4 Ways To Monetize Your Social Media It is often assumed that one needs over a hundred thousand followers to monetise their social media account. However, the truth is that you can easily make money off your social media accounts as a micro-influencer.
By Kavya Pillai
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Social media in today's day and age is an excellent platform for brands to showcase their unique identity and values. By incorporating their USP and culture into their social media content, businesses can create a powerful and authentic connection with their audience. It is often assumed that one needs over a hundred thousand followers to monetise their social media account. However, the truth is that you can easily make money off your social media accounts as a micro-influencer.
A micro-influencer is someone with as little as 1,000 followers that are highly engaged. Although the fan base of a micro-influencer is relatively small, these accounts have an audience that listens. This influenced followers that listen to recommendations. These followers listen to the recommendations often as the micro-influencer has a strong connection with the audience. Here are some strategies and ways for you to take action on monetising your social media following.
1. Introduce Your Masterclass
If you have a dedicated social media following and something unique to teach, it's time to bring them together by way of an online course. Selling online courses is a great way to monetize your social media following while also delivering value to your followers. As social media groups provide private, member-only access, they're a good platform for live training, support, and networking opportunities. Whether you consider yourself a teacher, trainer, and/or consultant, an online course is one of the best ways to monetize your social media following. All you need to begin with is narrowing your niche and expertise and channel it into an engaging digital lecture.
2. Paid Influencing
With influencer marketing budgets on the rise, now's the time to double down on this strategy. As your following grows, there are two ways to get started as an influencer; Continue to post high-quality content and engage with your audience, while waiting for brands to reach out. Actively reach out to brands in your space (especially those with a history of using influencers to spread the word). Some brands will pay you cash to share their products with your audience. Others will offer you free products in exchange for your service. And some, depending on the brand, may offer experienced-based compensation, such as free hotel accommodations. A sponsored post is exactly what it sounds like. A brand pays you money to create a specific type of post, like a product announcement. Keep in mind, sponsors typically expect to have full control over the direction of the post. As the influencer, you have the final say in whether or not you publish it. A win-win scenario requires collaboration.
3. Drive Traffic To Your Website
Rather than selling directly from your social media platform, you can use social media posts to push traffic to your website. This is especially helpful when you need a more robust platform to share all the details of what you offer. Think of high-ticket items or complex offers. For instance, if you're selling a six-week coaching program or a three-day virtual event, your prospects will have a lot of questions. A simple Facebook ad won't be enough to drive conversions. The key here is to engage your social media audience to the point that they're eager to stop scrolling and visit your website for more information. Talk about your service. Share tips, ideas, and news. Engage with your followers, and start conversations with them. Tip: Closely monitor how much website traffic comes from social media. This allows you to track conversions, and identify the sites where your followers engage with you most.
4. Affiliate marketing
As attractive as it may seem to build a product, you don't actually need your own product to make money off social media.Affiliate marketing allows you to monetize your following by selling someone else's product and earning a commission when someone buys through your affiliate link. Affiliate marketing is a growing opportunity that you can easily step into.Tip: You don't have to share affiliate links directly on your social media profiles to make money. Use social media to drive traffic to your website, where you can display affiliate links to visitors.
