Learn how to become famous on social media by following this guide.
These days, almost everyone is trying to figure out how to become famous on social media. Some people are after this for noble reasons such as wanting to “make a difference” in the world. Others do it for vanity purposes like hitting that 100K follower milestone or getting that coveted blue checkmark.
But haven’t you noticed? Almost anyone can be “famous” on social media. What truly makes someone well-known is how quickly a follower can recognize a personal brand. And that can happen whether you have 10K or 1 million followers.
“Your personal brand is the aspect of your business that people will grow to like, know, and trust. Not your personal brand logo and not even the useful tips you hand out.”
Your personal brand is your personality, your ambition, and your fears. When people can relate to you in these aspects, you become someone they like, someone they know, and someone they trust.
I’ve repeated these three words in almost every single piece of content I post. Do you want to know why?
Because they are the only three steps in your audience’s journey that will ultimately lead you to become a famous influencer or thought leader in your industry.
People become famous on social media because they know what it is that their brand stands for. You have to know what your own core values and beliefs are in order to stay relevant on social media.
Are you all about having a consistent strategy? Talk about it.
Are you about helping others first and yourself last? Own that mindset.
Is your core belief that everyone should have equal parts of business and pleasure? Tell people how they can achieve that.
In this blog, I will outline every aspect of how to become famous on social media, from following the right digital communications strategy to engaging with your audience to growing your social media presence.
But let’s start with the basics:
Table of Contents
Brief Introduction to Popular Social Media Platforms
Identifying Platforms That Align with Your Goals and Target Audience
Researching Platform-specific Trends, Features, and Best Practices
Identifying Your Niche or Passion
Creating a Unique and Compelling Personal Brand
Crafting a Consistent and Authentic Online Persona
Understanding Content that Resonates with Your Target Audience
Tips for High-quality Content Creation
Utilizing Content Planning and Scheduling Tools
Building a Strong and Supportive Network
Leveraging Hashtags and Trends to Increase Visibility
Collaborating with Other Creators
Responding to Comments and Messages
Developing a Genuine Connection with Your Followers
Hosting Live Streams, Q&A Sessions, or Giveaways
Understanding Social Media Analytics and Metrics
Monitoring Performance and Adjusting Strategies
Utilizing Data-driven Decision-making for Growth
Finding and Connecting with Individuals in Your Industry
Exploring Opportunities for Collaboration, or Sponsored Content
Building Relationships with Brands and Publications
Dealing with Challenges and Maintaining Mental Health
Managing Online Criticism and Negativity
Setting Boundaries and Prioritizing Self-care
Recognizing the Difference Between Online and Offline Life
Staying Updated and Adapting to Changes
Keeping up With Social Media Trends and Platform Updates
Experimenting with New Features and Formats
1. Understanding Social Media Platforms
Unless you were born with an iPad in hand and had your first Instagram account at the age of 10, chances are you don’t understand social media as well as you should.
Do you want to attract more clients and boost revenue?
We have access to hundreds of social media platforms today, used by billions worldwide. Some, like Reddit, are community and forum-based; others, like Twitter, connect us to news stories, while some, like WhatsApp, exist just to communicate with peers and loved ones (and aren’t likely to make you famous).
As you embark on your journey toward social media stardom, you should begin by understanding what makes each social media platform unique.
Brief Introduction to Popular Social Media Platforms
Not all social media platforms are the same. In fact, they can be further broken down into several sub-categories:
- Networking platforms: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
- Image sharing platforms: Instagram, Pinterest
- Video-sharing platforms: YouTube, Vimeo, and Instagram
- Interactive platforms: Snapchat and TikTok
While there is some overlap among these broad categories, this breakdown should give you an idea of which platform best suits your needs and how to leverage them.
Identifying Platforms That Align with Your Goals and Target Audience
Each social media platform also differs in the audience that they target.
TikTok and Snapchat, for instance, are most popular among GenZ, while millennials are likelier to flock to Instagram and Twitter.
“A post about your career aspirations isn’t going to make you a Facebook star, while a video of you dancing isn’t likely to go viral on LinkedIn.”
To figure out which platform you need to use, you need to find the platform that aligns most with your target audience.
Researching Platform-specific Trends, Features, and Best Practices
Staying on top of trends on social media is important because it can lead to a viral piece of content. That’s why so many people are seeing such high returns on platforms like Tik Tok. Those who downloaded the app early were able to hop on the app’s trends which ultimately led a lot of people to become famous on Tik Tok.
This is still possible on other platforms like Instagram and YouTube, but it takes a content strategy to know when you’ve hit the right mark. By experimenting with different types of posts, hashtags, and collaboration methods, you can see that rise in social media fame sooner than you think.
The tricky part here is figuring out what exactly your goals and target audience are. This is why I urge you to work towards…
2. Developing Your Brand Identity
Every personal brand is unique because every person has their own story to tell. However, it takes knowing which stories to tell if you want to boost the credibility and likability of your personal brand. This is where a unique brand identity comes into play. How do you go about doing this?
Identifying Your Niche or Passion
To carve out your own niche, start by telling stories that your ideal client or follower will relate to. If you’re a marketing guru who wants to be known as a thought leader, maybe you’ll tell the story about how you worked your 9-5 just to come home and create content for your side hustle. This type of story does two things:
- It shows people where you came from;
- It shows people that you have the tenacity to build a successful business.
“It’s important that your audience sees where you came from. Nobody puts many stalks on people who have things handed to them. It’s not relatable. And it’s definitely not likable.”
On social media, people are looking for inspiration. And if you can tell your story in such a way that shows people how you were able to achieve success, those are the stories that will earn you the right to be called an influencer or thought leader.
Whether you’re encouraging others to follow in your footsteps or you’re trying to sell a product or service, tell stories that are going to resonate with people enough so that they stick around.
Creating a Unique and Compelling Personal Brand
Stories relating to your struggles, your passions, and your complete failures are also an important part of branding yourself for success. That’s why a personal brand works so much better than a business brand in today’s society.
To learn how to become famous on social media, you have to learn how to tell the stories that matter. The ones that show you’re a real human being who can relate to their followers. You have to be willing to be open, be vulnerable and you have to be willing to have a unique voice.
So, think of three stories you have that lead you to where you are today. I recommend telling stories about:
- How do you get started
- A time when you failed, and
- A story that made you question everything.
Write them down, and tell them over and over again to your social media audience.
Crafting a Consistent and Authentic Online Persona
The best way to create an authentic online persona, and stick to it consistently, is to know your end goal.
There’s no point in building your brand awareness if you don’t have an end goal in mind.
Here are a couple of options to get you thinking. Do you want to:
- Build up your clientele?
- Reach a sales milestone?
- Land speaking opportunities?
- Build passive income?
- Sell your own line of products?
- Work with brands?
- Get verified on social media?
- Reach a certain follower count?
If the last two appeal to you the most, you’re headed for 15 minutes of fame and risk being labeled as inauthentic in the long run.
There are plenty of people who have capitalized off of a blue checkmark and a high follower count who have since disappeared off the face of social media. Or worse — they’ve tarnished their brand reputation beyond repair.
Your end goal should be something that will earn you sustainable and consistent success with your personal brand.
And it’s not a matter of choosing one of these end goals over the other. You can get speaking opportunities after building your clientele and working with brands. But you need to decide which goal you want to hit first and which ones can be done by building your brand on social media.
Then, leverage these as stepping stones toward your end goal.
“The idea that becoming famous equates to opportunities and fortune is a theory that doesn’t ring quite true. There are plenty of celebrities who have lost all their money and who don’t get offered jobs in their field anymore.”
Don’t let that be you. Know where you want to end up and use that end goal to formulate a plan. This will help to develop your personal brand into one that is recognizable — a.k.a famous.
3. Creating Engaging Content
Once you’ve landed on brand identity and developed a personal voice, it’s time to go out and start creating content.
Engaging content will help you stand out from the crowd and build up a dedicated following. But this is, of course, easier said than done. There’s no magic formula to creating content that’s guaranteed to be received with a flurry of likes and comments.
But here are some tips that can point you in the right direction:
Understanding Content that Resonates with Your Target Audience
To understand what content your target audience will respond to, creating a blueprint of what this customer looks like is essential.
Through research and analysis, gain insight into your audience’s demographics, interests, and preferences. At the same time, pay attention to feedback on your posts and those of your peers.
These steps should help you better understand the person you want to appeal to and make it easier to craft content that resonates.
Tips for High-quality Content Creation
With so much noise on social media, it takes something special to stand out. Gone are the days of unoriginal, half-baked posts — if you want to make it big today, you have to pay special attention to the following:
- Storytelling: Anyone can tell a story. But how you present your story makes the difference between content that sticks and that which disappears.
- Video Production: Some videos posted on TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram these days have the same production value as high-budget TV shows from 10 years ago. Focus on the right equipment and tools to match the standard.
- Photography: If you’re posting only for friends and family, having a slightly blurry image is okay. But if you want to be social media famous, pay extra attention to the quality of images you post — it can make a huge difference.
Utilizing Content Planning and Scheduling Tools
Sometimes it isn’t just about what you post but when you post it.
Understanding social media peak hours, when your target audience is most likely to be online, and scheduling your posts for a special occasion, are all essential steps to creating engaging content.
I understand it’s hard always to be glued to the screen, waiting for the perfect time to post content. But social media never sleeps.
This is where content planning and scheduling tools come in. Platforms like Loomly or Sendible allow you to manage your posts across several platforms easily. They aren’t free to use, but it’s a small price to pay for social media stardom in the long run.
Why is it so important?
“I wholeheartedly believe there can’t be success without a strategy.”
The reason so many aspiring entrepreneurs don’t “make it” on social media is because they don’t plan ahead.
Quit waiting for inspiration to strike— plan out a social media content strategy that works for you and serves a purpose for your audience. Having a set schedule of when and where to post is going to help you develop the consistency you need to reach that famous level on social media.
4. Growing Your Social Media Presence
The biggest mistake you can make on your quest to social media fame is creating one viral post and sitting back to rest on your laurels.
Stardom only comes to those who are willing to put in the work. Once you’ve established your niche, identified your target audience, and begun crafting creative content, it’s time to grow your online presence.
Building a Strong and Supportive Network
One of the best ways to build a strong network on social media is by following the social media accounts of people you admire and want to emulate.
Engage with posts that strike a chord, comment on the content you enjoy, and join communities of like-minded people. This will help you build a solid online support system, which, much like an offline community, is essential to ensuring success.
Leveraging Hashtags and Trends to Increase Visibility
Hashtags, when used wrong, can, admittedly, be quite lame.
But when you do your research, understand the value of a particular trend, and use a hashtag at the right time and place, it can do wonders to increase the visibility of your posts.
Hashtags can broadly be divided into the following categories:
- Branded hashtags
- Campaign hashtags
- Community hashtags
- Trending hashtags
Depending on the content you post, and the flavor of the season, any of these hashtags could work for your cause. As long as they’re relevant to your post, they can help you target the right groups, increase your visibility and build engagement.
Collaborating with Other Creators
Social media collaborations appear to have fallen by the wayside in recent years. A few years ago, this was the recipe for how to become famous on social media.
I think now that social media has become such a competitive space for notoriety, people have eliminated this strategy for fear of being overshadowed by their peers.
And honestly — it’s a huge mistake.
Social media collaborations, first and foremost, show your audience that you’re not in it for the fame. Which, ironically, is what will help you reach that well-known status faster than people who are clearly posting for their ego.
5. Engaging with Your Audience
When aiming for social media fame, some of the most popular Instagrammers forget that they’re not simply building a following but a community.
Whenever you post, you should ask yourself: Are you having a one-sided conversation with your audience or taking them on a journey with you?
When you engage with your audience, and make them feel important, wanted, and a part of the conversation, they’re more likely to respect you and return for more.
Responding to Comments and Messages
At the end of the day, social media platforms are all about communication and networking.
If you aren’t responding to comments and messages and taking valuable feedback on board, you’re wasting the potential these platforms offer.
Even some of the biggest celebrities take time to respond to fans who regularly comment on their posts. Why shouldn’t you?
Developing a Genuine Connection with Your Followers
When we spend so much of our lives online, it’s easy to forget that behind every account is a person — with feelings, ambitions, and struggles that we’ll never know about.
I suggest you approach social media with the same empathy that you would approach offline social interaction.
To build a genuine connection, it’s essential to engage with your followers on an emotional level and not simply spam them with your goals and ambitions.
Hosting Live Streams, Q&A Sessions, or Giveaways
This blog is all about building an effective digital communications strategy, and there’s no better way than exploring all formats of communication that social media offers.
Hosting live streams and Q&A sessions is an excellent way for you to learn more about your audience and for them to find out about you. Gift giveaways show that you’re willing to use your social media popularity for more than just personal gain — it shows that you care about the people who are catapulting you to social media stardom.
6. Utilizing Analytics and Insights
“Don’t sleep on the data behind your content— this is how you’re going to know exactly how to use social media to boost your career.”
Social media is, after all, a numbers game.
Understanding Social Media Analytics and Metrics
You can answer important questions about your social media presence using analytical and metric tools. For instance, is consistently posting on Pinterest worth your while? Do your tweets actually promote the personal brand you’ve worked so hard to create?
Using such tools gives you valuable insight into what posts are getting the most engagement, the posts that have the most impressions, and the links that see success in the form of conversion.
These tools allow you to manage your time better, help you keep track of what people in your network are posting, and offer insight into growing your audience.
Monitoring Performance and Adjusting Strategies
Once all this analysis is in place, monitor it consistently to get the most out of this information. This will help you adjust your digital communications strategy for the future.
It also helps you answer three very pressing questions:
- What’s working well?
- Where can I improve?
- What should I focus my time on?
Utilizing Data-driven Decision-making for Growth
By adjusting your strategies based on this analysis, you can streamline your decision-making process and focus on growing your personal brand.
To understand precisely what I mean by this, look at my step-by-step plan on how to grow your business on Instagram. This blog focuses on how to implement your brand into your content strategy and how to determine which bits of content are the most appealing to your audience based on analytics.
Networking and Collaborations
As I mentioned briefly, networking with like-minded people is an effective strategy for growing your brand. Don’t allow your ego to get in the way — individuals who have seen more success than you have much to offer.
Make the most of this insight by:
Finding and Connecting with Individuals in Your Industry
Don’t use social media to simply promote your own brand, but also to engage with peers in your industry. Attend community meetups, join groups of like-minded individuals, and engage with high-quality posts that you find informative. Trust me; it isn’t possible to build a successful social media brand without a strong, supportive network.
Exploring Opportunities for Collaboration or Sponsored Content
The reason collaborations make you look good is that you’re willing to open your platform up to others who might know more than you. Not only that, but you’re willing to share your space for the sake of your followers who are coming to you for clarity in their own entrepreneurial journeys.
And on the vanity side, collaborating with others exposes you to a wealth of new audiences. By collaborating or even just interviewing other influencers, you’re passively opening up your sphere of influence and inviting strangers into your community.
So, honestly, the more you collaborate, the better chance you have of how to become famous on social media.
It also opens you up to getting more sponsored content, which should be the goal at the end of the day, considering how much time you’re investing in building your brand.
Building Relationships with Brands and Publications
Getting featured in high-authority publications purely based on your social media content says a lot about your personal brand.
There are lots of methods that can be utilized to achieve brand recognition, such as SEO blog writing, email campaigns, and even paid ads. But if you can get recognized by journalists because of a unique piece of content, it means you’re truly on the path to becoming well-known on social media.
Social media posts can be forgotten in an instant, but if you have a continued presence that provides noticeable and valuable content, your audience will notice. And that means, eventually, journalists will notice, too.
Just like anything else on your path to becoming famous, don’t wait for these opportunities to come to you. Use platforms like HARO to pitch to reporters who are looking for a reliable source for their next article. Don’t worry about how your numbers look on social media. If you have an impressive engagement rate and a steady flow of content, a journalist will see that value— even if you only have 200 followers.
Dealing with Challenges and Maintaining Mental Health
Social media can be highly rewarding, but at the same time, it is a hotbed of toxicity.
The relative anonymity it offers people and the fact that you must constantly put yourself up for scrutiny creates a high-pressure environment. This could lead to the development of several mental health issues.
Several social media stars have fallen prey to this and have been left feeling stressed, envious, or with low self-esteem and social anxiety. As you trudge on in your quest for social media stardom, take extra care not to fall into this trap.
Managing Online Criticism and Negativity
For every supportive follower you have, there are bound to be at least a couple who will criticize you. The critical thing to remember is that you’re not alone in this. Everyone who uses social media has to deal with negativity thrown their way.
The way you deal with this criticism is what makes the difference.
It is essential that you don’t act in haste and engage with abusive profiles or social media bullies. Instead, use your platform to spread a positive message and promote mental health (and be liberal with the block function).
If you must respond to criticism, do so calmly and graciously. Your more supportive followers, which make up the majority anyway, will appreciate you for it.
Setting Boundaries and Prioritizing Self-care
Too often, in the quest for social media stardom, people forget to prioritize their own health. If you notice that the criticism and negativity are getting too much to handle, don’t be afraid to take a step back and switch off for a few days.
Don’t be afraid to set boundaries, either. For instance, try not to use social media for at least two hours before you go to bed or while eating dinner with the family. It may seem restrictive initially, but it goes a long way in protecting yourself.
Recognizing the Difference Between Online and Offline Life
How do you become famous on social media but keep it real? If ever you find that social media is getting in the way of your living life or interfering with spending quality time with the people you love, you should consider taking a break.
Prioritize activities like walking, meditating, or taking a long bath. Don’t forget that apart from being an influencer, you are, first and foremost, a person with needs and desires.
Staying Updated and Adapting to Changes
Social media is in a constant state of flux. The executives who own and operate these platforms realize that change is inevitable, and so should you. The viral content from ten years ago would probably not receive the same engagement if posted today. That is why staying updated and researching is an extremely valuable step.
Keeping up With Social Media Trends and Platform Updates
Take Instagram, for example. It started as a platform for sharing photographs in the square format with your friends and family. Today, it’s known more for viral reels and is considered a video-sharing platform, as well.
The original video-sharing platform YouTube, meanwhile, has introduced short format videos. YouTube Shorts are very similar to the content we see on TikTok, blurring the lines between what each social media offers.
Keeping up to date with such platform updates can dictate your social media strategy and ensure that you stay ahead of the curve.
Experimenting with New Features and Formats
This isn’t to say that your strategy should be purely reactive.
Most of these platform changes have occurred because social media users dared to experiment with formats and push boundaries. If you have an idea of what your followers would like but are afraid it won’t “fit the popular format,” don’t hesitate to try it out anyway.
Constant experimentation will ensure that your content doesn’t become stale and helps you stand out from the crowd.
Conclusion
If your question is still how to become famous on social media, here’s the secret.
You have to plan for it to happen. You have to plan out a way to get people to like, know, and trust you as a person first and a business second.
And yes, there are some people who get lucky and garner a following overnight. However, if they don’t have a plan, then that overnight success quickly dwindles down to fifteen minutes of fame.
Using social media to make your personal brand well-known is not an overnight process. But if you’re willing to follow the strategy outlined above, I promise you that you will be looking at well over 15 minutes of fame.
