Background on Being a College Influencer
Students often wonder how to become brand influencers while having the everyday experiences of college itself. Little do they know that you can have both by creating your identity and establishing your own brand. College students are in high demand, and brands are looking for people to tap into their communities. While this may be hard due to the personal pressure of achieving specific goals in college and may not allow for unlimited time to build your brand, it is still possible. There are many people on campus at the University of Alabama to attest to their success as influencers and full-time students.
How to Become an Influencer
The first step in making this transition to become an influencer is to reinvent and assert your most authentic self and, most notably, not try to be someone you aren’t. Understanding your target audience and who you wish to appeal to is also extremely important in gaining attention, and knowing what content to produce that will have the most impact. Networking and connecting on different platforms is essential for brands to know that you can engage and have consistent content and create conversations and build relationships with certain brands and your audience.
Many people struggle to find their place within social media and content creation, but college is a way to get a fresh start and new perspective which allows people the opportunity to be whoever they want. Those who take a leap of faith and put themselves out there would be surprised by what they could accomplish and gain along the way.
University of Alabama Influencers
Abby Asselin, a University of Alabama graduate and host of “The Gen Z Girl” podcast, started her career as an influencer her freshman year. She now has over 95,000 subscribers on YouTube and close to 30,000 Instagram followers, just because she took a chance on recreating herself and influencing others along the way. She describes her journey as feeling lost initially and explained that she had always wanted to create a YouTube channel in high school but was too fearful of what people would think, but felt like college was the fresh start she needed. Abby said, “I think the biggest thing is just remembering that like it’s in your hands and it’s up to you, and you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing on YouTube.”
There are also many current students here on campus that have, over their years, built their social media platforms up enough to gain the “influencer” status. One senior, Kate Susanin, started building her brand through Instagram and Amazon closet. This past year she has gained tons of new followers and ambassador opportunities from some of the most well-known clothing brands, one being Princess Polly. Not only is she giving her followers different discounts to use and style ideas, but she is also, in return, receiving PR packages (containing new clothes from those stores) and cash for herself. Becoming an ambassador/influencer on social media may seem uncomfortable and intimidating, especially in college. Still, when done correctly, it can be beneficial to you and the people you are influencing.
Along with creating content and getting extra cash, once you have reached a high following, you have the opportunity for sponsors to reach out and offer brand deals and merchandise to promote. Because of this opportunity, it also requires lots of responsibility for yourself and your fans. With brands reaching out, you want to make sure that the brands align with your values and morals because you promote them and encourage others to try them. When large corporations offer free merch, influencers realize their dreams are turning into reality because of the platforms they have created. Obtaining this position takes lots of time and energy that most people do not recognize; it is not simply talking in the camera for 30 minutes but also hours of editing and designing. In college, being a student and influencer, you may have to sacrifice weekends and parties to devote yourself to your work, but consistency is key to success in this job that never ends. The most crucial aspect of trying to brand yourself is having fun while you are doing it, and you stay true to yourself and do not change just because you think it is what your followers want.
