Twitter was born in 2006. Since then, and especially in recent years, the social media platform has rocket launched into one of the most heavily used sites on the Internet, serving as a great place to network, advertise and share. Twitter is a worthwhile place to set your roots – for both businesses and individuals – and try to shine. If you’re important on Twitter, you can leverage that importance to do a number of things. Want to know what it takes to become a Twitter influencer? Read on.
What is the Role of a Twitter Influencer?
Recent studies revealed that there are definitely individuals acting as influencers on the site. In other words, there are certain users that create and circulate content, influencing the conversations being held on the platform. These individuals have initiative and engagement down to a science, and use their knowledge wisely. According to the studies, there are two main types of influencers: hub and bridge.
What Is a Hub Influencer and How Do You Become One?
Hub influencers, or the most powerful influencers, are the drive behind Twitter conversations. They generally have mountains of followers, like celebrities or media groups. Look at Miley Cyrus’ Twitter, for example. When she posted about her homeless Emmy date, it started a widespread conversation (even if it wasn’t the conversation she anticipated). Hub influencers, like Miley, create viral content and start new movements.
Utilizing creativity, initiative and their popularity (usually), hub influencers invent new topics, hashtags and trends within their niches. They post new content persistently to keep their audiences engaged, strategically keeping themselves at the forefront of the network.
Becoming a hub influencer is difficult, as it requires a number of factors. First, you have to post creative, new material that is not only original, but is also interesting enough to be shared. Your followers also play a part: you have to have lots of them, they need to perfectly fit your niche and they need to be engaged to retweet your material.
It takes hard work and drive to become a hub influencer. To start, connect with important people in your network. Build Twitter connections and gather a good group of followers – with a particular preference for bridge influencers (see below) – in order to achieve hub status.
What Is a Bridge Influencer and How Do You Become One?
Bridge influencers, as their name suggests, act as the bridge between hub and the outside audience. Bridges pick relevant, interesting content and share, share, share. They may not invent the new topics or trends, but they’re the ones publicizing them. Look, for example, at Houzz’s Twitter. This platform, a center for décor and home improvement ideas, collects concepts from individuals and designers around the world and puts them in one place. It doesn’t create new content, but it shares it with over 140,000 Twitter followers.
Becoming a bridge influencer is easier than becoming a hub, but it still requires work. You need to be able to recognize when content has potential to go viral. This, of course, requires a deep understanding of your niche. You have to ask yourself, “What will others in my niche appreciate and want to share?”
You need to have the time to seek and share such content persistently. You also, like hubs, need to have interested and engaged followers that will share the information you’ve shared. Without a group of decent followers, your sharing will go unnoticed.
It’s certainly not easy to become a Twitter influencer. But it’s not impossible. Understanding, strategy and hard work can help you position yourself as either a hub or a bridge. Get started today to enjoy power and leverage on one of the world’s most popular websites.