John Zimmel, a young entrepreneur from Greenwich, CT helps personalities find their personal brand and influencer niche. Here are a few basic rules in how to break into influencer marketing according to John.
Influencer marketing is on the rise. In fact, brands spent over $5 billion on influencer marketing in 2018 and the number will only increase. That’s because influencers work, and trends are finding that social media influencers do not need to have millions of followers to make an impact. Micro-influencers, for instance, generally have less than 100K and still get contracted with big name brands.
“It’s about creating value for your audience,” said John Zimmel. “The more you create valuable content that the audience connects with, the more they will see you as a peer and become to trust your opinions. When a brand sees that in your social pages, that’s when you become an asset to them and a partnership can form.”
John Zimmel understands how overwhelming the thought of becoming an influencer is. But with four media companies under his name, he has helped many clients navigate social media, build their personal brands, and become industry influencers. Here are five basic tips he says will help get anyone started on the path to becoming a paid influencer.
1) Choose Your Niche:
“As an influencer, you’ll be hyper-focused on one topic in one industry so choose something you’re passionate about,” said John Zimmel. “And there are so many niches to choose from, don’t be afraid to brainstorm different ideas.”
“Pull your niche from your daily life,” continued John. “It could be wine on a budget, hiking with your dog, or even fishing.”
2) Understand Your Target Audience:
“In marketing to your target audience, you want to create a buyer persona to understand your audience in a hyper-focused way,” said John.
Buyer personas are fictional representations of an ideal audience or customer.
“Conduct a fake interview with your ideal follower. What do they do? How old are they? What are their hobbies, likes, and dislikes? What are their goals, challenges, and motivations?”
3) Establish Goals:
“Being an influencer is more about gaining followers and getting paid,” said John. “Remember to focus on engagement. How many comments and likes are you getting? Are you engaging back? That is essential in creating a sense of community for your followers. Establish how you will measure the success of your personal brand and then experiment with different strategies. Understanding the strategies of your success is a great tool to have when working with name brands.”
4) Decide on Content:
“Decide on the type of content you want to share,” said John Zimmel. “Do you want to do videos, photos, articles, or a combination? This is will determine which platforms you should focus on.”
5) Choose Social Media Channel:
“Different social media channels allow different content formats,” said John. “So if you want video, choose Facebook and Instagram. If you’re more of a blogger, maybe LinkedIn is your goto. Remember to stick to 2 to 3 platforms as your main network. This helps keep your focus on creating engaging content more consistently.”
About John Zimmel
John Zimmel is a young, vibrant entrepreneur from Greenwich, CT who’s eager to take his clients’ brand recognition to the next level through social media strategies and high-quality digital content. He owns and operates four businesses including his modern-day communications parent company, Labyrinth35X; audio production company, Grass Fed Audio; digital content creation agency, West 35 Media; and his video production company, Nameless Productions. John Zimmel is also a performer himself of magic.
