How Being an Influencer Can Help You Get Sponsors?
I’m so excited to share how my unboxing of beauty products will be relevant to racing sponsorship. I know it sounds awkward but I’m not misleading you. Let me get straight to the point and share some tips to become an influencer that can be useful for racers in getting sponsors too.
- Start Doing
- Tag Manufacturers
- Build a Big Tent
- Post Consistently
- Everybody Starts at Zero
- Commit to a Platform
- Leave Reviews and Comments
Getting a sponsor is such a big deal to every racer. It’s not an overnight success but rather requires a huge effort and work. That’s why digging into this topic is necessary for me to share with my racing community. And it’s important for me to go into details on each tip on how being an Influencer can help you get sponsors.
I signed up for an app called Influenster. Influenster is a platform where you can discover different consumer products and create reviews about them. The majority of the brands are for women, such as beauty products and the like. It was a long time ago when I did the sign-up and I was a little surprised that I still got a mailbox from this company. So I thought that this is going to be perfect to create a review for my Youtube channel that represents my personal brand.
Tip #1: Start Doing
The box that I got was perfect for my unboxing video at my Kate Dillon channel. I didn’t know what’s inside the box and I wanted to create a genuine reaction and review so I hit the record button to start it. How can this be relevant to racers? One of my students, Brad Shawly, is such an awesome racer. It was his first year in racing when he also did his unboxing video for one of his manufacturers. He genuinely love the products and ordered more. So the company sent his orders and added extra stuff too. He was surprised and thankful.
My point in this first tip is about the things that can bring you when you start doing them. It starts off with little steps and progress will follow. If you don’t have a professional camera, pull out your phone camera and start.
Tip #2: Tag Manufacturers
Everyone can easily hit the record button of a camera, open a box, and talk about what they bought. This leads people to watch your videos as well as the manufacturers. Never forget to tag them. Being a business owner, it has a huge impact when a customer puts an effort to tag my business in their social media post. It’s like the other way of saying thank you and promoting my business.
Tip #3: Build a Big Tent
Your manufacturers can see your unboxing video, share it, and comment. This makes your video even more visible. As you tag your manufacturers, more companies can see your profile. It’s like building a big tent. You are creating your visibility in an organic way.
Tip #4: Post Consistently
When you start doing something like this, commitment is going to be a big part of your journey. You will start to gain your followers and build a community. These people will be expecting from you, one of which is your ability to continue what they have seen from you the first time they have followed you. But don’t be surprised if things fall down, it’s normal. You’re not alone, I, myself, consistency is my biggest challenge. Just keep going until it becomes part of your routine.
Tip #5: Everybody Starts at Zero
One good thing about starting building your community is not getting worried about the big spotlight of millions of people seeing you. In fact, it gives you so much time to practice over time. Moreover, it let your followers get along with your style and how you do things comfortably.
Tip #6: Commit to a Platform
When you post consistently on social media platforms, I’ve learned that along the way, you have to be home on whatever social media you’re knowledgeable, comfortable using, and where you best tap your audience. In my case, I am most present to all these major social media platforms but I am more visible on Facebook and Youtube.
Tip #7: Leave Reviews and Comments
We live in an attention economy and we are really fighting for that little bit attention. In the case when there’s a manufacturer that you like or a racer who’s doing the same stuff that you like, be sure to comment and give people a shout out. A lot of times people want to reciprocate and you’ll get people to like your post too. If you’re willing to give, then the world will give back to you. Things pay off, 100 fold.
Expand your potential being an influencer, take steps to get sponsors!
While I didn’t originally set out to become a social media influencer, it has happened over time. If you become consistent with these tips, you’ll get to know how your followers respond to your actions and will understand what they like and don’t like. Moreover, on the manufacturer side, you’ll get a hint on what they might want to potentially give you a sponsorship, whether they are big or small sponsors. It’s going to be a lot of hard work but you’ll be grateful for the returns.
I hope these tips will help you expand your influence. Gaining Sponsorship takes time, but the work is worth it.
