{"id":36539,"date":"2019-12-13T22:13:04","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T22:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=36539"},"modified":"2019-12-13T22:13:04","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T22:13:04","slug":"i-want-to-be-an-instagram-influencer-behind-the-scenes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/i-want-to-be-an-instagram-influencer-behind-the-scenes\/","title":{"rendered":"“I want to be an Instagram influencer”: Behind the Scenes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kim Kardashian has pushed everything from perfume, to vitamins, to even luxury brands like Fendi. Her little sister Kylie has gotten in on the action too with the launch of her makeup brand, \u2018Kylie Cosmetics\u2019 in November 2015. In this day and age, even your next-door neighbour could be cashing in on the big business of being an influencer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It seems like light work, but there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. Being a social media influencer is a real job for many. They\u2019ve turned their hobbies into a full-time career.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s the job like?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Making a living from social media means you must be online all the time. Consistency is key. Days are always scheduled from morning to evening. Planning, shooting, editing, web management, working on blogs, the list goes on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most people don\u2019t take it seriously and see influencers as nothing but a pretty face \u2013 but, there\u2019s a lot that goes on behind the scenes of a single Instagram post and if you\u2019re successful, there\u2019s a lot of people to answer to. Your followers are your boss. You must be thick skinned and have the right attitude. You need to pick the right niche and the pressure to produce content is constantly at a high.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A huge part of the job is responding to DMs, comments, and engaging with your audience. It\u2019s important because it shows your audience, you\u2019re a \u2018real person\u2019 and they can relate and approach you. For some influencers, engagement is difficult to manage but the rewards are worth the effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For some influencers, the best part about the job is meeting people and networking. If you\u2019re an affiliate for a brand, they gift you with free stuff to keep as well as to promote. You can even get away with not paying for a holiday trip, an outfit, front row tickets to a fashion show or a yoga class for up to a year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t put all your eggs in one basket. It\u2019s also important to evolve and change some things. As real life and social media trends shift, you need to adjust your niche around to stay \u2018relevant\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hair & Makeup influencer\/blogger Pavelle shares how she plans her day in order to produce good content for her Instagram feed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI normally create all my content on my days off work and University. The first thing I do on a regular filming day is to make sure I\u2019m awake by 8am, I\u2019m ready and I\u2019ve had breakfast by 10.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI sort out the looks I will be filming on the day,\u201d she continues \u201cI put\u00a0my camera on charge. I use the Sony A5000, soft boxes and a ring light. Once everything is ready, I start filming. By 6pm I\u2019ve done 2-3 looks. I spend the rest of the evening editing using final cut pro.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pavelle started blogging from October 2017, by the end of the month, she had 2,000 followers. A year later, November 2018, she was on 10,000 followers, and her platform kept on growing, she was gaining close to 5,000 followers each day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But maintaining and continuing to grow your online influence can be difficult, as Pavelle explains.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDuring July of this year, I noticed that all came to a standstill. I didn\u2019t lose any followers, but I wasn\u2019t gaining any either. I spent time trying to evaluate why that was, after a month of<\/span><\/p>\n

constantly uploading content, I realized makeup alone wasn\u2019t enough, how many other makeup bloggers are out there? Everyone\u2019s doing it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pavelle got thinking. \u201cAs a black makeup influencer, what else are you good at? So, I got into hair, I incorporated hair tutorials into my makeup tutorials and my analytics skyrocketed. Now, I currently have 77.1k followers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI would advise anyone who\u2019s trying to get into being an influencer to also explore other niches their good at and exploit them to bring traffic to their website, because it shows versatility and that you have more to offer. If I had known this earlier, I would\u2019ve done that earlier.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fashion and Travel Influencer Nandi Cher also provided some insight into her journey to building her online platform.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Being an influencer is a very competitive industry but definitely rewarding. Every day I plan new ways to build content on my social media accounts. This includes taking pictures, researching the latest trends and seeing what my followers are interested in so that I\u2019m always producing content that\u2019s relevant to them.\u201d Nandi shares.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I struggled for a year to build content. To be honest, I didn\u2019t really have a direction\/goal I was going towards. However, once I really got to know my audience and looked at my own personal interests, that\u2019s when I realized I had a love for fashion and travel. So why not share that with people as well? This is when my page started to take off – when I began posting pictures I was interested in and then soon realized others were interested too.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very rewarding getting features from brands and well-known fashion publications,\u201d Nandi continues. \u201cHowever, to get to this level, the ingredients are passion, consistency and a whole level of diligence is needed! It\u2019s not easy as a black influencer either.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI have a whole folder on my phone dedicated to editing apps \u2013 I know, a little crazy! But my main favourites are \u201cLightroom\u201d which helps change the lighting, shadows and highlights in pictures, \u201cAfterlight\u201d, and the famous \u201cFace Tune\u201d which is also good if you want to add detail to Jewellery\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But producing quality content means nothing without attracting the necessary traffic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHashtag! Hashtag! Hashtag! It\u2019s important for your discovery and engagement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hashtags have become more and more popular since they were created in 2009 on twitter. Now, they are everywhere and are used in campaigns as well as to categorize types of content. In the world of Instagram, hash tagging is a good way for others to find your account. They help increase exposure, thorough engagements such as likes, follows and comments. They could also lead to finding clients which in the long run, build brand loyalty \u2013 which is the goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instagram has 6 algorithms. Search Feed, Instagram story suggestions, Explore feed, News Feed, Location Feed and Account Suggestions. Hash tagging is mainly affecting the Search Feed. It\u2019s the landing page you find yourself on when your searching using a hashtag.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instagram also has a Top Posts section, and the algorithms are made of an equation which is likes, comments, time and relevance score. To get onto the top 9 posts section, your posts need to have a good engagement as well as a high relevance score than the other posts using the same Hashtag within a certain time period. This time period also depends on the popularity of the hashtag. The more popular the hashtag, the shorter time period.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To any aspiring Instagram influencers, Consistency is key. You wont gain 50k followers in one day, but it\u2019s achievable overtime. Plan ahead. Organize you week ahead, whether its booking shoots, ordering products to promote or networking. Remember \u2013 you\u2019re still learning \u2013 don\u2019t put yourself under any pressure. It might good to observe other influencers once in a while to see how they promote their feed. You never know \u2013 it might give you an idea.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Words by Sharon Lola<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kim Kardashian has pushed everything from perfume, to vitamins, to even luxury brands like Fendi. Her little sister Kylie has gotten in on the action too with the launch of her makeup brand, \u2018Kylie Cosmetics\u2019…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":36541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}