With 1 billion users, Instagram is one of the best platforms for building a career as an influencer. Its heavy focus on imagery makes content creation easy and fun.
You can also access a ready-made audience for your content. This makes it quicker to set up as an influencer, especially if you’re in a more specialist niche.
Yet it can feel daunting to start collecting followers and build a reputation. Especially if your goal is to earn a solid income as an influencer.
Are you wondering how many Instagram followers you need? Read on for our guide to followers.
Why Are Followers Useful?
If you’re an influencer, there are three reasons why you need Instagram followers. First, you need to build an audience who want to consume your content.
These are the people who will like, comment on, and share your posts. Think of these followers as your fans.
Second, you need 10,000 followers to access the ‘swipe up’ feature in Stories. This means you can direct followers to specific websites right from your Story post.
Third, you can charge companies more to place ads on your feed if you have more followers.
How Do You Get More Followers?
You may be wondering how to get Instagram followers. We’ll share a couple of strategies with you here.
Find influencers who post in similar niches. Go through the comments on a handful of their recent posts. Follow those users that post positive comments. With any luck, those users will follow you back.
Team up with other people you know on Instagram. Ask them to post some of your content in their Stories, and encourage their followers to also follow you.
Encourage people who like or comment on your posts to share them. The more engagement your posts get, the more Instagram will show them to new people. If they like your content, they’ll follow you.
You can also buy Instagram followers to get you started. People can be more likely to follow an account that already seems popular.
How Many Instagram Followers Do I Need?
This will depend on a series of factors. We’ve already mentioned the magic 10,000 number which unlocks the ‘swipe up’ feature.
Yet the number of followers you actually need depends on two things.
- How engaged are they?
- Which niche are you in?
If you have 1,000 super-engaged followers in a specialist niche? You can still make money as a micro-influencer.
Brands will pay higher amounts to reach these targeted followers. You’ll also have less competition in specialist niches, compared to something like travel, fashion, or food.
Focus on the Right Followers
You can see that asking how many Instagram followers you need isn’t quite the right question. Unless you want the ‘swipe up’ feature, there is no magic number.
Focus on building up an audience of engaged followers who share your content. The more followers who like, comment on, and share your posts, the more you can charge brands to work with you.
Stay true to your niche, and provide valuable content your followers will love. Keen to learn more? Check out our other Instagram articles for more advice.
