Welcome to a new lesson of the Instagram Academy. Today we tackle a subject close to the heart of anyone hoping to make money on Instagram: how to become an influencer.
Influencer marketing is a market full of opportunity today, and plenty of people want in. According to Statista, the well-known American market analysis platform, the sector will be worth 2.38 billion dollars globally next year, double the 2017 figure.
New to the Academy? Have a look around: you will find plenty of other lessons on Instagram, on SEO, on Facebook and on growth hacking.
In our Instagram Academy you will find other lessons on Instagram tags, on how to download Instagram videos, on how to schedule posts, on Instagram bots and much more…
Have you ever wondered how so many instagrammers succeed and earn thousands of euros from the photos they publish? For some it has become a genuine job.
Want to become an influencer too? Start by looking at the people who made it as digital stars, particularly on our favourite network: Instagram. The traits the influencers we present share are talent and persistence. Feel you have them too? Then this lesson is for you.
Ready to find out how to become an Instagram influencer? Let’s go.
Want to become an Instagram PRO?
INSTAGRAM COURSE 2019
The most complete course you will find
14 modules – 16 videos – 4 pdf
More than 5 hours of video
One year of access to every course update
Read more
The first steps towards being known
Do you know how the best-known instagrammers in Italy, and elsewhere, started out? You may not believe it, but many began in their bedroom, showing the world their talent. And they were good at finding the key to establishing themselves despite the difficulties every good project meets at the start.
Their secret? Above all, they chose a very specific audience niche to speak to. To build a successful Instagram profile it helps to focus on one field. Avoid photographing everything indiscriminately, with no thread tying it together. Some people make the mistake of pouring anything and everything onto their profile: fashion, holidays, pets. Firing into the crowd gets you nowhere. You have to be recognisable and stand out in a specific field.
If you are wondering which audience niche to aim at to become an Instagram influencer, here are three questions to answer:
- What is my greatest passion?
- How expert am I in the field?
- How can I help — and become a point of reference for — other people who share that passion?
Spotting the niche and having interesting things to say is not enough, though. What makes the difference is the narrative style you choose. Finding your own voice and style in every caption and every shot is the key to becoming a successful influencer.
Image from Cristiano Ronaldo on Instagram: www.instagram.com
A social influencer bets on quality, not quantity
The first thing people look at on a profile is often the follower count. The number of followers matters: the more you have, the better your chance of being noticed by a big brand. That should not, however, lead you into one of the biggest traps in influencer marketing — buying followers in the hope that it lifts the profile’s other metrics and its visibility.
Nothing could be more wrong: a real influencer works on improving their numbers qualitatively. What does that mean? Betting on real interactions and building relationships with the people in the community. That is the only way to become a genuine point of reference.
Want your Instagram profile to take off?
Want to land collaborations on Instagram?
Want to grow your Instagram followers?
Want to make money on Instagram?
Want to turn your Instagram around?
We can help.
How much does an influencer earn
Here we come to a key point, and one plenty of people are curious about: how much an influencer earns. To find out, we turn to a study by The Economist, which sets out figures based on a profile’s fan count across six different platforms.
Image from www.economist.com
As the chart shows, an influencer with between 100,000 and 500,000 fans can earn up to 5,000 dollars for a post, while someone with 7 million followers can earn up to 150,000 dollars.
How does the money work? Usually it is companies or communications agencies that go looking for influencers.
The first collaboration is almost always unpaid: the company sends the influencer a product, they make a post about it, sometimes including a discount code for their audience. On purchases made with that code the influencer then takes a percentage, usually 5%.
After that, if the collaboration works, the relationship between brand and influencer becomes ongoing: the money comes from the number of posts published, each carrying something that points back to the brand being promoted.
The three biggest Italian influencers on Instagram
Now let’s look at who made it as an Instagram star. Three influencers compete for the podium in Italy.
Third place: Mariano Di Vaio
Image from www.instagram.com
Mariano Di Vaio, born in Assisi in 1989, takes third place. He moved to London and then New York to work as a model and study acting. He has his own blog and a magazine devoted to fashion and lifestyle, and has worked with a great many international labels, from Roberto Cavalli, Hugo Boss and Gucci through to Cucinelli and Tommy Hilfiger.
Second place: Gianluca Vacchi
Image from www.instagram.com
Also on the podium of best-loved influencers sits Gianluca Vacchi. An entrepreneur and lover of the good life, he became famous through photos and videos showing the opulence around him, the places he visits on his travels, exclusive parties and luxury yachts. Today he works as a DJ for the well-known Ibiza club “Amnesia” and is an influencer for many internationally known brands.
First place: Chiara Ferragni
Image from www.instagram.com
The crown among Italian influencers is firmly in the hands of Chiara Ferragni. In 2009 she launched her blog “The Blonde Salad“, covering travel, beauty and food. The blog evolved and now deals mainly with fashion. Meanwhile her Instagram profile grew — a popularity that over the years has let her work with an impressive number of design houses, including Dior, Ermenegildo Zegna, Benetton and Mango.
5 rules for becoming an influencer on Instagram
Still convinced you want to become an Instagram influencer? From what you have read so far, a set of rules emerges that anyone — a person or a brand — hoping to become influential in a field has to respect. If you want to succeed, treat them as a mantra. Here they are.
- Presence. An influencer is present in the community. That means spending hours replying to fans’ messages and interacting with each of them.
- Quality. By which we mean above all the content the influencer decides to post. A post has to be useful or move people. Otherwise it adds little to the community.
- The tools. Every network has its own logic and tools. Using stories, or the right hashtags for your field, or adding the location to photos (if you want to learn how, read the lesson “Geotags: how to use location on Instagram”) — these are all “tricks” that raise your visibility.
- Consistency. Anyone using social media professionally builds an editorial plan setting out what to publish and when. Being consistent in publishing is the mark of every successful influencer.
Promotion. Even though Instagram still gives decent organic visibility, professional use means budgeting to promote some content.
Image from Kylie Jenner on Instagram: www.instagram.com
Conclusion
Here we are at the end of this Instagram Academy lesson. You saw the steps to take to become a social influencer through your favourite app. We started with the people who made it, so we could learn from them and perhaps avoid a few of the mistakes they made early on through inexperience. Then we set out 5 rules you cannot ignore if you want to succeed and start earning through Instagram.
Ready for success? With the training our Instagram Academy offers, combined with effort, dedication and persistence, before long you too will shine among the influencer stars.
We will see you in the next lessons, where we will go deeper into other Instagram subjects you are sure to find interesting. Stay tuned and keep following your favourite Instagram Academy.
Want Instagram consultancy? Get in touch — we will work out the best Instagram strategy to do what it takes and reach your goal.
Want to sharpen your Instagram knowledge? Get in touch — we will find the course that fits you.
Want to ask us something or just talk? Get in touch — that is what we are here for.