A killer niche is one which you are interested in can keep up with.
What Niche Should I Choose For My Instagram Account?
If you're not already a brand who has products to start selling, but you're looking to create an Instagram account in a particular niche your think you can eventually monetize, then think carefully about what you decide on.
After all you'll be in this for the long run as building an account about a particular niche takes time no matter how passion the target crowd is. Yes you might think 'everyone likes dogs!' I'll start an account about cute dogs. Whilst you may be right, you need to ask yourself, are you really passionate about it too? I won't lie to you, starting a successful Instagram account takes time and you will be working long hours whether you believe it or not. You'll be finding content to use for your posts, taking your own photos, editing images and finding the right filters that fit. Before you jump in head first, think about what you can keep up with in the long run. For example, if you really are passionate about cute dogs or pets then that's great! By all means go down that road. If you're not, then you're probably doing it for the wrong reasons. You might be thinking that people want to see cute pictures of pets, and you may be right but there will be many, many others who have thought the same thing. These people have probably been doing it for longer than you and have established followers that wait on their every post. Instead I would encourage you to start an account about something you like, are good at or you are passionate about. For example if you're an artist or passionate about art then it makes sense for you to share your art or art by others. This means that it won't feel like an annoying task trying to find content to post day after day in order to keep your followers engaged and happy. If you enjoy what you're posting it makes the whole experience easier but more importantly, enjoyable. If you can consistently post content that you enjoy then you will find your account will grow faster and people will engage more as you will be keeping a more consistent theme. This means that your followers will know what to expect and are therefore more likely to stay as your followers. This goes for any niche you can imagine. No follower likes to see the theme broken because to them it feels like they have had a 'promise broken' from the account owner. The Instagram Follower Mentality
Instagram is very much it's own entity. It is a community which has it's own ways and must be respected and understood fully for you to be able to reap the benefits.
On this platform you only get what you give. Unlike Facebook where you can buy a bunch of ads to expand your audience to thousands of random individuals, Insta is more personal and in my experience you feel more connected to your audience. Why is up for debate but I feel like people trust those more who put in the effort to optimise their images rather than very generic FB status' which can feel like you're being spoken to rather than being involved in a conversation. For smaller accounts this can be very beneficial because after all people like to feel like part of the action and Insta is very fast paced whereas FB can be a slower ordeal with a page posting once a day and leaving it at that without engaging in comments etc. On Instagram, people like to follow pages they can relate to which is similar to FB, however on Insta there is much following and un-following. People seem to un-follow very quickly if they see an image that they didn't expect from a certain account. They seem to do it right off the bat rather than waiting to see what's next. This means it's crucial what you post. Yes, if someone doesn't like what you post then they might not be who you want in your audience anyway as in the long run you want to be selling to people who like what you're about but numbers can matter too. It is important to keep a certain theme to what you post as people just don't take kindly to randomly posted images. People on Insta want to know what their getting as soon as they hit follow because they hit follow for a reason. Determine what made them follow you and consistently provide the same value. Where there is debate about posting a variation to keep your account fresh and diverse, I've seen first hand that keeping it to a theme is important. If you go slightly off topic it can mean losing 10-100 followers in one hit. Insta users don't seem to put up with this sort of posting and will happily un-follow right away. I've had an account where I've seen the same followers liking and commenting for months. Then, I've posted something slightly different to what I said I'd be offering and lost them there and then even though it runs within the same theme. For example, let's say John has a food account where he posts photos of freshly baked cupcakes on his Instagram account. One day, John has the urge to bake some bread, he makes it and posts a photo of the final result on his feed. He's really proud of it but he does not think about how it will impact his followers expectations. A lot of followers like and comment on how good it is but he loses a few followers too. These are the people who are expecting strictly photos of cupcakes. You could argue this would happen anyway no matter what you are posting but the point is giving your followers what they want from the get go so you can retain more. There are exceptions to this though of course. If you really want to diverse your accounts photos, then posting highly related content can work in your favours too. For example John posts a photo of a fresh batch of cupcakes, he can diversify his feed by posting photos of the process he uses to make the cupcakes. Like behind the scenes where he shows his followers what he starts off by using, the baking and rising of the cupcakes. This adds an extra piece of value and his followers become more connected with what he's doing. This also encourages more engagement, because followers are likely to ask how long he's baking them, at what heat etc. People like to know the person behind the feed and what to feel like they are involved. The more connected you are with your audience the more likely they are to engage, recommend and buy from you in the future. What Niches Do Well On Instagram?
Fashion and clothing are some of the top scoring niches on Instagram.
There are of course a few niches which do well on Instagram because of it's artful nature. These are; 1. fashion 2. food 3. modelling/girls 4. Art/design If you're in one of these niches then you may already have an advantage. Do realise however, these niches are very saturated and you'll have to come up with a twist to get noticed. If you are creative and you make things then Instagram is made for you. It's the perfect place to show off what you can do and can create you a real buzz. Because these niches are of the most part beautiful nature, they can really be effective on Instagram. Models and girls are all over the internet and Insta is no different. If you're an aspiring model then this is a particularly good venue for you to take advantage of. If you can provide some high quality shots of yourself then who knows, you could get noticed further down the line. People of course love food and we've all seen our friends pictures they've taken of a meal they've made. On Instagram you have the ability to make your food 'selfie' look artistic and exciting. When you narrow down the type of food you post, it can get quite interesting. Think about gluten free foods, lost cost foods etc. People are always looking for cheap, healthy meals they can make. Using Instagram to showcase some new ideas to these people can pay off big time. If you think of the long term, you can eventually sell your recipes to your loyal fans providing you are consistent and providing them with some really good stuff. Fashion is of course huge, on TV, in magazines, and a large chunk of Instagram users are females which makes the network a great place to show case what you've designed and are selling. Large Instagram accounts spend thousands on photo shoots that they then post on Instagram. Of course if you're just starting out, you can come up with some creative ideas to take some quality pictures too. You don't need a big budget at the start of your journey, tweak your lighting, camera settings and angles to take some great snaps. If you have an Etsy store, Intagram is a great place to link it up and make a few sales once you've established yourself. Those who are artists or designers can find Instagram a very profitable place. Many artists who share their art on Instagram are collecting pay checks each month from their followers. The effects that you can use on Instagram go hand in hand with art and designs meaning you can create a very successful account. Like apparel makers, artists can link up their Insta accounts to print on demand websites or sell one off pieces to followers.
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Sean Michael
My name is Sean and I'm here to help you conquer Instagram.
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