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Be a trustworthy social media influencer
By Anil Rachamalla Social media is a powerful means of freedom of speech and expression, as it has been a voice for many voiceless people. Majority of the regular social media users treat their social media accounts purely as a social vent, casually updating statuses and posting photos online with a little expectation of how […]
Social media is a powerful means of freedom of speech and expression, as it has been a voice for many voiceless people. Majority of the regular social media users treat their social media accounts purely as a social vent, casually updating statuses and posting photos online with a little expectation of how friends and family feel about your social vent.
This may not be the case with influencers. Their content is seen either as being primarily about self-promotion or about giving back something to the subscriber. To be successful in the long-term, influencers need to be the one who informs the community with useful information.
Social media influencers are on the constant look for more followers and irrespective of their content, they should be trustworthy, reliable and relatable to followers.
How to get more followers
Good Brand – Great content and spending money on flashy ads is not enough. You should be authentic and trustworthy. You should present meaningful content and meaningful conversation.
Engagement – Engaging with subscribers will not only increase your presence but also develop real-time relationships with your audience, so don’t forget to reply to all comments. You can have standard templates to reply just in case your audience is large.
Tone and Tenure – Write from the subscriber’s perspective and make him/her the hero on your channel. Sensationalism attracts attention, but make sure you avoid artificial drama on your channel.
Promote – However big you are, don’t feel shy in asking people to follow your channels. Promote your channel on all you on your social platforms at the end of your blog that you post. Paid promotion on the respective social media channels is preferred rather than buying (Bot or Ghost) subscribers.
Competitors – Always watch your competitors. By actively subscribing and following you can identify gaps in your approach and form a strategy that can build your subscriber base.
Quality over Quantity – Just because you post every day, don’t post something randomly, which will not grow your audience. Be sure every post is connected to your goal or objective.
Trolls – It is usually done by an individual with the intention to create conflicts and controversies to generate provocative debates. You cannot make subscriber/follower one happy and that’s their entire point in trolling on you, so just ignore trolls.
Select Right Channels – Just because all social channels are monetising content, don’t be present on all channels. Facebook is for news and entertainment, Twitter – Sharing blog posts or promoting website content, Instagram – Highly visual, its best suited for strong visual brands, LinkedIn – Sharing industry related articles and professional content.
Automation – You can schedule posts weeks in advance, but sometimes you may get disconnected as most automation tools do not have the ability of tagging on third-party tools.
Hashtags – Do proper research on the hashtags or else it might cause embarrassment and also potentially damage your reputation.
Managing influencers risks:
There are few risks for influencers rising due to use of social media tools and technologies, where there is a possibility of losing something of value (i.e., information, reputation, or goodwill). Manage the risk by following these steps (1) Identify the Risk (2) Assess the Risk (3) Mitigate the Risk.
On algorithms:
Think of it as the recipe for an Indian curry. An algorithm tells the computer what to do in order to generate a certain outcome. It is a step-by-step procedure for calculations. Algorithms are becoming a ubiquitous part of our lives. Algorithms observe (a) What they watch (b) What they don’t watch (c) How long they watch (d) Where they watch (e) When they watch (f) Likes and Dislikes (g) Shares (h) Not interested (In the feedback) (h) Participation in Pre and Post Watch Surveys etc.
Evolution of algorithms – They started measuring with ‘Clicks and Likes’, then by ‘Watch Time’ and it is ‘Satisfaction’.
Average view duration – How long you keep viewers on a single post (video).
Views per viewer – How long do you keep viewers on your channel.
Tips for influencers:
Stalking – (a) Do not publish your phone number or address on social media as it could be processed for commercial use. (b) Check access privileges given to apps. (c) Search through connected apps and followers and delete unwanted ones.
Privacy – Ensure all required privacy settings. (a) Set your GPS, Bluetooth, Set passwords and PINs on your phone. (b) Download only from trusted providers. (c) Consent should be treated the same way for all offline and online interactions.
Photo/Video – (a) To keep your personal life safe, it important, no personal stories, no expression of opinions etc., as you could be trolled. (b) Use watermarks on all your posts.
Set Boundaries – You should be mindful of your privacy and of others. (a) Never indulge in personal stories that could embarrass you in future. (b) Do not post anything that hurts others’ feelings. (c) Avoid racist, political and religious comments.
Protecting your data – (a) Use paid tools that block malware and trackers. (b) Use 2FA to protect passwords, email and payments.
Stay Tuned to Cyber Talk to know more on internet ethics and digital wellness brought to you by Anil Rachamalla, End Now Foundation, http://www.endnowfoundation.org.
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