5 Tips to Be an Influencer on Instagram
Instagram has more than 1 billion active users every month, more than 60 million photos and videos published every day, and billions of Instagram likes daily. It has become the most preferred and effective platform for influencer marketing. Brands are rapidly using Instagram influencer marketing to build their brand awareness, potentially increase their sales and communicate with potential customers.
There are over half a million active influencers on Instagram, therefore, if you are planning to become one too, you need to stand out from the crowd. You do not require millions of followers to gain success as an Instagram influencer. In fact, influencers with smaller followings generally have a more authentic voice and higher engagement rates compared to those with larger followings.
Here are 5 tips to help you gain success as an Instagram influencer and increase engagement on Instagram...
1. Know your niche and plan a content strategy
The first thing you should do before becoming an Instagram influencer is selecting a niche that you are truly passionate about. After all, you would not want to spend your precious time and effort on something you are not interested in.
A particular niche will not only shape your created content but also act as a driving force behind your career as an Instagram influencer.
With your niche figured out, the second thing you need to do is building a content strategy. There is no way you are going to succeed as an Instagram influencer if you post content without any plan. Here are a few ideas to plan out your content strategy-
- Take time to research your industry
go through the best posts of some popular Instagram influencers and see what works. - Create your content around your theme or niche
Obviously, you cannot be excited about everything. You should stick to a specific topic or concept that reflects your genuine interest. - Invest in high-quality photo-editing tools and cameras.
- Be creative with your content
In the end, you want to make sure that your content is as unique as possible.
2. Prepare yourself to get approached by potential brands
You must make sure that you have set up your Instagram account in a way that will captivate brand attention. Here’s what you should do to make it easier for brands to approach you-
- Switch to a business account
This will allow brands and businesses to see you as someone they can partner up with. Furthermore, a business profile also unlocks advanced features like Instagram shopping and checkout, insights, promoted posts, an action button, contact options, quick replies, and Instagram analytics. - Join an influencer marketing program
These programs connect influencers with agencies and brands while making you more discoverable. Simply create an Instagram profile, choose your industry, set your price, and wait for brands to come to you. - Make sure your contact information is visible
You can include your email address or phone number in your bio to help potential marketing partners reach you easily.
3. Remember hashtags
Instagram posts with at least 1 hashtag have proved to get 12.6% more engagement compared to those without a hashtag. If you are looking to boost your visibility and engagement rate on Instagram, you need to have an effective hashtag strategy for your brand. Hashtags help users to find your content, offer trending industry insight, and encourage audience interactions.
Here are three things you could do to use branded hashtags efficiently-
- Laser focus your research
It is important to research hashtags and depend on the best possible ones. Hashtags should be based on the current trends that are relevant to your niche and target audience. - Don’t be overly promotional
Don’t treat your Instagram account as a conventional sales and marketing platform. You should be resourceful to your audience by posting valuable content. Instagram allows 30 hashtags per post but you should try to keep them as few as possible. - Use unique, memorable, relevant, and engaging hashtags
Your hashtags should serve as a connection and interaction between your audience and the brand.
4. Engage with your audience
Once you have built a following on Instagram as an influencer, do not forget to value your audience by engaging with them. Reply to your followers’ and visitors’ comments as quickly as possible, resolve their queries, post stories, like and comment on their posts, etc. Interacting and engaging with your audience make them feel valued and thus they will be your loyal supporters as long as you care for them.
5. Focus on captions
It is not uncommon for influencers on Instagram to post a beautiful image of themselves, a location, or a product, then draft an attractive five-word caption, and sit back to wait to see the results. A narrative caption is not enough, a perfect Instagram caption should boost your engagement too. This means it has to provide context, convey your brand’s personality, and encourage your audience to take action.
Therefore, it is crucial to know your target audience and identify your brand voice before worrying about writing captions.
Your captions should be original and tell a story for you to interact with your audience on a deeper level. As mentioned, you should not forget to include an appropriate Call to Action to inspire your followers to take the desired action.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that Instagram is a perfect space for influencers to showcase their talent and inspire people. So follow these tips to become a successful Instagram influencer with a huge following and support.