

According to Desmond, your income depends more on engagement levels than on how many followers you have. “Engagement is a huge part of social media,” he said, adding that there are plenty of influencers out there who have a massive following but less than 25% of their followers engaging with their content. Interacting with your followers is one of the best ways to keep them engaged.

Keep it real

One of Desmond’s top tips for success as an influencer is “being yourself and putting out fun content that shows off your personality to your followers.” Authenticity builds trust, which will make you more attractive to brands.

“It helps create a bond with them and makes them feel more like family instead of a fan on social media,” Desmond added. Don’t be afraid to showcase your personality and share your genuine thoughts, even if they go against the grain. They may be the very factors that attract your followers.

Build an influencer media kit

An influencer media kit is essentially a digital resume for influencers. You can host it on your website or send it to brands when pitching a collaboration.

This isn’t a strict requirement, and it’s something you’ll only need to start thinking about once you’ve established yourself as a nano-influencer or micro-influencer. Nevertheless, creating an influencer media kit will help you look professional and attract attention from the right brands.

All you need to do is create a slideshow or PDF showcasing your key influencer qualifications—including your follower counts, strengths, and performance stats. The idea is to demonstrate why a brand might want to work with you.

Network with other influencers

Networking with your fellow influencers is just as important as engaging with your audience. It’s a gateway to expanding your reach and opening doors to new opportunities, such as cross-promotion campaigns.

Reach out to influencers you admire in your niche or a related area and ask whether they’d be interested in collaborating with you. For example, if you’re a makeup influencer, you could collaborate with a hair or skincare influencer. If you’re a fitness influencer, you could pair up with a nutrition influencer.

Pitch to brands directly

Rather than waiting for brands to come to you, you can create opportunities for yourself by pitching collaboration ideas to different companies. When picking brands to work with, consider whether their products or services will interest your audience and research whether their values and beliefs align with yours.

Desmond has completed over 15 paid collaborations with beauty, makeup, fashion, and athletics brands, and he says he mostly pitches to brands he knows well and already really likes. “I like to partner with brands that align with my online and social media presence,” he said.

If you’ve used the products you’re promoting and you’ve had good experiences with them, then your sponsored posts will come across as more authentic, you’ll create more useful and informed content, and it’ll be easier to retain the trust of your followers.

“My go to strategy for pitching to brands is to relate with their products,” Desmond said. Make it clear that you’ve used their products before and that you have positive personal experiences that will help you recommend them to your audience.

Use performance analysis tools

There’s always room for improvement with almost everything we do, and this holds true for growing as an influencer. To identify how to optimize your strategy and reach higher levels of success, you need to regularly assess your performance every step of the way.

You can do so by setting measurable goals and writing key performance indicators (KPIs) for your business. For instance, you may set out to hit specific follower counts and engagement rates by the end of each month.

These data points are useful benchmarks for evaluating the effectiveness of your current strategies. You can track and analyze these metrics with free analytics tools offered by social media platforms or use paid third-party analytics services, which can be more comprehensive.

Adjust your strategy when necessary

After evaluating and tracking your progress, adjust your strategies according to the outcomes. Don’t hesitate to consult your peers or professionals if you’ve hit a wall and need guidance. You can even consider taking online courses or attending workshops to up your game.

Lastly, take your audience’s constructive feedback seriously and be adaptive to their ever-evolving preferences. After all, loyal audience support is the cornerstone of a successful career as an influencer.

Being an influencer can be a rewarding and lucrative side hustle if you have dedication and are willing to put in hard work. Below are some of the main reasons why people choose to become an influencer:

• Low entry barrier: You don’t need previous experience or a lot of capital to get started. Any ambitious person with a cell phone and internet access has the potential to become a successful influencer.
• Income potential: There’s no ceiling to how much an influencer can make. You can earn anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars per collaboration.
• Flexible schedule: As an influencer, you can create a schedule that accommodates your other commitments and work whenever and wherever you like.
• Pathway to other opportunities: Making a name for yourself often leads to other, unexpected business ventures and exciting money-making opportunities.
• Creative expression: Creating content lets you share your passion and showcase your personality.
• Fame: The idea of becoming an online celebrity is a huge appeal for many aspiring influencers. Social media offers a rare opportunity for ordinary people to reach celebrity status.

Factors to consider before pursuing life as an influencer

Despite the many benefits of an influencer career, there are several notable drawbacks. “Becoming an influencer on social media comes with a lot of different struggles that can bring you down but also lift you up in so many ways,” Desmond told us.

For starters, there’s a huge amount of pressure to perform and keep posting. Taking breaks can hurt your stats and make it harder to win collaborations. You’ll also lack job security.

Social pressure and criticism

There are downsides that come with online fame. Being the center of the public’s attention can be fun and even thrilling at times, but it also leaves you open to scrutiny and criticism.

“My mental health has taken a hit over the past couple of years,” Desmond said. “You start to overthink a lot more if you look good enough to go out or you are scared people are going to judge you over what you are wearing.”

Desmond noted that early on, some of his peers would put him down and tell him he wasn’t good enough and that he was wasting his time. When your livelihood depends on public opinion, it’s hard not to let the negative comments get to you.

Safety risks

Being an influencer robs you of some of your privacy. In extreme cases, this can pose some safety risks if you’re not careful.

There have been numerous reports worldwide of influencers being harassed or even attacked. While these cases are rare, it’s crucial to take adequate precautions to protect yourself, such as refraining from sharing contact information or details about where you live or places you frequent.

As long as you understand these risks and follow best practices, there’s plenty of potential to start a lucrative and rewarding career working as an influencer.