How to be a Social Media Influencer in 2022, Top Influencers in India and Their earnings

Kusha Kapila, Dolly Singh, Kanan Sebastian, Kanan Gill, Srishti Dixit, Mithila Palkar are the names of renowned social media influencers you’ve definitely come across your Instagram and Facebook account. Why these names and not Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Shahrukh Khan? It’s just that they connect with the audience through the content that involves reality or involves the day-to-day life of a common person.

Also, the evolution in technology and the changing behavior of customers have played a major role in social media marketing, supporting Instagram influencers in India. One of the other people in a home must be trying something with those lip-syncing videos and dreaming to be viral overnight.

Well, the internet is unpredictable, you never know what will trend and attract people’s attention. Remember, the kid ‘Bachpan ka Pyar,’ who went viral over the internet. Following the study of gen.video, social media influencers are regarded as the most influential and entrusted source of propelling conversions.

It’s not a 9 to 5 job but a full-time opportunity that shifts with the trend.

You can see a future as a social media influencer and make a living out of it. ‘Making a living out of it’ That’s what the end goal is, right?

If you are thinking about how to become a social media influencer & how much an influencer earns? Then you are at the right place.

Let’s just quit beating around the bust and dig in.

The Quick Definition of Social Media Influencer…

Going through the bookish language;

‘Social media influencers are a person/user who has set up credibility in a particular industry. They hold access to a large audience along with the power to persuade loyal followers through their virtue of authenticity and reach.’

Now, understand this way, according to the 2019 report, around 3.484 billion people actively use social media that comprises 45% of the world’s population. Inevitably, these people look up to influencers/content creators on social media who guide, inspire, inform, and set trends with their followers.

Influencers have developed a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a specific topic or industry.

Based on that expertise and knowledge, they create posts on social media regularly; engaging people of interest. Influencers hold the power to affect the purchasing decision of others, creating trends and encouraging their followers to buy products they promote.

An influencer can be anyone from a superstar to an online businessman, working on a niche/content to achieve widespread credibility. The term took a huge turn with the launch of TikTok, a platform that has changed the social media experience following its reach, features, and shareability.

However, let’s clear one thing – these individuals are not marketing tools for brands rather are social relationship assets. Their collaboration for a product helps the brand achieve its marketing objectives.

Instead of digging up the perks and negatives of social media influencers, let’s go through the steps that can help you become one.

THE BASICS

Know Your Interest/Niche

The first step to becoming an influencer is selecting a niche of your interest. Why interest specifically? It will encourage you to create content consistently and bring something new to the audience. Choose something you’re passionate about, find your calling – don’t be jack (or jane) of all trades, master of none. The best way to find your interest and be unique is by experimenting with your strengths and quirks.

Optimize Your Social Media Platforms

With so many social media platforms in use, you have to choose which creates a powerful presence on the internet. This doesn’t mean you have to limit one platform rather, depending on your niche, certain platforms might be best suited for your content than others. For example, your niche is fashion; Instagram would be best for visual content than other platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Do you know about 93% of social media influencers prefer Instagram following the results driven by it?

Create Engaging Bio

After optimizing your profiles and switching to a business account (as it opens up a lot more options), create a bio that gives the best first impression. Once your account is visible, people will start visiting your profile, and your bio should be able to tell your story engagingly. A space with all pertinent information about you, like full name, location, contact details, areas of expertise, etc., will be best for you.

Understand Your Audience

Nobody knows when a small business can usher in great fortune, for example, the fandom of BTS (Korean Boy Band), which has expanded to every corner of the world. They from the start knew their audience however, now, their talent impresses and attracts all age groups. Understand what your audience wants and make relevant content. For your research, type the relevant topics of your niche on Google for a quick search. You will have so many pages to analyze and learn about target keywords and audiences.

Prioritize Your Content

Your content and its authenticity will attract audiences and followers. High-quality content is the potent answer to the question of how to become a social media influencer. Meaningful and valuable content will hook your audience – depending on your niche and channels, you can choose types of content, like blog posts, photos, videos, podcasts, etc.

Excel at Hashtag Game

Right hashtags will increase visibility, and if you start excelling at it, your content becomes more valuable and meaningful when it reaches the right audience. Every now and then, there are trends on social media; use the relevant hashtags in your content and see the growth of that particular content. Those starting as influencers can use this technique and check the charm.

Be Consistent & Regular

Consistency leads to results. High-quality content will retain your audience’s attention, boosting engagement and reach. This will increase curiosity, making followers wait and expect something new from you. For your convenience, create a timeline for all of the content you plan on publishing in the next few months. However, a series on a weekly or monthly basis will hook your audience.

Engage with Audience

An influencer should know the importance of engagement and interaction with followers and the audience. For example, every now and then, Kusha Kapila, Dolly Singh do LIVE interactions with followers, learning about them and what they expect in content. There are other small forms of engagement as an influencer you can do is liking their comments, answering questions, and more. It’s a form of appreciation you show.

Collaborate with Brands & Influencers

One of the important steps towards your quest to becoming an influencer is to shout out loud and let the world know ‘you are an influencer.’ Do it by writing in your bio, attracting collaborations, and giving them an easy way to connect with you. For example, YouTuber Gaurav Chaudhary unboxes various technical gadgets and shows the world the features of that gadget in a video. His expertise in technology has given him the power to influence people with his opinion. Also, brands like to connect with him for vast reach and good words.

Here is a small guide for those looking at how to become a social media influencer in 2022. There are some additional but not so basic tips for you to boom this year, following the things widely affected due to Coronavirus.

ADVANCED

  • Address the pressing need, find a way to reach your audience’s need, and provide value
  • Partake in activism and causes – be vocal of choices made, either by you or others, especially during a crisis.
  • Be responsible as an influencer; create a healthy space for your audience to enjoy and accept themselves the way they are.
  • Collaboration is about the conscious choice you make – the brand you promote reflects your values and beliefs; your choices should not affect a socially conscious audience, otherwise, they will cease to associate with you.
  • The market keeps on growing every day – influencers are scrutinized, even more, owing to their following and power to sway their audience. Not everyone has answers, and 2022 will bring new changes like the ability to own up to one’s mistakes, and saying ‘I don’t know’ is a practice that is here to stay.

Also Read: The 7 Best Free Android Apps to Find Your Friends via GPS

Top Influencers in India and Their earnings

Influencers are categorized as per their niche, platform, content, and followers. Talking about Instagram, there are over 200 million business profiles – influencers of India. Find out the categories of influencers below:-

NICHE/CONTENT

  • Fashion Influencers
  • Travel Influencers
  • Foof Influencers
  • Social Media Influencers
  • Health Influencers
  • Photography Influencers

PLATFORM

  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

FOLLOWERS COUNT

  • Mega Influencers (1M+)
  • Macro Influencers (100K-1M)
  • Mid-tier Influencers (50K-500K)
  • Micro Influencers (10K-100K)
  • Nano Influencers (1-10K)

Some of the top influencers in India and their earning are as follow:

INSTAGRAM

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is among the top tier of Indian celebrities with 178 million followers on Instagram. Kohli remains a tenable force, and as per reports, he charges a whopping Rs 5 crore for a single Instagram post.

Priyanka Chopra

The stunning global superstar Priyanka Chopra is another influencer from India with over 72 million followers on Instagram. Usually, she gets 1 to 3 million likes for a single post, and with this much engagement, she seeks a fee of Rs 2.96 crore per post.

Varun Aditya

Unexpectedly, among the list of top influencers, you will find Indian wildlife photographer Varun Aditya. He has a whopping 1.7 million followers and charges Rs 8.6 lakh for a single post on his Instagram.

Kritika Khurana (thatbohogirl)

The girl next door, Kritika Khurana has made a huge hit over social media with 1.4 million followers on Instagram. She was also Cosmopolitan’s Influencer of the Year 2020, upholding a fee of Rs 3.75 lakh per post.

Aashna Shroff

Aashna Shroff is the owner of the home decor brand, The Snob Home, and holds 917K followers on Instagram. For every post, Shroff takes a fee of Rs 2.65 lakh.

YOUTUBE

Bhuvaneshwar Bam (BB ki Vines)

One of the renowned YouTubers of India, Bhuvan Bam has more than 25 million subscribers on the internet. His monthly income is estimated at Rs 2.25 lakh.

Amit Bhandana

Just behind BB ki Vines, Amit Bhandana has a whopping 23.6 million subscribers by making comedy and entertaining videos. He earns around Rs 2.35 a month.

The list of influencers will continue to surprise you, and nearly in two years, despite the pandemic, the brands projected to spend USD15 billion on influencer marketing during 2022. 2022 will be the year for influencers as there will continuing shift towards social commerce. Also, to your knowledge, influencer marketing was a USD13 billion industry in 2021, and the market size expected to reach USD84.89 billion by 2028.

Will you choose to become the next social media influencer of India?

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