Social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools in a marketer’s arsenal. However, it can also be quite expensive, and simply getting started isn’t always easy. These 11 tips will help you navigate your social strategy without spending hard-earned money on advertising. Do you have a large number of followers on social media? Do you want to know how to transform your following into cash? People are now earning a living off of social media without selling anything. We’ve all seen the accounts of apparently ordinary folks with a large following on social media. They constantly seem to be traveling or having a good time. But how can they get enough money to live this dream existence? They have a lot of social clouts. According to experts, global influencer marketing is expected to be a $5-10 billion dollar business in the next two years.
Throughout the year, 86 percent of marketers used influencer marketing efforts. In addition, 39% of firms expect to raise their influencer marketing expenses in 2018. If you want to make a livelihood as an influencer on social media, this is good news. This tutorial will teach you how to make yourself more desirable to marketers and companies, even if you don’t have many followers right now. I’ve already discussed employing micro-influencers to boost your product’s reputation. But now, I decided to produce an educational guide to assist influencers in increasing their earnings. Do you want more visitors to your website? Improve your traffic, leads, and income with the aid of a professional. Get started now. There’s lots of money to be earned in this field if you position yourself correctly, which is why influencer marketing is on my list of top marketing trends to watch. The following are the top 11 methods to generate money on social media without selling anything.
1. Decide on a platform.
The first step is to select which platform will get the most attention. In the end, you’ll want to have accounts on as many social media platforms as possible, but one should be your mainstay. According to research, Instagram is used by virtually all social influencers.
Instagram was named the most popular social media network by more than 82 percent of social influencers in 2018. YouTube received a little more than 12% of the vote, while Facebook received less than 2%. That’s possible because, when compared to other social media platforms, 76 percent of influencers think Instagram has the most excellent tools. Based on these figures, I strongly advise you to make Instagram your main focus. You don’t have to invent the wheel in this case. You should be able to follow in the footsteps of other Instagram influencers if they’re experiencing so much success. Your other social accounts should be utilized to boost your personal brand’s image and, as a result, increase your reach. However, you may attempt to increase your Instagram followers by using Facebook and Twitter.
2. Become a member of an influencer network.
Another option for making money on social media is to join influencer networks. These platforms are designed to link companies with consumers depending on the number of followers they have and their areas of expertise. Brandwatch is an excellent place to begin.
Let’s imagine you have a lot of yoga and holistic health material on your social media platforms. Your followers are definitely interested in this information, which is why they’ve chosen to follow you in the first place. It will be simpler for companies to locate you if they have a product or service linked to your content if you join one of these networks. If a business wants to partner with an influencer to promote their newest yoga mat and yoga gear, these networks will connect them with you. You may also use these platforms to manage all of your brand communication. Rather of utilizing direct chat on social media, this might help you keep organized. It’s difficult to keep up with all of the messages in your inbox after you have a large number of followers. It recently featured my top platforms for properly managing social influencers in an article I published. The article was written for companies, but it’s also useful for influencers to read. Look through the list to find which platforms best suit your demands and requirements.
3. Increase the number of people who are engaged with you.
The fact that social influencers have traditionally had incredibly high engagement rates is why marketers seek to partner with them. However, according to businesses, the measure for gauging the effectiveness of influencer marketing programs is interaction.
You may demonstrate to businesses how high your interaction rates with your followers are if you want to make yourself more desirable. Begin by understanding how to create captions that captivate your audience. You want your fans to engage with your material by liking, commenting, tagging, viewing, and sharing it. Respond to the people that follow you. I understand how difficult this may be, particularly for those with tens of thousands of followers. The trick is to develop the habit of setting aside time to reply. Suppose you can’t answer, at the very least, like their remark. Keep in mind that we’re treating this like a job. If you want to earn a living off of social media, you must devote a certain amount of time each day to improving your influencer value. Everyone would do it if it were simple. Engaging with your fans will make them feel more intimate with you. They are more likely to act on your advice if you promote a brand to them, making your marketing initiatives more effective.
4. Distribute free items.
Everyone wants something for nothing. Hosting a giveaway is one of the best ways to build interaction with your audience. You may recommend a giveaway after you’ve started negotiating with businesses and determining what type of material to provide. Finally, it is up to them to make a choice. They’ll be the ones footing the bill for sponsored content. You don’t have to commit to something you don’t want to do. If you believe the material they want you to upload isn’t valuable to your followers, politely decline the offer. After all, you don’t want to lose credibility by sharing everything someone gives you. Otherwise, you may experience a decrease in follower engagement. Take a look at the following Instagram post by Jen Selter:
Jen has more than 12 million Instagram followers. How can you amuse a crowd of 12 million people? Don’t bombard them with emails. Yes, this article is intended to promote a company. But she’s doing it in a manner that benefits her fans by providing them the opportunity to win something for free. This article has all of the necessary components for a successful giveaway. If you’re still attempting to build your following, giving things out might be the most excellent method, even if you’re not being paid by any businesses yet. It would be worthwhile to invest $100 of your own money on a gift card to give away to your followers. Then, as you progress in your influencer career, you’ll be able to demonstrate to businesses how well your engagement rates for that campaign were.
5. Make use of many hashtags.
You can’t be frightened to utilize hashtags if you’re attempting to generate money on social media. However, don’t limit yourself to just one post. Multiple hashtags have been shown to increase engagement rates in studies.
The number seven is a lucky number in this situation. The most incredible engagement rates are seen in posts containing seven hashtags. However, this does not imply that you should go overboard. It might seem spammy to use more than eight hashtags in a single post. Instead, make use of a wide range of hashtags. Some should be wide in scope and aimed to reach the largest possible audience. #tbt, or “throwback Thursday,” is a popular hashtag on social media, for example. As a result, your message would be seen by many people. You don’t want to get lost in the shuffle, however. Make some hashtags that are unique and more particular to each campaign. If you look at Jen’s giveaway example again, you’ll see that she used the hashtag #JenSelterGIVEAWAY in each post to make it stand out.
6. Collaborate using a mobile application.
I see the same sorts of businesses partnering with social influencers all too frequently. Clothing, workout wear, accessories, and cuisine are all being promoted. While this method is inherently wrong, it may not be long-term viable. Once those businesses believe they’ve gotten the most out of you and your cost per post rate becomes too high, they’ll turn to other influencers in the future. Consider partnering with innovative businesses, such as mobile apps to expand your horizons. Eric Rubens, a social influencer, has an excellent illustration of this strategy:
Eric has more than 380k Instagram followers. If you read his bio, you’ll see that he pushes a few critical aspects of his brand image. His YouTube name and a link to his website may be found. But take a look at what I underlined. It’s his collaboration with Explorest, a new smartphone app. This app’s concept is rather unusual. It provides users with precise instructions to locations where they may shoot stunning photos. Eric’s image is also compatible with this concept. If you browse over his page, you’ll see that he takes incredible photos of locations all around the globe. As a result, his fans are interested in this information. That’s how he was able to collaborate with a mobile app like Explorest.
7. Discover your area of expertise.
It’s tempting for new influencers to accept gigs from any company that pays well. However, it would help if you comprehended how these postings would affect your future. You don’t want to work with a company that contradicts your essential ideas and principles. Therefore, it would be best to consider how this material will affect your followers and how other companies see you in the future. Let me give you an example to demonstrate what I’m talking about. James Tollefson’s Instagram bio reads as follows:
James has a little more than 23k followers, which is a lot for a micro-influencer. While his biography does not directly advocate anything, unlike the last example, it does provide additional information about his life and who he is. He’s a San Diego-based software developer who enjoys working out. Simply stating that you are a fitness enthusiast is not the same as being a fitness fanatic. Let’s have a look at some of his photos to see whether they suit the bill:
As you can see, the information is very appropriate for the biography. James posts information about his fitness experience and promotes things that fall inside that category. If you join a community that links companies and influencers, make sure your material is relevant to your expertise. Don’t claim to be a gourmet in your profile, and never publish food-related material or work with food-related businesses. It’s illogical, and it will not earn you any money.
8. Recognize your value.
According to data, sponsored content is the primary source of revenue for 80 percent of influencers. Advertisements and affiliate links were rated lower than this. Only 33% of influencers sign a sponsorship deal. You must ensure that you are protected and compensated for your efforts. Don’t only create content for companies who want to give you free stuff. If you’re trying to earn a livelihood, that’s not enough. Marketers want to raise their marketing spending for influencers, as seen in the graph below:
Only 5% of companies plan to cut their influencer marketing spending. There’s money to be had. It’s only a question of locating it. Don’t be satisfied with second best. What is the value of a blog post? The figures will fluctuate depending on how many followers you have and how engaged they are. Sixty-six percent of firms spend less than $250 per position on average. And 27% earn between $250 and $1,000 every year. Only 4% of jobs pay up to $3,000 each post. You’re unlikely to make $3,000 for a single post unless you’re a superstar. But, with that in mind, aiming for the $250-1,000 range isn’t unrealistic. Assume you share two sponsored posts from two different businesses in a week. The first pay you $750, whereas the second pay you $250. You’ll earn more than $50,000 a year if you keep receiving rates like that throughout the year.
9. Use high-resolution photographs.
I was hoping you could look at all of the samples I’ve given you. What is it that they all share in common? Content of exceptional quality. If you want to be a social influencer, make sure you only post high-quality photographs. If necessary, invest in a professional camera. Or, at the very least, invest in a new smartphone with more outstanding camera capabilities. Invest in yourself. Taking high-quality images may lead to enormous chances for you, as you saw with the example of collaborating with a mobile app. Just have a peek at Albert Hongbo Yang’s Instagram:
These photos are just stunning. Albert has over 24k Instagram followers interested in his images, which is a significant selling factor for marketers. Even if you don’t wish to sell items on Instagram, you may earn money as a photographer if your images are excellent enough. Post photographs that will catch people’s attention and help you seem more credible. Refer to my tutorial on how to snap and edit images without hiring a professional.
10. Be completely transparent about your brand affiliations.
Being a social influencer entails openly disclosing any brand affiliations you may have. First and foremost, you don’t want to mislead or alienate any of your fans. That’s not the case. But, more crucially, the Federal Trade Commission requires it. These disclosures, according to the FTC, must be explicit and evident. It doesn’t want you to utilize ambiguous terms like #thanks or #collab since they may be misunderstood. You can’t depend on a disclaimer that appears only if consumers “click further” or read the material on a different landing page. Look at this article by Anastasia Ashley to see how to disclose your relationships adequately:
Anastasia is a spokesperson for La Roche-Posay skincare. She mentioned them in her post and used the hashtag #sponsored to reveal her affiliation with the business, as you can see. There is no ambiguity in that statement. Therefore, she’s following the FTC’s rules.
11. Make your services known.
So you want to earn money on social media without selling anything? However, you may still charge for your services. I previously discussed how you might make a living by shooting high-quality images and monetizing your photography abilities. That’s only one method to go about it; there are dozens more. Take a look at Rob Atkin’s Instagram page, for example.
In his biography, Rob promotes his website. He’s a personal trainer. But he does a lot more than state “personal trainer” when describing his services. Instead, he promotes his services with catchy language like “I assist busy people in gaining abs” and “exercise professional.” As you can see from his articles, his material is relevant to that area, which is crucial, as I previously said. So, if you want to generate money on social media without selling anything, try promoting your services via your distribution channels.
Conclusion
There’s a lot of money to be earned on social media. People make a livelihood without ever selling a single item. Those with a sizable social following may utilize your accounts to earn money from businesses. Even if you don’t have many followers right now, you can grow your following and engagement metrics to appeal to more potential customers. You can transform your social media presence into a money-making machine if you follow the strategies and advice I’ve provided in this post. Do you want more visitors to your website? Improve your traffic, leads, and income with the aid of a professional. Get started now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which social media is best for making money?
A: That is a difficult question to answer. Social media has many benefits and negatives in terms of making money online. The best thing would be for you to research the pros and cons of each platform so that you can make an educated decision on which one will work better for your business or what business model works best with social media
Can you make a living off social media?
A: People make a living off social media, and so can you, but many opportunities are available. You have to find the right platform that needs your expertise or skill set.
How many followers do you need to make money on social media?
A: I don’t know how many followers you need to make money on social media, but if your account is popular and has high engagement with posts, it will help. If people comment or like what you post, then more followers could result in a better following that helps boost the amount of advertising revenue generated by your account.
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