Choosing the right platforms

Deciding what platforms to use is a vital part of becoming a successful influencer.

There are many social media platforms out there and new ones are coming out each year. A lot of the time beginning influencers think that they need to be on as many platforms as possible to maximize their chances of success, but truth is, you just need to make sure you are on the RIGHT ones for YOU. 

Let’s take a look at the most popular platforms right now to explore what their purpose is, who uses them and for whom it could be beneficial to become a content creator on them. 

We also have a whole lesson on the most popular niches per platform here.

Instagram - Inspire & share your life

For a lot of us, when we think of social media, one of the first things that comes to mind is Instagram. Instagram is one of the most popular platforms and has about 2 billion users. 

Now, the pro and the con of instagram is that it is used by A LOT of people. About 500 million people use stories EACH DAY. As you can imagine, this makes it a bit harder to get seen and grow on this platform. However, the pro is with a lot of people on the app, brands take this platform very seriously and Instagrammers are one of the most influential and best paid influencers.

This platform has a preference for aesthetic and curated content.

The biggest amount of collaborations happen on Instagram and Instagram brand deals are usually the highest paid ones.

YouTube - Provide value & long form content

YouTube is a video search engine. People usually go to YouTube for visual answers to a certain question: ‘How to tie a tie?”, “How to open a bottle with your shoe?”, “Best places to travel to in your twenties?”. A great way to grow on YouTube is to provide VALUE & answers to questions that your target audience has.

So, for example, fashion influencers can decide to use YouTube for trend reviews, clothing hauls, styling tips and so on.

Travel influencers can do travel tips, travel vlogs, hotel reviews etc.

Book influencers can do reading suggestions or book reviews for example.

When you already have a good audience on a different platform, such as instagram for example, you can choose to use YouTube to provide long form backstage, lifestyle, vlog or Q&A style content to get your audience to connect on an even deeper level with you.

This platform has a preference for value based content.

TikTok - Entertaining Video Content

TikTok is the new kid on the block who is growing rapidly. With over 1 billion users, TikTok is here to stay! Out of all social media platforms users spend the most amount of time on TikTok!

The main users of TikTok are Gen Z and unlike Instagram it doesn't favour super polished and aesthetic content. Raw videos of someone just telling a joke in their bed with questionable lighting can go viral just as likely as a professionally created video concept.

Entertainment content does best on TikTok, so if you are trying to use this platform as a part of your social media plan you may want to consider to somehow make entertaining or edutaining content within your niche.

Trends & Challenges are also huge on TikTok, definitely a good idea to get on those and adapt them to your niche where possible. If you are early with jumping on a trend your changes of going viral are higher.

Pinterest - Inspire & Provide Ideas to a mainly female audience

Being an influencer on Pinterest seems to be a lesser known about opportunity!

Pinterest is a platform mainly used by women for inspiration, a lot of women come to Pinterest for shopping inspiration, making it a great platform for brand collaborations.

A lovely thing about Pinterest is that compared to social media accounts such as Instagram where users generally only see new content, Pinterest pins last forever.

If you are interested in using Pinterest for your social media strategy it is a good idea to:

• Create a free business account

• Create idea pins

• Do proper keyword research

• Submit pins to be featured on the Today Tab

• Focus on Pin design

• Try using video content

You can also use Pinterest to promote your other platforms through the use of links.

Twitch - Be a streamer

Influencers on Twitch offer live entertainment to their subscribers and other viewers, unlike other platforms which typically rely on static posts or sharing. Twitch influencers are the streamers who have an engaged audience of subscribers.

Twitch is mainly used males (65%) and most users are gamers.

Now that you know the deets about each platform, take a look at the most popular niches here!