Hi Creator.co squad!

Nicole here, your friendly neighbourhood Community Manager. This week I’ve noticed a ton of new emails and DM’s asking for tips on how to grow as a Creator. You’ve signed up and you’re ready to opt-in to a Campaign however, you may need to increase your followers and engagement rate to qualify. Becoming a successful Creator takes grit and it doesn’t happen overnight. So, are you ready to roll up your sleeves and do the work? Here are a few tips and tricks to grow as an influencer:

Pick your Niche.

What are you passionate about? Maybe you’re an aspiring makeup artist and want to work with beauty brands. Perhaps you’re a self-taught chef who lives their best vegan life. It’s possible that you’re a fitness guru who can’t go a day without yoga. Think about the followers you’d like to attract and the brands you’d like to work with. People want to relate to Creators for both advice and entertainment. When you align yourself with a particular niche, you are more likely to gain organic followers, grow as an influencer and attract ideal brands.

Hashtag City: Population 30.

Hashtags are an easy way to attract your ideal audience. If you’re a foodie who just posted your famous vegan lasagna, how are you attracting new vegan followers? Using relative hashtags in your post will help you gain the right audience and who knows, maybe even a vegan brand that wants to work with you! The same goes for all niches: beauty, fitness, family, etc. Try this next:

Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post. If you do not want to utilize all 30, we highly recommend using at least 11. Hashtags are searched millions of times a day so do yourself a favour: use them.

Be diverse with your tags. Hashtags with 30 million + posts can get your content lost in a potential follower’s search. Incorporate hashtags with 5-200k uses as well as some smaller ones with 1000+ posts. Your content will be more visible to like-minded users.

Post regularly!

To grow as an influencer it’s so important to stay top-of-mind for the followers you already have. You posted a great piece of content with some powerful hashtags and have attracted new followers. Nice work! Keep it up because if you go days without posting, you may lose some of the followers you just acquired. They’ve followed you for a reason and they want to see more content! 

Don’t have time to post a daily photo? No problem! Add a story instead: Instagram has made it incredibly simple to publish stories with the “Create” button. Get creative by utilizing fun story stickers to engage with your followers. Speaking of engagement…

Engage!

You’ll notice that every time one of you beauties comment on our posts or send us a DM, you always get a reply. That’s because you matter to us and we want you to stick around! Are you treating your audience like a Community? Don’t be the grumpy neighbour, say hi to people on Instagram! 

Take some time to look up other accounts that fit within your niche. Leave them a few likes and comments as a way of introducing yourself. Give similar accounts a follow too because you’ll probably get one back. Stray from the follow/unfollow method though because it’s unauthentic and in my opinion: tacky. 

So there you have it friends! These simple tips are a great way to get started and I encourage you to try them all out this week. The sooner you get to work, the sooner you’ll be able to post your first ShoutOut! Next time, I’ll provide more advanced techniques to grow your following once you’ve mastered these first steps. 

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for daily inspiration and chances to engage with other Creators! The Creator.co Community is very supportive of each other.

Before you go, I’d like to introduce you to our friends at The Influencer Academy. I absolutely love providing you with tips and tricks but if you’re ready to grow as a professional Creator NOW, check out their programs taught by industry experts! I’m excited to watch you succeed and am always here to support you on your journey! You got this.