We all know how important social media is as a communication tool. Social media is an essential part of many people’s lives. People use social media networks to share photos, receive news and weather alerts, and also as an avenue for online marketing.
You probably have one or more social media accounts. Accounts you use to stay in touch with friends, to keep posted on current affairs and trends. However, not only brands or companies can benefit from increasing brand awareness through their social media channels, but you as a user can also now earn money through your social media accounts.
It is easier to make money through your social media account if you have a huge number of followers and you are a social media influencer in Nigeria. But you shouldn’t give up even if you have only a few. But first, you will have to create your social media profile appealing to both your followers and potential clients.
Here is how to do that;
If you intend to earn money through social media, you have to continually post updates on your timeline this will make your account seem more trustworthy and also prove to your followers that you’re real. You should always strive to provide relevant content that is useful to your followers. When it comes to making money, being inactive will not do you any favors, regardless of how many followers you have.
How To Make Money On Social Media
Social media trends continually shift. Something trendy today ends up sounding old-fashioned tomorrow. To ensure that you stay relevant on social media, you will have to stay informed on the latest trends.
Create a Niche; to get attention, you must specialize in a niche market something you are truly passionate about. When you like something, it will become easier for you to focus on it.
Research about the niche and stick with it; Being passionate about your niche is great. However, your niche should also be profitable if you want to make money on social media. Some of the most profitable niches on social media include health and fitness, beauty, travel, business, and fashion.
Here are some of the proven ways to earn money in Nigeria just by posting on social media:
1. Become a Social Media Influencer
This is of the ways of earning money on social media; becoming a brand influencer. Being a social media influencer is the hot new trend right now, which means there is already a ton of competition.
An influencer is anyone who’s built an online reputation for themselves by doing and sharing awesome things online. They have the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of their relationship with their audience.
To their audiences, influencers are role models, trendsetters, and trusted experts whose opinions about certain subjects are respected. Many brands who want more sales of their product partner with influencers on sponsored posts that help get the word out about their products and pay them for this.
There are many influencers present on Instagram and Facebook, who are increasing their number of followers day by day and are also earning a lot through the different types of content they talk about, whether through pictures or captions.
While it may appear to be an easy task, don’t just go for it because you assume it’s an easy way of earning money through social media posts. It requires a lot of time, hard work, and dedication. There are different niches you can decide to go for if you want to become a social media influencer.
What they all have in common is sharing pictures on your page. If you want to become a social media influencer, you need to make sure you post high-quality photos. If you have to, get yourself a new smartphone that takes a better picture it’s a way of investing in yourself to eventually get more money.
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The reason why brands want to work with social influencers is they historically have extremely high engagement rates. If you want to make yourself more appealing as an influencer, you can show brands how high your engagement rates are with your followers.
Here are a few things you can talk about being an influencer:
- You can talk about lifestyle, you can talk about spreading positivity, you can talk about fashion and styling, and you can even review books and talk about the best reads of the year, even gushing about your love for nature or reviewing food that you eat from different restaurants
- You need a relatively large and loyal follower base ( users who engage with what you’re saying) to become a successful social media influencer and start earning money. Keep in mind when negotiating that you are not just offering content but access to your followers.
2. Become an Affiliate Marketer
Another way of earning money on social media is by becoming an Affiliate of a certain product or brand. Unlike an influencer, an affiliate is invested in making sales for the partner brand and not just generating awareness in exchange for a commission.
As an affiliate, you will be given a trackable link or promo code to post on your social media as part of their social media marketing in Nigeria, to direct your audience who might be a potential clients to click on to purchase the product. Each time someone led by you proceeds to purchase on the vendor’s website you get a commission.
To promote the affiliate products you can write a review or create a beautiful post about the things you like about the product or service and share it on your social media channels for the product to gain maximum exposure. Make sure to state any negative things about this product too because you need to keep your review balance and people will only trust the product if they feel you are being genuine.
To earn money as an affiliate marketer, just sign up for an affiliate program. Several affiliate programs exist in Nigeria such as; Amazon Affiliate Program, Jumia Affiliate Program, and Konga Affiliate Program.
3. Sell Your Products
Another way to use social media to earn money is by displaying and selling your products. You can turn your social media accounts into a sales funnel for your businesses, products, or services. Some social media sites allow you to turn your social media accounts into virtual online stores. Items you can sell include fashion accessories, e-books, or even photos taken by you.
This method doesn’t depend solely on the number of followers you have on your social media page. Whether a 1000 followers or 500, it is likely that some of them would be interested in buying some of the stuff you offer. Just make sure you post pictures and details of the product you wish to sell on your page and provide contacts through which interested buyers can get in touch with you and make a purchase.
4. Get paid to share your knowledge
If you have a specialized area of business or you sell a service, then you can make money through YouTube. “Creating ‘how-to’ content on a niche topic can earn you money on social media. For instance, you could create a video on ‘how to make ice cream at home and you then monetize the video and get money based on the overall view count. The more likes and subscriptions you get, the more cash you earn.
You can also try the YouTube Partner Program, set up your videos to allow ads to show and you’ll get paid based on the number of times those ads are viewed. More video views mean more ad views, which means more money.
This is a good source of earning money through social media.
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5. Market your skills
As opposed to knowledge, skills are the ability to apply knowledge to specific situations. Skills are usually developed through practice while knowledge is the information you have acquired over the years. You might have certain skills that someone out there is willing to pay for. So another means of earning through your social media is by posting and showcasing these skills you have on your social media page with solid proof (could be a video) of your abilities.
You can post some samples of the work you have done in the past. There is a possibility that one of your followers might need someone with the exact skill sets you possess. Such skills include painting, writing, and graphics design.
6. Become a Social Media Manager
Social media has become a useful channel for so many retail brands and large organizations to communicate with their clients and also for prominent personalities to stay in touch with their fans.
Most large organizations and prominent figures nowadays have one or several social media accounts. Multiple ways to connect with their clients and fans. Such accounts usually have a substantial number of followers and can sometimes receive hundreds of messages and requests each day. The owners of such accounts often need help managing their social accounts. So they hire social media managers to handle their accounts for them.
There are countless job roles online related to social media management. Startups and companies need help to build advertising campaigns on social media as social media advertising has become more popular and that’s where you come in.
This job requires you to understand social trends, have excellent writing skills and you must ensure that your online resume is up to the required standard.
Conclusion
With about 3.8 billion active users social media is a goldmine of opportunities. Anyone can make money on social media using any of these methods — you just need to set your mind to it and work hard
Also, the fundamental rule of earning from your social media is by staying active. If you have a Facebook page or an Instagram account but the last post is from six months ago, your followers will lose interest. To make money from social media, you have to make sure the followers keep coming.
There is no magic formula for the number of times you should post per day, so you should experiment with what your audience responds to. You have to keep your content current, on-trend, and timely, and your followers will check in periodically to make sure they’re not missing anything.
Your “Content” doesn’t have to mean a blog post or a feature-length film, either. It can be as simple as a photo of one of your products or a quick comment on the weather. It’s all about letting people know you’re still around.
In general, social media isn’t going to produce a huge amount of income immediately. However, there’s so much opportunity waiting for you. If you’re on social media anyway, why not take the opportunity to make a little extra cash?