A few years ago, one would have taken Instagram for a simple convergence point for people in need of a stage to display their obsession with mobile photography.
This may have been true then but it certainly isn’t the trend today. Otherwise, we’d be counting an entire 800 million of monthly users with a fixation onto their cameras.
Whew! That’s quite a number. Now is a good time to remember that quote used by so many of the world’s successes.
“Opportunities exist where people are gathered.”
The fact that Instagram is a carrier for a lot of potential buyers in this time makes it a valuable platform for brands. If only there was a way for businesses and labels to reach out to the huge online market.
But there is. Nowadays, Social Media presents enough room for anyone marketing anything of worth.
If you’re aware of this, then you know how huge an asset a wide Instagram following can make you.
Influencers leverage their knowledge or authority with their audience as the power to affect their buying decisions.
Source; Sproutsocial
They are practically bridges between brands and buyers. Bridges that make pretty good cash.
This being so, you may wonder at the many opportunities that still loom in this particular field. Many have ventured. Not as many have succeeded.
Truth is, a heavy input of work and time investment is mandatory to taste success on Instagram. Why do you think the payoff is so huge?
Even so, this shouldn’t in any way discourage you from being an influencer. Others that have been there have laid out breadcrumbs to ensure aspiring influencers like you have a sure and precise roadmap to follow.
Before we look at the best Instagram niches to make money and start an influencer business, let’s define the proven ways that will help you achieve success on Instagram:
1. Choosing a niche
Source: https://blog.influence.co/instagram-influencer-rates/
(A depiction of the popularity of niches based on their respective average number of followers)
Passion breeds success. Pick out a niche that reflects your personality and interests.
When you decide on something that you love, your vocation becomes your vacation.
It doesn’t matter how common the niche is.
What really counts is the personal intrigue that you add to it. Similarly, don’t venture into a specialty simply because it has a large base of followers.
Remember, faking it until you make it is a rogue term on social media.
Be specific with your topics at first before you can proceed with more general topics.
In choosing a niche, you’ll also need to define and find an audience relevant to your field of interest.
If you chose to take on fashion, then you should target instagrammers interested in fashion. This is how you find your target audience:
• Seek out popular hashtags with a relation to your niche.
• Study and research profiles of people in a niche similar to yours. Try to interact and learn from them.
• Find events linked to your niche theme through location tags and hashtags and connect with the participants. This is your potential audience.
2. Building followers
Building a string of followers is the most demanding part of the process and will require much from you.
• An outstanding bio
To start an influencer business demands a business-minded approach. It is a job after all. Therefore, the first look upon your bio should be attention-grabbing and invite whoever reads to dig further. Present your readers with an interesting story of yourself that engages them on a personal level.
• Share your stories
Anyone can post photos. It’s the captions which accompany these photos that show the human element part of the writer. Use a voice consistent and incomparable to you. When readers relate to you on a more emotional understanding, they’ll think, “Hey, this guy is like me.” Then they will trust and follow you.
• Post content consistently
What does consistent content mean to you? Daily? Several times a day? Maybe thrice a week? Whichever the case, give your followers what they want when they want it. Fans are likely to lose interest when you are infrequent or unpredictable with your posts.
• Engagement
Engage meaningfully with your followers. Reply to any comments. Like and comment on other people’s content too.
• Make good use of Hashtags
Be sure to research on the right type of hashtags to include in your posts. You don’t want to overuse or use a trend wrongly. You’ll lose followers and respect.
• Never buy followers
This point is pretty much self-explanatory. There are no shortcuts to success!
3. Attracting and associating with brands on Instagram
Well, since you’re looking to establish your influencer business, you might as well upgrade to a business account.
Here is where you keep track of your statistics. When the time for working with a brand comes, you’ll know. Check out a few of these pointers:
• When you reach at least 1500 followers although 5000 is the ideal number to attract more serious brands.
• When small businesses begin to approach you.
• When your account has been actively operating for the past six months.
• Your posts start to appear top on Instafeed.
• When you have an active interaction with your followers.
Source; Mediakix
(The estimated global spending of brands on Instagram advertisements is projected to rise to $10 billion by 2020)
It is not uncommon to find yourself doing promotional work for small brands. They’ll offer you free samples in exchange for featuring their product on a post. This is quite okay. Consider this a chance to gather experience and grow your portfolio.
Later on, when you’re more established, you can pitch your services to businesses working in the same niche as you. Brands will come to you too. Always know your worth. While at it, don’t forget the faithful followers that got you here in the first place.
Accomplishing anything is always easy when you break up the project into simple doable tasks as we’ve done with this 3-step process. Now, you’ve got an understanding of how to go from a mere instagrammer to a persuader of sorts.
That being said, here are 5 best Instagram niches to make money and start an influencer business:
1. Lifestyle
Who doesn’t want to show off how lovely their lives are? You may not be able to afford some of the luxurious accessories but you look forward to it. Luxury accounts including watches/jewelry, cars, homes, etc. will do great. This niche is profitable by selling clothing and other luxury goods.
2. Beauty and Fashion
In beauty and fashion, standing out is key. Have something unique and new to bring to the table each time. If there’s one thing a crowd loves, it’s trend. Use what you love about yourself, be it your curves or natural hair, to attract a like-minded type.
3. Health and Fitness
People have never turned down hacks on how to stay healthy or get their bodies in shape. You might think, “such a packed niche.” Recall what we mentioned earlier about common niches. Besides, health and fitness is evergreen and will always have a slice of the pie to offer.
4. Business
This list would be incomplete without the business niche now, wouldn’t it? And the fantastic thing about business influencing is that you don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company owner.
A little knowledge or experience in business is enough to help someone meet their goals through Instagram.
5. Travel
It’s all too good a package to consider the possibility that you could earn from travelling. Such is what you would call killing two birds with one stone.
The trick with the travel niche is to zoom in on a specific topic, say backpacking, or mountain climbing, or deep sea diving. Don’t forget to make the wanderlust inspiring.
To sum it all up, the influencer business is an exciting venture that will expose you to a lot of info and opinions.
Sure, the first 6 months or so may make you feel like a small fish in a large pond.
Hang in there. If you’re determined to achieve true Instagram success, then your patience is most certainly in the right place.
Picture this. A plane on a runway accelerates to speeds of over 400 km/hour before it can gain enough power for liftoff. Same case.
When you feed your influencer business with heart and consistency, it will eventually pick up the right momentum for ascent.
Choose one of these best Instagram niches to make money and get to working on building a successful influencer business!
