If you don’t see your industry on this list, don’t panic. There are influencers for pretty much every niche. The Instagram influencers you pick for your strategy don’t have to be the biggest or most well-known – they just need a niche audience relevant to your industry.
- Beauty
- Lifestyle
- Food
- Travel
- Fashion
- Fitness / Health / Wellness
- Parenting
- Photography
- Finance & Technology
- Automotive
Industry # 1: Beauty
The beauty industry has always been a hotspot for influencers. People want to see how products look on before they buy them, and they also want to learn how to use them. Traditional ads show products on one skin type and color, and the photos are often edited. Now, people can find an influencer with the same skin tone and type to see how products will actually work for them. When you look at how the average makeup user’s skills evolved since the beauty industry hit social media, you know how impactful these influencers are.
Top us Instagram influencers are busy on Instagram.
2 - @alexandra_anele
3 - @aminamarie
4 - @platinum_d
5 - @kassiabarbo
“I'm a storyteller whose mission is to connect via authenticity and exciting imagery, and both brands and followers love the content I produce. I only post about things that interest me and products that are tried and true! This helps my audience stay engaged and keeps my account personal.” @Jessicacarrielee
Industry #2: Lifestyle
Lifestyle is a catch-all term for influencers who post about life in general. Their content is centered around things we all do in our daily lives like cleaning, cooking, shopping, traveling, etc.
1 - @daniduqued
2 - @anaflorentyna
3 - @stylishlystella
5 - @k8_smallthings
7- @allisaros
8- @aspynovard
Industry #3: Food
Food bloggers on Instagram post recipes, beautifully plated home-cooked dishes, and reviews of the hottest restaurants all over the world.
1 - @chefwsimpson
2 - @bakerbynature
3 - @gatherandfeast
4 - @fionaeats365
6- @skinnytaste
“Once I started sharing my dishes on Instagram it really inspired me to get better. I enjoy the creative process and I’m always thinking about the next dish. I’m very inspired by the work of so many amazing chefs on Instagram. The fact that what I do can inspire others as well is very gratifying.” - @HomeChefSeattle
Industry #4: Travel
Travel vloggers post amazing pictures from their world travels, helping Instagram users live vicariously and book their next vacation, too.
1 - @claireandpeter
2 - @colleen.travels
3 - @travelingspud
“I write about topics I'm passionate about and I think that translates to my followers… I want brands to know that when I partner with them, I will do everything I can for a successful campaign. I don't look at brands as just a business but rather someone who I believe in and want my followers to truly understand! My followers would know in an instant if a partnership didn't seem like a good fit.” - @thehonestshruth
Industry #5: Fashion
Find a fashion influencer on Instagram who fits your vibe, and you can see a curated collection of clothing in your style. Bonus points if the person is your same body type, as this shows you what the pieces would look like on your body.
1 - @lexymonty
3 - @guizioo
4 - @stylishcurves
5 - @tylynnnguyen
6 - @claire_most
“This is real work that requires dedication. I put a lot of effort in my work, just like brands! I love to create great content for brands. Inspiring content and beautiful pictures help both sides of this industry grow. I turn down brands that I don't feel are a good fit for my work and my personal brand and I keep doing it. It is important for me to be consistent and share real content that reflects me.” @SobreTacos
Industry #6: Fitness / Health / Wellness
This group of influencers posts everything about wellness. There are gym rats posting workout routines, healthy eating accounts, holistic wellness pages, and more.
1 - @wellnourished
2 - @julesacree
5 - @wellnessmama
6 - @wholesome_lee
“I think authenticity has been the key to both creating and maintaining my engaged community. I strive to bring realness to the Instagram platform, which can often be a highlight reel. By sharing my everyday thoughts and experiences on my stories/feed and actively commenting and replying, this fosters a genuine sense of connection and community through which I can relate to others and they can relate to me.” - @TheNoGlutenGirl
Industry #7: Parenting
Nobody looks for recommendations harder than a new parent. Babies are cute. Their little baby clothes are cute. Instagram loves it.
1 - @the.dad.vibes
2 - @dawnpdarnell
3 - @mama.shocks
4 - @missesmeili
5 - @rachelearls
6 - @balancewithb
7- @kkandbabyj
“I try every day to engage with my community and create content that I think they would like to see and read. Summer was a perfect time to talk a bit about some family-friendly beaches in Los Angeles. Fall is coming and I am already looking for pumpkin patches, apple picking places, and forests in the area to make some posts about them. When I choose to promote a brand, I do it with love and care, in both languages, on my blog and my Instagram.” - @NerysDelCarmen
Industry #8: Photography
Photography accounts for the sake of photography are the OGs of Instagram.
1 - @Jguzmannn
2 - @Emilyblincoe
3 - @hungryasianrke
5 - @theblondeabroad
6 - @tiffpenguin
7 - @eugenerichardsphotography
“I spent a lot of time and effort reaching out to a multitude of people and establishing meaningful connections. I maintain engagement by staying active - I post every single day, I reach out to new people and that same action is frequently reciprocated, I am introduced to new people often and I also introduce myself to new people.” @VisualsByJack
Industry #9: Finance & Technology
Need investment advice? Not sure what credit card has the best perks? Looking for a sneak peek at the latest and greatest from Apple or a review of all things tech? These influencers have got you covered.
1- @gpstephan
2- @linustech
3- @mkbhd
Industry #10: Automotive
These accounts = car reviews galore. Find everything you’ll ever need to know about automotive industry news from influencers like the ones below.
2- @thestradman
4- @donutmedia
6- @schmee150
7- @sortedornot
Why Influencer marketing is so important on Instagram
Top US Instagram influencers have created their own ecosystem over the years. While the concept of an influencer has been around since Roman gladiators endorsed products, the rise of social media marketing made influencing an actual job title.
Influencers make their living by advertising via native content. They build an audience around their interests and talents, instill trust in their followers, then use or advertise products they believe their followers will benefit from.
Find micro and macro influencers with Talkwalker Social Intelligence. Above is the list of influencers who generated the most engagement during the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.
Get closer to influencers’ audience, and thus to your customers
The key here is trust. The most successful influencers know that taking any sponsorship that hits their inbox will not fly. They have to curate their product recommendations to include only the products they truly believe are relevant and useful for their audience. The greater the trust, the stronger the influencer.
Because influencers advertise your products seamlessly within their own content, their ads don’t appear spammy or out of place on the platform. That’s the issue a lot of paid advertisements run into. If they look like a traditional ad, they’ll stick out like a sore thumb (one that Instagram users will swipe right past).
A cost-efficient advertising strategy based on trust
While every social media marketing strategy can benefit from paid ads, influencer marketing is typically more cost-effective. You reach a wider audience that already trusts the influencer’s recommendations are sound.
eYour ads will run their course and disappear but sponsored Instagram posts aren’t going anywhere. Users will continue to stalk, share, and engage long beyond the posting date.
"Over the last 6 years, I've spent countless hours engaging and being vulnerable with my audience. I've taken them through my entire journey and have constantly given back to them through self-sponsored giveaways and more. Above all, every time I post something, I make sure I'm providing value to them. I understand that a community doesn't necessarily care about you, they care about what they can get from you. My goal is to always be of service and to be as open as possible to help change people's lives." - Erica Eckman (@EverythingErica)
How to choose the right influencer for your marketing campaign
When choosing an influencer, you’ll need to balance reach and niche. The bigger the reach, the more visibility your post will get. On the flip side, you need a niche influencer whose audience is hyper-relevant to your target audience.
Top influencer versus micro-influencer
Typically, influencers with smaller audiences will be less expensive. Brands with a tight marketing budget may benefit from choosing highly niched micro-influencers for this reason. Micro-influencers is just a term for smaller influencers with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers. Some brands even work with nano-influencers 100 and 1,000.
Trust the data, not the hype
Next up, you need to ensure the influencer’s values, interests, and audience are relevant to your target audience. Their audience needs to be your target audience. The bigger influencers might have enticing metrics, but that doesn’t mean anything if the people liking their posts aren’t interested in your products.
Last up, you need to check engagement rates. Follower count doesn’t have much impact on the effectiveness of your influencer marketing campaign. The number you really need to pay attention to is the engagement rate. This shows how many of the influencer's followers actually like, comment, and share their content.
It would also be a good idea to check out the influencer’s typical sentiment and see how their content is usually received. Avoid working with influencers who’ve struggled with recent controversy or negative sentiment and ask for testimonials from other brands, just in case.
Talkwalker is here to help
Finding the right influencer for your campaign is a big task. Combing the entire internet for the perfect content creator would take… years? Decades? Centuries? The jury is still out on that one, but here’s one thing we do know– Talkwalker can sift through the entire internet to find the perfect influencers for your campaign in seconds.
All you have to do is type in your search terms, and Talkwalker does the rest. You can find the Influencers, check their sentiment, post engagement, and more, all in one easy-to-use tool.
Ready to get started? Sign up for a free demo to take Talkwalker for a test drive
