4 Steps to Becoming an Instagram Influencer

May 07, 2019

Anyone willing to put in the work can become an Instagram influencer. It doesn’t matter how you look or how you act, as long as you do what’s necessary for a long enough time, then you can build a following and influence over thousands of people.

1. Pick a niche

The first thing you need to decide is what type of influencer you want to become. You need to pick a niche. Pick a niche you’re passionate about, something you’ll love and won’t tire of. If you choose something at random, then you won’t enjoy your life as an influencer because it would be as if you got a nine to five job you despised. You can’t fake passion on the Internet.

You also need to have at least some basic knowledge about your niche. If you were to choose to become a fashion influencer, and you didn’t know how to put an outfit together, no one would follow you. When someone follows an influencer on Instagram, it’s for a specific reason—to get something from them, whether it’s advice, entertainment, or something else.

Here’s a tip for picking a niche: Make a list of all the topics you enjoy and know. Number them, compare them, or do something else that’s always worked for you. In the end, go through the list and cross out what you don’t want. By the end, you’ll have one left. Go with that one and stick with it.

2. Write a great profile bio

You have 150 characters to grab someone’s attention automatically. Sked Social says, “It’s the elevator pitch of your entire account.” In your bio, you need to give a small description of who you are and what you do (not only with words but with emojis too).

Use keywords that tell people what you do. For example, if you’re a writer, use ‘writer,’ ‘blog,’ or ‘book,” if you have them. If you’re a traveler, you can use a quote about travel and include where you’re currently traveling.

Here are some examples:

3. Create content that stands out

On Instagram, content—pictures, videos, and stories—is king. Let’s talk about Instagram stories first because, in my opinion, they’re the easiest. The reason Instagram stories are simple is that they don’t require any planning. You choose on the spot to either record and share a moment, or not. You can plan out some stories, such as when you want to promote a new piece of content outside of Instagram, but the rest are spontaneous. Stories are all about behind-the-scenes, and real, imperfect moments. You can also use stickers, music, GIFs, and more.

Your Instagram feed content requires a little more work. The first reason you want to put effort into it is that people don’t decide if they’re going to follow you based on one photo they see. They’ll decide when they look at your entire profile. If it looks messy, all-over-the-place, and inconsistent, they won’t follow you. It would help if you had an Instagram aesthetic, or at least, some consistency that looked neat. People judge your profile page, and then decide if they’re going to follow you or not.

That said, you do have to focus on your individual posts. Make your posts unique to your brand by sticking to specific lighting, font, or style. Take constant pictures of yourself, too. If you look at the profile page of any influencer, they’re all over it. Take professional photos, selfies, and pictures with others. Talk about your niche, tips and tricks, and any other idea you may have, such as starting a campaign with a hashtag or hosting a giveaway.

Go live and host live Q&A’s a few times a month—alone and with others. Finally, If you want to get into video, you can post them on your main feed, and take advantage of IGTV.

Bonus tip: Use hashtags. Hashtags are how you get found, especially if you’re new. Use a mix of popular hashtags, hashtags that relate specifically to your post, and hashtags in the hundreds-thousands area.

4. Be consistent

While content is king, consistency is key. You can’t get away with only uploading content—and I’m talking about main feed content—a few times a week. You have to upload content every single day, at least twice a day, and no more than three times a day.  

You also want to upload at the same times every day. The time you upload might vary depending on the day, so if you’re going to remember, set alarms on your phone.

We always recommend switching to a business account. There are numerous advantages to doing this, such as access to your audience’s demographics, and the most popular times of when your followers are usually on. So, on Monday, you may need to upload at nine in the morning, and on Tuesday, you might have to upload at nine at night. Study those analytics, and stick to a schedule. This way, your followers will begin to know when to expect content from you every day.

5. Interact with your followers

One of the most important things you can do as an influencer is to interact with your followers. You have to reply, or like the comments your followers leave on your posts, answer their direct messages, and answer their questions when you’re live.

One of the best ways to interact with your followers is to use stickers on your Instagram story. The stickers available are the questions sticker, poll sticker, quiz sticker, and the emoji slider sticker. These stickers make it incredibly easy for you to tell your followers to interact, and for your followers to take a second to engage with you. They’re simple, fun, and they can be used to get to know your followers and vice versa. (Keep in mind that your followers are everything when you’re trying to become an influencer.)

Those are five tips you can start applying today to become an Instagram influencer!

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