How to Be An Instagram Model

Influencers have become the latest popular aspiration for young people, and it’s easy to see why; on the surface, influencers lead glamorous lives and make a lot of money by seemingly travelling the world, eating at the most expensive restaurants, getting free gifts from brands, meeting celebrities and attending events. 

But there is a lot more to being an influencer than you may think. Models who use Instagram to become “Insta-famous” will also face these difficulties, as anyone who is famous via social media can be deemed an influencer. 

Read on to find out what it takes to become an Instagram model. 

Instagram Model and Influencers

As we mentioned above, Instagram models could also be called influencers. That’s because anyone who has a large following has the ability to influence them. So a model with a large social media platform follower count can also be called an influencer. 

An Instagram model is someone who posts modelling photos (usually their own, but sometimes those taken by a photographer, brand or company) onto their Instagram feed. The public (from the UK and worldwide) can follow the account and see what the model is up to.

Instagram models can make a lot of money through social media. Instagram is the most popular platform, but YouTube can also be lucrative. Both require a lot of time and effort, with many influencers making nothing at all for months, if not years to begin with. 

Insta models can make money via Instagram in the following ways:

– Being an affiliate. This is when an influencer uses a discount code (usually featuring their name in some way) to give followers a percentage off a certain brand, event or product. In return, the influencer earns a cut each time a sale is made using their code. 

– Brands can pay an influencer to endorse or advertise a product

– Brands can pay an influencer to create content for them (Instagram posts, stories, videos etc – influencers will usually charge extra for any content they make to be used by the brand in marketing material). 

Why Model On Instagram

There are plenty of reasons models like to use Instagram. For one, it allows the model access to build a following. It can help make them money, and extend their public reach. 

It also gives them total control over how they are perceived – they alone control the content on their feed (unless they hire a social media manager to do it for them, which many tend to do once they earn a certain amount as it can be very time consuming). When the press posts a story about a model, the model has zero control over what is said. Social media allows them to regain control of their own narrative. 

How to Make Money On Instagram

To make money on Instagram, you need a certain amount of Instagram followers and post engagement. Brands will pay for work from a model depending on the model’s demand. The higher demand you are, the more you can request. Celebs with millions of followers can make thousands of pounds from a single post. Brands are willing to pay this much because a single post can result in a lot of sales and brand attention – more than what traditional advertising could achieve. 

The more real followers you have (not bots), the better. Some models can start earning money with only 1000 followers, but these deals are usually paid in freebies. Most brands are more concerned about post engagement; they want to see your followers are active and regularly engage with your page. This way, they know followers are more likely to click on any adverts. 

Terms of agreement and contracts are always different depending on the brand and the influencer. It’s a good idea to read up on how these work in-depth, so you don’t get caught out. Always read contracts thoroughly before agreeing or signing anything; sometimes, key clauses can be left out or left until the last page. 

Contracts should be thorough. It’s not as simple as paying an influencer for a photo of the product; a lot more needs to be decided. When will the influencer post it? Will they keep the post on their page, and if so, for how long? Will they post more than one? Will they also post to their story? What does the brand want as the post caption? 

An influencer may agree to make content for a brand – for example, a photo that is posted to the influencer’s Instagram feed. But this is different to making content that can be used by the brand in marketing. An influencer can charge much more if they know their content is being used in print or elsewhere by the brand. These specifics are really important and should be looked out for, as companies will always try to pay as little as they can get away with. 

How Much Money Do Instagram Models Make? 

How much an Instagram model makes depends on several factors:

– The amount of followers

– The amount of post engagement

– Their current popularity

– How in-demand they are with other companies

The influencers who tend to do best are celebrities who have already found fame elsewhere. Runway models like American model Bella Hadid, her sister Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner and her sister Kylie Jenner, Miranda Kerr and Cara Delevingne are all known as today’s supermodels, and they can make hundreds of thousands of pounds for a single post. Their fans buy into anything they promote, regardless of whether they genuinely like or use it. 

Beginners can expect to make little to nothing until they have built up a decent profile. Payments for content can range from as little as £20. It all depends how much work you are willing to do. Sometimes, it can be worth agreeing to work just to get the experience and exposure.  

How Do I Become an Instagram Model?

To get started, you’ll need your own Instagram account. It’s free to create a profile, but be ready for some intense hard work – it’s an incredibly competitive social media platform and you’ll have a lot of work to do. 

Instagram is controlled by an algorithm. This algorithm controls who sees what, and when. You need to master the algorithm to give yourself the best chance of success. Unfortunately, Instagram is constantly changing and updating its algorithm, and it never fully discloses the changes they make. Tricky!

Understanding the algorithm relies mostly on trial and error. A lot of information is shared online, so keep abreast of any news. 

Once your profile is created, you can start posting. It’s a good idea to start strong, and only post photos which are high-quality and well-lit. You can use different editing functions to make photos look better. The more you practice with these, the better you will get at using them. You can also purchase pre-edits that will change the way your photo looks at the click of a button. 

Post images that you yourself would like to see from other users. You want to entice people to stop and look at your photo. Better yet, you want people to like, comment or otherwise engage with your post or profile. 

The Instagram algorithm likes when you post regularly, so try to post consistently. Trial different days and times to suss out when you get the most engagement. 

You should also spend time following and engaging with other accounts, including brands. 

If you manage to land some professional modelling work, make sure you ask for permission to post any photos taken. If you want, you can book in for a photo shoot to get some professional-looking photos taken that you can then pay for and share to your Instagram account. Don’t post them all at once; post them over the course of several days or even weeks. Try mixing up your posts so they don’t become stagnant or boring. For inspiration, check out what your favourite influencers are posting. 

Once you have amassed a decent amount of followers and you are getting plenty of likes and engagement, you can then feel confident enough to approach brands for work. Be polite and courteous; it’s best to try and find the brand’s marketing department, and these are the people who will deal with social media marketing. State your costs upfront – this makes it far easier for brands to figure out if they have the budget to work with you. Be clear about what you are willing to do. If you have figures including your return rate and regular post engagement, include these in your pitch. Brands want to see that you will earn them a decent amount of website views or, even better, sales. You need to show you can do this and are worth the cost. There are apps you can download that you can sync to your Instagram account that will show you these figures. Many are free. 

Standing Out From the Crowd

Finding Instagram fame isn’t easy. It’s extremely competitive and gets more difficult as the years go on. But then again, having a successful modeling career is also difficult – if it is your dream, you will always have the determination and passion to do it. If your goal is to become a model, you should do both at the same time. Find a modelling agency and create an Instagram account. We mentioned above that fashion models who do well naturally have a lot of fans, and these translate into Instagram followers with little to no work on the model’s part. 

Models including the likes of Emily Ratajkowski, Chrissy Teigen, Ashley Graham, Josephine Skriver and Candice Swanepoel all started out as supermodels, and created incredibly successful Instagram accounts on the back of their stardom. If you have a portfolio of work that includes brands like Versace, Prada, Burberry and Ralph Lauren, or if you manage to get work at London/Paris/New York fashion week, you will have a lot of amazing material for your Instagram. You will also likely be in the public eye, so you should be able to use this to your advantage to grow your own personal Instagram. 

Other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are popular, but none so much as Instagram. Instagram is a photo-sharing platform and makes more sense for a model to use, since their primary job is using their looks to sell products. 

To stand out, you’ll need an excellent modelling portfolio full of Vogue-worthy images. Once you gain modelling work and experience, you’ll have lots of photos to pick and choose from (only ever include your absolute best photos in your portfolio). However, if you’re just starting out, you might not yet have any photos. This is when it is a good idea to hire a photographer for a professional photo shoot. You can then purchase these photos not only for your portfolio, but to be used on your social media, too. Check out fashion magazines for image inspiration and try to create unique and eye-catching images that show off your natural beauty. 

The most important part of making it as an Instagram model is persevering. Don’t give up; you never know when a post might go viral. Big influencers often say they were close to giving up just before they made it big. If you want to be a model, you should work hard at your Instagram account alongside attempting to get signed to an agency.

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