You should stay authentic to who you are and what works for you, instead of comparing yourself to other influencers.
Erin Marie is a famous Instagram influencer. On Hubspot, she revealed how she managed to swiftly and effectively build 40k followers on her Instagram account.
Marie, who is 26, lives in Jersey City and runs a fashion/fitness Instagram account in her spare time. The account now has almost 42k followers.
Why did she focus on Instagram?
Ultimately, Instagram posts are highly searchable. People can find you via hashtags, location, brand tags, and more. So there are a ton of different opportunities for users to discover your content.
You want as many ways as possible for people to find you – and that’s why Instagram is better than any other platform for reaching many people in different ways.
What were the initial setbacks?
At first, things seemed hard for Marie. She had only a couple of hundred followers. She knew that, without investing, she wouldn’t be able to reach the volume of people that she wanted to reach. So she spent money to make money:
I spent money on a camera, editing software, and new clothes in addition to spending many precious hours shooting, editing, and reaching out to brands.
She also invested by offering giveaways – and she collaborated with other influencers.
Marie also utilised like-for-like, comment-for-comment and follow-for-follow.
Marie realised that commenting bots, though they may seem like a good tool, were actually more of a burden – they often post inappropriate comments.
So what are her top tips?
1. Find the right tools for you
The internet offers many tools for Instagrammers, including Later and Kicksta. Research these tools, find the ones that work best for you, and implement them effectively.
2. Stay organised
If you’re not organised, you won’t reach the heights that you want to:
I use an extensive Excel chart that I update daily with upcoming posts, collaborations in the works, spending, payment details, and posting dates.
As an influencer grows in popularity, this type of organisation becomes more and more important, so it’s essential to get into the habit by doing it early.
3. Catch the eye of big brands
Marie targeted brands effectively. Study brand pages and their content to find out what they like. This will help you to be noticed. And if you can get noticed, you’ll get lots of free publicity:
If I can nail down a certain brand’s look and feel, I’ll have a good chance of getting my picture reposted. That means more exposure and a larger reach — in other words, more followers.
What’s next for Marie?
She’s now hoping to reach 100k followers. And she stresses that, to grow, you have to adapt and find systems that work for you. You should stay authentic to who you are and what works for you, instead of comparing yourself to other influencers.
If something is working, keep doing it. If it isn’t, you should change tact… and the followers will come!