How to become an instagram influencer

How to Become an Instagram Influencer in 2022

Influencers have become very popular, but what everyone’s wondering is how to actually become an Instagram influencer.

Managing Partner & Co-Founder at Insense

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You want to become an Instagram influencer, huh? There’s nothing weird about that!

Instagram influencers can have net worth’s of multi-millions and use their platform to launch successful businesses and platforms. It’s a gateway to success and living your dreams.

There are many influencers who have become successful enough to live off of their Instagram accounts, but how exactly? It’s the burning question, how to become a paid Instagram influencer?

Lucky for you, here at Insense we have plenty of tips to help you become an influencer on Instagram. Read on to learn how to get started.

7 Tips for Becoming a Successful IG Influencer

If you’re wondering how to become an Instagram influencer, here are our top tips…

1. Be Active in All Content Formats

It’s hard for some people to believe it, but Instagram started as a platform for sharing photos. Just posting photos. No videos, stories, Reels or IGTV.

Just posting photos was good enough in 2011, but these days consumers want to see a diverse range of content. You’ll need to utilize all of the above-mentioned content formats to make users engage with your content and gain popularity.

If your feed on Instagram includes valuable content that needs to be complemented in a different platform, a link-in-bio might help you.

2. Work With #hashtags

Some people love them and some people hate them, but no matter what your opinion is, the fact of the matter is that hashtags work.

Using hashtags will make your posts visible and accessible to an audience much wider than your follower base. Hashtags are a huge way to expand your reach and influence, and that’s a big #victory.

3. Show the World Who You Are

Who are you? Are you a musician, dancer, filmographer or fashionista? Maybe your passion lies elsewhere or you have multiple talents. That’s great! Let the world know who you really are.

Use Instagram as your platform for strutting your stuff. If you’ve got it, flaunt it. To become an Instagram influencer, you need to show how unique you are. This brings us to our next point.

4. Find Your Niche

While it is okay to post some content that appeals to different audiences, it’s important to have a niche.

Chances are, you won’t be popular in every influencer category but that’s totally okay! If you choose a niche based on your interests and talents, you’ll attract people who are like-minded and have similar interests to you.

Basically, by working within a niche, you’ll attract a dedicated following rather than just fairweather fans.

In our opinion, the best way to choose a niche is to combine two of your interests. If you love skincare and travel, your niche can be about keeping your skin healthy and glowing while you’re on the road.

You get the idea, now think of your niche!

5. Be a Fan of Your Fans

Have you ever commented on the post of an influencer you like and they actually like or reply to your comment? It can make your day.

It goes a long way when influencers show that they actually care about their fans as fellow human beings. When an influencer shows that they know their fans are real people with real emotions, it touches people and helps build a stronger connection.

Some ways to show your fans that you’re a fan of them is to reply to their comments, give them shoutouts, repost their photos and hold giveaways.

Socrates once said, “know thy audience.” Okay, that’s definitely not true, but you get the point! It’s worth it to take the time to get to know your audience and their preferences. It’ll help build a stronger bond between you and your fans.

6. Find Apps That Can Help You Get Brand Collaborations

Brand collaborations are huge, especially if you’re wondering how to become a paid Instagram influencer.

There are platforms that help content creators partner up with notable brands who want to pay them for creating content on the brand’s behalf.

By the way, if you’re wondering how we know so much about the world of influencers and things like brand collabs.

Spoiler alert: Insense is a platform for helping brands and content creators partner up!

7. Network With Other Influencers

Let’s say you start getting some traction as an influencer and need people you can relate to, learn from and even teach. Well, you’re in luck because there are tons of influencers out there who love to connect with their fellow Instagrammers.

Really, it’s sad to see influencers who fight one another instead of working together. Don’t be like that. You’re all working with the same platform trying to reach similar goals. If you put your minds together, you can learn a lot and make some awesome friends along the way.

Be a team rather than competitors.

Get Started on Your Influencer Journey Now

If you dream of becoming an Instagram influencer, you’re not alone! There will be plenty of competition, but if you use the tips we mentioned, you’ll be on your way to success. Set goals and stick with them and you’ll make them happen.

Now that you have some tips and best practices in mind, go and there and do your thing. Show your work to the world!
When you’re on your way to becoming a successful Instagram influencer and you’re ready to find some brand collaboration opportunities, keep us in mind.

How To Become An Instagram Influencer

What Is an Instagram Influencer?

Insta influencers are individuals who have a large audience. With their credibility, trustworthiness, and authenticity, influencers can persuade others into making certain purchases and adopting a certain lifestyle or movement.

With above-average engagement rates, Instagram influencers have a large following, which makes it possible to rise above the market competition by going viral on social media.

Types of Influencers

Influencers carve out their own niches on social media platforms. Influencers can be sports moguls, fitness experts, entrepreneurial geniuses, homemakers, lifestyle bloggers or even pet accounts propagating animal awareness!

With a different mix of personalities, interests, and goals, influencers have been categorized into the following.

The Blogger

Relaxed, friendly and charming, the blogger has a large audience with a high trust and reliance rate. They’re easy to relate to and are excellent influencers. With presentation and marketing expertise, they’re able to use Instagram to its fullest potential; beautiful photography, creative videos and captivating content for captions.

Usually beginning from a simple blog, a large and successful following guarantees large numbers of Instagram followers. They’re also up to date with the latest trends and influence the hashtag marketing strategy.

The Content Creator

Content creators are masterful with words. Like bloggers, their influence on social media is noticeable. Journalists, brands and any other content creators can be influencers. With their abilities, they’re one of the best online influencers to get in touch with for brand promotion or product introduction.

The best part of being a content creator is the loyal following and an established audience that pays heed to the material posted online. Content can range from powerful writing to original photography, video production and advertisement for online brands.

The Micro Influencer

The micro influencer has a very numerically motivated presence on online marketing platforms. Using numbers, statistics, and research, micro influencers convert findings into numbers, to remain very adept at the art of audience engagement.

By using numbers, predictions become easier. Their following is smaller than those mentioned above, and usually under a 1,000 people. These influencers consider a 15% engagement a good investment and more successful compared to a 1,000 person following with just 5% follower engagement.

How to Become an Instagram Influencer

Becoming an influencer requires strategy. With innumerable accounts on Instagram, only a few are verified or are popular. The reason behind this is the tips and tricks used to reaching fame and securing a large following.

What Are You About?

Before beginning your journey to becoming an Instagram influencer, ask yourself what your niche is. You can’t be known for everything; you have to pick something you excel at and are knowledgeable about.

Picking a forte is easy. Just see what you’re good at and what reflects your true interest. Becoming an influencer takes a lot of work, so pick something you won’t tire of and something that lets you be flexible with content.

Starting a blog or making your presence known before setting up an Instagram account is also a strategy to employ in your earlier stages. That way, you will gain a loyal following from the internet, which will follow you on Instagram, furthering your page.

Instagram’s Business Account

Recently, Instagram introduced a Business Account feature. Equipped with tons of useful tools and data analytics to gauge success, it’s great to boost business.

An Instagram Business account keeps updating follower demographics, preferences, activity, your top viewers and the locations you are popular in. With such tools, you can forecast your next move, catering to your audience’s preferences. You have a higher chance of understanding consumer behavior to tailor your content accordingly, which in turn reaps more profit for you.

Another perk of business accounts is the advertisement. For a very small sum, you can enter your potential follower’s Instagram feed to be noticed. This smart way of directing traffic your way is a foolproof way to market your profile.

Creative, Crazy, Amazing — Powerful Instagram Bios

Have you heard of the elevator speech? With just a little over a minute to describe yourself, you use the best language, the most intelligent choice of words and tactful content to make an impact.

The Instagram elevator speech equivalent is the 150 character bio. With only 150 characters to sell yourself, think long and hard about what you stand for and what you want others to associate you with. You as a person, your brand, your products, and other business factors are all very dependent on how you create your bio.

If you have a website, an online store or public pages, make sure to add that to your bio, too! The best part about Instagram bios is that they’re open to editing. Every time you introduce a new product or service, you can add that to increase internet traffic your way.

Your Instafeed Feeds Popularity

After you have established your online persona, your feed is the main chunk of work that will determine popularity and follower retention.

Make your feed as engaging as possible. With visually appealing pictures, videos and posts about your chosen theme, you’re bound to get people liking and sharing in no time.

Some influencers choose to adopt a certain style of photo editing or use certain applications to edit their pictures to look a certain way. Figure out ways to make your Instafeed as unique as possible; this will keep your audience engaged and bring more potential followers your way.

Mark Your Presence

Don’t forget to post consistently. No one likes a dormant influencer account.

With the world revolving around social media and people preferring visuals like photos and videos to regular written content, keep posting consistently to maintain your online presence. Give your followers the visual gratification they need by posting content on a regular basis.

Timing your posts and strategically wording them is also important to keep follower curiosity spiked and get them actively navigating your page for answers. More active views mean more popularity!

#Hashtags

Hashtags enable your content to show up in searches.

With distinct hashtags, you’re bound to show up in a large number of searches. Although, you do want to start out by researching hashtags that have one of the largest search volumes to include your post in the popular streams online.

As you are allowed to use 30 hashtags per post, combining a stream of words makes you more prone to being in the top searches.

Instagram Stories

Around 200 million users are using the Instagram story feature daily, and more are joining in. With the ability to tag profiles and pages, share them and forward them, Instagram stories are the quickest way to make your presence known.

Adding hashtags or locations can make Instagram stories available in the Discover section of the Instagram feed, and outbound links can be included with the Swipe Up feature.

You can also go Live on your Instagram story to interact more personally with your followers, which increases your chances of being viewed by more people!

Successful Instagram Influencer Strategies

Online marketing culture has become more innovative. Influencers remain in the game by using attention-grabbing techniques to get their followers and audiences’ attention. By using various tactics of engagement, sales, and promotions, influencers gain popularity.

Discount Codes and Affiliate Marketing Strategies

Influencers team up with brands and personal discount codes to increase sales for the company that hires their services. With catchy advertisements and convincing posts about the product/service in question, influencers gain more followers, more revenue and a large PR network.

Giveaways and Competitions

This strategy is great to give products/services the attention they need and boost followers at the same time.

You’ve seen many influencers put forth conditions of entering competitions and giveaways — liking and sharking the page, tagging a certain number of friends and so on so forth. These strategies are intelligent and very creative in increasing your online presence.

Live Unboxing Videos and Reviews

We all love an honest review. By using the Insta Story feature, you can unbox promotional gifts and boxes live for your followers to see. Followers, audiences and viewers will be depending on your reviews to go through with their purchase; in fact, they’ll be motivated to get their hands on the products you’re displaying.

This super engaging tactic is a great way to draw promotion opportunities your way and increase your chances of being searched!

Personal Storytelling

Sharing personal anecdotes through posts, pictures, captions and video features will increase follower engagement and loyalty. Personal stories strengthen the emotional connection your followers will feel towards your profile.

It’s a great way to be recognized as someone relatable and real.

Collaborations

Collaborating on stories and posts with other influencers who share the same interests as you is a great way to get attention. Pooling in followers will benefit you and your collaborator with twice the attention, following and a larger audience.

Not only that, but it will also increase your own PR network online! This creative and exciting strategy is a great way to add a fun factor to your profile.

Shoutouts and Mentions

Shoutouts and mentions involve tons of tagging and hashtag use. This means your post will be available to a very large pool of people than ever before. This strategy encourages participation and creates a great opportunity to promote your service/products or your profile, which gets the attention of followers and potential investors!

Live Q&A

Giving your audience an opportunity to get to know you a little better will get instant traffic directed your way.

Entertaining questions and comments that your fans or followers have left in your Inbox or comment sections is a great way to create a personal connection between you and your Insta following. By getting to know you a little better and getting an insight into your life, follower retention grows exponentially!

How to Start Your Instagram Influencer Page

Sounds a little daunting, doesn’t it? But it really isn’t. Before you create your profile on Instagram (or any other social media platform), check out the pointers below.

Research

Do your research on your theme. Your profile will be catering to a specific category and genre, so do your research on popular topics, keywords, hashtags and posts to get an idea on where to begin.

Plan Content

Prepare a content plan so that you’re not swamped with the need to come up with something. With pre-prepared content and set times to post it, your profile will be running like a well-oiled machine!

Use Your Connections

Reaching out to friends or other influencers to advertise your page for you is a great way to begin. Not only will they help create curiosity, but their post will also direct tons of attention your way.

Becoming an Instagram Influencer

Considered as tons of fun and very rewarding, becoming an Instagram influencer is one of the most creative ways to pursue your passion.

You know what they say, if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life!

How To Become An Influencer — A Beginner’s Guide

Social media influencers are all the rage right now. Brands want to collaborate with them in order to expand their reach and drive conversions. The followers of influencers, on the other hand, look forward to expert advice and recommendation from them.

With the popularity of influencer marketing, it is only natural that people are becoming increasingly curious about how to become an influencer.

However, building and retaining a community of devoted followers isn’t as easy as it appears to be. It requires consistent effort on an influencer’s part. Before we discuss some useful tips on how to become an influencer, let’s take a deeper look at the concept of social media influencers.

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Decoding the Enigma of Influencers

In simple terms, influencers are social media personalities with a large number of loyal and engaged followers. Most influencers share a friendly rapport with their fans.

The fans, in turn, often regard these influencers as role models and follow their recommendations. In fact, influencers are often perceived as authority figures or experts in their respective niches.

Owing to the accessibility of social media platforms, influencers are able to establish personal connections with their followers. Unlike traditional celebrities, their lives aren’t shrouded in an air of mystery.

Instead, influencers often reveal a glimpse of their personal lives to their followers. This is precisely what helps them establish friendly bonds with their fan base.

Influencers are the social media celebrities who have a certain amount of leverage with their fan communities.

The most significant factor that distinguishes influencers from high-profile celebrities is that the former add their unique and authentic voices to their content. This helps them earn the trust and loyalty of their followers. In fact, 70% of millennials claim to be more influenced by bloggers than celebrities.

The Perks of Being an Influencer

Digital marketers and brands have realized the importance of collaborating with influencers. The biggest advantage of influencer marketing is that it gives marketers direct access to an influencer’s loyal fan base.

It also saves marketers the trouble of identifying and targeting the right audiences. That painstaking task has already been done by the influencer. That is why 86% of marketers used influencer marketing in 2017.

And who doesn’t enjoy being able to impact other people’s lives and influence their decisions? In fact, according to gen.video, the most effective and trusted source of driving conversions are social media influencers. This clearly indicates that influencers have the power to persuade their followers.

The Challenges Faced by Influencers

Today, many people aspire to become influencers. It does seem like a lucrative career option and life choice for many people. However, behind all of the glitz and glamour of an influencer’s social media profile, there lies a truckload of hard work and patience.

Building and retaining a loyal fan following on social media isn’t a cakewalk. This is becoming increasingly difficult as more people are trying to become influencers.

Thus, earning the trust of your followers is a painstaking task. It takes persistent effort on your part to make your content authentic and grab the attention of your audience.

And, as an influencer, you have to be extremely cautious when collaborating with brands. Your followers become loyal due to the personal and honest touch you add to your content. Bombarding them with sponsored content can harm your reputation as an influencer and disengage your followers.

If you are still tempted to live the life of an influencer, read on to learn how to become an influencer.

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How to Become an Influencer

The life of an influencer is envied by many. What we often fail to recognize is the persistent effort they have to put in order to live a life of luxury and glamour.

The truth is that there is no easy answer to the question of how to become an influencer. However, there are certain steps that you can take in order to steer your efforts in the right direction.

Identify Your Niche

If you want to become an influencer, you can’t expect to be a “jack (or jane) of all trades, master of none.” It is crucial that you pick a niche that aligns with your image.

An easy way to select your niche is to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. Choose a niche that allows you to showcase your strengths and hone your skills further.

Deciding on a particular niche will help you streamline your audience and tailor your content to suit their preferences.

Typically, when deciding on how to become an influencer, you can choose one of the following categories:

You don’t have to limit yourself to just one of these categories. You can combine two or more of these niches. Make sure the individual niches align with one another. For instance, you can combine travel and lifestyle or beauty and fashion when you decide on your niche.

It is not mandatory for you to stick to these established and well-known niches. The key to becoming an influencer is adding your unique voice to everything you do. So, don’t hesitate to experiment and carve your own niche that allows you to exhibit your strengths as well as your quirks.

For instance, 24-year-old, Karina Garcia, became an overnight YouTube sensation just by uploading wacky videos of slime. She has more than 8 million subscribers on YouTube who aptly refer to her as the, “Queen of Slime.”

In addition, she has also published two bestselling books and has launched her own crafting brand named Craft City.

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Pick Your Platform

As an influencer, you need to have a powerful presence on the internet. However, that doesn’t mean that you should use every social media platform and distribution channel out there. Depending on your niche, certain platforms might be better suited for your content than others.

For instance, if you are a fashion blogger, Instagram would work better for your visual content than other platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn. In fact, 93% of social media influencers prefer Instagram as it delivers the best results. However, that doesn’t mean that you should focus all of your effort on Instagram if your niche doesn’t align with the platform.

You should also consider the platform that your audience is most likely to use. For instance, if your target audience includes millennials, you should focus your effort on Snapchat and Instagram. If you choose to utilize multiple social media platforms, make sure that you tailor your content for each channel.

For instance, digital marketing guru, Neil Patel, actively uses Twitter to promote his blog posts and other content. This is obvious considering most of his target audience (entrepreneurs, digital marketers, content creators, etc.) is likely to frequent this platform for meaningful content.

While it is recommended that you select the platform that is most suited for your content and target audience, you shouldn’t ignore other distribution channels. Instead, you should strive to acquire a basic working knowledge of other channels so that you can utilize them in the future if the need arises.

Prioritize Your Content

High-quality content is perhaps the most potent answer to the question of how to become an influencer. It is extremely important to publish unique and authentic content that resonates with your audience.

In fact, this is the only way to keep your audience hooked to your content. Regardless of the type of content you create, it should be meaningful and valuable.

Depending on your niche and distribution channels, you can choose different types of content such as blog posts, photos, videos, podcasts, etc.

It is crucial to add your signature voice to every piece of content you create. That is what will distinguish you from other people who are also trying to figure out how to be an influencer.

For instance, photographer and lifestyle influencer, Katie Stauffer, received mass acclaim by uploading videos of her 2-year old daughter, Mila, on Instagram.

What distinguished her content from other similar Instagram pages was Mila’s dialogue delivery and mature acting skills. Today, Stauffer is followed by 4 million devoted Instagram users who look forward to the next video featuring Mila.

It is extremely important that you find the unique quirk or trait that distinguishes you from other influencers in your niche. Once you have identified this unique selling proposition (USP), incorporate it into your content as much as possible.

In addition to helping your content stand out, this will also establish your image as an influencer. It is advisable that you integrate this USP into your sponsored content as well.

Listen to Your Audience

An effective way to ensure that your content garners traction is to create content that your audience wants.

In order to get relevant content ideas, you can run a quick Google search for your niche. Scroll down to the bottom of search results to find the long-tail keywords that are being used by your target audience. You can also search platforms such as Quora and Reddit to get an idea of what your target audience is talking about.

If you want your content to strike a chord with your audience, you must have a deep understanding of your follower community.

Most social media platforms have an analytics section that can give you meaningful insights about your target audience. You get access to audience demographics data such as gender, geographic location, occupation, online behavior, etc.

In addition, you should pay close attention to the comments section of your social media and blog posts. It can be a goldmine of fresh content ideas that your audience wants to read/watch. You can also conduct social media polls and ask your followers to tell you all about their preferences and pain points.

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Up Your Hashtag Game

If you are wondering how to become an influencer and excel at it, the answer is to make judicious use of the right hashtags. Your content only becomes valuable and meaningful when it reaches the right audience.

An effective way of giving increased visibility to your content is by adding appropriate hashtags to your social media posts. This is especially useful for people who are just starting out as influencers and need to grow their audience.

Identify the most relevant and trending hashtags in your niche. Then them in your posts to get your content seen by an entirely new audience that may have been unaware of your existence.

When using hashtags, you should be careful not to flood your posts with unnecessary ones. Only use hashtags that align with your image as an influencer.

Take a look at the screenshot below to understand how Brian Kelly, aka The Points Guy, makes effective use of hashtags in his Instagram posts.

In addition to using popular hashtags, you can also create your own unique hashtag to widen your reach even further. Encourage your followers to upload content on their own profiles using your branded hashtags. This popularizes your hashtag and builds awareness about you in your followers’ social networks.

Maintain Consistency

Publishing high-quality content on a regular basis is one of the most effective ways to retain your audience’s attention. When you deliver good content on a regular basis, it creates a sense of anticipation among your audience.

That, in turn, boosts audience engagement and increases your reach. It is advisable that you create a timeline for all of the content you plan on publishing in the next few months. You can also create a weekly or monthly series to keep your audience hooked.

For instance, Nusair Yassin, aka Nas Daily, made a promise of uploading one 1-minute video on Facebook every day, for a thousand days. People started keeping track of his Facebook page to find out if he was keeping his promise.

Nas did, in fact, keep his promise, as a result of which, he garnered 12 million followers and impacted many lives around the world.

However, you should ensure that the quality of your content is never compromised in an attempt to maintain regularity. If a situation arises where you can’t deliver content on the proposed date, publish a post to communicate that. Assure your audience that you are working on the content and it will be available soon.

When you are running out of good quality content, you can use of the Stories feature on Instagram and Facebook. You can upload simple pictures to give your audience a sneak peek into your workspace or living room.

This can help keep your audience engaged and help you stay connected with them without spending hours perfecting a video.

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Collaborate with Other Influencers

When you are starting out, and still wondering how to become an influencer, partnering with someone famous in your niche can be of great help. It gives you access to their fan base and allows you to attract them to your social media profiles.

You must be able to offer something of use to the other influencer in order to tempt them to collaborate with you. If the bigger influencers seems out of reach, you can even partner with micro-influencers who have small yet highly engaged fan bases.

Build a Website

If you ask someone how to become an influencer, they are likely to give you a lot of advice on content strategies and social media platforms.

Very few people will tell you the impact a website can have on your reputation as an influencer. However, anyone who is remotely familiar with marketing and branding knows how important a website can be.

As your fan base grows, many people will be tempted to run a quick Google search for your name. Having a well-designed and fully functional website adds credibility to your image and helps you win the trust of your target audience.

Additionally, having a well-designed blog section on your website further establishes your authority in your niche. It also improves organic search traffic to your website, thereby expanding your reach even further.

Host AMAs, Contests, and Giveaways

If you are wondering how to become an influencer with a devoted follower community, the answer is to keep them engaged.

One of the most effective ways to boost audience engagement is to host an AMA (ask me anything) session on the platform of your choice. In addition to keeping your audience engaged, it will also help establish your expertise in certain subjects in your niche.

Another clever way to improve engagement is to announce a giveaway. Typically, you offer your followers a reward in exchange for likes, comments, and shares on your posts. You can also ask them to tag their friends on the giveaway announcement.

A contest is similar to a giveaway, except that the participants are required to upload specific content or use your branded hashtag in order to be eligible to win.

Contests and giveaways also help you reach out to a wide audience and grow your followers. You can collaborate with other influencers or brands in your niche in order to make them more effective. Make sure you clearly specify the rules, deadline, rewards, etc. and announce the winner at the promised time. One of the best answers to the question of how to become an influencer is to hosts giveaways and contests to keep your audience engaged.

Go Live

The simplest answer to the question of how to become an influencer is to maintain a personal connection with your audience.

Most platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube allow users to go live and share real-time updates with their followers. You can use this to your advantage and give your audience a glimpse of behind-the-scenes action at an event or a party. It makes your followers feel closer to you and reinforces their loyalty.

You can also host a live AMA session to communicate with your followers in real-time. This is an extremely effective strategy to boost engagement. At the same time, it also allows you to get a fair idea of what your audience likes/dislikes and expects from you. Make sure you notify your followers about the session in advance.

Respond to Your Fans

As your audience grows and more people start appreciating your content, they are likely to leave their feedback in DMs and comments.

Responding to each and every comment might be a herculean task. However, it is advisable that you reply to as many as possible. A response from your side validates the trust that your fans put in you and makes them feel more connected to you.

Savi and Vid, the traveling duo of Bruised Passports, make it a point to respond to the comments on their Instagram posts. This has helped them attract an army of 287,000 loyal and devoted followers on Instagram.

In addition, you can also do a shout-out for any exceptionally positive feedback you receive. It makes the sender feel rewarded and strengthens their faith in you. If you want to know how to become an influencer, the key is to value your audience members as much as they value you.

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Conclusion

The answer to the question of how to become an influencer is not a simple one. It may take you months of hard work and patience before the results start to show.

The key is to find your unique voice and use it to create a unique image for yourself as an influencer. Identify a specific niche and distribution channel that is best suited for you.

In addition, anyone who has the slightest idea of how to become an influencer will tell you the importance of creating genuine content that appeals to your audience.

You also need to strive to maintain a personal connection with your followers. Only then you will be able to build a loyal and engaged fan base that won’t bat an eyelid before trusting your recommendations.

About The Author

Shane Barker is the Founder and CEO of Content Solutions and Gifographics. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

How to become an Instagram influencer 2021: simple ways to find your niche (a guide for beginners)

By the end of this module, you will find the answer to your primary question: “What niche should I pursue to get maximum profits and generate valuable content without burning out?” I’ll share the working techniques for defining a niche that is interesting for you and trendy in 2021. After reading and practicing in parallel, you will be able to:

I’ve collected the industry jargon in the PDF file you can download and share. This chapter will help you grow from zero to intermediate in personal branding and influencing on IG. Let’s start.

Chapter 1: How to find your influencer niche

1. How to become an influencer: the importance of knowing your niche

Being a beginner, you probably underestimate the importance of your account specialization. You may start by describing your travels in one post, your fitness routine in the second, and your cookie recipe in Stories. But people won’t get your value and tone of voice this way.

Example of a well-defined account specialized in travelling:

Three reasons you should cover specific topics:

As you grow a community, you can experiment with new topics. But when you’re just starting out, highlighting your specialization is a must.

2. Content brainstorming

Brainstorming is the working technique successful influencers begin with. The task is simple yet effective.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #1 – YOUR ZONE OF GENIUS AS AN INFLUENCER

Download this spreadsheet and open it in a new tab. With this spreadsheet, your niche will become laser-focused. In the first list, see my example. The second one you should fill in by yourself. After this exercise, you will feel relieved and stop dabbling. What you are going to do:

Those niches that were most effortlessly filled in are your zone of genius. Have you typed the ideas fast and with passion? This topic is your true calling.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #2 – NARROW DOWN YOUR NICHE

Well-done – we came up with one strategic niche. Now we need to pare down this category to make it specific and provide value for your audience.

Example: My niche is yoga.

This is a perfect example of a narrow niche able to produce valuable content. Answer these questions in your brainstorm map – list #3. We will use this statement later when we are setting up your Instagram bio.

3. Analyzing search volumes

Now when your niche is crystal clear, we are going to evaluate the demand based on the search results. This step is easy because I’ll show you tools for amassing analytics on the web. The issue is:

Your starter pre-analysis package:

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #3 – VALIDATE THE DEMAND FOR YOUR NICHE

Hashtags generator analysis:

Well done. Your niche is precise and valuable, so we can continue our pre-analysis.

4. The most profitable niches for Instagram in 2021

Let’s imagine you have no idea now what niche you want to target. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start influencing on Instagram. Look at the most blooming niches for 2021 and come up with ideas.

Travel used to be one of the leading influencer niches but taking into account the recent lockdown, I wouldn’t recommend it to begin with. It would be pretty challenging to generate live content, YK.

5. Analyzing the successful accounts in your niche

As long as you passed the test and finished with your niche identity, it’s important to get to know top influencers in this area. Why?

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #4 – ANALYZING TOP PROFILES

Go to your spreadsheet and open the list #5 with the most popular hashtags in your niche. We discovered these hashtags with the Hashtag analyzer.

Now you see the most commented posts, most liked posts, engagement rate, posting schedule, and other valuable data.

Analyze as many hashtags and TOP accounts as you can.

The key goal is to indicate the buzz topics to make your niche even more fine-tuned.

Congratulations – you’ve passed the Basic step on the way to your lucrative Insta influencing. Now your niche is well-defined and narrow, and you have an obvious idea of what problems your blog solves. You analyzed TOP influencers in the desired niche and probably already have an idea on how to optimize your bio and aesthetics. I hope you’ve collected all the analysis in the spreadsheet.

In the next chapter, I will show you pro-hacks for optimizing your account from zero.

Chapter 2: How to set up your profile for influencing

1. Should you separate personal and influencer accounts?

Probably now you are running a personal account where you post selfies, fancy meals, go-outs, and family photos. Usually, people who run a business separate this kind of personal Instagram from a business profile. We try to divide private life and work, and it makes sense. But successful bloggers suggest that you should find the balance and run one account – personal branded account:

If you promote your business, mix the corporate posts with personal content. People are more interested in actual experience rather than bare facts. You are here to entertain and bring value.

By the way, it’s easier to grow one account, so you need to focus and find the best proportion of your content.

2. How to choose a username for Insagram

Ok, I got it. But what to do with my nickname? Should I use a personal name? Should my brand be my name?

3. Filling the Instagram bio like a PRO + SEO hacks

Optimizing your bio for becoming an influencer on Instagram is crucial. You have 2 seconds to prove your profile is a solution for a viewer’s problem. Also, the name section of your bio needs to be SEO optimized. Keep on reading and find out awesome and working Instagram bio ideas.

#1 – INSTAGRAM NAME

Instagram name section is searchable, which means you need to include keywords instead of doubling your personal name. When people are searching for a fitness trainer and type ‘fitness’ in the Instagram search field, the algorithm suggests your profile.

Tons of people don’t know who you are or your real name. But if you add the keywords related to your services, you show up within this search name. Don’t miss this opportunity.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #5 – KEYWORDS RESEARCH FOR THE INSTAGRAM NAME SECTION

Sometimes you might be struggling with what keywords to include in your Instagram name and bio. I will tell you one insider method to improve Instagram SEO.

#2 – YOUR NICHE STATEMENT FOR INSTAGRAM

Do you remember we have narrowed down your niche to 1 clear sentence? Use this statement in the bio description. You don’t need to copy someone’s ideas if you don’t know what to put in your Instagram bio. The bio should include:

Well, it looks like you need to fit a CV in your bio. And that’s true. The key is being precise and saving the limited space with the help of emojis.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #6 – NICHE STATEMENT FOR BIO ON INSTAGRAM

If you accomplished the previous tasks, making a valuable bio is a no-brainer.

Example

The niche statement

My niche is a prenatal yoga for working women in stress. I help them relieve anxiety and prepare for the delivery through complex asanas, meditation, and medical consultations.

The adoption for bio:

Name: Prenatal Yoga, Meditation, Consulting

🤰Helping pregnant women prepare for labor

⏰15 minute asanas, meditation, daily streams

🔝+ 1.5K women managed delivery fears

You can mention your YouTube channel in your bio as an authority builder. The number of happy clients and other achievements will build trust and stimulate people to tap «Follow.»

#3 – HASHTAGS IN INSTAGRAM BIO

Some influencers also add hashtags in a bio. The function of these hashtags is to navigate people through the account, collect contest posts, and other user-generated content. If you don’t feel like your community and content needs a branded hashtag, you may leave your bio without hashtags.

#4 – CTA (CALL TO ACTION)

If you insert a website or any other link in your bio, a call-to-action is a must. Make sure you left some space in the description field for a CTA.

Call to action is a must because many people are cautious of what links they click. By putting a clear CTA, you assure your audience this URL is not scammy. Also, you are giving a context for this link.

4. Instagram link in bio: how do you add several links?

If you don’t have a landing page or want to provide links to your website, YouTube channel, and Medium blog, you can do it. These services allow influencers to link out multiple sources from using a single-link application. Here I’ve collected the most popular and trusted resources for adding a link in bio on Instagram:

I hope you will use this opportunity to get free traffic from Instagram to your website or other blogging platforms.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE #7 – ORGANIZING LINKS IN BIO

Conclusion

By the end of the Basic module, you tapped into the nitty-gritty of Instagram blogging. Make sure you passed all the tasks one by one. If you were consistent you now have:

Keep on reading to learn how to gain your audience and monetize your profile very soon.

How to Become an Instagram Influencer: a Complete Guide

Shanoon Cox

May 06, 2022• Proven solutions

What comes into your mind first, when you think of becoming an Instagram influencer?

We are not talking about some thousand followers for your Instagram account, but really a great number. To have an impeccable influence on more people on Instagram who are keen on consuming the content and product you offer through this online platform.

If you want to change the game and woo your audience, then we got your back. We are going to explain to you through this article, how to become an Instagram influencer from the scratch.

Part 1: Instagram influencer definition

Before we start about working as an Instagram influencer, let’s understand what does Instagram influencer mean? Influencers are content creators on Instagram who also build communities across a particular niche or topic. Being a visually rich platform you always need the most visually dynamic content for better performance.

These content creators/influencers usually focus on photography, travel, beauty, fashion, food, fitness, lifestyle, or celebrities sharing their personal lives on Instagram. Their fan following ranges from 1000 to millions. Content creators with 1000 to 100,000 and beyond followers are known as micro-influencers.

Influencers with attractive photos and videos gain more followers, but those with genuine photos and honest information are much loved and appreciated by their followers.

Part 2: How to become an Instagram influencer

If you think about how to become a famous Instagram influencer, then here are some quick tips to guide you through.

Step 1: Pick up a niche

First of all, you need to select a niche you are extremely passionate about. It should be something that suits your personality and makes you feel connected. You need to have some basic knowledge of that and curiosity to delve deeper.

On social media, you can’t fake it if it’s not your passion, somewhere or the other your true persona will take over. So, be very careful about that and don’t follow a niche that is trending, rather build what interests you. DIY crafts, kitchen hacks, travel, lifestyle, food, and so on are there to pick from.

Rather than posting random things, figure out what can go in combo and curate your content. For example, you love fashion and good at DIY. Then you can show how to make DIY clothing, accessories, recycle things, etc. and retain your posts’ originality.

Step 2: Create your hashtags

Before you become an Instagram influencer, it is essential to understand the value of #hashtags. Instagram gives lots of importance to hashtags as they make your posts searchable. Keep your audience in mind and select the trending hashtags in your niche while posting content.

The rule of thumb is to keep it within a limit. Don’t go overboard, just use 3 to 5 hashtags on an average and coordinate phrases, popular words in your niche and create something relatable.

Step 3: Hone your unique bio

Coming to the bio of your profile, it is something that would create a lasting impact on your followers. It should eye-catching and attractive, say what your account stands for. Remember it’s like the welcome note to your party, so think it carefully and then create a noteworthy bio.

To become a successful Instagram influencer, the bio should be telling your story in short. If you are a food lover, you can write ‘Foody’. Travel + Food can be teamed up to make ‘Foody on wheels’ and the options are unlimited.

Step 4: Edit content with powerful tools

Basically, high-quality content will help influencers earn a reputation regardless of the format of the content. Considering the fact that people tend to watch short videos in recent years, it is necessary to choose a powerful yet easy-to-use video editor to help you edit your videos according to your needs without wasting lots of time. Wondershare Filmora, a super intuitive video editing software, can be your good choice.

Step 5: Publish your content

Consistency is the key to every aspect of life and so for becoming an Instagram influencer. Unique and quality content gains more exposure over the internet be it any social media platform.

But, you must not forget that the content should be published on your profile at its fixed time. Haven’t you seen people waiting for 8.30 PM to watch their favorite TV show? That’s what followers really do, they wait for your regular posting time.

For some special occasions or offers, you can tell them to announce the good news at a certain time and date and see how engagement on your post skyrockets. You can make use of Instagram Stories and update them about what’s going on for better interaction.

There are advanced tools to check the Instagram analytics of your page and decide the right time of the day to post specific content. If you can get that managed, then nobody can stop you from becoming a happening Instagram influencer.

Step 6: Interact with followers

You have everything set up perfectly. A couple of daily posts with attractive graphics and photos along with them, a message conveying your brand, and plenty of comments and likes from your followers.

Well! This is what you should start acting on. To become an Instagram influencer, pick your mobile, and start interacting on your Instagram account, make them feel they are talking to a person, and not posting on a wall on the picture. Strengthen your brand name by encouraging them to use a special hashtag curated for your brand.

Step 7: Join a social media network

You can earn money in 3 ways using your posts, or you might receive free products as well. Either being a brand ambassador, which is not that easy at all. If you have an online store or boutique and the brand noticed you, through your hashtags and approached you.

Or you join a social media network that works for you. In this case, you promote their campaigns and get hampers or some extra bucks than your brand earning for the collaboration.

Step 8: Use Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories are a hit now and for becoming an Instagram influencer, you can’t do away with them. Every day 200 million-plus users use Instagram stories and why shouldn’t you join the bandwagon to improve your followers base? They are searchable by non-followers too through your #hashtags, locations, and stories. For influencer having more than 10,000 followers, you can add a link in Stories with a ‘Swipe up’ option.

Spread some love and tag other accounts and get mutual promotions on Instagram for more exposure.

Step 9: Apply a business Account

Get a business account on Instagram to become an Instagram influencer. You get insights into posts having better engagement along with your follower demographics, the time of maximum engagement, etc. Follower demographics would help in brand collaboration pitching. You can run Ads for extra engagement.