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6 Ways to Make Money as a Social Media Influencer

Hidden marketing is a relatively new service on the internet. The so-called influencers are engaged in the hidden promotion of a product, service, company, or personal brand in the network, appearing to be ordinary consumers. Their messages do not contain primitive spam; information comes in an unobtrusive hidden form. To this end, influencers lead dialogue, exchange views, give recommendations, and provide reviews in various forums and social networks. The main difference of this service from others is the free discussion of the promoted object with potential and active consumers.

We have found several ways which social media influencers can earn money.

Podcasting

With the help of podcasts, you can earn indirectly and directly. The simplest way is to earn indirectly. Your podcasts can be a tool for promoting existing products, advertising new ones, and conducting interviews with famous personalities who are interesting for your target market. If you do everything right, all this informational activity around the interests of your audience will naturally lead to a discussion and promotion of the products. This will increase sales, as well as create opportunities for consulting, live performances, partnerships, and even paid sponsorship.

Webinars

Paid online events allow you to showcase your product to users, and to share any valuable knowledge or skills. In this case, you can independently set prices for attending your conferences, create a series of trainings, and provide private events that will be of interest to your visitors.

If you do not have your own product or service, but there is great desire to make money on webinars, there are other options. Many are willing to pay for the development of original and interesting scenarios, for attracting potential participants and traffic, as well as for the ability to be a public speaker. All this you can discuss directly with the management of the company, which will hold online events and gauge interest in your services.

Brand Ambassador

In contrast to the simple promotion of goods or services, the brand ambassador becomes tightly integrated into the positioning and value system of the brand in order to establish emotional contact with consumers. But this kind of promotion also has a downside – working in close relationship, both the brand and the influencer begin to influence each other, and the negative reputation of one can have a direct impact on the other.

Let's recall the case of interaction between the singer Alicia Keys and the manufacturer of Blackberry smartphones. A few years ago, the singer became a brand ambassador and even got a position in the company – as a global creative director – where she was responsible for promoting the brand. Blackberry's press release proudly said that Keys will “inspire the future” of the company. However, the popular singer didn't hurry to promote the dying brand, and even tweets in favor of Blackberry were written by the singer from her iPhone. Needless to say that such cooperation lasted less than a year.

Affiliate Marketing

For e-commerce owners, it's hard to ignore the power of affiliate marketing. The sale of goods or services to a client by an intermediary is not an obligatory goal of affiliate marketing. Frequently, the essence of customer and contractor relations is only the provision of informational services for attracting potential customers, informing them, and drawing customers' marketing attention. Remuneration for marketing services provided between the customer of the services and the contractor usually implies the cost-per-action (CPA) model – payment per action of the client attracted by the influencer.

Creative Copywriting

Creative copywriting is a costly art to sell using extraordinary methods. How is creative copywriting different from standard copywriting? It demands an unusual vision for the problem, lacks the use of stereotypes and cliches, and utilizes unusual words and sometimes a sarcastic component. To make the text sell, the client's business and its competitors must be studied, and strengths identified. For example, if the goal of your creative copywriting is to promote a specific writing service and make a customer buy a college essay, then you need to do it as creatively as possible.

In order to become an influential influencer, your own blog with a specific topic is not needed. An example is Prince Harry's wife Meghan Markle: the new Duchess of Sussex, having closed an Instagram page and The Tig lifestyle blog, only strengthened her position. Vanessa Friedman, fashion director of The New York Times, thinking about the enormous influence of the former actress, writes that one photo is capable of transmitting a much clearer and stronger message than the pages of any blog – and this is what makes Meghan an effluent influencer.

The secret is simple – a fairy tale controls the popularity of Meghan Markle. People are inspired by the story of a former actress who turned into a princess almost overnight, and in order to feel at least a little bit like the hero of this fairy tale, people are ready to travel to places in a day to see the royal family, or – which is easier – just buy a Strathberry bag or a pair of Aquazzura sandals “like Meghan has.”

What is remarkable about this fact in the context of marketing influence? The more unusual the “content” that you produce, the greater the demand for it. Duchess Meghan is one of a kind. No fashion or lifestyle blogger will achieve such success as she has – and no filter in VSCO will fix this. So if you want to become popular, cultivate your own uniqueness: all the other roles, as you remember, are already taken.