Becoming an Instagram Influencer isn’t something that is accomplished overnight. For a singer to become famous, they need to consistently produce good music. For a lawyer to become highly regarded, they need to consistently win cases. Just like these careers, there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes while becoming an influencer.
Becoming an influencer requires consistent work, attention, and smart business decisions. There will be lots of successes but also lots of setbacks. It’s easy to see someone’s page with 100k+ followers and think that they just got lucky when, in reality, they’ve been working hard at it for years.
To give you the best chance of success, we have put together a 10 Step list that can help you become an Instagram influencer. These tips have all been sourced from blue-check influencers and are based around their own experiences. Enjoy!
10.) Capitalize on your uniqueness
Find what it is that makes you unique and embrace it! Instagram has almost 1,000,000,000users who are all posting about similar categories. In order to become an influencer you’ll need to stick out and the easiest way to stick out is to just be yourself.
9.) Find your niche
Along the lines of capitalizing on your uniqueness, it’s important to find and focus on your niche. You want your followers to expect a consistent type of content from your page. While choosing, it’s also important to pick something that you’re passionate about and genuinely interested in as you’ll be posting on the topic quite often.
Don’t feel pressure to need to pick and run with a niche from the start. Just start to post more and you will see what type of content you naturally gravitate towards.
8.) Don’t be shy
Instagram might be the last place to be shy or introverted. The most successful influencers are the ones who bare it all and share their ups, downs, best, and worst moments with their followers.
Additionally, getting over your shyness and sharing everything ultimately makes you seem more genuine since people feel like they’re seeing the real you. Chances are, lots of people are going through the same issues as you.
7.) Document, don’t create
This tip comes from Gary Vaynerchuk. He says that creating content doesn’t need to be a headache or a chore. Simply document things that you’re doing day-to-day. Out to a fancy dinner? Share it on your Instagram story! People follow you because they’re interested in what you’re doing. Show them what is going on in your life!
The camera eats first!
6.) Be consistent with your aesthetic
Once you’ve found your niche and are creating content on a daily basis, be sure to stay consistent. Your page should give off a specific look/feel when people visit it so they know what to expect in the future.
Here’s a few examples of what we mean:
5.) Invest in a high-quality camera or photographer
This may seem like an unnecessary expense but trust us, your Instagram can live or die by the quality of your photos. If you want to be seen as a legitimate influencer then it’s imperative that you upload only the highest quality photos. If taking pictures really isn’t your thing then it might be worth looking into hiring a photographer to capture some candid shots!
4.) Make yourself available for collaborations
Be sure to include your professional email in your bio so companies know where to reach you. After that, make sure you’re ready to provide any social stats that companies might ask for (follower growth, engagement metrics, clicks per link, etc.). Of course, all influencers want to do sponsored posts but it’s important here to not sell out. Only promote products that you truly believe in and think your audience would benefit from.
Having a standard that you stick to will help you build a strong and authentic presence while simultaneously making you more attractive to brands.
3.) Create specific hashtags
Instagram is different than other social media sites because they actually place a lot of importance on hashtags. For each post, you should be including relevant hashtags to help your post get mentioned on the discover page.
It can even be beneficial to try and create a few unique hashtags that are unique to your brand! (Think #justdoit by Nike) This will help in the long run to strengthen your brand and encourage others to post using your hashtags.
2.) Content, content, content
This rule might go without saying but the content is obviously king with any type of social media. People follow you because of the unique things that you post and want to see more of it. Our biggest tip when it comes to content is to be consistent. It’s better to post once or twice a day for months than to post 10 times one day a week.
1.) Use stories
On the topic of content, stories are a great way to get some quick content to your page without the hassle of editing photos. As mentioned in Rule #4, it’s as simple as documenting things that are going on in your life every day!
We hope that you found this valuable and are excited to get your influencing career off the ground! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to get more tips on becoming an influencer!
