Instagram Influencer : So you want to become an Instagram Influencer, huh? Well, you’re not alone. In fact, there are thousands of people that want the same thing right now, and many more will join them next month! But don’t worry; there’s still room at the top of the Insta-ladder for anyone willing to follow these 10 easy tips on how to become an Instagram Influencer!
1) Set up a professional profile
The first step in becoming an Instagram influencer is building a profile that engages potential followers. Make sure you’ve included all of your vital information, including your name, location, and website so users can find out more about you.
If you don’t yet have a website built for your business, consider launching one before connecting it with your Instagram profile; people will trust you more if they can see some proof of who you are.
2) Show your personality
Many of us follow Instagram accounts because we enjoy seeing glimpses into someone else’s life. There’s something so humanizing about watching another person take a bite of their dinner or sniff a freshly cut rose.
This is why authenticity is so important when it comes to social media, and that goes for influencers, too. When you come across as artificial or try-hard, people will lose interest in your posts rather quickly (i.e., fast).
So if you want a successful IG account, make sure your feed seems like it reflects your actual life—the good and bad (and we mean that in the most loving way possible)—as opposed to just showcasing a carefully curated highlight reel.
3) Be consistent
The biggest secret in social media marketing is consistency. The key to being seen as a brand influencer is having content that your followers expect from you. Being consistent gives your audience confidence in your content and will help them know what to expect.
It’s up to you when and how often you post, but be sure not too stray too far from a schedule that works for you and your audience, otherwise they may forget about you or assume it’s no longer worth following you.
Also, I recommend posting at a time when most of your followers are online. For Instagram in particular, I suggest between 8 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Friday because those are prime hours for engagement on Instagram.
4) Learn photography
A good way to get started with Instagram is by learning how to take better photos. Whether you’re using a DSLR or your smartphone, it’s helpful to learn about composition and lighting techniques. You can take courses at local colleges or community centers; in addition, there are many online resources that provide tips and tricks for taking photos.
In fact, YouTube even has tutorials for photography. Once you’ve mastered camera basics, learn about hashtags—they’re essential when trying to build your following on Instagram! Choose a few hashtags that relate directly with your niche and use them consistently across all of your photos—use search engines like Hashtagify.me so see what people are posting with similar tags.
5) Connect with brands/influencers and collaborate
Instagram Influencers can become a living, breathing advertisement. In addition to making money directly from their Instagram account and promoted posts, they can be paid by brands or companies (or other influencers) for collaborations.
Brands will pay influencers anywhere from $500-5,000+ per post depending on their reach. For instance, if you have more than 10k followers you may make more than someone with a smaller following.
The most important thing is that you’re actually relevant and authentic to your audience—if that’s not clear, no one will care about what you have to say.
6) Run contests
If you’re looking for a quick way to increase your follower count and social media profile, consider running contests that ask followers to submit photos with a chance to win free products. Aside from just getting more followers, running contests can also expose your brand and products to influencers who may share them on their own accounts.
This is another great way of making new connections that are mutually beneficial. Building Relationships With Influencers Before Launching Your Brand It may seem obvious, but one of your best bets when marketing any business is through third-party influencers.
By reaching out and connecting with content creators who already have large audiences on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook or YouTube, you have access not only to those huge followings but their trust as well.
7) Use hashtags correctly
To become popular on Instagram, you’ll want to ensure that your content is easily found by others who may be interested in viewing it. To do so, be sure that all of your images include relevant hashtags (for example, #fashionblogger #ilovefashion).
These hashtags should also match up with your username, as doing so will make it easier for people searching for you or similar content to find you and follow your account.
Also remember: never pay for followers—in fact, purchasing followers can get both you and the provider banned from Instagram! Instead of investing money in boosting posts or buying followers, opt for quality over quantity.
8) Engage with comments on photos
Interacting with your followers is crucial. Their comments and likes can help you determine what kind of content they’re most interested in, which you can use to craft your posts accordingly. Engaging with others on Instagram is also a great way to get more followers yourself, so be sure to make it a habit.
Commenting on other accounts’ photos by tagging your own @username is one simple way of interacting with people online (and if they happen to follow you back, they’ll be notified each time you post).
It’s also important that you be responsive; don’t leave your fans hanging—thank them for their comments and answer any questions promptly. Before long, word will spread about how awesome your account is, resulting in even more followers!
9) Give back with charity work
Whether you’re posting a selfie or uploading a picture of your dog, you can use Instagram to give back and encourage others to do so as well.
The platform is filled with accounts devoted solely to showcasing photos of volunteer work—some examples include @YourCause, @CharityBuzz, and @VolunteerMatch.
Charitable Instagrammers use their accounts for everything from encouraging donations for disaster relief efforts to raising awareness about mental health issues.
If you want your feed filled with captivating images that promote positivity, it’s pretty easy: just look for accounts run by nonprofit organizations and start following them!
10) Measure success
There are many different ways you can measure your Instagram influencer success, like number of followers or average engagement rate. But for something like a sponsored post, it’s more important that you get a lot of reach and exposure in a short amount of time.
One easy way to measure success is by tagging your sponsor in each post that contains their product and seeing how they do with referrals on social media.
They can look at how well you performed based on clicks and conversions, which will give them insight into whether they should work with you again or use someone else.
