Fads come and fads go especially in the world of social media where the market is notoriously fickle. Anyone remember Vine or Yik Yak? Well, whatever you might say about those failed social media platforms you certainly cannot say about the newest kid on the block TikTok.
Since it first launched in 2018, TikTok has grown at an astronomical rate and now boasts over 1 billion active monthly users. Everyone who’s anyone is now on the platform with celebs making the most of the free publicity the platform offers. But strangely enough, the most famous people on TikTok are mostly ordinary folks that weren’t even famous until they found themselves on the platform. People who, through cleverly crafted content, have carved a niche for themselves and now have flourishing careers as influencers.
With many of these influencers having followings that number in the millions, it should come as no surprise that brands will pay good money to get their products in their videos. They might pay anywhere from $200 right up to $20k for a branded video with the right influencer.
Right about now you’re probably wondering how to become an influencer on TikTok because $25k per video sounds pretty sweet, right? We’ll stop you right there because the TikTok influencers that make the big bucks are the ones who have massive followings. But they all started somewhere and what’s to say you can follow in their footsteps?
So with your potential success in mind, we’ve gone ahead and created a simple series of steps to follow if you want to become a TikTok influencer and make some money while you’re at it. We can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to quit your day job, but these steps will certainly help put you on the right path.
But before we get to those steps, let’s look at the basics.
What is TikTok?
TikTok is a video-based social networking platform that allows users to create and share short videos. These were originally 15-60 seconds in length, but TikTok then changed the length limit to 3 minutes before extending that to a whopping 10 minutes.
What is a TikTok influencer?
A TikTok influencer is a content creator who shares viral videos and occasionally gets paid to promote brands during these videos. They are pretty much the same as Instagram influencers, but with a slightly different audience and content format.
How to become a TikTok influencer?
Open the app and start shooting! Hmm, if only it were that simple.
To stand a good chance of becoming a TikTok influencer, you’ll need to follow these steps.
Pick a niche
It stands to reason that brands who want to hire an influencer will want one that is either in their industry or who has a following that includes a large percentage of the brand’s target market. This is why it makes sense to pick a niche or industry that you are interested in and focus your content creation on that. Many influencers will choose an area that they are already passionate about or that they may even be experts in. This makes it easier for their audience to see them as an authoritative figure which means that they will listen to what they have to say.
There is a metric tonne of niches that you can choose to specialise in, but like we said, it’s always easier to choose one that you are passionate about.
Here are some of the most popular niches for influencers:
- Beauty
- Travel
- Food
- Fitness
- Parenthood
- Fashion
- DIY
- Gaming
- Comedy
And that’s just scratching the surface. Dig deep into your passions and interests and see if there’s some angle you can work that will make you stand out from the crowd.
Choose the right TikTok account
Download the app (as if you don’t already have it!), and set up your account. There are three types of accounts—personal, business, and creator. You’ll want the creator account because that’s what you’ll be doing and you’ll get access to some tools and features that you may need in the future.
Start creating content
At long last, it’s time to hit record and start producing that content. You may want to try a few different approaches at first to see what gets the most engagement and that’s okay. But once you settle on a format or theme for your content, that’s when the consistency we spoke of earlier needs to kick in.
While consistency is key, it’s not a bad idea to intersperse your content with some personal videos that show another side to your persona. This really does depend on how you already present yourself in your content as some influencers integrate their personal lives into their content all the time.
Oh, and don’t forget to use hashtags on your videos to increase visibility.
Create a unique profile
Everything about your account must reflect who you are as an influencer. This means that your name, profile picture, and that little bio are crucial. If you’re getting hung up on the bio, take a look at some of the other influencers in your niche for a little inspiration. But never copy what someone else is doing. Remember, you’ll need to be unique to be remembered.
Engage with your audience
This is content creation 101 for any platform that allows engagement. You simply have to answer your followers when they ask you questions about your content. This gives you an air of approachability and builds trust with your audience. Two things that will come in very handy once you start promoting a brand’s products and services.
Do some homework
This means getting to know your target audience and learning what makes them tick. This is where you’ll need to do a little competitor analysis to see how the successful influencers in your niche are making their mark. Watch videos, particularly the popular ones, take notes, read comments, and just take it all in. Spend enough time on this and you’ll soon come up with plenty of ideas for content of your own and unique angles that will make your content appeal to the masses.
Build your following
Before you can even think about making any money, you’ll need to build a solid following. Let’s face it, no brand will want to pay for a video on an account with 87 followers. Remember this is a marathon and not a sprint so you’ll need to be patient and get that follower count up above the 10k mark. You’ll also need to have a minimum of 10k video views in the last 30 days. Those figures are the bare minimum and no matter how long it takes, you’ll need to hit them before taking the next step.
Create a plan
As much as we’d like to tell you that TikTok influencers just wake up in the morning and shoot whatever springs to mind, that’s not how it’s done. These people are professionals and just like a magazine will have an editorial calendar, they will have a content calendar. This means that you need one too.
This is a crucial step in the process as it will encourage you to remain consistent in your content production. People that start following you want to know what to expect and when to expect it. So make a plan and stick to it, even if it’s only posting one video a week to start out. Remember, the key is to be consistent. You can always ramp things up as you become more comfortable with your content creation.
Promote your videos
Most influencers will have more than one social media account and they will use their accounts on other platforms to promote their TikTok videos. This can work well if you already have a following on Instagram or if you have a blog, a Twitter account, or even a Facebook page.
Sign up with an agency
Once you hit that double 10k target, you may want to enlist the help of an influencer agency. The reason we suggest this (aside from the fact that influencer management is exactly what we do) is because an agency will already have industry contacts. This will save you a lot of time and effort and will also ensure that the right people know that you exist and that you can help them reach your audience. An agency will also be able to give you a bit of guidance and perhaps even share a few TikTok tips and tricks to help you grow your following or bring in more viewers to your content.
As we said earlier, these steps won’t automatically make you a successful TikTok influencer, but you certainly won’t become one without following them. Once you’ve made your mark, just remember who it was that set you on the right track and give us a shout out to your millions of followers!
If you’ve already made it to that magic 10k and you’d like to leverage our network of industry contacts to up your game, then the team at Hunter Talent would love to hear from you. Get in touch today or you can go right ahead and apply to join the agency.
