If you're a fan of interior design, then you likely know who Kate Rumson is – or at least you know her Instagram handle. The Real Houses of Instagram has two million followers and Rumson has made the most of this star power, leaving a career in finance and launching the interior design career that she'd always dreamed of.
Here she reveals how she became an Instagram influencer and offers advice on how to stand out among the social media platform's one billion users.
I fell in love with interior design and home building in my early teens when my parents took me to see a model home in a new subdivision. I wanted to pursue it as my profession, but I couldn't understand how one could make a stable living designing homes, so I ended up getting into sales and finance.
In my early 20s, in addition to having a full-time corporate job, I also started investing in real estate. I got into interior design when I decorated my first investment property. Two potential buyers loved what I did and ended up hiring me to design their homes.https://www.instagram.com/p/BtMx3F0jVSQ/
I opened my personal account on Instagram in 2012 and quickly fell in love with the platform. I was so busy that I had no time to attend design shows or industry events, so I turned to Instagram for inspiration. I started following interior designers, artists, event planners, and fashion stylists.
I took so many screenshots that, one day in 2013, I ran out of storage of my iPhone. So I decided to start a separate page on Instagram dedicated specifically to the best interior design images I found. I transferred all of the screenshots to that page and called it The Real Houses of Instagram.https://www.instagram.com/p/Br9EfAtgU7K/
In 2013 and 2014, Instagram was a lot smaller than it is today. There were no ads and posts were appearing in chronological order. There were very few accounts curating interior design images so anyone looking for #interiordesign would easily find my account.
Growth has slowed down in the last two years because of the new algorithm, the strong push for ad sales, and a significant increase in design content. https://www.instagram.com/p/BrHBm5XgC9o/
Today, Instagram has one billion users and it can be very difficult to grow, whether you have 100 or 100,000 followers. There's so much content that it's difficult to stand out. The best strategy is to target a specific niche, topic, or location.
For example: If you're an interior designer living in Sacramento, California, you should use hashtags such as #SacramentoInteriorDesign, #SacramentoInteriorDesigner, and #SacramentoNewConstruction. Common hashtags such as #interiordesign are no longer effective.https://www.instagram.com/p/BoNcgT1n2mm/
Not engaging with their followers – I see many accounts not responding to comments they receive. There are one billion accounts that people could be following, but they chose to follow you and take the time out of their days to comment something nice.
The very least you could do is respond with a "thank you!" https://www.instagram.com/p/BslA5wmAGvq/
I fell in love with design in my early teens, but, up until just a few years ago, I had no one to talk to about it. Now I lead this incredible community of two million people who share the same interests.
That alone is the most surreal feeling in the world, but also Instagram allowed me to leave a lucrative, but unfulfilling career in finance and focus on doing what I love. This really is a dream job and it became my reality because of Instagram.https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo2rDK5HqKc/
@cats_of_instagram – because there's nothing cuter than videos of kittens.https://www.instagram.com/p/BtRIcqyF7R_/What social media advice do you have for aspiring influencers? What do you want to ask Kate about growing a following? Let us know in the comments below!
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