Become an Instagram Influencer: How to Grow to 10k Followers
It happened. It finally happened. I hit 10k FOLLOWERS! *commence crowd applause* And it only took me 8 months.
It’s no secret. I’ve been waiting for this moment from the day I decided to become an Instagram influencer. Yes, there is something magical in knowing that 10,000 human beings on this planet are interested in the pictures I post and the words I say. But it’s more than that.
For content creators on IG, hitting 10k followers isn’t just a vanity metric on the way to becoming an influencer. It’s the doorway into being able to make more money and potentially generate an income. All from that killer content you love creating. And that, my friends, is worth celebrating.
Now, I’ve always been open and honest about how much work I’ve put into succeeding on Instagram. I’ve devoted hundreds of hours of my life to taking courses and educating myself on the ins-and-outs of the platform. But, the truth is, I didn’t get this far on my own.
I’ve met so many amazing women and fellow creators, who I’ve intentionally cultivated relationships with for our mutual benefit. Mostly, though, I’ve listened and I’ve learned from those who found success before me. Why reinvent the wheel when it works so well?
So, now it’s my turn to give back! I’m all about community-over-competition, because the cliche is true – when one of us wins, all of us do.
Why 10k is More Than Just a Number…
What’s the number one advantage of having 10k followers? It’s the “Swipe Up” feature. You know the one I’m talking about. It shows up at the bottom of IG stories with a little “See More” arrow. You click it (or, rather, swipe up). Then, it takes you to whatever link the user thought was important enough to redirect you, their followers, out of and away from Instagram.
Maybe you’ve even wanted to add links to your stories before but couldn’t figure out how. That’s because, unfortunately, the Instagram gods (for ambiguous and somewhat controversial reasons) have decided that only accounts with at least 10k followers may be granted the power of the Swipe Up. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
The Swipe Up is used for anything from promoting other content (yours or your brand partner’s) like blog posts and YouTube videos, to rallying your followers to sign petitions or donate money, to sharing event info and educational resources. In short, the Swipe Up is the golden ticket of Instagram.
So, You Can Swipe Up Now, What’s the Big Deal?
Having the Swipe Up feature at your disposal means that now you can capitalize on not just on your brand, the content you’re creating and the community you’re building, but also your brand partnerships and any products or services you might be selling.
How? Two words – affiliate links. Affiliate links are the key to earning a passive income through content creation. Think of affiliate marketing like the new version of sales commission. Except, instead of hanging out in some shady used car lot or going door-to-door selling the latest gizmo or gadget to earn a few bucks (no shade!), you get to hang out online. Which, you kind of already do all the time anyways. Only now, with affiliate links, you also get to make some money by promoting different products, content or companies.
It works like this:
- Who? Company ABC has Product XYZ they want to sell.
- What? Company ABC doesn’t have a captive audience. OR doesn’t have a huge marketing budget. OR sees the value in influencer marketing over traditional marketing, so…
- Why? They pay an influencer (you!) a percentage of whatever their followers spend on Product XYZ. The influencer probably also created content with Product XYZ to promote it to their followers.
Are you seeing dollar signs yet? If so, you’re not alone! These past few years alone, influencer marketing has boomed. And, it isn’t showing any signs of slowing down – even despite some concerns of COVID-19 negatively affecting the industry. Some statistics project that the influencer marketing industry will grow from $9.7 billion in 2020 to $13.8 billion in 2021. Talk about influencing.
For now, Instagram holds the crown for being the platform where most brands spend the biggest chunks of money paying influencers to promote their products and increase their brand awareness. Guess what the second biggest platform for influencer marketing is? TikTok. That’s right. The crazy dance app isn’t just for Gen Z anymore! So, don’t be afraid to dive in and start building your audience on that platform too, if you haven’t already.
How to Go from Nano- to Micro-Influencer!
I’ve built my brand and my following as a nano-influencer, aka someone with more than 1k but less than 10k followers. I’ve experimented a lot to find what works for me. Trial-and-error is the name of the game, bae.
Now that I’ve graduated to micro-influencer (that sweet 10-50k follower count range), I’m ready to help the next class of nano-influencers level up their Insta game!
Here are my five powerful tips for hitting 10k:
- Regularly use all of Instagram’s features.
Instagram is constantly updating and coming out with new features to stay relevant and compete with different apps (like TikTok). They want to stay hot and relevant, and to do that they need you to stay on IG as long as possible. If you’re taking advantage of all of the different ways to create and present content, Instagram actually rewards you by showing your content to more people. So, you absolutely have to start experimenting with and regularly using all of IG’s different functions and tools. Think reels, IG live, IGTV, guides, stories, carousel posts, etc.
The only way you’re going to learn how to create content in all these different ways is by doing it! And, it’s the only way you’re really going to figure out what works for you and what doesn’t, and what your audience likes and doesn’t like. Instagram isn’t a one-size-fits all solution so get out there and create!
- Build your community.
This might sound like common sense, but sometimes you’ll get tunnel vision. Creating content, obsessing over your growth and nurturing the strong connections you’ve already made consumes your focus. When this happens (because it does happen to all of us) it’s important to catch yourself and pause. Then, remind yourself to focus on the other followers in your community, especially those already engaging with you. At the end of the day, Instagram is a social platform. So, if you want to grow, you need to be social and authentically engage with your followers! There’s really no way around this. And whatever you do, do not buy your followers!
You know those people and accounts who grow their follower count rapidly in a short amount of time? That’s because they’re spending hours a day on the app. Engaging with your followers and ideal potential followers can be a full-time job! Maybe, like me, you’re already working a 9-5 and don’t have huge chunks of time to spare every day. My best advice is to use the Dollar Eighty website/plugin, an Instagram growth strategy created by Gary Vaynerchuk. With this method, you follow hashtags or accounts that would fit into your community (aka become future followers). The idea is to comment on the top or most recent posts under those hashtags every day. The Dollar Eighty dashboard makes it easy by letting you save comments and streamline the workload of engaging. - Capitalize on your higher engagement rate.
What’s the one thing nano-influencers have over micro-influencers? Consistently higher engagement rates! Believe it or not, but your engagement rate will probably never be as good as it is right now. Take advantage of this fact and use it to your benefit. How? You could do what I did, which is pair up with similar content creators who have a higher follower count.
Do collabs together and pitch yourselves as a duo (or trio!) to brands. One of you has the high follower count and the other has the killer engagement rate. Combined you’re a powerful force that really does have everything brands look for when hiring influencers. Plus, not a lot of people on IG are regularly collabing with each other. So, this is a relatively unique idea or offering that might make brands notice you more. Which leads me right into my fourth tip…
- Get. Creative.
Ideally, you want brands to approach you for paid partnerships. But that doesn’t just happen overnight. You have to create the conditions to make that happen. So, that means you need to go out there and approach brands with your own content ideas.
One quick and easy way to start doing this? Take killer photos with products you already have and love. Then, tag the brand on your photo and in your caption when you post that pic. But don’t stop there! Take it a step further by DMing them your photo. Or share your post to your story and tag the brand in your story too. Best case scenario is they see you and repost or reshare your content. You help them gain more exposure and they help you grow as well.
Ultimately, just keep practicing and keep experimenting with your content. Show brands what you can do. Give them a peek at the content they’ll get when they actually pay you to promo their products!
- Get rid of the creeps!
I know, I know. They’re adding to your total followers count and it physically hurts your soul to purposefully make that number go down! But, those (mostly) men creeping on your profile and only commenting gross, basic ass comments on any photo of yours with the slightest amount of skin showing – those “followers” aren’t doing anything for you.
Keep your eyes on the prize and never forget what your main goal is: to build your community by attracting the right kind of person that you want on your page. That person wants to be there for you, wants to hear what you have to say and, eventually, even wants to purchase the products you’re promoting. And the right kind of person is not the creepy men who aren’t engaging and, ultimately, aren’t ever going to help you make money.
Quick-Fixes to Become an IG Influencer Don’t Exist.
I’ve been where you are. I put in the sweat and the tears as I counted down the days until I could call myself a micro-influencer. Here’s the one thing I can tell you for certain: hard work, consistent effort and authenticity are the only things that will absolutely pay off as you inch your way 10k.
And remember – you’re doing this for you and for your community! So build something that you can be proud of and look back on with joy.
Now, I want to know: what’s the biggest struggle you’re facing today while you’re trying to grow your follower count? Lmk in the comments and, who knows? The solution to your problem might just be a click away.
Do you dream of becoming an Insta influencer? Do you have questions but don’t know who to ask? I’d love to answer all of your influencer-related questions. So, send me any and all of your blog post topic ideas at victoria@flyforaginger.com. And don’t forget to sign up for my insider newsletter to get all my latest influencer tips!
