Instafamous - How to Go from Zero to Instahero

When I came up with the idea for this article, I thought my mom had made up the term “Instafamous.” I figured it was something she’d read online or something she derived when coining adjectives to describe people such as Paige Hathaway, Shawn Megira, Jenna Marbles, or LeBron James (he might be famous in real life, too). In this day and age, with the whole world connecting via Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope, and whatever other platform I missed, it’s easy to get lost in the social media shuffle. On the whole, Instagram seems to be the one that people are paying the most attention to and gaining the most traction lately. This is because Twitter is losing popularity in general, and Facebook has become a “pay to play” (meaning that ever since they started encouraging users and businesses to “boost” posts, business and fan pages haven’t been getting noticed as much). They’ve also changed the algorithm for their news feed several times, meaning that not even your friends will always show up when you log in. With that said, the statistics for Instagram speak for themselves:

- As of Sept. 22, 2015, Instagram had over 400 million active users
- 20% of all Internet users use Instagram
- 75 million people use Instagram daily
- 30% of teens in the US consider it the most important social network

As you can see, Instagram isn’t just an app anymore; it’s an entire social media entity and web presence unto itself. Instagram is a way of life. A study done by the University of Queensland in Australia established that the greater number of likes and comments a person receives on social media, the better they’ll feel about themselves. How people feel about themselves is directly tied to their likeability on social media! With that said, although interesting, this article isn’t about human psychology or about the changing nature of social media’s popularity, but rather, about your popularity. These statistics should be kept in mind if you’re trying to establish yourself as a brand or establish your social media “identity,” but really, this article is all about you! It’s about how to get yourself recognized online in a world of over 400 million users.

You’re passionate about what you do, you’re trying to create your brand, and you have killer abs. So, where you do start?

How to Get Followers

1. Buy them
There’s no shame in it. Do a Google search. There are pages and pages of websites and services that will send followers your way for a nominal fee. For a slightly higher fee, these sites will get automated web robots that perform tasks (aka “bots”) to like your pictures as well, thus creating the illusion that you’re a lot more popular than you are. Websites offer 10,000 followers for less than sixty bucks! Their pitch in favour of buying followers is surprisingly compelling, especially if you run a business (or athlete page) on Instagram:

You are judged by the number of likes and followers you have on any social media platform, and Instagram is no different. A less-than-impressive number can shift the focus from you to others. Remain in the limelight online with our Instagram Followers service, and get the kind of following you have always wanted for your profile or website. With our Instagram Followers plan, you too can make a compelling presence on the site and make a difference to your sales and profits. We have several packages for individuals, companies, and corporations.

Kinda makes you want to cheat the system, doesn’t it? Gotta spend money to make money, as 7the saying goes.

2. Grow organically—i.e., don’t buy them
This may be a longer, more grueling process, but if you have a conscience, a lot of free time on your hands, and truly great content, it’s the better option. There are many tips and tricks to use to build your audience and engagement, but I’ve narrowed down the top four based on articles, anecdotes from businesses and my own experience.

Tip 1: Stick to a Theme/Define Your Brand
“Brands are not specific to companies. Brands are both feelings and ideas you communicate every single day whether as a person or an organization. Your brand is your reputation. The best way to protect your brand is to stay true to the vision in all that you do, in all that you communicate. Once you get off message, you risk damaging your brand. It's hard to make anyone change their mind about you once you've gone too far off track and you are struggling to get back to the vision.”

—Anna Wilder, Brand Manager at De Novo Nutrition, BFA in Graphic Design, MA in Design Management.

The following are questions are ones you need to ask yourself as you set yourself up as a brand instead of just an individual: What is my brand purpose and its values? What do we stand for? Who is my core target market? What are their demographic characteristics (age, sex, location, income, cultural characteristics)? What are their psychographic characteristics (attitudes, interests and opinions); for example, if you represent a clothing company, what’s with all the memes on your IG page? Are the quotes even appropriate for your target market, or are they too hardcore?

Tip 2: Use Filters
People like great photos; it’s that simple. Photographers have excellent followings on social media because they know how to take great photos! Lighting, angles, contrast, colors, shadow, and depth of field are all elements to consider in a fantastic picture. But you don’t have to be a professional to create professional-quality photos! Consider getting an app on your phone for photo editing and another for cool filters in order to make your photos more appealing and “likeable.” According to an article in The Huffington Post, Willow was the most popular filter, with Normal (i.e., #NoFilter) taking second place. “Other high-contrast and high-saturation filters, such as Toaster, Mayfair, Sutro, and Hefe ranked highly, while Inkwell, Sierra, 1977, and Rise rounded out the bottom of the list.”

Mark Bradfield, a professional photographer who has shot some of the best IFBB pros in the business, including Justine Munro, Sadik Hadzovik, and Ashley Kaltwasser, gives you tips on taking the perfect selfie.

“The background or setting is often as important as the person in the picture. Why? You’re not likely just saying ‘Here I am’ as much as you’re saying ‘I am here.’ So, the setting is quite important. Because of this, you’ll want to have the camera/phone far enough away from your face, so you can capture some of that background. If your arms aren’t long enough, you might invest in a ‘selfie stick.’

“Lighting is important in a photo. In a selfie, it’s even more crucial, since smartphones don’t often have a flash on the forward-facing camera—that is, the one that’s on the same side of the screen. So, you’ve got to utilize natural light. Always have your arm reaching toward the light source (sun, lamp, window, etc), so that your face is well lit.

“Hold the camera slightly above your head. This will provide a more flattering look for you, as well as aid in capturing more of the background.

“Don’t take the moment too seriously! Be yourself, live in the moment. and show your fun side. After all, you’re documenting a great moment, one which you’ll want to view later, again and again.”

Caveat: If you use too many filters, and edit your selfies beyond what’s reasonable, people will notice. It’s one thing to post pictures that have been retouched by a professional photographer, but it’s another thing for you to put X-PRO II on blast and not have people recognize you in real life. There’s a balance—find it.

Tip 3a and b: Engage with Others/Collaborate
In terms of how to engage, there are several ways. Firstly, take time to acknowledge your audience in some way. At MUSCLE INSIDER, we try to respond to about 80 to 90 percent of the comments we receive on Instagram and Facebook, and on Twitter, we’ll often retweet, favourite, or like peoples’ responses to us. This shows your brand cares and is present. In addition, take time to go to other peoples’ pages and let them know they’re doing a great job and that you appreciate what they’re doing, too. Actions like this will demonstrate that you’re not just in it for yourself, but that you’re happy seeing other people succeed. Lastly, post a picture of you and a celebrity! Tag them in it and also find out what hashtags their brand is using. For example, Phil Heath uses #GiftedNutrition and #GiftedAthletes; there’s a chance you’ll get a shoutout, Repost, or Reply. Phil Heath has 1.2 million followers—it doesn’t hurt to try.

Regarding collaborations (that is, you and another InstaCelebrity teaming up in a video or photo shoot), Wilder had the following to say: “Make sure your values line up with your partnership or collaboration. It should also boost your credibility or reputation as an organization. All parties are risking sharing their reputations with one another, so be wise and selective. It’s difficult to change the minds of your consumer once you’ve seriously messed up.”

Tip 4: HASHTAG
Hashtags are a way for people with the same interests or people who are looking for the same thing to connect. Dan Zarrella, a marketing specialist who works for Hubspot, found the following information regarding hashtags: “Selfies with the tag #likeforlike received 5 percent more likes than the average selfie. The most powerful hashtags are a set of reciprocity indicating tags including “#followforfollow,” “#likeforlike,” and “#tagsforlikes.” This also correlates to the “Engage with others” tip. Additionally, Zarrella also found that photos with captions that included the word “like” had more likes than those without, and those with “comment” got more comments … go figure.

Caveat: According to one study, posts that used three hashtags yielded the highest engagement rate, 3.03 percent. So play around with this tip a little bit and see what works for you.

Now that you know all the industry trade secrets, go back to your Instagram account, and take stock of what you’re doing right and what you could be doing more right!