Category: Lifestyle

What type of influencer am I?

More followers = more influence. This is the standard mantra most on social media. It may seem simple enough but this is not always the case and in fact,  there are different levels of influencer which command different kinds of influence on their audience.

The true mantra should be: more influence= more engagement. Now we’re talking! Engagement drives action, so the more your audience engages with your content the more valuable your account is.

An influencer is a person on social media who has built a reputation for their expertise on a particular topic and building content around this which has generated a following as a result. They are a trusted voice in their particular field and receive engagement from their following.

The big four categories of influencers that have been identified are Nano, Micro, Macro and Mega influencers. Each depend on the number of followers they have and brands look at their level to decide whether to engage with them- depending on the kind of outcomes the brand wants from it’s campaign.

Nano, micro and macro influencers are gaining interest from brands because they have more targeted engagement as their audiences follow them for a particular reason. So for the number of followers they have, more are engaging and seeing their content than happens with mega influencers.

So, are you ready to find out which influencer you are?

Nano Influencer:

Starting with the smallest, the nano influencer is a newly defined category which includes anyone under 1000 followers.  Nano influencers may not have a lot of followers or very focused content  but their engagement rate is significantly higher as each follower is likely to be more invested in their content. These followers are likely to be groups of friends, family and colleagues and so represent a variety of people who are interested in all kinds of content.

Micro Influencer:

A micro influencer is the next up, with between 1000 and 100 000 followers.  Unlike a nano influencer whose following are people they probably know, a micro influencer is often followed by a community who relate to their content. A micro-influencer usually has a specific focus and is normally a “specialist” in a field, such as a fitfluencer (fitness influencer). Their audience follow them because of this focused content. This makes them good for brands wanting to identify partnerships related to their business.

Macro Influencer:

A macro influencer is what most people think of when they think of the classic influencer. They have between 100 000 and 1 million followers and often gained this following through their work on social media (rather than being celebrities already). Like micro influencers they are often specialised accounts focusing on a niche audience interest and create communities around themselves and their area of interest.

Mega Influencer:

A mega influencer is just another name for a celebrity. These accounts have interest because they person is known for work they do offline but because of their fan base, have a massive following and sway online. These accounts don’t have the same connection to their audience as nano, micro and macro influencers because these social media accounts support their work rather than being the focus and are often impersonal with minimal engagement.

Each influencer level can be effective in brand campaigns, depending on the campaigns goals. As an influencer who wants to connect with brands, it’s important to identify your level and to sign up for brand influencer communities, like Brand Advisor to start being connected with the right campaigns!

Instagram analytics for beginners

So you’re an influencer, putting up regular posts and gaining followers but it all seems quite random. Some days you’ll get loads of likes, other days very little. So how can you keep track and make sense of what your “influence” is. The answer? Social Media analytics!

While social media analytics could easily sound like some scary computer science stuff, it’s actually quite understandable for just about anyone!

Basically, they’re a collection of interpreted data from your social media accounts, as dictated by the social media network you’re using. On Instagram they’re called “insights” because that’s what they do if you know how to read them- give insight into how your account is doing.

So now that we’re all on the same page, let’s get down to business.

How to find your “insights”

The first thing you need to do is make sure you account is switched to a business account, which can be done in the account section in your settings. Instagram does not give insights to personal accounts.

What to pay attention to 

Once you’ve switched to business you’ll see you have access to a wide variety of analytics ranging from individual post insights to larger information about when your audience views your posts (note audience insights are only available for accounts with over 100 followers). There are words such as “‘reach” and “impressions” and while instagram does give you explanations of what that all means it still can be hard to know what to focus on to monitor and improve your stats.

For an influencer the two most important analytic metrics relate to awareness of your account and to your audience. These need to be monitored at a profile and post level because the profile analytics show your overall performance while monitoring each individual post can indicate what kind of content is preferred by your audience and which weren’t.

Awareness of your account can be seen by monitoring your profiles impressions and reach. Impressions refer to how many times your account has been viewed, these are usually quite high as it includes multiple viewings by the same account. Reach tracks the number of views of your account but unique accounts (so only counting each account view once).

While impressions are good to note, reach is the actual “conversion” as it is the true count of how many people have seen or interacted with your account or post at least once. For each individual post this reach metric will tell you how many of those people weren’t your followers, indicating how far your accounts awareness is reaching beyond the community you have already created.

Speaking of community, next to pay attention to is audience. They are the ones who make you an “influencer” or not. Monitor how many followers you gain and lose in relation to your posts and the kind of content you are promoting. Their interactions with your posts, the time of day your posts get the most views and which days are most popular can also guide you on when is the optimal time to put out your content.

Also, If it appears you are being followed by people who are not your expected audience, that could mean your posts are not putting out the message you imagine and need re-thinking.

How to improve your reach and audience

Although Instagram works on an algorithm, there is never a sure fire way to pick up followers and views quickly without buying them (which is inauthentic and not what we’re about). So, much like going to the gym to get the body you want, building your audience is a focused effort.

However there are some “routines” you can do to get your account where you want it to be.

Post regularly, Instagram favours accounts that engage with the platform on a regular basis. So if you keep up a regular posting schedule, your content is likely to be picked up by the algorithm and introduced to audiences it thinks would enjoy what you put up.

Use the right hashtags, this is another way to extend your reach. People search hashtags on specific topics and using the right ones can get your content seen. Also pay attention for trending hashtags that could relate to your posts.

Engage with your audience, Instagram is an online community and so there is a benefit to engaging with your audience to let them know that you appreciate their interest in your content. Like and comment on replied to your posts or stories and comment on content from your audience and even accounts who don’t follow you.

Promote your posts, while we said that paying for followers is a no-no,  paying to promote your posts is encouraged. It will depend on your budget but since Instagram is a business it likes accounts who use promoted posts. In addition, it is a simple shortcut to getting a slightly bigger reach on content you think it worth it.

It’s always good to keep in mind that Instagram keeps changing up how their algorithm works, so sometimes your accounts effectiveness could be out of your hands. Keeping updated on any changes is also helpful so you’re not left in the dark.

E-commerce, buying and selling products online, is gaining rapid acceptance and growing faster than most expected in South Africa. In 2018, digital commerce was set to make up 1.4% of total retail sales for the year, with 71% of online retailers reporting a profit.

As more and more retailers get in on the e-commerce trend, here’s what you need to know about why you should your shop online.

E-commerce growing fast so get in on it

In South Africa, digital commerce is multiplying at four times the rate of traditional commerce and mobile commerce at eight times. This growth has outstripped the forecasts, with increased investment in online stores than expected. In 2019, apparel stores (stores selling clothing and accessories) were the fastest growing area in online retail.

There is a low bar for entry for new businesses

While established retailers are replicating their traditional stores online, an online shop is a great way for young entrepreneurs to set up their store and innovate. Since creating a platform is cheaper than renting retail space, there are less overheads which make it easier to launch and turn a profit.

Shop social

A significant factor for e-commerce is social media leverage. In traditional retail stores, trust is earned through face-to-face customer service and assurance and this needs to translate to the online world as well.

While keeping customers up to date on purchases, responding to queries on the actual store are vital, expanding your customer relations to social media can help promote and create a relationship with your customer base.

Social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook also allow you to connect your store, making it easier and cheaper to create brand awareness and  for customers to redirect to your store after seeing an appealing post while scrolling through their feed.

A global audience

While there are logistical concerns when it comes to shipping overseas compared to locally, putting your shop online removes barriers of borders and means people all over the world can buy your product. This is especially valuable if you are selling a local product that could be of interest to expats and foreing markets.

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Communication is based in context. Whenever we go to talk to a person, how we do it depends on who that person is and what their relationship to us is. So you would talk to your boss one way, and to your friends another. It’s the same on social media.

Different platforms need a different voice because each platform reaches a unique audience which engages with the content differently. This doesn’t mean that you always have to create unique content on the same subject for every single platform, but rather be aware of how your post is presented and if this reflects the overall objectives of that platform.

A great example of how to understand how to post about the same subject on is explained through the Donut explanation by Three Ships Media.

They point out the objectives of each social media platform through how you are likely to post on them.

While these need some updating because these platforms have changed a bit since this was put together, it illustrated the original purpose of a users message on each platform.

Now days, it would be useful to add platforms like TikTok with the reference “here is a short video of me lyp-syncing to a song about donuts.”

Most content creators have a primary platform where the bulk of their audience is, usually where they began posting. While making a niche on one social media platform can work because it means you only have to tailor your posts for one kind of audience. But to get the best reach, making sure your content can be shared across multiple platforms is key.

So when making a post for your primary platform, keep in mind how you can edit or add to that content piece for your other accounts.

If for example you are making a review post on a product you’re trying out, why not do a long review video on Youtube, picture of yourself and the product on Instagram, a promotion tweet to the Youtube video on Twitter and a short promo video on Facebook?

It may take a bit more effort but you easily expand your reach and since the best way to learn how best to promote your content on a platform is by doing it, also expand your understanding of each platforms best practice.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]