How to Become Famous on Instagram in 2022 [8 Steps]

Are you wondering how to become famous on Instagram?

If you want to be the next Kylie Kardashian or Cristiano Ronaldo, we’ve got bad news – we can’t make Chris Kardashian your mom or bless your feet on a superstar. (It’s too much)

But we can show you how to find Instafame. After that, whether you can surpass Ronaldo’s 464 million followers or not is up to you.

If you want to become Instafamous, you need to follow a pretty simple formula. We will guide you through these eight proven steps.

how to become famous on instagram

These days, being “famous on Instagram”means more than just having a large following. Instafamous accounts are usually influencers or creators, which means they can use their audience to raise awareness about a trend, topic, company, or product.

Instagram is not instant. You can’t buy tons of followers, call yourself an influencer, and wait for brand deals to start.

This also applies to people who are the miracle of a one-hit viral video. Of course, they may experience a brief flash of attention on Instagram. But that glory will quickly fade if they don’t keep putting out high quality content.

Take @flyysoulja, who had a monstrous 15 minutes on TikTok due to their viral island boy video. They now post regularly on Instagram, maintaining over a million followers.

Source: @flyysoulja

The next steps take time and effort. But they are consistent with the habits that influencers and people from Instafamous use.

1. Define your personal brand

If you don’t have a viral video that will help you reach millions of subscribers, you need to start from the very beginning.

This means figuring out how you want to appear on Instagram. Remember that the “you”you post on Instagram is your brand. So your online personality needs to feel (and be!) authentic – your followers will know if they don’t.

Branding can be a comprehensive process. Here are five steps to identifying your personal brand and a few questions you can use as clues.

Step One: Define Your Goals

Without clear goals, you won’t be able to measure your success. Start by thinking about why you’re pursuing Instafame.

• Why do I want to become famous on Instagram?
• What does Instagram fame look like to me?
• What milestones can I reach to reach my goal of becoming Instafamous?

Step two: find your difference

Then think about what sets you apart from your competitors. Regardless of your specialty, you are likely entering a crowded market. Why should someone follow you and not someone else?

• What makes me stand out from the crowd?
• What can I do better or differently than other personal brands like mine?
  • Note. It doesn’t have to be a huge difference – you could be the sassiest baker on Instagram, or the most polite mycologist, for example.

Step Three: Write Your Narrative

Your backstory is where you say who you are and what you care about. People remember emotionally motivated stories more than facts. Plus, staying connected to your copy is easier when you have a brand story to link to.

• What is my story?
• Where did I come from and where do I want to go?
• What motivates me?

Step Four: Define Your Identity

You want your content to be consistent and recognizable. This means that each post should reflect your brand personality in some way. Are you trying to inspire your followers? Teach them? Entertain them?

• What five words describe my personality?
• What is the voice of my brand?
• How do I want people to see me? How do people actually see me?

Step Five: Write a Personal Brand Statement

A personal brand statement is a short, catchy statement that you can refer to when creating your content. Outwardly, it can act as an elevator platform.

Look at your previous answers and ask yourself, “Who am I? Why am I doing this? What makes me unique?

You can place your personal brand statement in your Instagram bio. Think about how creator Lauren Sandstrom did it, connecting it with the basic elements of what your audience needs to know.

Source: @laurengsundstrom

Voila! You now have a personal brand around which you can build your Instagram strategy.

And a note: these answers will evolve with your brand. This is intended as a guide, so don’t stress too much about perfecting it the first time.

2. Find your niche and cater to it

Once you know your difference (step 2 above), use it to target the niche audience that is most relevant to your brand.

Niche followers are often fiercely loyal. Shared interests strengthen bonds and can make your relationship with your audience less strained.

Once you understand your niche, find microbrands around you and work with them. Transgender woman, activist, model and style aficionado Lauren Sandstrom writes regularly about working only with brands that share her vision for sustainability.

3. Listen to your audience

Your audience is your best asset. As a rule, people on the Internet are ruthlessly honest. If you ask a question, you can expect a real answer. When you are your brand, it may require thick leather.

Solicit answers with questions and polls—and be specific. Open questions such as “What do you want to see more of?”probably won’t give you what you want. Instead, ask specific questions, such as “Should I add color or leave it neutral?”

Source: @delancey.diy

Pay attention to any repetitive comments or questions. There may be a gap in your communication that needs to be filled. Give your audience what they are looking for and you can build brand loyalty.

Oh, and don’t worry about the small number of followers. It simply means that you are a micro-influencer. According to Hypeauditor, micro-influencers (thousand to ten thousand followers) can earn an average of $1,420 per month!

However, if you really want to grow your audience size, here are 35 ways to build your subscriber list from scratch.

4. Engage your followers

Glory does not exist in a vacuum. You can only be as famous as people are willing to pay attention to you. So, engage your audience and engage them—and no, there are no shortcuts here. Using bots to interact (believe me, we’ve tried) doesn’t work.

As tempting as it is to cut corners, a quality engagement strategy will make you reap the rewards soon. Strong engagement remains a key player in the Instagram algorithm. The more engaged you are, the more Instagram will expose your account to people, and the more your brand reach will grow.

5. Be consistent

Consistency breeds trust! It may take some time to understand your visual style, brand voice, and post rhythm. But once you do, keep going. People will begin to associate your brand with a particular aesthetic and point of view, cementing it even more in their minds.

A social media content calendar can be a lifesaver, helping you plan ahead and post consistently.

6. Create quality content

Instagram is and always will be a visual app. This means that posting visually appealing content will always be important. You may need to take a photography course, buy video equipment, or figure out how to edit videos and photos with photo editing software.

And remember: real, authentic content attracts people. Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can start optimizing your content with keywords, trending hashtags, powerful calls to action, and Instagram Live content.

7. Treat your Instagram account like a business

Your Instagram account is how you present your product (you and your personal brand) to the world. This means it’s your business now – so treat it like one.

If you haven’t already, now is the time to switch to an Instagram business profile or creator account. You’ll get access to detailed analytics and author-specific tools.

8. Manage Sponsorship Interests Like a Boss

And now the most interesting – money! When you reach a certain level of followers and recognition, brands or organizations will approach you with sponsorship opportunities.

You can also take the initiative in chasing that money. We have expert tips for making money on Instagram.

Also, when you’re ready to connect with potential employees, you can use analytics to create your brand presentation. Brands want to know you’re making a good bet, so being able to prove high engagement or high conversions can be a game-changer.

Remember when you monetize your account to stay on track for your Instagram fame. Make sure you’re doing it right by avoiding the following common mistakes:

1. Don’t say yes to everything. You’ll want to treat your sponsored posts like your own content. If the offer doesn’t match your brand, say no. And make sure you stand for products or services that you would use yourself.
2. Make sure you are satisfied with the compensation presented. If someone offers you an “exposure”instead of something of monetary value, don’t be afraid to let them know that you can’t pay rent with an “exposure”. Or politely refuse. This is your account and your call.
3. Don’t agree with anything that you don’t fully understand. Did you receive a detailed campaign brief? What exactly is expected of you? Seek clarification if you are unsure. Otherwise, you may settle for more than you bargained for or damage a potentially lucrative partnership.