OPINION: 10 tips to grow your online influence

Gordon Glenister is a speaker, best-selling author, podcaster and founder of the UK association for influencer marketing. He recently spoke at the Financial Services Forum’s event.

Influencer marketing is one of the fastest growing media, we trust the opinions if people we trust like and know more than ever. Some of us see traditional advertising as an invasion in our content which is why particularly younger audiences will receive their news, industry updates from people in the sector. So I have put together a few tips for you to grow your own personal presence:

1. Linkedin

Make sure you have the best photo of your self and use the app to create a 10 second video – it shows your personality for your bio. Use a really nice banner which sums up what you are all about and ideally a call to action. Make sure you maximise the about section and complete all the sections so you will found more easily

2. Post frequently

Post at least three times a week ideally at the same time when your audience is most active. This is the same for all social media channels. Consistency is key. Also if you can look at your clients or prospects posts and comment on them that is as important

3. Educate, inspire and entertain

Make sure your content delivers at least one of these objectives. Social selling is about building relationships not abject promotion. Treat every follower as a handshake, they have taken the time to follow or engage with them so respond to them with an acknowledgement.

4. Research competitors

Look at 10 of your competitor posts on Linkedin or whatever your preferred platform is and look at the last 10 posts they created and then write down what their follower engagement was – this will give you 100 pieces of insight to look over to create your ideal content plan

5. Podcast

Try and find a way to be a guest on a popular podcast in your sector. Be mindful what the podcaster is trying to achieve – grow and inspire their audience, so make sure you tick that box for them

6. Join an Association
Associations are a great way to boost credibility within your peer group. But don’t just join one, be active and ideally try and lead a special interest group or Board role and promote that on your social media

7. Take on speaker roles

Try and find a way to get some speaker gigs either as speaker, panellist, or moderator. Update your bios as well as a speaker

8. Write content

Pitch an article to a magazine, newspaper or internally about a topical issue or work with an online blogger community. You can also write a book printed or e-book which you can show your authority in your niche. You can also interview other thought leaders for your book too

9. Create videos

80% of the internet traffic is now video content so if you want to be seen in the attention economy you have to be on video that doesn’t mean you have to be in front of the camera all the time, but you do need to post relevant video content.

10. Be an expert or known for something

A brand is what someone says about you when you are not in the room – what do they say about you? Hes the guy or the girl that specialises in this or that.

So overall be true to your niche, and don’t deviate, be consistent with your content, evaluate what you do all the time and hopefully before long you will see your influence grow.