Influencers have a lot of pull on Instagram when it comes to convincing followers to try certain products, services, or brands. Not to mention, they have an influence on the trending topics and content on the platform and can make a healthy living from sponsorship money and monetizing their account. It seems like everyone wants to become an influencer these days, but it’s not as easy as it sounds; you don’t just log on one day and decide you’re going to be an influencer. Here’s how to reach influencer status on Instagram the right way. 

Quality and Consistency

Versatility is an important component when it comes to your social media game, but when it comes to content, you need to focus on two things: quality and consistency. The top influencers create impeccable content on a regular basis. Your followers will come to expect a certain level of quality from your page, and if you’re uploading weekly, they’ll be waiting for those uploads at the same time every week. Don’t disappoint them! 

Remember that the higher quality your content is, the better it will perform. Don’t waste time pushing content just for the sake of it. Your followers will notice, and you’ll likely experience a decline in interest. If you’re having trouble reaching the right people, you can buy targeted Instagram followers for a quick boost to your page. 

Influencers Have Changed Retail 

Many companies are turning to Instagram influencers for the bulk of their marketing needs because it’s just more effective in most cases than traditional means. Influencers act as a trusted “friend” in a way to their followers, making it easier for them to persuade followers to make certain purchases than it would be for the company itself to do so. Followers trust their influencers quite a lot, offering the perfect catalyst for businesses to push their best products. 

With the marketing world constantly changing, it’s important for businesses to have a marketing tool that changes and adapts as well. Instagram has been around for ten years now and continues to evolve as time goes by and the needs of its users change. Still one of the most widely used social media apps with an audience of around one billion people, the platform is the perfect marketing hub for retailers all across the globe. 

So You Want To Be An Influencer? 

So you really want to become an influencer on Instagram? First thing’s first: you need to pick a niche or industry that you want to operate in. There are literally thousands of options here, from beauty and styling to clothing to photography and beyond. A good place to start is to look at your skills. Are you good at anything in particular? Perhaps you’re talented with a makeup brush or great at doing hair? Identifying what you’re good at will help you narrow down the right niche for your particular skill set. 

Influencers are the experts in their niches, which is why they’re so influential. You’ll want to grind your skill until you’re an absolute expert in it. Companies aren’t going to pay an amateur to advertise their products; they want someone that followers can 100% trust to give advice and product suggestions within a specific niche. If your followers don’t trust you as an authority in the industry, you’re not going to have much luck attracting paying businesses. 

Branch Out 

So you’ve got a particular skill you’re going to focus on; now what? Think of becoming an influencer as just like building a business. You need to establish your brand across multiple platforms in order to maximize your reach, so don’t forget to create pages on Facebook, Twitter, and even YouTube as well. 

The more platforms you’re operating on, the wider the audience that you can reach. Even though Instagram has about a billion users, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to reach all of them, or that all of them are interested in your content. 

Focus on Your Hashtags 

In order for your content to reach the right people and have the most impact, you need to focus effort on creating the best possible hashtags for each post. Hashtags should be creative, short, and niche-specific. Don’t use too many, either. In fact, you should never have more than about ten hashtags when you’re posting content. The more hashtags you have, the more crowded and unattractive your post looks. Have you ever seen a post with more than 10 hashtags? What did you think of it?

Hashtags are your keys to reaching the right audience, and the top influencers know how to leverage these simple tools to maximize their content. Instagram operates on hashtags, so if you’re having trouble creating them, you might want to consider doing more research on the right ones for your industry. 

Interact With Your Audience 

Nothing feels more cold or callous than a social media user that doesn’t interact with their followers. Comments, direct messages, or tags should be addressed in order to make your followers feel like you actually care not only about them, but also about their feedback on your content. Make no mistake, feedback is one of the greatest and most versatile tools you’ll have at your disposal on your journey. 

Take the time to interact with followers as often as you can. Try not to leave anyone hanging, though this is easier said than done when you reach a certain number of followers. 

Even then, if you can’t address more than a few dozen comments/messages at a time, let your followers know that you’re trying your best to get back to all of them. The worst thing you can do is make someone feel like you’re purposely ignoring them! 

Influencers depend on their followers to share their content, and thus, expand their reach. Don’t treat your followers like numbers; they’re people and should be cared for in any way you can. After all, they’re the ones who helped catapult you to stardom!