It’s a dream job for so many people, but if you want to become an influencer on Instagram, you have to put in the work. The good news is that anyone with an engaging and authentic story to tell is capable of building a cult-like following on social media!
To help you achieve influencer status, we asked Cassey Ho, the founder of @blogilates and one of the most popular health and fitness influencers in the world, to share her top 5 tips on how to become an influencer on social media. Here’s how you can grow your account and make money off your Instagram:
Become an Influencer on Instagram Tip #1: Pick a Niche and Stand for Something Big
As an Instagram influencer, your brand is your personality. The more real and authentic you can be, the more successful you’ll become as a result. This is also true when selecting your social media niche. What are you most passionate about? What story do you want to share the most? What cause truly resonates with you?
For Cassey Ho, she has always been passionate about fitness and promoting positive body image. The two themes deeply resonate with her and fit within the same niche. As a result, her million+ fans follow her for much more than just workout tips! She shares moving personal stories about her struggles with an eating disorder and empowers people to change how they think about fitness and their bodies. Cassey is also a strong voice for female empowerment and entrepreneurship.
“Authenticity is what keeps my brand alive. I view my fans as my friends and I would never want to lie to them, trick them, or use them. I create meaningful content that I am proud to share,” Cassey says.
Become an Influencer on Instagram Tip #2: Carve Out a Consistent Aesthetic for Your Brand
Aesthetic is so important in the age of Instagram, especially when it comes to managing social media for business. And if you’re selling physical products on Instagram, you need to be using a creative and consistent brand aesthetic. This is something that Blogilates thrives at! Just take a look at Cassey’s activewear brand, Popflex Active, where a vibrant brand aesthetic is core to their strategy for selling apparel.
“Aesthetic is really important for our activewear page, @popflex_active. We post beautiful laydowns that have taken a couple years to perfect, and we’re still working hard to get better and better at the symmetry and photography of these,” Cassey says. We also love reposting customer photos that showcase strength and grace. The colors we post are usually reflective of what we’re designing at the moment.”
Building a brand aesthetic helps to narrow your focus even more within a niche. Photography, colors, and what’s featured by you and your brand all become signifiers, so choose images that align with your brand!
By taking the time to plan out and curate Instagram content, you can increase your exposure and grow your followers. One of the best ways to do this efficiently is with Later’s Visual Instagram Planner, which makes it super easy to plan and design the perfect Instagram feed! Once you’ve signed up for a free Later account, you can easily drag & drop your photos onto our visual planner, re-arrange them to see how they’ll look in your feed, and save to schedule them!
Become an Influencer on Instagram Tip #3: Always Evolve and Be Open to New Platforms
The social media landscape is constantly changing. If you want to become an influencer, you have to embrace change and always be willing to test out new features or up-and-coming platforms.
Blogilates started out as a fitness YouTube channel, but Cassey didn’t stop there. She saw the opportunity for growth on other platforms, invested time in reaching those audiences, and now has 1.4 million followers on Instagram. As social media evolved, so did Cassey’s brand. She’s masterfully stayed on the edge of what’s new and trending and adapted her brand aesthetic and story to fit each platform.
The lesson? Stay educated about social. “I’m always reading articles on social media.” Cassey says. “I also follow my fave YouTubers and Instagrammers to see what they’re up to.”
It’s so important to look to your community for inspiration. As Cassey says, “Be inspired by other influencers but don’t straight up copy what they’re doing. You need to be you and you need to let your own unique flavor shine.”
Become an Influencer on Instagram Tip #4: Take It Offline
Social media is meant to be social, so you should dedicate time to meeting your community members and fellow influencers in real life. These in-person relationships can flourish beautifully online. The more time you can spend actually connecting offline, the more connected and engaged you will be online.
Don’t just join Instagram pods, build and nurture real friendships with people in your online community and attend events where you can meet new people.
“I stay active in the community and create real friendships. We do small group workouts and game nights with friends to stay in touch!” says Cassey.
Become an Influencer on Instagram #5: Save Time with Productivity Apps
Let apps be your friend! If you want to become an influencer, apps are your greatest tool. They can help you take better photos, plan your feed before you post, collect user-generated content, and edit your photos to maintain a consistent aesthetic on the go.
Here’s a list of Cassey’s current favorites:
Wordswag for making quotes
iMovie for quick, easy edits
Camera+ for photo editing
Later for Instagram scheduling and marketing
One of the best ways to increase your Instagram engagement is to post when your audience is most active with Later’s Best Time to Post feature. It makes super easy to find out when you should schedule your Instagram posts for maximum engagement.
If you’re on one of Later’s business plans, your best times will be highlighted in your weekly content calendar, making it easy for you to schedule Instagram posts for when your audience is most active.
The Best Time to Post feature is available on one Later’s business plans, upgrade now to see your best times to post, schedule unlimited posts, and more! Starting at $16/month.
It might seem like a pipe dream, but there are countless examples of amazing people working hard to become an influencer every day! Find your passion, carve out your niche, and be open to learning and adapting your approach. Each day on social media is an opportunity to try something new and build deeper connections with your community. Go live the dream!
Ready to get your social media strategy off the ground? Later makes it easy for you to plan, manage, and schedule your Instagram posts!
