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How To Become an Instagram Influencer

Who wouldn’t want to be Instagram famous? Instagram influencers, bloggers, and models get paid to promote products and endorse brands, often while receiving compensation or free gifts in exchange. Becoming Instagram famous takes time and focused effort on your account.

Many Instagram users are wishing and working for Insta fame, but not everyone is successful. To become an Instagram influencer, you need lots of followers, a great engagement rate, and an overall superior Instagram. Try out our tips to build up your Instagram to reach social media influencer status.

 

What is an Instagram Influencer?

Great question! Social media influencers are a relatively new concept, as the rise of social media has made apps like Instagram an important part of many people’s daily lives. Influencers are named such because they have the power to influence their followers to take a certain action.

Instagram influencers create content and share stories through their Instagram account, growing to anywhere from 1,000 to millions of followers. Influencers make money by promoting products or brands, and it has been shown that followers are more likely to buy a product endorsed by influencers online.

Most influencers operate within a certain niche industry based on their interests or expertise.

Can You Make Money on Instagram?

In short, yes. Instagram influencers make money in various ways: they get paid to promote products, get brand endorsements, sell their own products, or implement affiliate marketing on their websites. There are numerous ways to make money on Instagram.

 

Top Instagram Influencers by Industry

If you’re searching for inspiration to build your own Instagram famous account, look no further. We’ve put together the top influencers in some of the most popular influencer industries. Check out these influencers and learn from their success!

 

Fitness Influencers

Fitness influencers on Instagram share workout videos, diet tips, and much more. These fitness influencers have huge followings of fitness gurus as well as anyone looking to get in shape. Here are our top 3 Instagram fitness influencers:

      1. Michelle Lewin
      2. Jennifer Selter
      3. Joe Wicks

For more fitness fun, check out our full list of the top 20 fitness influencers.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Michelle Lewin (@michelle_lewin) on

 

Fashion Influencers

Fashion is one of the most popular influencer industries, especially on a visually focused app like Instagram. Fashion influencers endorse designer brands and have great style. Here are our top 3 Instagram fashion influencers:

      1. Chiara Ferragni
      2. Mariano di Vaio
      3. Olivia Palermo

Check out our full list of the top 20 fashion influencers on Instagram to see more!

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Mariano Di Vaio (@marianodivaio) on

Travel Influencers

Travel influencers and bloggers travel the world, sharing their experiences and recommendations for where and how to travel. Check out our top 3 travel influencers on Instagram:

      1. Christina Vidal
      2. Marlina Moreno
      3. Eric Stoen

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Marlina🦒Mar Gone Wild (@marlinamoreno) on

 

Beauty Influencers

Skincare, makeup, hair, and beyond – beauty influencers share content pertaining to their specific brand of beauty. Here are our top 3 beauty influencers on Instagram:

      1. Huda Kattan
      2. James Charles
      3. Nikkie de Jager

Check out our full list of the top 20 beauty influencers on Instagram to see more makeup and beauty looks!

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by James Charles (@jamescharles) on

Food Influencers

Food influencers share their meals online, giving followers new restaurants and recipes to try and images to drool over. Many also connect their accounts to food blogs. Check out our top 3 food influencers (but not on an empty stomach):

      1. Deliciously Ella
      2. Cookin With Mima
      3. Minimalist Baker

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Deliciously Ella (@deliciouslyella) on

How To Become an Instagram Influencer

Becoming an Instagram influencer takes hard work. Follow these steps to start your journey towards Instagram fame.

Convert to a Business Profile

To be a true Instagram influencer, you should run your account like a business, which means that you should convert your profile to a business account. Your Instagram account should already be public if you’re trying to reach Insta fame, and converting to a business profile will allow you to view Instagram’s insights on your posts.

Business accounts on Instagram can see metrics like reach, engagement, profile visits, and website clicks. You can also use insights to learn more about your followers demographics, peak times of activity so you know the best time to post, and more.

Find Your Niche

Instagram influencers don’t just post about every aspect of their lives: influencers hone in on a very specific niche so that they can focus their efforts on that industry and appeal to followers interested in that specific topic. Before you start working on growing your followers and becoming famous, you should figure out your niche and who your target audience is.

Pick an industry that you are passionate about, have expertise in, or that you are already involved with through work or your hobbies. Just because fashion influencers are popular doesn’t mean that you should try to become one if you aren’t actually interested in fashion. Find a niche that you care about and will enjoy posting about.

Optimize Your Profile

Now that you know what kind of influencer you want to become, optimize your profile to make your purpose clear to anyone who finds you. A complete profile has a profile picture, a bio, and at least one post.

Your profile picture should represent who you are and what your account is all about. If you have a brand logo for yourself, use this. If not, your profile picture should be an easily identifiable picture of you. If you run a travel blog, maybe your picture is you on a beach or a scenic mountain. Consider your branding at each level of your profile.

Your Instagram bio should be informative, easy to read, and fun. Include a headline that describes your position, niche, or self-given title. Consider your voice and branding, and include your personality in your bio.

instagram influencer bio

Be sure to link your website if you have one and include your email address in the available field so that brands or other influencers can contact you. Check out our Instagram bio ideas and tips to help you craft the perfect bio.

Post Great Content

This may seem obvious, but you need to post great content if you want to become Instagram famous. No one wants to follow an account that posts low quality pictures. If you’re truly committed to being an Instagram influencer, you need a camera or smartphone that takes high quality images, or you can consider hiring a photographer.

Not only should your pictures be vibrant and eye-catching, but your captions should also be well-crafted. Consider your personality, your niche, and your target audience and write captions that are true to you, but will also appeal to your followers.

The best influencers don’t just share quality images with good captions, they tell a story. Create a brand story with your Instagram, and write captions that offer a personal connection to your audience to gain loyal, interested followers.

Interact With Followers

To build a loyal following, you should engage and interact with your followers. Paid influencers have high engagement rates, so if you want your followers to like and comment on your posts, you have to engage back. Respond to comments and DMs, follow similar accounts, and like your followers’ posts back to engage with your audience and build relationships.

Instagram influencers tend to have higher than average engagement rates, well above the average 3%. Learn how to calculate Instagram engagement rates to compare your engagement to other influencers and see how your posts perform.

Check out our strategies to boost engagement to better interact with your followers and grow your Instagram account.

Grow Your Followers

How many followers do I need to become an influencer? There isn’t one set number – it depends on your goals, your niche, and other factors.

Some brands have specific follower counts for influencers. Popular fashion brand Fashion Nova requires accounts to have 5,000 followers to be brand ambassadors, but different brands have different thresholds.

Having a lot of followers isn’t the main factor in becoming an influencer, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. If you’re just getting started, learn how to get your first 1000 followers and grow from there.

Buying fake followers is not the answer, because then you’ll have extremely low engagement. Try using an organic growth service like Social Buddy. Social Buddy helps you get real, targeted followers in your niche so that you have growth in followers and engagement.

Use Hashtags

Hashtags are important for anyone trying to build up an Instagram account. Using hashtags improves engagement on your post, increases the reach of your post, and helps you find followers in your niche. Smart hashtag use will get you more likes and followers, especially if you can get featured on a hashtag’s explore page or story.

Look for hashtags in your niche and optimize your hashtag strategy. Tag branded hashtags of accounts you want to work with or brands that often feature user-generated content.

instagram influencers

It’s also a good idea to come up with your own brand hashtag. This will group your posts on a topic page, and you can track if anyone uses your hashtag to engage with them. Encouraging followers to use your hashtag could help you find more followers, and a branded hashtag makes it easy to hold contests and giveaways.

Learn how to use Instagram hashtags here, or check out our guide to the best hashtags by industry: fashion hashtags, foodie hashtags, fitness hashtags, beauty hashtags, photography hashtags, travel hashtags, wedding hashtags, music hashtags, and real estate hashtags.

Share Instagram Stories

500 million users engage with Instagram stories daily, so you should absolutely capitalize on this trend to improve your reach. Stories have high brand engagement, and many businesses advertise via Instagram story ads.

You can use Instagram stories to share extra content without spamming your followers’ feeds, or to share more casual behind-the-scenes content. If you’re verified or have more than 10,000 followers, you can use the swipe up feature on stories to lead viewers to your website.

Learn how to use Instagram stories for business and see how brands use stories to engage with customers.

Consistent Posts

Your posts should be consistent in two ways: one, you should be posting regularly, and two, your content and aesthetic should be consistent. Posting regularly will keep your content fresh and your followers interested. Figure out how often to post so that your account is constantly growing.

Creating a consistent Instagram aesthetic is also important. This will establish your brand and your overall look, and it will result in a neat, clean looking grid.

instagram influencers

Try to use the same filters or find a color scheme that you can stick to. Keep your content within your niche and related to your goals, and match your aesthetic for consistent branding.

Engage with Brands

Many influencers promote products or work as brand ambassadors to make money. If you want to become a profitable influencer, you should engage with brands related to your niche or that fit your goals. Follow and engage with brands that you’d like to work with, and use their hashtags if they have brand hashtags.

Once your account has grown over at least 1,000 followers and your engagement is high, reach out to brands to try and secure deals. You can wait for them to notice you, but if you’re confident in your account then why wait? Be proactive and establish contact with brands, businesses, or other influencers you want to collaborate with.

Final Thoughts

Becoming an Instagram influencer is no small feat. While followers and engagement are only two pieces of the puzzle, they are two key factors that brands look at when deciding if they want a brand ambassador. Social Buddy can help you grow your followers and improve engagement, so you can focus on creating great content. Learn more about Social Buddy. 

Written by Erin

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