How to Become Instagram Model: The Exact Strategies I Used To Get 6K Followers in 8 Months

While scrolling the Instagram feed you often see stunning pictures of models, their outfits, and lifestyles. This may inspire you to learn how to become an Instagram model.

Or you might ALREADY be looking at how to start a fashion or modeling page on Instagram. But you always end up with some excuse, like I am not rich, I don’t look good, I have no skills, how to start and blah, blah…

If so, no worries, you are in the right hands. In this post, I’ve incorporated basic to advanced Instagram strategies that helped me grow my page with over 6,000 followers in just 7-8 months.

And the best part is that these strategies work with any type of niche. You just need the right direction, dedication, and time to implement these strategies.

So before getting started, let me tell you a little bit about my page.

A Little Introduction to My Instagram Page

My Instagram page handle is @the20quotes. It’s a motivational page where you can find success quotes, motivational videos, and reels that can empower you to keep going.

I started this page on July 28, 2020, and gained 6K followers in 7-8 months.

Let’s have a look at my analytics…

At the time of publishing this post, it had a total of 6057 followers.

More insights…

It took me 8 months. Because initially, I knew nothing about Instagram and never used it professionally. But you should not wait so long.

Although my insight is not so impressive, it is a great achievement for me and can inspire you to achieve these results in just 2-3 months.

Well now you know my page … but one thing you can still be wondering about is that it is a motivational page and it has nothing to do with modeling.

Well, motivational theme pages are one of the few oversaturated niches (such as health and fitness, fashion, beauty, travel, and business) on Instagram.

The Growth strategy is almost the same for all niches. The only difference is the type of content you need to serve to attract a targeted audience.

In my opinion, if you know how to grow an over-saturated niche page on Instagram, you can grow any niche page on Instagram whether it’s a business page or a modeling page.

I hope you are convinced by now. Assuming this, I am now going to walk you through a step-by-step guide explaining how to become an Instagram model.

Let’s break it down into pieces.

First of all, I want to talk about the things that you shouldn’t be doing on Instagram…

Don’ts

• Don’t Buy Instagram Followers – Usually, these followers are fake. I’ve seen accounts with over 100K followers and still get very low engagement. Most importantly, Instagram is now removing accounts with a huge number of fake followers. So, you shouldn’t be doing it.
• Don’t use third-party apps or services to generate likes, comments, or followers.
• Don’t post too much – I’ve seen that posting too much content on a daily basis can cut your organic growth and IG machine learning can flag your account as well.
• Don’t follow more than 200 accounts at once.
• Don’t post irrelevant content – As your account is about modeling so you are not supposed to post something else. You can post your modeling pics, videos, and reels.
• Don’t post vulgar, impolite, uncivilized, and indecent photos of yours. It’s not good for you and your account as well. People may enjoy your lewd content but they never follow you.
• Don’t post low-quality content – Instagram is not going to serve low-quality pictures, videos, or reels to anyone as a result, no engagement.
• Don’t Join Telegram Engagement Groups, DM Groups, And Instagram pods. {Since Instagram is about to release a content monetization program, fake or artificial engagement is prohibited. }

This is why I’m going to reveal my strategies that can help you gain the first 1K followers on Instagram in one month and over 10K followers in 7-8 months.

Tools I used to create POST, REELS, and STORIES for my PAGE

• CANVA – Its free version is powerful enough to find the best background images AND create stunning posts. Check it out  – it’s free!
• Flick –  One of my favorite Instagram Growth tools that help me find the best hashtags and also tells me about the list of hashtags for which my content has ranked. 

So without further ado, let’s get started…

In the beginning, it’s tough to lure people to your Instagram profile. So how is it going to work?

No worries! Here is my first strategy….

Collect the Best of the Best

The strategy is about collecting the best of the best accounts and content available on Instagram in your niche.

In your case, it’s MODELING. Right?

So what you have to do is find 5 – 6 top modeling profiles and check their number of followers, engagement, post content, story content, reels, type of hashtags, potential reach, and highlights.

Now let’s see how to do THIS…

For instance, if you search for ‘#modeling’, you’ll see something like this…

From here, you can pick some good accounts and check their high-performing posts, hashtags, and other metrics I have told you above.

Doing this can give you a little idea about what is working on Instagram in the modeling industry.

NOTE: I don’t like the ‘search by account’ feature of Instagram as it shows irrelevant and fake profiles. So better you ‘search by the hashtag”. It will give you top-ranked content on a particular hashtag that you have searched for.

Moreover, you can also search for similar hashtags for more content exposure.

People usually put hashtags into the CAPTION section. You can find similar hashtags from there and use a few of these in your content as well.

It’s the basic strategy but most people ignore it. But you should be doing this as it enables you to find the best content, hashtags, and highly engaging-story content in your niche.

Key points –

• It helps you understand what’s going around your niche
• You can find high-performing content in your niche
• It gives you an idea of whether or not you are capable of producing the type of content
• It sets you up for the beginning and enables you to think with a right perspective

 

Account SETUP + Page SEO

First thing first…

Account SETUP.

Well, you are not here to learn how to create an account on Instagram. It’s too basic.

But still, you need to know two things before you create your account. The one is the Username and the second one is the Account Name.

You need to pick them WISELY. For that, you have to discover a focus keyword that you can incorporate into both Username and Account name. It’s the Part of Instagram Page SEO.

How do you do it?

As your niche is ‘Instagram modeling’, you should look for the most relevant niche-targeted hashtags.

And for this, you have to search for a hashtag like ‘#modeling’ in the Instagram search bar. Within a second, you see a list of similar hashtags that you can choose as your focus keyword.

Once you have your keyword, you can somehow include it into your username or account name in such a way that it looks natural.

So far you have successfully optimized your username and account name for Instagram SEO.

One more thing you can do is switch your personal Instagram account into a business or creator account. However, it’s not a ranking factor on Instagram but can give a closer look at your profile’s engagement, total reach, and follower breakdown that can help you keep track of your account performance.

Profile Optimization

This is an essential part of Instagram SEO as it encourages users to follow your account.

In fact, I saw a significant increase in the number of followers after optimizing my profile.

So how can you do it?

Your profile consists of the 4 most important things –

1. Logo
2. Account Name & Username (I’ve already told you how to optimize your Account name )
3. BIO
4. Highlights

LOGO

Although it does not affect Instagram SEO, a professionally designed logo/profile picture can reveal a lot about you, your account, and your business.

In fact, it’s the first appearance of your profile and can significantly help you gain more followers and trust.

Uploading a high-quality LOGO/photo can make your profile stand out from the crowd. So make sure you always have one for your account.

BIO

Bio is an essential part of profile optimization. It encourages users to take immediate action and can turn a regular visitor into a loyal follower or a buying customer.

As you’re here to become an Instagram model, your first job is to look at your profiles from a modeling perspective.

Doing so can help you discover the purpose of starting your modeling page on Instagram. It could be anything from gaining popularity to making money.

Whatever the case, you need to optimize your BIO accordingly.

Quick tips to create a compelling Instagram bio for your modeling page

1. Keep your Bio short and readable
2. Include at least 1-3 keywords in your BIO (ex: Modeling, fashion, Beauty)
3. Introduce yourself in the first line of Bio (For example, I’m a professional blogger; so I’ve added a Professional blogger in the first line to my BIO.)
4. Include one line that asks users to take action (ex: Check Out my free modeling kit, or beauty products)
5. Add a BIO link that takes users to an offer page or something you promised earlier.

That’s it!

HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights can encourage users to spend more time on your profile. It gives more life to your story’s content.

Adding 5 – 6 highlights can do wonders!

You can use highlights for many reasons. For instance, you can add a highlight to introduce yourself and your business. Or maybe you can add one that can help people discover the high-performing content on your profile.

You can even stronger relationship with your audience by adding highlights about your personal moments, lifestyle, and achievements.

So far you’ve learned how to start and optimize an Instagram account.

Let’s unleash a few Instagram growth strategies that helped me grow my account from nothing to 6K genuine followers and will surely help you grow your modeling page.

 

1. Follow – Unfollow

Many of you are well aware of this strategy. Some say that it no longer works. Well, maybe they don’t know how this strategy works.

But trust me, this is a good starting point because initially, you have nothing; No content, no awareness, no followers!

It is an easy but effective strategy that not only increases followers but also increases engagement and awareness.

Still not convinced?

Let me tell you a story of mine…

When I started, I had similar thoughts about this strategy. I abandoned it for a few weeks.

But later my myth got busted. I came to know how other Instagram influencers are leveraging the power of this strategy to increase post reach and engagement.

Although it involves a lot of upfront work, it can be very spectacular in the beginning.

So here are a few steps I took for 7 weeks to achieve the first 1K followers

1. First, create at least 9 posts to fill your profile. (Tip: Do not post more than 3 a day.)
2. Then search for the most popular and highly engaged accounts in the modeling niche. Then open their follower list and follow 20 – 30 people from each account.
3. Repeat the same process until the ‘FOLLOWING count’ reaches 100 – 200 per day. Out of these, 20 – 30 people will follow you back.
4. You need to connect with your new followers so that they feel more affinity towards you. This will encourage them to engage with your content as well.
5. After a week, unfollow those who are not following you.
6. And from the next round, go through the same process (step 2 to step 6) again.

Repeat the entire process for at least 5-6 weeks to get your first 1K followers.

NOTE: There is no secret option to get 1K followers within 10 days other than running paid advertisements on Instagram or buying fake followers.

But in the beginning, you do not need to spend money on advertising. So here you are left with only the organic strategy that I have shared above that is ‘Follow- Unfollow’

 

2. Follow A Few Accounts Similar To Modeling

Follow 30-50 accounts with at least 1K followers and 50 – 100 accounts with at least 100K followers in your modeling niche.

Interact with some of these accounts every day. (Like, Save, or Comment).

This helps Instagram define your interest and it encourages you to put your account on the suggestion list; as a result, more followers.

I am not going into details. But trust me, it is going to help you gain more followers.

 

3. Interact With the ‘Story Content’

Story Content is going to play an important role in the journey of becoming a model on Instagram.

With this strategy, you can increase your profile reach and encourage others to engage with your content.

But always remember to try to interact with accounts with fewer followers. BIG accounts are not going to check you because they get hundreds of DMs every day.

What happens is that when you interact with other people’s stories, Instagram sends a DM notification to all those accounts.

It encourages all those account holders to check your profile; As a result, more profile visits that greatly increase your reach.

Of course, this is not going to happen from day one, you need to spend time in your niche every day and interact with more and more new accounts to get significant results.

 

4. Cross Promotion

Another great growth strategy to increase followers on Instagram is cross-promotion. Of course, for this, you must have at least 300 – 500 followers before asking for a shout-out.

How can you do this…?

First thing first … Increase your followers to 300 – 500 using the strategies mentioned above.

After that, look for modeling accounts that are similar to yours and send them a DM asking about a shout-out.

If either of them responds positively, you can post their content, mention their IG handle in the description and entice your audience to follow them. And they will do the same for you…

It is time-consuming but really helps you to target similar audiences who are interested in your content.

And it can help you gain 500 – 1K followers in a month.

Note: Don’t overdo it, once a week is appropriate.

 

5. REELS

Ever since Instagram introduced reels, it has become the easiest way to increase followers and profile reach.

Unfortunately, this has significantly reduced post-reach.

So the catch here is that you have to leverage new features or tools introduced by Instagram to get the maximum possible reach.

As you are in the modeling niche, you can add quick trending fashions and style types of reels to get more eyeballs to your account.

Or if you can’t upload a reel, you can curate someone else’s reel and upload it to your account. (Please do not forget to credit the original source.)

You can initially do this to increase your Instagram account.

Using reels for your Instagram growth strategy can literally help you gain 10K followers in a month quickly.

Yes! I’m not kidding.

It is consistency and luck. If you keep posting reels regularly, I guarantee you that one of your reels will go viral soon.

And you may be lucky to get followers so quickly.

Trust me, it is not difficult to gain 10K followers in a month with reels.

NOTE: Also consider uploading video posts to attract a different audience to your account.

 

6. Hashtags

The hashtag can literally help you with anything, whether you want to grow your posts organically, increase followers, get more likes, or want to reach a completely new audience.

The hashtags are GOLDMINE.

But it is not so easy to rank on hashtags. There is a lot of competition.

With that said, you cannot expect to rank initially on competitive hashtags like #modeling, #fashion, and #beauty. For that, you need a strategy. And I’m going to share that Instagram Hashtag strategy right away.

So let’s get into it…

• First, create one or two hashtags with your username. (For example, if your username is ‘modelinggirl’, your hashtag may be #modelinggirl.) It helps your audience find your content easily. And whenever you post new content with this hashtag, Instagram associates that post with this hashtag. And of course, it represents your brand.
• Choose 20 – 25 hashtags for your account. You can try the TAGIFY application to make it simple. Or you can also go with a Pro tool like Flick to better optimize the hashtag.
• Use the ladder technique. Accordingly, make a set of 5 – 10 less competitive hashtags, 5 – 10 medium, and 2-3 higher competitive hashtags.
• Do not change the hashtag again and again. You must serve enough content for the hashtags you want to rank for.
• The maximum hashtag limit is 30. So I suggest that you do not use more than 20 – 25.

A Few More Tips That Can Help You Become Instagram Model

Narrow your niche – If you want to monetize your Instagram account realistically, I suggest you narrow your niche. Go with something more specific that is appealing to people and brands. So instead of modeling here, you can go for traditional modeling, bikini modeling, fitness modeling, runway modeling, and more.

Content – Post engaging and interesting content regularly. People like to see something unexpected. So you can combine modeling with something unexpected to amaze people. @mirandakerr, @rosiehw, and @meganmayw are some of the popular models on Instagram you can follow to get more content ideas.

Consistency is the key – you can always expect better if you never give up. In fact, when I started, I had less than 10 likes for about 2-3 weeks.

Make your profile public – no one is going to follow you, without leveraging your content. And if you keep your profile private, people can’t access your content and will leave your account without following you. So always remember that you have a public account.

Ranked hashtags can be your success. And you can leverage the power of Flick (One of the best Instagram growth tools suggested by Instagram influencers) to grow even faster on Instagram. With it, you can monitor the performance of your account, rank hashtags, and find suitable hashtags that can work like a charm for you.

 

Over To You

So here is a complete guide on how you can become an Instagram model.

These are the exact strategies I used to increase my followers and engagements. And I know that it really works whether you are in an entrepreneurial niche or modeling.

However, there are some other strategies that I am working on right now. I will reveal them in the future when they start working for me.

Till then stay tuned! And subscribe to my newsletter to get such actionable content in your inbox.

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