The demand for influencer marketing is on the rise – brands know it works. Bloggers and those who are active on social media hold tremendous power when it comes to recommending products and services. In fact, according to a poll conducted by Tomoson, a company that connects influencers with brands, businesses generate $6.50 in revenue for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.

Some influencers are more effective than others, however, and brands know this as well. If you want to land more opportunities and create great working relationships with sponsors as an influencer, you need to stand out from the crowd. You need to show that you have a real relationship with your community and that you’ll help your sponsors meet their business goals.  

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Here are 10 ways you can stand out as an influencer:

1. Create helpful content consistently. With all the blog posts that are published every single day, it’s important that your content is high quality. Your posts should be enjoyable to read and genuinely useful. It’s also good to update regularly so your readers can begin to rely on you as a top source for the latest information in your niche.
2. Practice strong branding. Make your content easily recognizable across your website and social media accounts. For example, use similar language and phrasing. Use the same colors and visual styles in your images. Invest in a well-designed logo that is unique and easy to recognize.
3. Be an early adopter. Be quick to experiment with new platforms and features on popular websites. While it’s true that not everything will “stick,” you’ll benefit from jumping in early when things do.
4. Take advantage of trends. Tweak popular memes to fit your niche. Share (or better yet: create) content that discusses the latest news that relates to your industry. Review new products when they would be of interest to your readers.
5. Never stop learning. Because technology changes so rapidly, the blog and social media world looks really different from year to year. Pay attention to what’s happening in the social media and tech world, because it affects how you should be running your blog.
6. Bet on your strengths. We all have our talents – use yours as much as possible! If you’re a great writer but don’t have much of an eye for design, use your time to write more content. You can always hire someone else to create your website design and graphics.
7. Connect (creatively) with other bloggers. There are so many ways to help each other grow. Exchange guest blog posts or “take over” each other’s Instagram account for a day. Do something fun and entertaining to get in front of each other’s readers- you’ll both benefit!
8. Build a community. It’s pretty obvious by looking at a blogger’s social media accounts and website whether they have a real, engaged readership or if there’s not a lot of activity going on. Encouraging a sense of community among your blog readers is a long game, but it’s so worthwhile in how effective your blog is.
9. Provide data. If you can demonstrate to brands the exact number of views, clicks, or sales your prior campaigns have driven, they’ll be able to determine much more easily if they should work with you. Providing this information also builds trust – the more transparent you can be, the more comfortable brands can be about working out a campaign with you.
10. Over-deliver. Going above and beyond what’s required of you for the campaign will always help you stand out. Whether it’s an extra original photo or two, a few bucks spent on promoting your post, or some other extra “boost,” it will always be appreciated and help campaign managers remember you as a blogger that over-delivers.

One last thing: while you might be inspired by other influencers, don’t be afraid to do things your own way. You’ll learn what works for you and your community – and what doesn’t – as you spend more time creating content and participating in campaigns.