Finding the right niche is the essential first step before you start making money on Instagram. Establishing yourself in a niche market enables you to deliver solutions your customers can’t find anywhere else.
This article breaks down how to find your niche, plus the most profitable Instagram niche ideas for 2022.
We will learn:
- What Is a Niche and Why Is It Important?
- 9 Best Instagram Niches in 2022
- Benefits of Finding a Niche on Instagram
- What Are the Proven Tactics for Finding a Niche on Instagram?
Use this article to check out the most profitable Instagram niches and make money on Instagram.
What Is a Niche and Why Is It Important?
An eCommerce niche represents the special category your product falls in. This focused and targetable section of the larger market has its own unique demand that is met by your offering.
One of the fastest-growing social media platforms, Instagram has over two Billion active users. Over half a billion people use Instagram every day.
With 90% of users following a business, there is a huge potential market to make money on Instagram. While competition is heating up, with 70% of US businesses using Instagram for business, there is space to grow within a niche.
Establishing yourself in a niche market and catering to a particular category of people can give you a range of competitive advantages.
Check out some specific reasons why it’s important to have a niche in your business:
1. Reduced Competition
Target specific customers and offer something the competition doesn’t.
2. Establish Brand Loyalty
Focus on customer service and develop relationships with customers.
3. Expertise
Stand out by becoming an expert in your specific market.
4. Higher Profit
Niche markets are exclusive and customers may be willing to pay more
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9 Best Instagram Niches in 2022
It is important to pick a niche that you click with. Like with all the other social media platforms, creating content and growing an Instagram account can take time.
Choosing a niche that you can easily create relatable and shareable content for can make it a lot easier to make money on Instagram.
Check out the range of profitable niches broken down below and choose what you’re passionate about:
1. Beauty Niche
The beauty industry has seen explosive growth on a range of social media platforms. 65% of teens discover and purchase their beauty products through social media and influencers. For beauty brands, the visual platform Instagram is the place to go, with over 96% of beauty brands on Instagram.
Users can search for makeup tips, reviews, beauty hacks and tutorials before making a purchase. Because of this search intent, this content can be high-performing. Instagram reels and stories can offer a great medium for user engagement.
The beauty niche has consistently had one of the highest interests. Due to this, the mainstream market can be oversaturated with competition from already-established brands and influencers. Focusing on a sub-niche can further refine your audience.
Check out this quick breakdown of four sub-niches of the beauty niche:
- Natural and Organic beauty products
This trend may be becoming more mainstream now, but there is still strong growth potential. The global market is expected to grow by almost $4.75 Billion in 2019 to roughly $7.2 Billion by 2024.
- Vintage makeup
This is a solid trend offering many options like tutorials, products, and tips that you can use to bring the sub-niche alive and reduce your competition.
- Cruelty-free cosmetics
Cosmetics produced without testing on animals have been growing in popularity for decades. There is still strong global growth predicted, with the cruelty-free cosmetics market predicted to reach $14.23 Billion by 2030.
- Specific age range
There is a range of age brackets that can break down to profitable sub-niches with lots of potential content for promoting your products like makeup tutorials, beauty tips and tricks.
2. Fashion Niche
One of the most popular and profitable Instagram niches for making money is fashion. Global revenue in the eCommerce fashion segment is forecast to reach $1.357 Trillion by 2025.
As a social media platform that focuses on visual media, Instagram is a powerful marketing tool for all fashion stores. Combined with the strong growth predicted in this profitable niche, many designers, bloggers, fashion editors, and influencers have a business Instagram account.
For Lisa Bühler, founder of Lisa Says Gah, Instagram is a powerful discovery tool for fashion:
“I started the Instagram account before I even launched the website.”
Grazia’s fashion news and features editor further describes Instagram’s crucial role in modern fashion:
Arguably one of the best niches, there is scope to create content for Instagram users looking to discover new products, find fresh fashion trends and seek reliable fashion inspiration.
With strong global market growth predicted, competition within this niche is naturally increasing. To stand out and thrive in your niche, look for sub-niches with potential loyal customers. Some examples where you can find less competition include:
- Upcycled fashion
The biggest fashion trend in 2021, upcycling is becoming the new normal. Sara Arnold, co-founder of the campaign group Fashion Act Now states, “So many people are getting on board with upcycling now. It’s hard for brands and retailers to see this as just a trend.”
- Sustainable sneakers
Shoppers are increasingly searching for sneakers that put ethics and the environment first in everything, from raw materials to final production. Demand for recycled sneakers increased 55% in 2021, while page views for biodegradable sneakers on the shopping platform Lyst increased 348%.
- Gender-neutral fashion
Unisex fashion is becoming increasingly popular and mainstream. With demand increasing, discussions in the media have become more prevalent. This has had an impact on shopping searches. One example is the huge search spike for days that followed Lil Nas X wearing a skirt on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
- Personalized fashion
Customize your products to your customer’s needs. Let your customer take control of their fashion choices with a range of bespoke garments. Check out Why 2022 Is the Perfect Time to Open a Custom Clothing Store for more ideas
3. Travel Niche
The global travel & tourism market is projected to surpass $8.9 Trillion by 2026, despite the negative impact from 2020 onwards. As one of the world’s largest industries, this is potentially a very profitable Instagram niche.
Combined with 97% of millennial travelers sharing their travel photos on social media and 87% of all travelers using social media for travel inspiration, is a great instagram niche and extremely attractive for making money.
For two-thirds of 18-34-year-olds, the single most important factor when booking a holiday is the location’s Instagrammability. Instagram is a great opportunity for selling travel-related products and services, and to build a profitable Instagram account of loyal followers.
4. Pets Niche
70% of households have a pet In the US alone. This figure increases each year, with over 90.5 Million households owning pets nationwide. The pet industry market size is also increasing each year.
With pets such a major part of the majority of people’s lives, it’s not surprising that you can create a successful Instagram account within the pet niche. This is evident in how many followers the most followed Instagram dog @jiffpom has, with an impressive 8.9 million followers. Meanwhile, @nala_cat has over 3.8 million.
With this niche, you can make money online by offering grooming products, animal clothing, costumes, treats, promoting affiliate products, or even pet insurance. If you are in the mood for some personalized pet product ideas, check out: 5 Best-Selling Personalized Pet Products Your Store Needs Right Now.
The pet niche will always be relevant as it is not a short-term social media trend. While the market is rapidly growing, as with all niches it is more effective to specialize. You can focus your Instagram page on a particular pet like dogs, cats, hedgehogs, fish, or even foxes.
5. Health and Fitness Niche
Worth over $3.294 Trillion in 2021, the global health and wellness market is projected to reach $4.277 Trillion by 2027. Of all the niches, this huge scope for growth makes it potentially one of the most attractive.
This niche is evergreen as more people push to live more healthy lives. In the UK eCommerce market, 80% of adults have changed their lifestyle to be healthier in 2021. Instagram is a great platform for those looking for content on workouts, fitness routines, healthy products or nutrition information.
It is a competitive niche, so standing out and originality can play a crucial role in building effective Instagram accounts. You can monetize these Instagram pages with products, services or affiliate marketing. For a quick breakdown, check out this article on how to monetize with affiliate marketing.
Within this niche, the global market for sports and fitness apparel will reach $221.3 Billion by 2026. With such strong growth predicted, creating your own fitness merchandise can be a way of making money. Check out this handy How to Create Your Own Fitness Merch to learn more.
6. Food Niche
Don’t forget your phone eats first! Instagram posts of food are some of the most popular content on the platform. Food is an important part of everybody’s daily lives and this makes food one of the best Instagram niches. The hashtag #food is used for over 250 Million posts a month!
You can use Instagram to drive traffic to your online store. Complement an Instagram post of your product or service, with engaging content like recipes or cooking hacks. From there, an Instagram profile makes money through affiliate products, advertisements or their own offering.
To get your Instagram profile featured, you can participate in contests like the #foodchallengenetwork and #foodchallenges pages. Using the top food hashtags may not get your Instagram post much attention because they are so popular and highly competitive.
One of the social media marketing tips to take away from the food industry is to post your own food challenge and create your own hashtag. Once others participate, your Instagram page can gain visibility, your food posts may be shared, and you can expand your reach.
7. Lifestyle Niche
The idea of the individual as a brand has developed on Instagram over time, from a photo-sharing app to the birthplace of selfies and influencers. Now, 80% of Instagram’s daily content is dedicated to our own lifestyles.
The vast majority of Instagram posts are in this niche because there is significant overlap with a range of other niches. The average Instagram user spends 53 minutes a day on the app. People have always been interested in other people’s lives, and this makes it one of the most profitable niches due to popularity.
You can create content that builds on your daily life. Posts can range from everyday activities to passions or insights that align with the interests of your audience. Accounts in this niche tend to stick within a few categories that overlap with other niches, like the music niche, young moms and other parents, the fitness industry or fashion niche.
Many lifestyle bloggers make money on Instagram through brand partnerships like sponsored posts, affiliate deals with other brands, earning commission from sales referrals, or offering products related to the content of the Instagram account.
8. Crafts & DIY Niche
The eCommerce DIY and crafts markets have experienced strong growth from 2020 onwards. The r/DIY subreddit has grown to over 20 million members and the US DIY market is projected to reach over $620 Billion in 2025.
The rising popularity of the craft market in the US is summed up by The New York Times:
“Stuck at home without the diversions of socializing, travel, or dining out, the crafting continued. Americans knitted, crocheted and wove through the lockdown. They made hand-tufted rugs, paper orchids, wooden chess sets, tiny shrines and botanical mandalas.”
Building on an interest in DIY or crafts can be one of the best niches to make money doing something you love. You can capture users’ imagination and create demand using the same materials and methods in your content.
9. Business Niche
Entrepreneurship is predicted to soar in 2022, with a record 17 million small businesses forecast to launch in the U.S. alone. A lot of people don’t know where to start, creating a lot of opportunities for content creation.
This can be the best Instagram niche if you are entrepreneurial and looking to make money yourself. Apply everything you have learned to make money. You can create an account that offers business tips, quotes, useful tips, marketing strategies or startup ideas. There is a huge range of potential content focused on how to make money available!
Similar to all the best niche ideas, the most popular can already be saturated with wonder brands. Like the fashion niche, music industry, or beauty brand you can create unique and original content to stand out. You can use social proof to build trust and show you are a successful business. Demonstrating real success can help you thrive and grow your account.
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Benefits of Finding a Niche on Instagram
Here are four quick benefits of finding a niche on Instagram:
1. Stand Out
The more unique you are, the less competition you will have. Niche products can be really different from standard products offered and help your store stand out, helping you make money.
Standing out can make your product more memorable and potential buyers will remember your store. Without an Instagram niche, people are likely to forget your store.
2. Easy to Identify and Target Potential Customers
The more specific an Instagram niche is, the more effective your targeting of potential customers can become. The number of people interested in your niche is less than its more mainstream equivalent. Because of this, identifying potential customers within your target audience can be easier.
You can also easily partner with influencers who are already well established within the specific niche you’re targeting. This can not only drive traffic to your store, but can also help build trust in your brand.
This laser-focused targeting of potential customers within your Instagram niche can make your marketing efforts much more effective and less complex.
3. Easier to Become an Expert and Well Known Within Your Niche
Within an Instagram niche, you can become established and well known in a shorter amount of time than in a more mainstream market. As this group is targeted and smaller, it can be easier to become known as a specialist or expert within your Instagram niche.
Cian McGloughlin, Founder and CEO of Trinity Perspectives, break this concept down:
“The biggest mistake most small businesses make is trying to be all things to all people, assuming this will give them access to the largest addressable market.”
If you position yourself as an expert in a range of markets to access the largest possible market, you risk diluting your value to your potential customers. Zeroing in on a particularly profitable Instagram niche and growing a loyal following can help you grow your online store’s sales.
Within an Instagram niche, you can become established and well known in a shorter amount of time than in a more mainstream market. As this group is targeted and smaller, it can be easier to become known as a specialist or expert within your Instagram niche.
Cian McGloughlin, Founder and CEO of Trinity Perspectives, break this concept down:
“The biggest mistake most small businesses make is trying to be all things to all people, assuming this will give them access to the largest addressable market.”
If you position yourself as an expert in a range of markets to access the largest possible market, you risk diluting your value to your potential customers. Zeroing in on a particularly profitable Instagram niche and growing a loyal following can help you grow your online store’s sales.
4. Easier to Adapt to Emerging Trends
When it comes to Instagram trends, change is the only constant. Keeping up with digital trends can help you find profitable niche ideas. If you can adapt your content to a trend you think will blow up, then there is the potential for strong growth.
Social media trends are in a state of constant evolution. Instagram’s algorithm was a mystery for a while. However, CEO Adam Mosseri has now broken down the key factors that influence how content is ranked on Instagram’s blog.
You can check out these insights into what content makes its way onto a user feed to help your niche content rank:
- The popularity of a post is determined on the basis of the number of likes, the location added to the post, and the length of the post in case it is a video
- The latest engagement of users with a specific account
- The number of posts of the user that have been liked
- User interaction with other accounts
What Are the Proven Tactics for Finding a Niche on Instagram?
If you feel all over the place with your Instagram and want to channel the content you are posting into one niche, try the tips below. These easy steps should help you focus on which niche aligns with your interests:
- Write down and list all your interests
- Remove what you don’t share on Instagram
- Break down what people interact with you about on Instagram
- Remove the interests people don’t interact with you about
- Check out what categories are left from the original list
- Break down what you like and don’t like within these broad categories
- Isolate what you like and explore this focused interest to find your niche
Let your focused interest drive the content you create within your niche.
To Sum Up
The most profitable businesses deliver solutions customers can’t find anywhere else. This article will help you find a niche market that works best for you. Find a niche that combines your interests and skills with your customer’s needs.
What niche works best for you? Are there any popular Instagram niches we have missed? Please let us know in the comment section below.
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