If you're on Instagram, your account's audience size or follower count will matter tremendously to brands looking for influencers. At the same time, this statistic is among the primary metrics IG users refer to for gauging credibility. Its impact on influencer marketing in Instagram—the marketers' preferred social media—is so huge that it became the subject of a study led by faculty at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business.
Due to Instagram's popularity for influencer marketing, Statista predicted that its global market growth would be worth $27.6 billion by 2025, or twice its 2021 value of $13.8 billion.
14 IG Creators with Fast-Rising Following:
- 1. João do Grau (@joaodograu)
- 2. Dr. Kasia Sterriker (@dr_kasia_sterriker)
- 3. Kimberly Loaiza (@kimberly.loaiza)
- 4. Yehuda Devir (@jude_devir)
- 5. Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (@thorbjornsson)
- 6. Irene Kim (@ireneisgood)
- 7. Deena Margolin and Kristen Gallant (@biglittlefeelings)
- 8. Joan MacDonald (@trainwithjoan)
- 9. Jimmy Chin (@jimmychin)
- 10. Zander Whitehurst (@zanderwhitehurst)
- 11. Sam Schnur (@thenaughtyfork)
- 12. Nella Rose (@nellarosee)
- 13. Daniel Schuetz (@jeremyfragrance)
- 14. Kelly Marcelo (@kellmarcel)
14 Instagram Creators with Fast-Growing Follower Count
Sports and Hollywood superstars make up the world's most-followed Instagram users. Our "Top 10 Instagrammers by Follower Count" sustained their dominance as of January 2023.
However, these 14 personalities below are also making a name for themselves for the steady growth of their Instagram audience size. Their follower growth stats come from Influencer Marketing Hub's (IMH) growth tracker powered by HypeAuditor:
1. João do Grau (@joaodograu)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 4.1M
Follower growth: 3.8883% or 151,893 more followers in the last 4 weeks
João do Grau became famous for uploading videos of his motorcycle stunts in Brazil—the nation with the third largest Instagram user population. He's well-known for his wheelies or wheelstands, which involve raising the motorbike's front wheel above the ground. Grau started riding the motorcycle at age 10. He shot his first videos in the backyard of his house.
His fellow Brazilians—actor João Guilherme, soccer influencer Luva de Pedreiro, and funk-rap singer Mc Kekel—are among the motorbike enthusiast's fans. João do Grau is #20 in IMH's Top Authentic Influencers Ranking under the cars and motorbikes category.
2. Dr. Kasia Sterriker (@dr_kasia_sterriker)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 1.7M
Follower growth: 6.7647% or 103,062 more followers in the last 4 weeks
British-Polish Kasia Sterriker is an environmental artist and biophilic designer, having finished two doctorates—in environmental engineering and landscape architecture. Often collaborating with her father and international bonsai master Wlodek Pietraszko, Sterriker is also a horticulture therapist. She volunteers at hospices and supports non-profits that promote environmental and architecture psychology.
Dr. Sterriker has joined her husband in Dubai, where they run an environmental art business. Before marriage, she taught at university and developed patented geocomposite materials to extend the life of plants for transport to interior and outdoor spaces.
She later handled artistic commissions and property development projects for high-net-worth personalities and institutions across Europe.
3. Kimberly Loaiza (@kimberly.loaiza)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 37.3M
Follower growth: 0.2283% or 84,974 more followers in the last 4 weeks
Kimberly "Kim" Loaiza is a celebrity in Mexico, where the pop singer is more famous on TikTok—she has over 73 million followers on the platform. Her social media career began in 2016 on YouTube, where she has over 40 million followers. The singer's content features her song-and-dance videos, performances with other influencers, and time with family and friends.
Loaiza bagged the new female artist award at the 2023 Premio Lo Nuestro. She wants to expand her collaborations with more Latino/Latina artists after her 4-US city Bye Bye Tour with her husband, JD Pantoja, a recording artist and an internet personality as well.
4. Yehuda Devir (@jude_devir)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 5.6M
Follower growth: 0.2419% or 13,725 more followers in the last 4 weeks
Israeli comic artist Yehuda Devir is the co-creator of the family-based web comic, "One of Those Days." The weekly published depicts the typical life of the Devirs, which include his wife and co-illustrator, Maya. The book version of the comic series became a #1 Amazon bestseller.
Winners of the 2019 Inflow (Influencers of the World) Global Awards, the couple also runs online digital art and business courses and an online shop. In 2022, the Devirs worked with a marketing team to offer over 10,000 pieces of their digital artwork as non-fungible tokens or NFTs.
5. Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (@thorbjornsson)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 4.2M
Follower growth: 0.2634% or 11,046 more followers in the last 4 weeks
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson may not be on IMH's fitness influencer list, but the "Game of Thrones" actor has drawn a following for sharing his workout videos with fans. His wife, model Kelsey Henson, appears in some of his videos that he shares on other platforms, including YouTube and Facebook. He also has a Twitch account with 255.5K followers.
The 6' 9" Icelander won all the major Strongman competitions for ten consecutive years until 2020. He also made history by winning Europe's Strongest Man, World's Strongest Man, and the Arnold Strongman Classic competitions in 2018. Björnsson shifted to boxing between 2021 and 2022, where he fought four opponents, the UK's and the 2017 world's strongest, Eddie Hall. "The Mountain" is reportedly preparing to break the current powerlifting record by the end of 2023. This feat would require "The Mountain" to do squats, benching, and deadlifting over 1,182.5 kilograms.
6. Irene Kim (@ireneisgood)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 2.8M
Follower growth: 0.3221% or 9,003 more followers last 4 weeks
American-born Korean model-fashion content creator Irene Kim has a four-year-old street style brand Ireneisgood, which is also her social media handle. BTS and BLACKPINK support her label, which collaborated with VANS in 2023.
The style influencer was an awardee at the 2017 Elle Style Awards. Kim finished textile design at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. She became Estée Lauder's first Asian global ambassador in 2015. Her unicorn hair became her signature look while modeling in South Korea—being one of the first women to break the stereotype that Asian models must sport black, straight, and long hair. She believes that being inclusive and giving the public access to creative things are the "it factors" of every influencer.
7. Deena Margolin and Kristen Gallant (@biglittlefeelings)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 3M
Follower growth: 0.256% or 7,664 more followers in the last 4 weeks
Licensed marriage and family therapist Deena Margolin and parenting Coach Kristin Gallant, who studied international maternal childhood education, are the co-founders of Big Little Feelings. The account—also the name of their blog—gives parents tips and strategies for handling toddlers, from their tantrums and bedtime antics to lying and hitting or biting. Grandparents, parents' friends, and other child caregivers can also benefit. Moreover, the account’s combination of text and video posts includes "real talk" on post-childbirth struggles and self-care tips.
The best friends-mother duo also offers online courses on preventing meltdowns, holiday survival, child discipline, and potty training.
8. Joan MacDonald (@trainwithjoan)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 1.7M
Follower growth: 0.4023% or 6,916 followers last 4 weeks
Joan MacDonald is proof that even baby boomers can make a difference on Instagram. Sharing her weight loss journey (from 200 pounds) starting in 2017, she may be one of the most senior fitness influencers at age 75.
Her content includes her workouts and meals since she came under the wings of The Wonder Women online training program of her daughter Michelle, a certified strength and conditioning specialist. Her account features impressive muscle-building exercises such as lifting dead weights, and cardio routines.
Now 27 kilos (almost 60 pounds) lighter, MacDonald is no longer the woman with "extremely painful" arthritis who relied on meds for acid reflux and high blood pressure. Her before-and-after posts—including one showing her in a swimsuit by the beach—earned praise from followers who call her their "inspiration." Trainwithjoan is also the name of her website, app, and YouTube channel.
9. Jimmy Chin (@jimmychin)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 3.4M
Follower growth: 0.1429% or 4,883 more followers in the last 4 weeks
Adventure photographer Jimmy Chin has traveled across all 7 continents and done commercial work for brands such as Apple, Bose, Chase, Ford, and The North Face, whose athletic team he has been part of for over 20 years. The Asian-American professional mountain climber and the skier is the 2019 winner of the National Geographic Photographer’s Photographer Award and author of the 2021 New York Times bestseller There and Back, which documents his career in the mountains. Chin believes his photographic content shares stories that highlight the "infinite human spirit" and opens the public's eyes "to a different world."
He and his wife, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, co-direct documentaries, including the 2019 Academy Award winner for the best documentary feature Free Solo, about rock climber Alex Honnold's journey to scale up Yosemite National Park's El Capitan rock formation using only a rope. Their 2021 docu, The Rescue, relives the 2018 daring rescue of 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave. This film won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
10. Zander Whitehurst (@zanderwhitehurst)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 425,000
Follower growth: 1.5909% or 5,916 more followers in the last 4 weeks
Zander Whitehurst's audience size may be below half a million, but he's a favorite in the UX/UI designer community who loves his funny and snappy way of sharing tips and best practices. His posts include “how-tos” related to using website builder Webflow and collaborative interface design tool Figma, where he's an educator advisory board member.
Whitehurst is also the founder and CEO of Memorisely, which aims to provide design and coding skills more affordably through virtual classrooms. The company's over 50-member faculty are industry leaders whose classes are limited to 15 students. The company also offers live immersive boot camps, with most classes running for 5 weeks. Teachers follow a zero Powerpoint policy and use a "learning by doing" approach.
11. Sam Schnur (@thenaughtyfork)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 1.2M
Follower growth: 0.2716% or 3,129 more followers in the last 4 weeks
Sam Schnur is a Miami resident who broke into Forbes "30 under 30" after her Instagram account became a fully licensed digital news and marketing company that showcased her passion for food, drink, and photography.
She said that hardly anyone in her city was using Instagram in 2014 when friends nudged her to create a separate account showing her food pics while studying biology and chemistry at Florida State University to prepare for med school. Her posts later included cooking as she rode the wave of Buzzfeed's exclusive "Tasty" page on Facebook, which featured comfort food recipes.
Schnur, who took a semester off her studies to build her website and brand, later transferred to and graduated from the University of Miami. In 2022, she and four others—including fellow IG food influencer Yanni Georgoulakis—opened "Crispy Rice, Papi Churro, and Sushi OG," a three-in-one outpost at Miami's Oasis Wynwood.
12. Nella Rose (@nellarosee)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 637K
Follower growth: 0.4122% or 2,598 more followers in the last 4 weeks
UK-based Nella Rose started her foray into social media by posting beauty and fashion content on YouTube featuring her university dorm friends. The Black influencer, who speaks French as she was originally from Belgium, later posted her activities on Instagram.
Her online presence got the attention of Pretty Little Thing, which gave her the YouTuber of the Year award in 2020. In the same year, Fashion Nova named her as their ambassador for their curve range. Inspired by these two accolades, she established her unisex streetwear brand Faces London—the first collection sold out in half an hour.
Her social media popularity became the springboard for her hosting career, including being the co-host of MTV's "Catfish UK."
13. Daniel Schuetz (@jeremyfragrance)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 802K
Follower growth: 0.2461% or 1,963 more followers in the last last 4 weeks
Daniel Schuetz's comparison of two men's perfumes—Paco Rabanne's 1 Million and Jean Paul Gaultier's Le Male Le Parfum—on YouTube in 2014 opened the door to his stardom as an international fragrance influencer. He admits to being a self-taught cologne connoisseur, reading books and watching documentaries about fragrances, besides smelling them daily.
A former member of the erstwhile German boyband Part Six, Schuetz usually wears an all-white suit with his blonde hair slicked back in his posts if he's not shirtless. He also enjoys taking selfies with fans. In 2018, the influencer received the Best Perfume Vlog award during the annual FiFi Awards organized by the Fragrance Foundation. That same year, he launched his line of fragrances in cooperation with master performer Alberto Morillas.
He reportedly gained 60,000 new IG followers after being cast in "Celebrity Big Brother" in late 2022, even though he voluntarily left the BB house after six days.
14. Kelly Marcelo (@kellmarcel)
Source: instagram.com
Followers: 40.1K
Follower growth: 4.6985% or 1,243 more followers in the last 4 weeks
Do you need some ideas to turn your solo studio apartment unit into a dreamy sanctuary? Kelly Marcelo might help. Although she majored in graphic design, this Indianapolis-based fine arts graduate's posts are impressive enough to have earned a place on the websites of Real Homes, Hunker, and Her Agenda.
This Latina's IG feed allows you to view her journey of furnishing and decorating her living quarters. Her rooms feature trailing hanging plants, large leafy potted ones, and decor, which she frankly shares are from Amazon, Facebook Marketplace, and thrift stores. Her skill at tablescaping, a hobby she did during family occasions, also shows up in her account.
Start Living Your Instagram Influencer Dream
We hope that a look into the accounts of these 14 content creators gave you a fresh perspective on what to present in your next Instagram posts and reels. But more than being inspired, you need a strategy to increase your follower count.
To set your targets properly, you must use a follower tracker tool to determine how fast—or slow—your account's following is growing. Moreover, keep tabs on trends affecting your niche so you won't get left out in the competition. Finally, determine the estimated value of your post using our Sponsored Post Money Calculator.
