How to win followers and influence people

How to win followers and influence people

FPJ BureauUpdated: Tuesday, May 28, 2019, 11:51 PM IST
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Successful social media influencers share tips and tricks with Disha Prashant

The word “influence” is a crucial term in the English language and currently the most sought after in the virtual world. Before you take the plunge into the ocean of “influential” wilderness, it is important to understand the fundamental principles of what goes behind the making and success of a social media influencer.

So what is a social media influencer? S/he is a user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry, with access to a large audience and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach. Today, influencers are emerging as a critical marketing tool for brands, as they help brands grow awareness and drive sales.

Nivedita

Nivedita |

Ground reality check

“It is indeed incredible to see the world connect with just a few clicks on your screen, however when you are an influencer it is equally important to have a ground reality check,” feels Rakhi Sharma, Cosmetologist, YouTuber and sub-title winner of Mrs India (Punjab).

Sharing her insights on striking a balance between ground reality and virtual media she believes, “Communication plays a pivotal role when it comes to influencing people. There is a fragile line between connecting with people over the internet and communicating in person with them. When people look up to you as a role model you are directly or indirectly influencing their lives and hence it is important to analyse the way you project yourself to the world.”

Rakhi Sharma

Rakhi Sharma |

Speaking on the power and reach of social media, Rakhi who believes in breaking stereotypes one step at a time, feels that it is crucially important to listen to your conscience before sharing your opinion on the internet. “Virtual content is like wildfire and so it is necessary to filter and re-filter your content before publishing it on the web. You need to take the first step towards breaking the ice with your audience.”

Nothing about social media comes as easy. With good comes the bad and it is important to deal with it in a dignified manner. “When you are a public figure you open the gates to the judgemental scanner and are constantly a subject of speculation. At times, criticism is downright preposterous and in such cases immense patience and eminence play a crucial role. While it is equally important to shut down nuisance creating trolls, one must also know the knack of dealing with it with dignity.”

Significance of consistency

A regular writing job at Buzzfeed became a crucial turning point for Srishti Dixit, actor and digital content creator who believes that consistency is the key to connect with the virtual audience.

“Each day is filled with novel experiences and I feel I am still in the learning phase. So when it comes to creating good content on social media I feel two things are crucially important. One, being your true self and secondly posting regular content on your channel. Our day to day lives are filled with gazillion experiences and that is always the content I share with my audience with a touch of humour,” shares Srishti.

Srishti Dixit

Srishti Dixit |

Dixit feels that being a social media influencer is about walking the fine line and that one must never give up on their dreams. Revealing her insights on content creation and associating with the audience she says, “Anyone interested in creating content on digital media must make the content easily consumable. It must be easy flowing, so that the audience can easily relate with it. Over the years, whatever content I have shared on my social media page has been received with utmost warmth by the audience, which has helped me in building a nice community of supportive people.”

Taking one day at a time, maintaining a never give up attitude and keeping it light is the key to becoming a successful social media influencer.

Ignorance is bliss

The true channel of becoming one with social media is to understand and implement the importance of ignorance being bliss. “Once you are a public figure there is no turning back for then you are exposed to an array of visions who try to weigh you in their own way,” feels National Award winning director and actor Prasad Oak.

“Social media influencing is indeed a good thing but you need to know whom are you influencing and how you are influencing them. Media is like a mirror to society and they try to correlate with it. So it comes with pros and cons. I get a lot of comments on my posts while at times people message me personally who appreciate my work as well as criticise it which I feel helps me in a way to get better,” says Oak.

Speaking about influencing and connecting with people he adds, “I am a disciplinarian on that front and ensure to reply to each and every message that I receive from my fans. However, I also receive some really mean messages which I prefer to simply ignore. This serves two purposes. One, you are off any kind of negativity and you understand the importance of ignorance in certain cases.”

Prasad Oak

Prasad Oak |

Explaining the worth of coming up with good content he says, “Digital media is a vast ocean of opportunities so the content needs to be good and must be relatable to every single person scrolling through your page. Understanding the pulse of the audience and making a difference to their lives is when you are truly influencing them.”

Understanding the resources

With over 11k followers in her kitty, for noted bookstagrammer S Nivedita being a social media influencer is not just about influencing your followers but also the whole world using the right resources.

Decoding the game changing factor she says, “If you are planning to be an influencer then choose a platform which has good potential and advantages, because you will connect with your audience through resources like hashtags, tags, engagements, content, blogs, and even references from other influencers. And finally if your content has path breaking potential to influence your followers, then nothing can hold you back.”

Drafting your content, ensuring to keep a track of latest digital trends, and coming up with novel ideas marks the base for a good social media page, says Nivedita. “There are numerous ways to communicate with your followers. Sharing your idea about a particular content or genre, creates more ideas that can enhance your influences, features and facts about the platform you are representing like the goodness of yoga or a product you are going to suggest. It is important to understand your audience’s needs. Having worked in a corporate environment I was well versed with the art of crisp communication,” says she.

Conclusion

So now that you have the perfect brew to become an influencer it is time to roll the dice. This new hot off the oven trend of social media influencing is unabashedly creating a buzz, spreading its reach and bringing in the mega bucks. With internet popularity on a roll, the time is not far when this would soon become a blazing career choice.

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