Note: The followers listed below are accurate at the time of publication, but follower counts change often, so be sure to visit the actual account of niche influencers for precise numbers.
Are you trying to find Instagram influencers in your niche? Influencers are becoming more and more niche as time goes on, with new niches and interests seemingly popping up daily with a new influencer to share about it. Niche influencer marketing is also on the rise, with brands searching for influencers with smaller audiences who share very topical posts related to their brand.
Before you think that there aren’t any influencers relevant to your niche, here are a few types of influencers that probably won’t show up in the typical search results. You may be able to find a niche and improve your digital marketing through influencer campaigns with micro influencers. Therefore, your influencer marketing strategy should include some of these more unique niche influencers, so that your influencer marketing campaigns are reaching the right people with your brand’s message.
Here’s our list of unusual types of influencers for niche influencer marketing.
Instagram isn’t just for the young anymore. Niche influencers in their golden years, also known as “granfluencers,” have been breaking the mold. Instead of the stereotypical 20-something influencers living the high life on Instagram, they’re retirees sharing their fashion, lifestyle, and food photos with a growing population of elderly Instagram accounts.
Lyn Slater is a writer, successful influencer, and professor of social work at Fordham University. In 2014, she founded the fashion blog Accidental Icon to speak to those living interesting but ordinary lives in cities.
Kimiko Nishimoto is an 89-year old amateur photographer known for her unorthodox selfies.
A fashion model, influencer, educator, and stylist, Irvin Randle is also the inspiration behind the hashtag #MrStealYourGrandma (and all that implies).
Baddie Winkle became Insta-famous when her granddaughter posted a picture of her in cutoff shorts and tie-dye. Now, she’s living life on her own terms.
Iris Apfel is a 97-year-old New York style icon, interior & fashion designer, and business woman.
Linda Rodin and her dog Winks are sharing their inseparable bond and their fabulous fashion.
Lance is a 57-year-old fruit seller from London… and a streetwear enthusiast.
Spanish artist and opera lover Magda Llohis de Gutierrez is 76 and encouraging everyone to #bemoreMagda.
“The day you start believing your own bull—- is the beginning of the end.” — Sarah Jane Adams
Ever wondered how to clean that crevice between the oven and the counter? Or how to get the grout in your shower to sparkle without scrubbing and working your hands to the bone? Well, the cleanfluencers are social media influencers that can show you how.
Cleanfluencers emerged from the wellness trend as a much more niche content dedicated to getting your home sparkling clean. These squeaky clean influencers share time lapses of house cleanings on YouTube, before-and-after content on Instagram, and practical tips for cleaning to their Instagram Stories.
In addition to product or service recommendations and cleaning hacks, cleanfluencers offer the catharsis of cleaning their house without viewers having to lift a finger. They’re typically dressed casually and offer a no-pressure look into what life would be like if people cleaned.
Science suggests that there are higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol when women’s houses are chaotic or messy, so cleanfluencers offer the relief and the happy ending of a clean house — without any of the work.
The Instagram sensation Mrs. Hinch is so successful at her “cleanfluencing” that she has actually coined the term “Hinching” and other cleanfluencers in the space are using the term as well.
A self-proclaimed Hincher (see, we told you it was a thing), she’s crusading for a cleaner home and girl power.
Charlotte of @cleaning_my_anxiety_away directly correlates her cleaning to anxiety and mental health for a fresh mix of cleaning and positivity.
On July 26, 2019, Instagram continued the war on meme accounts when it disabled more than 142 meme pages. However, meme accounts on Instagram are still going strong, and they are growing in popularity across all social media platforms.
However in August of 2019, Instagram announced that it would be hiring its first-ever “meme manager” that would focus on strategic partnerships with digital publishers. Currently, Instagram has a tense, but working relationship with memers on the platform.
Accounts like @daquan, share memes as often as 10 times per day and appeal to Gen Z and millennials on the platform. Daquan (the pseudonym of this anonymous meme creator) was able to spin his popularity into an entire media brand with the support of a marketing agency, a website of meme content, and sponsorship deals.
According to Instagram, memes get shared seven times more than other content on the platform. These meme accounts are monetizing with stores and sponsorships, so the meme community can be a lucrative way to share your content marketing, especially if your brand is creating meme content already. The more self-deprecating, the better.
This anonymous memer has spun his Instagram account into an entire media brand.
If you ever wanted to know what people talk about in LA, here’s some wildly (and hilariously) out-of-context snippets of conversation.
This vigilante is exclusively sharing the best comments on celeb posts from other celebrities.
Serving up sass to meme enthusiasts everywhere.
There are certain brands that have undying fans and followers. Trader Joe’s, Target, and even IKEA have many of these influencers ready to share about their favorite food or find at their favorite stores.
These retail-focused Instagram accounts typically devote their entire feed to one store or brand and share from inside the store, as well as picturing their latest hauls of that brand’s products. For brands that are carried by these brick-and-mortar retailers, retail-focused Instagram accounts can help you get your products in front of the right customers.
Part cooking show, part Trader Joe’s shopping.
A Target enthusiast sharing the latest finds.
An interesting blend of IKEA furniture and home design.
The name pretty much sums things up.
Sharing every single gluten free item at Trader Joe’s.
For the bargain-hunting Target shopper.
In case bargains weren’t enough, this account also finds deals.
When retail therapy isn’t enough, there’s Target therapy.
The more fanatical approach to Target shopping.
All about customizing IKEA furniture to your unique tastes.
Finding ways to improve IKEA furniture.
For people who want to “do IKEA themselves.” Whatever that means.
In today’s world where farm-to-table and food production are hot topics, farmers are amassing followings for sharing the unvarnished truth about farm life. In addition to the pictures, farmer influencers are also focused on education about the agricultural industry. Hashtags, like #FarmingFridays and #farmwivesclub, are helping farmers to connect with the people who benefit from the crops and livestock that they produce.
Sharing her experiences on the farm, as well as rustic selfies that will make you want to up your selfie game.
Credited in his Instagram bio as both a farmer and a public speaker, he’s not your average farmer.
He’s sharing where people’s food is grown in an entirely relatable way.
The New York Times announced in June 2019 that “Instagram Therapists Are the New Instagram Poets.” These therapists, many of them licensed marriage and family therapists or psychologists, are sharing the good advice that they would normally share in a therapy session. Everything from positive self-talk to mindful practices appears on these feeds, usually with designed blocks of color that are comforting and cheery.
While they aren’t going to give you a diagnosis straight to you DMs, the posts are surprisingly insightful and provide mental health advice that is broadly applicable. Many of them use their Instagram accounts to help build their brand as a therapist, seeing clients the rest of the week when they’re not posting content.
Their content is similar to a self-help book, but is accessible in a way that other mental health services aren’t. Influencer Jenn Hardy says, “There is no reason that mental health information needs to be held behind a paywall. Access to psychotherapy requires a certain level of privilege that many people simply do not have. If you are underpaid or underinsured, the paywall may feel impenetrable. Posts by therapists on Instagram may not get you over the wall, but they do provide a window you can use to access important lessons frequently taught inside a therapy office.”
In addition to therapists, Instagram has seen growth in medical influencers. Doctors, nurses, and other specialists share their best advice to engaged followers.
Lisa Olivera shares bite-sized thoughts that you can apply to your day-to-day life and thinking.
She’s the therapist that’s helping you be a better you—one list at a time.
She’s helping her audience “create a new version of yourself.”
Ever wondered what your therapist is writing on that legal pad? Notes from your therapist are small insights, handwritten and relatable.
Teacher influencers are pulling back the curtain on their classrooms to share the color-coded bookshelves and the infinite amounts of printable worksheets. These niche influencers are followed by their fellow teachers, homeschool moms, and those interested in these behind-the-scenes looks at school.
The hashtags #TeachersofInstagram and #TeacherLife appear often, and their content is often in the bright primary and neon colors found in their classrooms.
With K-12 teachers making an average of $58,064 in 2016 and 2017, teacher influencers are able to gain additional income by sharing sponsored posts and promoting the educational tools that they sell through sites like Teachers Pay Teachers.
She provides teacher tips and free resources, in addition to promoting her paid teacher resources on Teachers Pay Teachers.
She shares teacher resources and plenty of ideas for the classroom.
She’s a 5th grade teacher who also has a blog.
You guessed it, she’s a fourth grade teacher sharing her fanciest ideas for the classroom.
While everyone seems to have an Instagram for their pets nowadays, these dogs are sharing about the heritage and sports of the American Kennel Club.
In fact, the American Kennel Club launched an entire team of “dogfluencers” on the world back in October of 2019. These influencers are canines that can help to educate about dog sports and training, according to the AKC Executive Secretary Gina DiNardo. Using the hashtag #AKCDogStar, this team is specifically posting about the world of AKC dog sports.
These pupfluencers/dogfluencers are sharing about the competitions of the dog world, including dog shows, dock diving, and agility. Most of the dogs on this elite dog team can be found on the American Kennel Club’s own Instagram page.
The latest trend in crafting is the creative planner. On Instagram, these planner influencers share “spreads” of their latest calendar pages, to-do lists, and checklists. They share pages from their planners and their bullet journals to lend their inspiration to chaotic followers trying to organize life’s many loose threads.
Hashtags like #PlannerJunkie and #BuJo are used millions of times to share different inspirational shots of organized planners and journals.
Heather Kell has a thriving Instagram and YouTube, where she shares practical plans to organize your life, but in a pretty way.
She’s providing the motivation that we all need to start organizing our life and kicking it into high gear.
She shares all her tracking pages, calendars, and bullet journals on this colorful Instagram account.
Wikipedia defines a mukbang as “a live online audiovisual broadcast in which a host eats large amounts of foods while interacting with their audience. They were first popularized in South Korea in 2010, but have since spread to the world through YouTube and Twitch.
So, it’s a fairly self-explanatory format in which influencers share their thoughts as they consume A LOT of food. Mukbang translates to “eating broadcast” in Korean, so if you’re a food-focused brand, it’s time to start mukbanging (I have no idea if that is how you say that).
Whether you’re posting about classrooms or Target hauls, every niche has influencers to inspire. If you’re looking for influencers that share your interests, remember that there’s so many different niches and types of influencer to choose from!