Every month, more than 2 billion people across the globe log onto Instagram. Every day, 1.3 billion people around the world log on to the platform. But you might already have an idea about this immense reach. That’s why you’re making the decision to blend your expertise with Instagram’s power to potentially connect with audiences of unimaginably large sizes.

Whether you know it as IG, Insta or The Gram, the world of Instagram has its own rules and influencer hacks that shift as fast as the Internet itself. If your goal is to become an Instagram influencer, here’s all you need to get started. You’ll learn how and why Instagram became the frontrunner of platforms on which to influence audiences. You’ll discover how to craft your profile image and measure your success through analytics — and more. Here’s what you need to know to join in.

History of Instagram

Instagram was launched October 6, 2010, as a photography app. Within one week, it already had 100,000 users. After two months in existence, it had a million users. A mere two years later, Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion.

But, Instagram wasn’t a burning idea that took years to develop, according to the app’s creator and founder, Kevin Systrom. He says that Instagram began as more of an accident because his original idea for an app was already taken. Instead, he worked with another developer, Mike Krieger, and stripped the idea down to create an app focused on communicating through images. The app was sort of like sending an instant telegram, which is how it got its name, Instagram.

Instagram took about eight weeks to build, even though it was the afterthought of the original app that had a year of research and development behind it. Instagram has kept its original premise as a purely visual communications tool, though it continues to evolve. Its constant evolution requires the help of Instagram influencer manuals to sort through ongoing changes and trends.

What makes Instagram continue to remain such a popular platform should be helpful to future influencers. A picture is worth a thousand words, according to an old and often-quoted proverb. Science also tells us that humans process visual data better, which means we respond quickest to images, then to words and audio. It’s documented that captions are secondary to the Instagram experience. So, Instagram’s appeal will likely remain long-lasting.

Instagram is always evolving. In June 2013, Instagram launched videos, followed by DMs, or direct messages. In 2016, Instagram added Stories worldwide, followed by live broadcasting.

In 2018, IGTV debuted as Instagram’s answer to YouTube. IGTV was shut down in 2022. On August 5, 2020, Instagram launched Reels, its short-form video feature.

The latest launch was Threads on July 5, 2023. In just one hour, Threads surpassed 1 million users. In 2 days, Threads reached 70 million users.

How to Set Up Instagram

If you have a smartphone or other mobile device, you can likely have Instagram. It’s a free app you can download from the two main stores, Apple’s App Store for iPhones and Google Play for Androids. Though the app doesn’t take up a lot of storage on your phone or tablet, it’s the storage of photos you’ll want to manage.

Instagram is a lot like a digital scrapbook where you edit, upload and share photos and videos. But before you begin creating your living scrapbook, you’ll need to follow the prompts to set up your account and profile.

Your Profile Name

If you’re reading this guide, your goal is to become an Instagram influencer. You probably have some idea of what you want to name your page so it’s memorable and easy to find. Keep in mind that the terms “Instagram username,” “Instagram name” and “Instagram handle” all mean the same thing.

Your Instagram handle creates the URL of your Instagram page when someone views it in a web browser. It’s also one way other users can search for you within in the app. It’s written with an “@” before the name you choose, like @username. Your username sets the stage for your messaging, even before you post your first image.

When you download the app and see the prompt that asks you to create a username, that’s your “handle” that’ll show up on your page. Go ahead and use your name or something creative and unique to represent your page. It’s not set in stone, so you can always tweak or change your username, especially as you begin to grow your influence.

To give you an idea of a good handle, here are examples of the usernames of three popular non-celebrity influencers:

The Gee Family — thebucketlistfamily, 2.6M Instagram followers 

The Gees post about their world adventures with three kids. They have a handle that immediately gives an idea to followers what they offer in their posts — lots of adventure.

Huda Kattan — hudabeauty, 52.9M Instagram followers

Huda Kattan began with makeup tutorials and reviews. She now runs a cosmetics empire, using a simple handle formula of her first name plus the category in which she posts.

Kayla Itsines — kayla_itsines, 15.9M Instagram followers

Kayla Itsines simply uses her name for her handle to build a branded Instagram page that includes workout videos, inspirational messages and diet tips.

If you want to have an equally compelling handle, there are two loose formulas that’ll lead you to your ideal Instagram name. Remember, there are influencers who’ve been around a long time, and they began their journeys with personal Instagram pages and their names as their handles. Celebrity influencers, such as Kim Kardashian (@kimkardashian) and Selena Gomez (@selenagomez), tend to use their instantly recognizable names for their Instagram handles.

You can do this, too, if you feel your name sets the right tone for your goal as an influencer. If you prefer a more creative handle, use these two formulas to brainstorm ideas:

• Formula #1: Your name, plus a one-word description of what you share. As an example, @johnnyjet is an influencer sharing photos of his travels.

• Formula #2: A catchy phrase or two to describe what you do and share, plus your name if you feel it fits. As an example, @curveswithmoves is an inspirational plus-size fitness instructor.

If you have a nickname, consider that as your Instagram handle. Ree Drummond, a food influencer and tv personality, became known as @thepioneerwoman. Her nickname is a nod to her move to the countryside after getting married.

Your Profile Photo

The profile photo in the upper left-hand corner of your Instagram page is one of the first things a viewer spots. That little image on your page should incorporate five tips all at once:

• Keep it timeless and evergreen: If your brand is about Christmas in July, then it’s fine to mix the seasons. If your image is out of season, a new visitor may think your page isn’t kept up to date. Keep your profile image timeless by keeping your background and props neutral and not time-sensitive. You also don’t want to take time away from creating content by constantly changing your profile image. Try to use the same photo as a profile image across your social media accounts for consistency.
• Mind your background: Your background will be a blur, but it counts. Your followers will see your background, and they may even study it a bit to grasp your entire brand and personality.
• Stay with a consistent aesthetic: Stay on brand while staying with the palette of your page and the content topics you post about. 
• Upload a portrait, not a selfie: A portrait shot focusing on your face is perceived as more professional than a selfie. You’ll also have more control over the results of the image if you have someone else take the photo. As an influencer, you’re selling yourself as a brand in your profile image, so it pays to make it count.
• Add your niche next to your name: Follow your handle with your niche. For example: Jane Doe, Wellness Influencer.

Three Types of Profiles

As of this writing, there are three types of free profiles from which you can choose: personal, creator or business. Instagram also gives you the ability to switch back and forth from one profile to another, thought that can sometimes cause confusion and complicate matters. However, if you’re testing the waters, you might want to start basic and upgrade as your influencer status evolves. If you’re planning on becoming an influencer, it pays to know the benefits and drawbacks of each type of profile.

Personal: A personal Instagram account can be set to be private. It’s a simple way to keep up with family and friends. But, it won’t let you have access to special features, and it won’t let you see how your posts and Stories are doing in real time. 

Creator: A creator account is designed for Instagram’s high-profile users, most notably celebrities and influencers. It’s similar to a business profile in that it gives you more control of your account. 

You can access detailed follower insights and growth tools, such as simplified messaging services. These give you better ways to connect with your audience and increase your brand awareness. Your followers can also shop directly from your account when you tag products in your posts a certain way. If you don’t have a larger retail presence, this may be the ideal account for an up-and-coming influencer.

Business: With a business account, you have access to real-time Instagram Analytics. These data show you how your posts and Stories perform and how your followers interact with content. They include features that you can unlock so you can get noticed. You can also create a digital catalog where you can embed links to products directly in an image. You might start with a Creator account and move to Business as you emerge as a high-profile influencer. 

What to Include in a Profile Bio

Your profile’s bio is the beginning of your branding and the first thing a follower sees on your Instagram page. You could always study your favorite influencer’s profile bio and figure out why it’s compelling. However, every profile bio is unique because each element that’s included is specific to each brand. 

Elements of an Instagram profile:

• Name: Begin with your brand’s name. It’s a good idea to include your niche as well.
• Username: Choose your social media handle or profile name, often an abbreviation or variation of your name that you think may be searchable on Instagram. Many influencers choose the same username across their social media accounts for brand consistency.
• Pronouns: Instagram allows the option to include your pronouns.
• Category: The Business and Creator accounts let you add a category under your name.
• Contact: The Business and Creator accounts let you add a web address under the bio, but it doesn’t count toward the character count. You can also add contact options: Business phone number, Business address, Instagram audio calling and WhatsApp Business phone number. 
• Verification badge: This optional little blue checkmark means you’re a real Instagram account, not an imposter account. You needed to go through a process to get verified on Instagram, and it was originally meant for pages that Instagram thinks are “in the public interest.” In 2023, Meta offers two options for verification: 
  • Verified badges are for notable accounts.
  • Meta Verified is a paid subscription that confirms accounts are validated and authentic. This subscription comes with a bundle of features and benefits, and it is available for eligible profiles and businesses, according to Meta. Check out our guide to getting verified on Meta.
• Bio: In 150 characters or less, include a display of your expertise, one or two short hashtags and keywords and a swift call-to-action phrase. 
• Call-to-action (CTA): This short phrase highlights your goal and coordinates with the clickable link in your bio. For example, it’ll compel a viewer to click on your link, plan to visit your store or follow your feed.
• Action buttons: Businesses can add action buttons: Order food, book now, reserve and get quote.
• Links: Add up to five clickable links.
• Profile display options: Choose whether to display your category and contact information on your profile.

Three Profile/Bio Examples

Included below are three examples of popular Instagram influencer pages with profiles and bios. Only one account has a verified badge; the influencer is also owns a fashion brand. As you’ll see, each profile and bio is distinctive in its own merits.

@cleanfoodiecravings profile/bio:
Charlotee Smythe | Clean Foodie Cravings
Bio: Unseasoned Coffee Connoisseur |
Simple Recipes & Good Vibes
Author of One Pot Keto Cooking
CTA: Recipes + Links
Website: https://www.liinks.co/cleanfoodiecravings

@weworewhat profile/bio:
Verification badge: Blue checkmark at the top of the page
Name/username: Danielle Bernstein
Bio: Founder @shopweworewhat ⁣
Giving @wegavewhat
NYT Best Selling Author⁣ • Angel Investor
Founder @moeassist
CTA: Inq: moe@weworewhat.com
Website: weworewhat.com

@angwitacho profile/bio:
Name/username: Angwi Tacho
Bio: | OH ATL |
260K lovely subbies on YouTube
CTA: NEW VIDEO ↓ 
YouTube Channel: https://linktr.ee/angwitacho

Connecting to Other Platforms

Most, if not all, Instagram influencers cross-post on other platforms. For example, there are plenty of influencers on Twitter, which sometimes offers more engagement between influencers and followers than Instagram. YouTube is extremely influential, with an estimated 2.56 billion active users per month.

The key today is to distribute content on all or at least two platforms to capture the maximum number of followers. One component of success in cross-posting on platforms is time management. Time management is a skill that you’ll need as an influencer juggling many balls in the air while running your business.

How Instagram Works

You’ll have endless fun creating content for your Instagram page. It’s why influencers love to do what they do. Instagram’s content tends to shift around in its overall focus.

Though each influencer is unique, the platform used to thrive on perfectly staged, curated and glamorous content. These days, it also seems to favor more unfiltered, realistic and authentic content.

Regardless of the direction you want to take your content in, there are various types of content you can create: photos, videos, live video, Stories, reels, text and IGTV shows. There are key details and features that can make your content consistent and reliable, yet fresh and digestible, including everything from filters to hashtags.

Types of Content

Photos:

The main feature of Instagram is photography, and lots of it. If you love taking photos and posting images, Instagram is the perfect platform for your work. There are plenty of independent photo-editing apps to help you create eye-popping visual content for Instagram.
Apps can help you sharpen or blur images, add text and effects to an image, resize images, put them in a collage and more. You can crop, size and edit right in the app. Always use high-resolution images to keep your visuals crisp and clear.

Videos:

When you want to create a 60-second video for your Story or live, you can create and upload a video from your phone. (IGTV is different; scroll down to learn more below.) Just as you can with photos, you’ll be able to find video-editing apps for Instagram videos.

Live:

Much like Facebook Live, this is Instagram’s live-streaming feature. You can instantaneously go live to your audience, chat, reply to comments and use split-screen views to engage with viewers/guests.

Stories:

Instagram has evolved beyond just photos. Now, you need to put more behind those eye-catching images in the form of Stories. Through your real Stories, you’ll begin to engage with your audience and connect with your followers. The Stories feature, influenced by Snapchat’s functionality, lets you post a photo or 15-second video that’ll disappear from your feed in 24 hours. That makes it imperative for your followers to keep up with your postings so they don’t miss a thing.

Reels:

Instagram Reels debuted in 2020. It’s a feature that allows users to post and edit short videos up to 90 seconds in length. The videos are shared to your Instagram feed and under the separate Reels tab on your Instagram profile. There is also a section in the app dedicated to a feed of trending Reels. They are a great feature to increase awareness and engagement.

Text:

Text, including hashtags, is a minimal element that takes a backstage on an Instagram page or feed. Once in a while, you’ll see a long caption. It’s relatively rare because the star of your page and feed is visual content.

 

Features Within Content

You can edit your content and add the following features to make things more customized, compelling and on-brand.

Overlay Stickers

Popular with Instagram Stories, stickers have the potential to stop hurried scrollers in their tracks when used the right way. Art directors are familiar with the effect that overlays can have on a printed image to make it unexpected or fun to view. Influencers can do the same by using overlay stickers in creative ways. On images, they add color, personality and a playful or celebratory vibe that the camera alone can’t create. Below, these white stars are an example of an overlay sticker from @andnancysays:

Collages

Creating a highly stylized collage on your page or on your Story is another creative, visual way to share with your followers. Collages are always popular in the print world, especially when it comes to creating holiday cards, and it’s now an Instagram trend for influencers.

Collages are popular because they show more in less space and they’re stylized to fit an influencer’s brand and aesthetic. Caution: an overly busy Instagram collage can turn off followers if they can’t see or focus on what’s in the image. Here’s an example of a collage used on @revolve:

Filters

Filters enhance your “Instagram aesthetic.” The consistent use of filters helps you create a cohesive feed of images that have similar color tones. It’s what many top influencers use to keep a consistent, on-brand look on their Instagram feeds.

When you’re starting out, it’s best to experiment with Instagram’s own filters; they’re quick and easy to use. After you’re more comfortable and established, branch out to use more sophisticated filtering apps to give your feed a more distinctive appearance.

Here’s an example of a warm filter from @aleksandrazee, who specializes in wood decor and design. This type of warm filter appears on all of her images throughout her page:

Hashtags

Using a targeted, relevant and sometimes trending hashtag or two on posts and Stories is still important on Instagram. A hashtag opens up doors for you and helps new audiences discover your page.

Hashtags work on Instagram as well as they do on Twitter. A hashtag, indicated by a pound sign (#), places your post among a curated batch of feeds about a particular subject, theme or topic. You’ll even see some posts with captions entirely made up of a dozen or so hashtags, but it’s not recommended for every post.

Find hashtags on Instagram analytical tools, watch for popular hashtags on competitor pages or use other independent analytical tools to find what’s trending for your brand. For example, consider two of the most popular Instagram hashtags: #love and #photooftheday. Here’s an example of a hashtag from @remzinarman:

Establishing an Influencer Brand on Instagram

Taking a photo for Instagram is the first step, but your photo should also tell a story. To do that, you need to create your content using tools that go beyond your phone’s camera. The good news is that most of these tools are free to use to produce sophisticated posts. Here’s a short list of three top free tools to turn to for creating Instagram posts:

Canva:

An easy-to-use app for endless applications like creating multi-image layouts or adding text and quotes to images, announcements and more. There’s endless free formats and fonts and a comprehensive library that’s highly affordable. You also have the option to upgrade to a pro account. Find it at canva.com.

VSCO:

A popular filter app for photo editing that goes beyond Instagram’s basic filters. It’s feature-rich to help you differentiate your feed, offering an editing suite, default filters and a library of filters for purchase. Download VSCO for free or join for an annual membership fee. Find it at VSCO.co.

Snapseed:

A photo-editing app to fine tune your photos using a virtual brush to paint effects onto an image. The powerful app has advanced features that are appropriate for serious photographers. Snapseed is free for both iOS devices at the Apple App Store and Android devices at the Google Play Store.

Content Creation Frequency

Use of these content creation tools should make the posting process not only fun but also easy to keep up with. This way, you can post consistently and frequently. The question you might be asking is how frequently you should post on Instagram.

Influencers often admit that one of their biggest challenges is posting frequently enough.

It’s critical to understand the importance of frequency and its effects on your audience’s engagement rate. In addition to the time you have available to dedicate to posting, you should also consider Instagram’s algorithms that impact the frequency of your posts.

Social media algorithms are sets of rules used to dictate and prioritize the order of posts that users see when scrolling through their feeds. They’re automatically applied by the app and are based on specific proprietary signals and calculations.

Facebook and Instagram both have their own algorithms, which are always subject to change, just as they can on any other social media platform. According to reports, Instagram’s algorithm prioritizes engagement and likes to see interactions. In general, the more interactions you have with your audience, the more your posts become prioritized in a follower’s feed.

Algorithms can be confusing to decipher. Here are a few tactics to use with Instagram’s evolving algorithms:

• If you notice your engagement is down and followers aren’t participating as much, post more often.
• Schedule posts to appear at optimal times based on your insights.
• Avoid overnight postings when your main audience is sleeping.
• Post more video content and use Instagram Live. There are anecdotal reports that the algorithm prioritizes these two types of content.
• Engage with your audience, make sure you are responding to comments.
• Understand what type of content your audience engages most with.

Don’t let algorithms scare you away from becoming an Instagram influencer. The frequency of your posts is your decision. Some influencers post during what seems like every half an hour every day, while other successful influencers post once a day or twice a week. If you post frequently and consistently, using high-quality images and videos, you’ll be on the right track with your followers — and with the Instagram algorithm.

Instagram Influencer Best Practices

Platform Etiquette

Diplomacy is key to becoming a well-respected Instagram influencer. Remember to treat others as you’d like to be treated to reduce the amount of trolling and negative comments. Hateful comments may be inevitable on any platform, but that’s when you can show your strength of character as an influencer. To stay neutral yet professional, follow these etiquette musts when it comes to communicating with your audience and brand partners:

• Encourage contact: Include an email in your bio or add a contact button feature to show viewers and prospective brand partners that you’re approachable.
• Respond quickly: Respond to direct messages in a timely fashion. Both followers and brands prefer to hear from an influencer within a few days of initial contact.
• Adhere to guidelines: When working with a brand, follow its posting guidelines. If there’s a guideline issue that you don’t agree with, discuss it with the brand, but never ignore it.
• Document: When posting content for a brand, screenshot the post and share with the brand’s contact. It’s a professional way to document your work and your commitment to the partnership.
• Follow up: After completing a campaign or sponsored post for a brand, follow up with the company with a short email. In the email, offer feedback about the product and about the process of working together. It’s a goodwill gesture that shows professionalism.

What to Avoid

It’s easy to make mistakes on any platform and equally easy to fix mistakes on Instagram. Quickly fix your mistakes to redeem your reputation. There are six significant missteps that can damage your journey as an Instagram influencer if you don’t catch them early on:

1. Posting content that’s irrelevant to your niche
2. Using wrong or inappropriate hashtags on your posts
3. Posting inconsistently or infrequently
4. Posting low-quality, non-value content that feels rushed and insignificant
5. Avoiding replying to comments
6. Faking your follower count

A Warning About Fake Followers

Let’s dive a bit deeper into #6 above regarding fake followers. These are follower accounts that actual people don’t run. Having them increases an account’s follower numbers, but it harms an influencer’s engagement rates because real people aren’t liking and commenting on posts using those fake accounts. If you’re found to have fake

followers, it can damage your reputation among real followers because it degrades their trust. Brands may also be less likely to want to partner with someone who knowingly has fake followers.

It may be tempting to increase your audience number to make it appear like you’re more popular. But it’s one of the worst influencer practices to participate in. Fake followers are detectable not only to real followers, but also to potential brands that may want to work with you. Here’s how others spot fake Instagram followers:

• Bad content: It’s suspect if you post low-quality content but you have a high number of followers.
• Spikes: If your audience number spikes without a genuine reason, such as because of a viral post, the sudden increase may be all from fake followers.
• Ratios: If the ratio of your audience members to your likes per post is vastly different, that’s a sign you have fake followers. In other words, if you have 200K followers but posts generally receive double-digit likes, that means few real people are seeing your posts.
• Spam: A large percentage of spam comments may indicate fake followers.
• Analytical tools: Brands seeking partnerships with influencers often use digital tools that analyze and uncover follower authenticity.

How to Grow Followers

To attract followers, know your topic or be willing to learn about it with passion. Stay eager to share with others what you learn. Be honest and let your audience know you’re learning about your topic. Invite others to learn along with you.

Influencers Doing It Right

If you’re hoping to become an overnight influencer, it could happen. There are stories of influencers who took two months to become moneymaking brand ambassadors. More often, you’ll find influencers who’ve worked diligently to grow their presences and brands. Here are three stories of hardworking Instagram influencers who do the right things and learned from their mistakes:

Learning to focus, focus, focus:

Heidi Ferguson of Honeybear Lane
@honeybearlane
12.4K Instagram followers

A mom of five, Heidi is a DIY and home decor Instagram influencer with a presence on multiple platforms. Her advice on becoming a successful influencer is to ignore slow growth and stay consistent when posting. Don’t compare yourself to others in your niche. Study your analytics.

Using Instagram as a launchpad:

Melissa Johnson of Best Friends for Frosting
@bestfriendsforfrosting
115K Instagram followers

Melissa’s company focuses on sharing recipes, entertainment tips and other home ideas. She has a presence on other platforms, including 7m followers on Pinterest. She’s decided to use her Instagram influencer status as a way to gain press and access to projects at different levels.

Melissa shot a commercial for OxiClean and launched a podcast, and she’s currently exploring book deals and product lines. How did she do it? Offering content with genuine value to her audience and responding to as many comments as possible.

Working with brands that reflect her values:

McKenzie Guymon
@girllovesglam
11.1K Instagram followers

McKenzie traded in salon work to become an influencer, also posting across multiple platforms. She recommends influencers learn from her mistake of taking on brands that didn’t fit her values, which resulted in failed campaigns. Today, she studies a brand before accepting a partnership, making absolutely certain it’s aligned with her values and lifestyle.

Types of Influencers

You no longer need to be designated as a mega-influencer to get noticed. Brands and audiences pay attention to nano-influencers (with fewer than 1k followers) and  micro-influencers (with 1k to 100k followers).

Influencers with smaller audiences have hyper-dedicated captive audiences, which is ideal for brands. In fact, according to Forbes.com, marketers want to partner with smaller, edgier and more controversial influencers who have zealous followers. Here’s the breakdown of the four influencer types:

Celebrity- and mega-influencers:

Celebrity and mega influencers have over a million followers, and they’re often considered famous rather than influential. Having such a large audience means the influencer may post quite a bit, but the relationships with followers are distant and at best superficial. They do, however, command high payments for greater reach. Super-celebrity Kim Kardashian can command between $250,000 to over $500,000 per post if a company wants her millions of followers to see one of their products.

Macro-influencers:

If you have between 100,000 and a million followers, you’re considered a macro-influencer. A macro influencer still has a distant relationship with their audience. However, they can still command a high payment from a brand because of their large, broad audience reach.

Micro-influencers:

Influencers with between 1,000 and 10,000 followers are called micro-influencers. They may have fewer followers than regular or mega-influencers, but they likely have more interactions with a highly devoted audience. Because a micro-influencer’s audience is smaller, it’s more targeted. That means the micro-influencer is also highly desirable to a company that has an influencer marketing program. If you have between 5,000 to 10,000 followers, you may be able to command a payment of between $100 to $500 per post.

Nano-influencers:

Nano-influencers have fewer than 1,000 followers. They can be the most authentic, hyper-targeted Instagram influencers with the highest rates of engagement. Nano-influencers are ready to swap products for promotion because they may be just starting out. If you prefer payment, you may have to contend with less than $100 for a post unless you’re in an uncrowded but highly desirable niche for a brand.

Emerging Influencers

As the platform evolves, there’s always a next generation of Instagram influencers. For example, emerging influencers have shifted the Instagram landscape by favoring messy posts or videos rather than perfect posts. They’ve built their own brands rather than relying on brand deals. They’ve taken their content across multiple platforms to increase their social media numbers.

An emerging influencer doesn’t have to be a nano-influencer, however. For example, a new crop of beauty influencers has taken to the platform to offer honest reviews of products. Some emerging influencers won’t take sponsored posts or reviews, either, such as @gelcream with 120k followers. But, even celebrities can turn into emerging influencers. Take HGTV star Joanna Gaines, for example. As her television show became more popular, she emerged as an Instagram home decor influencer.

Measuring Success on Instagram

Analytics aside, most influencers quickly gauge their success by the number of likes received on a post. However, as of September 2019, that measure of success may be eliminated as Instagram tests the waters of removing likes from posts. This is happening in an effort to quell mental health issues and the stress of keeping up with other influencers. With likes removed, it’s even more important to understand and use Instagram’s analytics tools.

A Quick Glossary of Terms

It helps to understand the lingo of analytics and measuring success when it comes to Instagram. Here are four basic terms to learn:

Insights:

These are important measurements to help you get an understanding of the effects your content has on audience activity and engagement. Clicking on the Insights button on your toolbar helps you to find out your followers’ ages and genders. You can see when they tune in and when it’s the best time to post to get maximum engagement on your content.

Outreach:

This is the process an influencer goes through to form a relationship with a follower. Influencer outreach helps a follower understand why it’s beneficial to continue following and engaging with you.

Reach:

Reach is a measure of your audience size, or the number of followers who value your content. However, a smaller reach isn’t necessarily anything to worry about. A smaller niche in a highly targeted market is valuable to a brand looking for awareness. Sometimes a brand’s message can get lost with an influencer who has a huge general audience.

ROI:

“ROI” stands for “return on investment.” This essentially answers the question of whether a campaign paid off and was worth the cost. When a brand hires an influencer to partner with on a campaign, the brand’s marketing professional measures the ROI of the program. Marketers analyze ROI by tracking and measuring performance and goals reached before, during and after a campaign.

Finding Instagram’s Analytics

Instagram has a set of analytics that can inspire your content strategy so you’re not left to post random content. It takes some time to become comfortable understanding Instagram’s analytics, so be patient with yourself and learn as you go. Rather than becoming bogged down with complicated analytics, knowing these three things helps you get started:

1. Accessing analytics

   is possible with a business or creator account. There may be some subtle differences on what’s available depending on the status of your account. For either account, click the bars icon on the top of your profile page to access your analytics.

2. The audience tab

   tells you a follower count. It shows where your followers are located along with their genders, ages and times they’re most active.

3. The activity tab

   tells you how your audience members find your profile. It also reveals impressions (total number of times a post gets viewed) and reach (total number of unique views of a post).

How to Increase and Improve Engagement

Increasing engagement is a professional way of describing what you do to keep your viewers coming back to see more of your feed. Rising influencers often become popular because they promise their followers new content either daily or every other day. They may stay under the radar for a couple of years. Then they spike in popularity as they grow their numbers of authentic posts and videos for their equally authentic audience.

Remember, fake followers don’t engage or offer high-quality comments that real followers notice, so it doesn’t pay to run that risk and damage your reputation.

There are countless studies and statistics to help you learn to increase engagement with your followers. We’ve gathered together the most important influencer posting trends to help you gain a foothold with your followers:

• Use the same filter consistently for recognition and identification.
• Post content at least five times a week.
• Post Mondays and Thursdays for maximum views.
• Avoid posting between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. when everyone’s busy finishing up work, school, commutes, school pickups, naps and other things keeping them engaged.
• Include more than one hashtag per post.
• Use a location tag on your posts.
• Include hashtags and a location tag for maximum engagement.
• Include faces in as many images as possible for a human touch.

You’ll find that the more passionate you are about your niche, the easier it’ll be to engage and grow followers. Find a niche that you’re interested in or have expertise in, and focus, focus, focus. It doesn’t matter how many other influencers are in the same niche. If you have a genuine love for the subject, it’ll come through in your posts.

How to Make Money on Instagram

You can make money as an Instagram influencer. As an influencer with an audience seeking your expertise, you’re much like a small business. You have something to offer others. Monetizing your value as an Instagram influencer is easier in some ways today than it was in the past. Here are a few ways to get started making money on Instagram.

You could join an influencer marketplace. Create a profile on an established platform that has relationships with top brands. The right platform, such as izea.com, has advanced influencer marketplace technology that matches brands with participating influencers. Joining an influencer marketplace platform takes your influence to the next level using campaigns and sponsored content.

You could become an affiliate. Earn money by linking and selling products that other people or other companies make. When followers shop using your unique link, you can earn commission on what they purchase.

You can create your own digital or physical products or services. Many influencers are starting down this pathway. To help influencers, consider Amazon’s Influencer Program. The program, developed for influencers, gives you a vanity URL to a free Amazon storefront filled with either your recommended products or your own. It’s another way to partner with brands to monetize your influence.

You can sell your photos. There are plenty of sites that let you sell your images as stock photography if you’re willing to give up most or all of your rights to the photos.

Defining Sponsored Content

Sponsored content on Instagram is content you as an influencer create that includes a specific brand in some meaningful and authentic way. You’ll form a partnership with the brand before making sponsored posts. The growth of sponsored content on Instagram is well documented. It’s one of the best ways an influencer can make money. There are a few key points to learn about sponsored content before you start.

A company may create an influencer marketing campaign to introduce or build awareness about a product or the brand in general. Depending on the company’s goals, the campaign will likely include sponsored posts. If a company approaches you to help with a campaign, you’ll need to determine if the brand and the company’s practices are genuinely aligned with your values before agreeing to the project.

If you do go forward with the campaign, the brand’s marketer discusses content they want you to produce to promote the brand on your page. Images and videos easily promote brand awareness. Sponsored content can be both fun and lucrative to produce, as long as you’re passionate about the company, the brand and the product. In other words, the sponsored post has to make complete sense on your page and should resonate with your audience.

Most importantly, you must tell your audience when you’re making sponsored posts; failing to do so can cause legal troubles. The Federal Trade commission has specific

rules that apply to social media and traditional media outlets. As a social media influencer, the FTC requires you to be transparent about sponsored content in post captions. This is part of the agency’s truth-in-advertising principle that endorsements must be honest and not misleading. The FTC offers strict guidelines about alerting your followers in a clear and conspicuous way that you’re posting a sponsored content, specifically for Instagram influencers.

One way to adhere to the FTC’s guidelines is to simply add in a three-character hashtag, “#ad,” to the beginning of your caption. As you begin to take on sponsored content, it’s important to study the FTC guidelines for adherence. Review other influencer posts to see how they handle disclosures. Ultimately, it’s not ethical to let followers believe you don’t have a motive in posting content when a brand is actually compensating you to do so.

Examples of Sponsored Content

Here are three excellent examples of sponsored content. Take a look at the captions to see how the influencers disclose it:

Ashley Nicholson and Fender Guitar

Vancouver-based Instagram influencer Ashley Nicholson (@itsashnicholson) focuses on personal style and travel. She’s young and hip and loves to talk about “cozy moments.” Fender Guitars wanted to work with her to promote a product and online music lessons. Note that she’s completely relaxed using the product. The caption discloses the sponsorship using the hashtag “#ad.”

Frances Estrada and Burt’s Bees

New York City-based Latina fashion blogger and Instagram influencer Frances Estrada (@thepeckingorder) worked with Burt’s Bees. The goal was to bring brand awareness to an important audience for the company. Here, she’s using the product and describes it in her caption with a passionate tone. She uses the hashtag “#ad” right at the beginning of her caption.

Eric Hinman and Whole Foods

Denver-based Instagram influencer Eric Hinman (@erichinman) is a young, successful entrepreneur focused on the world of health and wellness. His audience is younger, mostly married male and female followers in the 30–34 age range. This was a natural fit for Whole Foods. The sponsored piece of content includes a contest to win the cooler in the photo. To disclose the sponsorship, he used the hashtag “#Sponsored” in the top third of his caption.

Why Brands Partner with Influencers

As an influencer, you have valuable connections that marketers want to tap into because they trust your suggestions about products and services. They also know your audience trusts you. Brands hire influencers who are trustworthy sources of information. Surveys show that most marketers who’ve used influencers believe the strategy is effective for their brands. Here are a few more solid reasons why brands may choose to work with you as an influencer:

Your ability to create content:

Building up a brand’s blog takes time and effort. An influencer has already built up a storehouse of consistent, creative and engaging content that captures the audience’s attention.

You’re an expert on your topic:

Brands want to align with you if they feel you’re an influencer with passion for a topic that’s directly related to their marketing goals.

You know how to build relationships:

Brands understand that, as an influencer, you’re more like a peer to your audience. You can authentically offer advice and recommendations for a brand. Brands like the high engagement rates and friendly tones influencers have with their audiences, which is even more important than your number of followers. This is good news for you if you’re starting out as a micro- or
nano-influencer. According to surveys, smaller influencers often have more engagement with their followers than those with larger followings.

You know how to communicate:

Though you can be an influencer at almost any age, most Instagram users fall into the age group between 18–34. That means many potential followers have grown up using social media and digital products and know what it takes to communicate well on digital platforms. You likely do, too.

You understand how to show off brands:

Brands appreciate the way influencers creatively excel at building brand awareness. The way you’ll bring awareness to a product may be more exciting, relatable and relevant to the intended audience than a traditional print ad, television commercial or a press release.

You’ll organically drive traffic and sales:

As an influencer, you know how to keep the momentum going about a brand once you’ve started the conversation. As a result, a brand trusts your efforts will result in traffic and sales. Brands want to work with influencers who know how to achieve the marketing benchmarks of organically funneling followers and converting them into leads or sales.

Brands will turn to you as an influencer to help bolster their marketing plans. Influencer marketing plans can be successful collaborations for both you and different brands.

Popular Influencers on Instagram

To give you a better idea of what makes a great Instagram influencer, we’ve gathered some of the best in numerous categories. Some influencers appear on multiple lists because their content crosses over into other niches. It’s important to note that certain categories of influencers, such as gaming influencers, are often fervently followed on YouTube rather than on Instagram. There, viewers prefer to see their influencers in action.

Have you determined where you’d like to focus your influence? It helps to see how others approach the topic and how they find their niche within a niche or combine niches. For example, you can become a regional beauty influencer, regional food influencer or even a college fashion influencer on Instagram. Perhaps you’d like to be a regional Instagram beauty influencer, for example. There’s no limit to how you can direct and focus your distinct expertise.

Beauty Influencers on Instagram

Say you’re passionate about sharing your beauty know-how or you’re hoping to share how you solve a unique or niche beauty problem. You may be Instagram’s next beauty

influencer. Many beauty influencers have developed product lines on their own or with other influencers, in addition to working with brands. Here a 10 of the top beauty influencers on Instagram:

Rihanna:

@badgalriri, 151M Instagram followers. Rihanna is a pop/R&B star who’s also an entrepreneur with her own line of cosmetics called Fenty Beauty.

Huda Kattan:

@hudabeauty, 52.9M Instagram followers. Kattan is a makeup artist turned “beauty mogul” with an empire of beauty products behind her.

James Charles:

@jamescharles, 21.5M Instagram followers. Charles is a makeup artist known for his dramatic and eccentric artistry. He’s the first-ever “Cover Boy” for CoverGirl cosmetics.

Jeffree Star:

@jeffreestar, 14M Instagram followers. Star began on MySpace to pursue a music career. He changed course years later to focus on his talents as a makeup artist.

Naomi Giannopoulos:

@vegas_nay, 6.1M Instagram followers. Giannopoulos has over 30 years of makeup artistry and application experience. She launched her own line of products because of her social media success.

Jaclyn Hill:

@jaclynhill, 8.5M Instagram followers. She’s a makeup artist who began her career behind a MAC Cosmetics counter. She uses Instagram and YouTube to post makeup tutorials.

Kandee Johnson:

@kandeejohnson, 12.4M Instagram followers. Johnson creates Instagram and YouTube videos featuring transformations of herself using dramatic makeup techniques.

Genelle Seldon:

@genelleseldon, 457K Instagram followers. Seldon posts about beauty tutorials and fashion try-ons. She’s worked with Juicy Couture to launch a fragrance thanks to her popularity online.

Rocio Cervantes:

@rocioceja_, 183K Instagram followers. This makeup artist has a talent for posting creative makeup looks and provides tips on covering up acne.

Jackie Aina:

@jackieaina, 1.8M Instagram followers. Jackie got her rise to fame by posting makeup looks and reviews on Youtube. She has had collections with popular beauty brands like Anastasia Beverly Hills and Too Faced.

Black Influencers on Instagram

Black influencers were around before social media, but now they’re a cultural force with tremendous impact on consumers worldwide. A number of the top Black influencers were already celebrities, but they realized the power of their words and decided to leverage their influence.

Beyoncé:

@beyonce, 311M Instagram followers. Queen Bey is a superstar with enormous influence and reach.

Oprah Winfrey:

@oprah, 22.5M Instagram followers. She’s perhaps one of the original influencers of our time — long before the age of social media.

Serena Williams:

@serenawilliams, 16.6M Instagram followers. This Olympic medalist and tennis pro is one of the most prominent influencers, posting a mix of tennis and daily life with her daughter.

Jesse Williams:

@ijessewilliams, 7.8M Instagram followers. The actor from Grey’s Anatomy uses his influence to educate people about issues affecting people of color.

Marques Brownlee:

@mkbhd, 4.2M Instagram followers. Brownlee got his start on social media at the age of 16 when he began making software tutorials.

Ellarie:

@ellarie, 1.1M Instagram followers. This influential beauty industry mom-preneur posts about her hair and makeup skills. She’s partnered with brands like CoverGirl and Smashbox Cosmetics.

DeRay McKesson:

@iamderay, 230K Instagram followers. This activist and supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement has been on the front lines in protests around the country

Angela Davis:

@thekitchenista, 180K Instagram followers. Davis is a self-taught culinary artist. Soul food and comfort foods are her specialties.

Asiyami Gold:

@asiyami_gold, 315K Instagram followers. This visual storyteller posts photos from her travels around the world, including the food she eats and people she meets along the way.

Jamie Broadnax:

@blackgirlnerds, 51K Instagram followers. She’s the founder and editor-in-chief of an online community celebrating Black women who love all things geeky, like comic books and superheroes.

Body Positivity Influencers on Instagram

In addition to the body positivity movement, there are also plenty of influencers who are plus-size fashion influencers. The two categories of influencers tend to overlap at times. Both categories are seeing how much they can impact their followers — and the fashion industry — by posting positive and thoughtful content.

Ashley Graham:

@ashleygraham, 20.8M Instagram followers. Graham is a top body positive influencer at size 14. She’s also the first plus-size model featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue.

Winnie Harlow:

@winnieharlow, 10.3M followers. Harlow is one of the first famous models and beauty influencers living with vitiligo.

Iskra Lawrence:

@iskra, 5.3M Instagram followers. This British plus-size model refuses to retouch any of her Instagram images, instead showing her body in a realistic light. She works with the National Eating Disorders Association.

Danielle Brooks:

@daniebb3, 2.4M Instagram followers. This actress plays the character Taystee on Orange Is the New Black. She posts openly and honestly about her body confidence struggles.

Tess Holliday:

@tessholliday, 2.6M Instagram followers. Holliday is a size-22 model who debuted her tattoos and curves in 2013. This landed her on People Magazine’s cover in 2015.

Paloma Elsesser:

@palomija, 556K Instagram followers. Elsesser is a plus-size model who has graced the covers of magazines such as Vogue, the Wall Street Journal and i-D.

Megan Jayne Crabbe:

@meganjaynecrabbe, 1.2M Instagram followers. Crabbe is a survivor of anorexia. She’s proud of her curves and lives happily and healthily at her current weight

Gabbi Gregg:

@gabifresh, 994K Instagram followers. This approachable model and fashion designer helped create Target’s Ava & Viv collection for women sizes 14 to 30.

Denise Bidot:

@denisebidot, 722K Instagram followers. This plus-size model helped start the no-Photoshop movement.

Sarah Tripp:

@sassyredlipstick, 906K Instagram followers. Tripp is a confident, curvy influencer who’s helped lead the way in promoting body positivity.

Fashion and Style Influencers on Instagram

The visual nature of fashion and style is perfect for Instagram. There’s also an influencer for every type of fashion and style. You may find Instagram is the perfect place to share your fashion-related talents. Below are some of the top fashion and style influencers on Instagram. Learn how they turned their passion into posts:

Chiara Ferragni:

@chiaraferragni, 29.4M Instagram followers. This powerful fashion influencer has a blog called The Blonde Salad where she shares reviews on fashion week collections and fashion advice.

Aimee Song:

@aimeesong, 7.2M Instagram followers. This eccentric yet relatable interior designer and fashion designer has partnered with top companies like Bloomingdale’s and Lacoste.

Alexa Chung:

@alexachung, 6.1M Instagram followers. This model, entrepreneur and fashion journalist is known for her distinctive yet glamorous style.

Danielle Bernstein:

@weworewhat, 3.2M Instagram followers. Danielle is a top fashion influencer documenting trends and street style. She also runs a podcast and launched her own clothing and accessory lines.

Caroline Daur:

@carodaur, 4.2M Instagram followers. This German influencer has a knack for styling upscale fashion and beauty. Her influencer status has led her to work with luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Cartier, Fendi, Dior and Valentino.

Janni Delér:

@jannid, 1.2M Instagram followers. This Swedish-born style influencer posts pictures of enviable vacation destinations and stunning outfits. She’s partnered with brands including Maybelline, Lancôme and Calvin Klein.

Gala Gonzalez:

@galagonzalez, 1.7M Instagram followers. This Spanish-born experimental fashionista is the founder and creative director of the fashion brand Amlul.

Paige Secosky:

@paigesecosky, 111K Instagram followers. This New York based fashion influencer posts YouTube videos and Instagram Reels featuring her daily outfits and clothing hauls.

Christie Tyler:

@christietyler, 448K Instagram followers. This style icon focuses on fashion in neutral colors. She posts about ways to glamorize colors like brown, tan, beige, gold, white and black.

Emili Sindlev:

@emilisindlev, 857K Instagram followers. Copenhagen-based stylist Emili regularly shares the latest, boldest and most unusual fashion looks with her followers.

Foodie Influencers on Instagram

Instagram is the perfect place for bold food photography. If you’re a chef, cook, baker or other food type of lover, you may want to become a foodie influencer on Instagram.

Maybe you simply love to eat your way through your town’s restaurants. Whatever your food obsession is, share it on Instagram, just like these top foodie influencers are doing:

Jamie Oliver:

@jamieoliver, 9.5M Instagram followers. This sometimes-controversial celebrity chef and television personality is known for his healthy ingredients and recipes.

Rosanna Pansino:

@rosannapansino, 4.5M Instagram followers. Pansino’s award-winning baking-tutorial videos with recipe twists have helped her publish several cookbooks.

Yumna Jawad:

@feelgoodfoodie, 4.1M Instagram followers. Jawad posts healthful comfort food recipes, including Middle Eastern ingredients that reflect her heritage.

David Chang:

@davidchang, 1.7M Instagram followers. This culinary bad boy encourages people to think about the geopolitics of food. He also takes an unconventional approach to analyzing ingredients.

America’s Test Kitchen:

@testkitchen, 1.6M Instagram followers. This group of cooks serves up invaluable resources and product reviews for other food lovers.

Dennis Prescott:

@dennistheprescott, 652K Instagram followers. Prescott is a charming former musician who somehow landed on the food scene by learning Jamie Oliver’s recipes. He now takes vibrant photos of his own rich, comforting meals.

Jenné Claiborne:

@sweetpotatosoul, 381K Instagram followers. This innovative Vegan chef and vlogger showcases her fresh, flavorful and vibrant plant-based meals, along with cooking hacks and her food diary.

Kimberley Hasselbrink:

@kimberleyhasselbrink, 32.1K Instagram followers. This West Coast-based food photographer posts lush shots of dishes, restaurants, ingredients and upcoming players in the culinary world.

Sam Linsell:

@drizzleanddip, 46.5K Instagram followers. This traveling cookbook author based in South Africa seeks culinary masterpieces to photograph and is known for her thoughtful replies to followers.

Ignatius Gorby:

@badplating, 22.3K Instagram followers. Gorby is an Indonesian chef who showcases his presentation skills of artfully plated foods.

Kid Influencers (Toddlers to Pre-Teens) on Instagram

Are you a parent of a baby or kid who has charisma and charm and loves the camera? Maybe your child can become the next toy reviewer and youngest influencer. If you document everything your kids do in photos, you can manage your mini-influencer’s Instagram account.

If your pre-teen or young teen has aspirations of becoming an Instagram influencer, join in on the fun and watch your child blossom into an entrepreneur. You might just make it into one of their posts as a guest.

In the world of Instagram kid influencers, the top tier seems to be dominated by twins or friends who have decided to post about their lives in pairs. Take a look at this top group of kid influencers who’ve made quite the splash on Instagram and other platforms at a young age:

Lilliana Ketchman:

@lillykofficial; 3.4M Instagram followers tune in for Ketchman’s dance videos.

Taytum and Oakley Fisher:

@taytumandoakley; 3.1M Instagram followers watch these twins dance, sing, and act out skits.

Piper Rockelle:

@piperrockelee; 5.5M Instagram followers watch this young singer and actress post challenges and lip sync videos.

Everleigh Rose:

@everleighrose; 5M Instagram followers love to see her dance competition videos.

Alaya High:

@thatgirllaylay; 1.6M Instagram followers of this young actress and rapper enjoy seeing posts like behind the scenes tidbits from her show on Nickelodeon and music videos.

Ava and Leah Clements:

@clementstwins; 2M Instagram followers get ideas from another set of mini fashionista twins who love getting dressed up.

Laerta:

@fashion_laerta; 1.5M Instagram followers idolize this pre-teen fashionista.

Ryker, Grey, and Wyatt Wixom:

@ministylehacker; 243K Instagram followers turn to this trio of kids to see what toys they love and what trips they’re taking.

Travel Influencers

If it’s on your bucket list to travel the world and become a photojournalist or travel writer, go a step further. Become an Instagram travel influencer. Travel pages are popular on Instagram. In fact, the most-followed brand on Instagram (besides Instagram itself) is National Geographic with 121m followers. Much of this is owed to the spectacular and sometimes surreal photography and Stories told in those images.

There are all types of travel influencers, including those who post about global travels off the beaten track and those who discuss budget-friendly adventures. Their photos are eye candy for armchair travelers and people looking for unique honeymoon spots alike. Visit with these top travel influencers to see how they’ve turned their dreams into reality through Instagram:

Murad and Nataly Osmann:

@muradosmann, 3.4M Instagram followers and @natalyosmann, 955K Instagram followers. This husband-and-wife team writes about their travels, posting stunning images of adventures in the process. They’ve landed on the cover of National Geographic magazine, among other accolades.

Chris Burkad:

@chrisburkard, 3.9M Instagram followers. This American photographer and author shares majestic views of the surf, snow and sand in far-off places such as Iceland and Argentina.

Jennifer Tuffen:

@izkiz, 2.7M Instagram followers. This British influencer takes colorful, lively travel photos. She’s also created two photo-editing apps: DeluxeFX and izkiz Cam.

Lauren Bullen:

@gypsea_lust, 2.1M Instagram followers. Bullen travels to exotic locations, and her posts have scored partnerships with Airbnb and Royal Caribbean.

Alex Strohl:

@alexstrohl, 2M Instagram followers. This French-born and Montana-based photographer and traveler posts stunning photos from all around the world.

Alyssa Bossi:

@lyss, 1.4M Instagram followers. Bossio’s feed features breathtaking shots of places such as Tokyo and NYC during the holidays.

Louis Cole:

@louiscole, 1M Instagram followers. This travel vlogger uses photos and videos of his travels to inspire social change. His organization, the Social Good Club, supports other influencers and focuses on social projects.

Emilie:

@heloemilie, 1.3M Instagram followers. This travel influencer inspires people to explore lesser-known parts of the world, such as obscure corners of the UK and areas of New Zealand.

Wil Dasovich:

@wil_dasovich, 840K Instagram followers. This California native runs a travel channel, which he’s continued even after having beaten colon cancer.

Chrissy Choate:

@where_is_she_now, 56.1K Instagram followers. Choate is a Dallas travel influencer who takes her followers along to luxury hotels all over the world.

Connecting with Other Influencers

Once you’re comfortable as an influencer of any size, take steps to connect with other influencers in your niche or a complimentary niche. It’s important to begin this process even if you’re a nano-influencer. The benefit of connecting with other influencers is that you can share in the journey of building your businesses.

It takes five steps to grow and solidify engagement with other influencers. These steps progress organically when you keep your goals in mind:

Step 1:

An influencer becomes aware of you as a colleague, becomes a follower, shares your content and likely responds to your content.

Step 2:

An aware influencer colleague continues to come back if you comment on their posts and create useful content that links back to their content.

Step 3:

Approach an influencer colleague to see if there’s interest in seeing your insights. Or, see if it’s possible to feature them in your content in a beneficial way. You’ll begin to pave the way for mutual mentions.

Step 4:

Invite them to participate in an initiative with you, such as a content co-creation, podcast, livestream, webinar or public speaking engagement.

Step 5:

Now that you’ve built rapport and created value for your colleague, you can promote their content more. Send them appropriate business and creatively let them impact your audience and vice-versa.
Congratulations! You’re now an Instagram influencer and businessperson living on the leading edge of one of today’s most important and vital communications platforms. It’s

critical to keep up to date with the always-changing Instagram trends. Log onto izea.com for the latest on Instagram trends, breaking news, tips and tricks and other helpful insights into becoming one of the best influencers in your niche.

Without knowing it, you’re following an Instagram influencer even when you’re not on Instagram. Influencers make news, so you’ll see their posts showing up on major digital news outlets, like homepages that reach millions of viewers.

Instagram influencers, especially influencers who take on brands and sponsored content, can also make plenty of money. It’s reported that brands are planning on spending up to $15 billion (you read that right) on influencer marketing by the year 2022. So, if you thought you missed the bandwagon of becoming an Instagram influencer, it’s just the opposite. No time is better than the present.

Becoming the Instagram Entrepreneur

Instagram influencers are like small business owners. It takes the persistence, passion and willingness of an entrepreneur if your goal is to become an Instagram influencer. Do you have a desire to document your area of expertise to the 1 billion people across the globe who log onto Instagram every month? You’re already on your way to becoming an influencer.

Happily, many of those who’ve gone before you have paved the way towards success. There’s a loose seven-step formula for joining the impressive ranks of Instagram influencers:

• Have a passion for a niche
• Open a creator or business Instagram account
• Begin sharing to create a feed
• Post creatively and consistently with correct hashtags
• Read your insights from followers
• Grow your audience by engaging, engaging, engaging

• Enter the world of sponsored content by joining an influencer marketing platform with excellent enterprise tools

There’s a lot to learn within each step of the journey to becoming an Instagram influencer. For example, when you open an Instagram account, you’ll want to learn what goes into writing a powerful profile and bio. After all, you only have a few characters in which to convey your expertise and your personality.

When you see that you have to engage, engage, engage, that means answering direct messages and comments. It also means cross-posting on another platform, such as Twitter or YouTube, to capture more followers.

Understanding Levels of Instagram Influencers

What’s beneficial for the newest generation of Instagram influencers is that you don’t need to have celebrity status. You don’t need to be a mega-influencer. You can just as successfully be a micro-influencer or a nano-influencer.

Influencers with larger followings may be able to charge a brand more money per post or video, but it’s not always the larger followings that brands are after. Nano- and micro-influencers have reputations for having more-personal relationships with their dedicated audiences.

What Brands Seek from Influencers

Instagram is an ideal platform for companies to use to promote their brands, especially if the promotion comes from a trusted and well-followed influencer. A brand uses an influencer’s help to increase brand recognition and awareness and generate leads or sales. Instagram is an attractive platform because it has the highest interaction rate of all platforms, according to several studies. But it takes the right influencer to collaborate with the right brand to make the magic happen.

Brands seek out influencers to partner with in numerous ways. They’ll view your metrics, such as engagement rates and follower numbers. They’ll study your followers to see if it’s a quality audience. They’ll use agencies that carry influencer profiles to find a match.

In addition, brands may use numerous smaller influencers to push their messages out. For example, Canon uses smaller professional photographer influencers to promote

products. So does boat shoe company Sperry, which uses micro-influencers to show its products in stunning scenic posts.

Are you beginning to see the infinite possibilities in how to not only reach like-minded followers, but also in how to monetize your own expertise? Stop wondering why you waited so long. It’s time to become an Instagram influencer.