By Nitisha Pandit
If fashion is something that you like and want to explore, then you must know that it is a great time to pursue your career as a fashion influencer in this booming industry where social media and fashion both go hand in hand.
When we say fashion influencer, it is not limited to being someone who knows fashion, wears fine dresses and posts on Instagram. The scope is way more than that. You can be a stylist, a designer, run your own fashion line, a magazine or anything that you can think of. By being a fashion influencer on Instagram, you get to work with great brands and also have the freedom to experiment and enjoy the perks of having a creative space for your own production.
What Is Influencer Marketing ?
Influencer marketing is the most used marketing strategy in social media. Brands look for influencers who have lots of followers to endorse their products. With influencer marketing, the brand gains a good reputation and high prestige.
While the glorious persona that fashion influencers maintain on social media is hard to miss, there is more to that profession. Becoming an influencer is about having your opinion followed by a particular audience. To be a successful influencer, you must know how to make beautiful publications and how well to sell them out. It’s easier said than done…
The profession of a fashion influencer is very exciting and adventurous. Sure, it is tedious but is equally fun. All you need to do is find your niche and stay consistent with it.
How to Choose Your Niche
To stand out, you must find a target audience to address and you must talk to that audience about a specific topic (niche). Niche selection depends on your skills. Pick something you are good at! It can be anything likewise, it can be multiple things too…
- Fashion
- Food
- Lifestyle
- Dance
- Makeup
- Comedy
- Music
- Photography
- Travel
- Fitness etc.
As mentioned before, fashion is subjective. What you put out there should be suitable for most of your audience. Since there will always be a huge variety in your followings, you have to ensure that your style caters to different people at different times. The point is not to be able to do everything that your followers want, but to be able to provide value to their time and support.
Now the question is, how to become a fashion influencer to achieve all these? Nothing too complex, but there are a couple of things that can help you get a lead on.
- Pick your style
- Learn the basics of photography/videography and editing
- Tag the brands
- Start networking
- Know who you are collaborating with
- Host giveaways
Cheat Sheet To Become A Successful Fashion Influencer On Instagram
1. How Instagram Works
• Instagram’s algorithms prioritizes highly committed reels, stories and posts. The Instagram algorithm does keep on changing, so you gotta keep yourself updated.
• Resources like Instagram Reels, Stories and Instagram TV should be part of your marketing strategy.
• Instagram’s operation is based on humanization. Evaluate according to your content, what would be your ideal audience. All of this will be available under ‘Insights’.
2. Getting A Business Account
• You can convert your Instagram account to a business account or a creator account.
• You can change it from the “Switch to Business Account” or “Switch to Creator
Account” option on the settings tab.
• Creator accounts have been specially designed for influencers.
3. Being Consistent
• Being consistent is not about posting too much; it’s about creating and posting quality content.
• To do this in a more organized way, you can create a posting calendar where you can set the date and time of posting keeping in mind your Profile Insights.
4. Use The Right Hashtags #
• Hashtags allow users to find your posts quickly and help them go viral.
• It helps in increasing the reach of your post.
• The more hashtags you use, the more visible your post becomes.
• Research what hashtags your competition, your followers, and other industry influencers use.
• Try to use more specific hashtags.
• Keep your hashtags short and easy to remember.
• Use hashtags on your Instagram stories too so they have a greater reach.
5. Writing Captions
• Captions is a powerful tool that is available to all influencers.
• Brands connect with people through stories. (Do the same).
• Identify the tone of what you want to communicate.
• Watch the beginning. The first few words are the most important.
• Use emojis.
6. Analyze Your Audience
• Analyzing your audience allows you to adapt your content strategy according to your followers.
• Knowing the best times of the day to share content. (Available under Insights)
• Once you upload an image, analyze what happens. More followers or less?
• Build your posting strategy on what your followers want to see.
• Analyze the engagement rate of your posts.
7. Connect With Other Influencers
• Networking is essential for an influencer.
• Connecting with other influencers can help you get brand partnerships.
• It will help you to give visibility to your content.
• You will increase your self-esteem and self-confidence.
• You will be aware of market trends.
• Collaborate with them for shoots.
8. Interact With Your Followers
• It makes them feel special.
• Don’t just post. Interact with them and call them to action.
• Ask your followers what they think about this or that.
• Generate interaction with questions and polls in your stories.
• Go Live
9. Contacting Brands
• Do your research about the brand before contacting them.
• Don’t ask for collaboration with brands you don’t know.
• Find a brand whose products your audience will like.
• Write a clear and precise message to the brand.
• Persist for an alliance with the brand without being too pushy.
Please Note: When you collaborate with brands, you are being their representative and asking people to try their products. So it is important that you know everything about the brand and its credibility. As an influencer, you have values and responsibilities to fulfill. Giving out any false information can damage your reputation amongst the other brands as well as your audience.
Voila! Most of the things that you need to know to get started with your journey you’ve known. Now it’s time to start working towards your dreams.
Remember:
“FASHION IS AN EXPRESSION OF WHAT YOUR FEELING” – Ranveer Singh
GOOD LUCK !
About the author:
Nitisha Pandit is an Instagram influencer cum fashion blogger from Mapusa. Apart from being an influencer, she also wears the mittens to bake and also loves to shake a leg dancing. She was crowned Miss Fashion World India 2021 at the Mr, Miss & Mrs. Fashion World 2021 beauty pageant held in Goa in September 2021.
