23 Inspirational Female Instagram Influencers You Need To Follow

Instagram has more than 1 billion active monthly users online. No wonder it’s one of the largest and most successful social media networks in the world. Brands and businesses alike are leveraging Instagram influencer marketing to create money-making campaigns, increase their brand awareness, reach more and more people in their target audience base, and more. The website has now been a source of revenue for other people. It’s no wonder Instagram is commonly referred to as the “home of social media influencers.” Sounds funny at first until you really start looking at the success Instagram influencers have. Especially some of the lady influencers. 

But what does any of this have to do with female Instagram influencers? Although Instagram's gender gap is pretty much the same for users (56.4% women and 43.6% males in the USA), we generally picture women when we hear the words Instagram influencer. There may be hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of top influencers across industries like travel to retail. 

While factoring in the niche appropriate for your brand's campaign is essential, it's worth knowing the top Instagram influencers across the board. There are simple tips to remember when picking the best Instagram influencer for your campaign, but it’s also interesting to see where certain influencers fall on the influencer spectrum. It’s exciting to take a look at the top female influencers on Instagram. Of course, real-life celebrities are the most influential Instastars, but Instagram's popularity may be a significant reason for their fame. 

All of these fabulous, female Instagram stars we’ll be talking about today take the meaning of sensational to new heights, partnering with major brands to work on creative and impactful influencer marketing initiatives. Let’s get to know the top 23 powerful and inspirational female Instagram influencers you need to follow and see in your feed, both mega-celebrities and those who are almost there. 


23 Inspirational Female Instagram Influencers You Need To Follow:


1. Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez dominates the landscape of social media. She is one of the most commonly followed females on Instagram. Her influencer status is known to be the most powerful in the world to think about a considerable effect.

She's famous for acting, music, modelling, and she utilizes all these skills to connect with her fans via her social channels. Maybe that's why the major companies can give her $800k pop for an Insta post. She's an American artist, actress, and producer. She first received attention on children's television in Barney & Friends and then in Disney's Wizards at Waverly Place. 

She achieved first mainstream attention with the band, Selena Gomez & Scene, with three albums reaching the US Billboard 200. She persisted with her solo performance, securing seven top ten tickets to the US Billboard Hot 100. Billboard recorded sales of more than 7 million albums and 22 million singles globally in 2017.


2. Kylie Jenner

Recently, people have been saying that Kylie Jenner is the most influential influencer on Instagram. A social media analysis firm (yes, they exist), D'Marie Analytics measured how much a brand profits from one of Kylie's posts that they support. And watch out, just one of the posts funded by Kylie's ads is worth more than one million dollars.  

Kylie has built an arena for herself that’s so massive and influential, even the Roman Empire would be jealous. Social media should have been her empire. Not surprisingly, Kylie is worth a ton of money. Forbes even declared her as the youngest billionaire in the world. It doesn't sound like much of a stretch because it comes from a relatively wealthy background. But with a value of around $900 million, Kylie has more than tripled what only her most popular siblings have. It's quite a fantastic achievement for a young woman of her caliber. Much of her popularity is attributed to her Instagram influencer status.


3. Beyoncé

Beyoncé is an American singer, songwriter, actress, album producer and performer. In the late 1990s, she became famous as the lead singer of the R&B girl-Destiny's Child-the group was one of the best-selling groups of girls in history. Destiny's Child split up in 2006 and Beyoncé subsequently built a very productive solo career. She has also starred in films such as Austin Powers in Goldmember, The Black Panther, Dreamgirls, and "Obsessed".

Beyoncé sold more than 100 million albums worldwide as a single artist and another 60 million albums with Destiny's Boy. She has won 23 Grammy Awards and is the most nominated woman in the history of the award. 

Beyoncé gives as much attention to the images associated with her work as to her music, and it's no surprise why Instagram is the social networking site she's using to update continually. Her page is a beautiful source of her glamorous holiday and sweet family life.


4. Kendall Jenner

Kendall Jenner is a member of the Jenner-Kardashian families, which is sort of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. She also happens to be the highest-paid female Instagram influencer—she’s made $15.9 million on Instagram. She makes more money on Instagram than her billionaire younger sister Kylie! She’s actually the third most paid celebrity on the platform overall. The two influencers above her are Cristiano Renaldo and Lionel Messi.

Kendall is a very successful model now thanks to her popularity on Instagram. She has created numerous editorials and cover-ups for LOVE and foreign Vogue issues, modeled beautifully for Victoria's Secret, and served as brand ambassador for Estée Lauder's ad campaigns.

Curious about who the top male influencers are? Here are the 24 male Instagram influencers you should follow.


5. Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish has an incredible degree of influence over anyone with (comparatively) a limited number of followers. 

Billie Eilish is an American songwriter and artist. She first came to fame for the song "Ocean Eyes" on SoundCloud. She's well known today for her hit single "Bad Guy”, which surpassed Billboard Hot 100. Billie made history by becoming the second artist in Grammy history—and the first woman—to take home the Big Four awards: album, record, and song of the year plus best new artist. The first artist to do this was Christopher Cross 39 years ago.


6. Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande is an American artist, songwriter, and actress. Considered to be the Mariah Carey of the millennial generation, she started her career in Broadway musical 13 in 2008. She made her first musical debut on the soundtrack for the Nickelodeon show Victorious (on which she performed) and was signed to Republic Records in 2011.

Grande launched her first record, Yours Truly, in 2013. She became the first artist to get the songs in the top ten of the United States charts, each of her first five studio albums released. She has gained a great deal of recognition and received one Grammy Award, one BRIT Award, three American Music Awards, three MTV Europe Music Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards.

 Influencers are now designing and selling exclusive merch and opening online stores in addition to entertaining their legions of followers and fans on social media. Here are our top picks for the best influencer merch to check out right now.


7. Taylor Swift 

Taylor Swift is an American songwriter and singer with an international fan base. Taylor is, without a doubt, one of the most influential women on Instagram. 

She is one of the best-selling artists of all time and has many record-breaking singles. She won 10 Grammys, one Emmy, 12 Country Music Industry Awards and 23 Billboard Music Awards. 


8. Louise Pentland

Louise Pentland is a popular blogger and influencer with a focus on beauty, family and lifestyle. This mum and beauty icon has millions of fans and has worked with some of the world’s favourite brands to create heart-warming, lovable social media campaigns.

Louise started her blog, Sprinkle of Glitter, in 2009 as a place to share her thoughts on beauty and lifestyle. From these beginnings, she created a YouTube channel of the same name and began documenting her product reviews and DIY interior design projects. Before long, her videos were racking up millions of views and Louise found herself becoming a YouTube influencer.

Louise is also an avid Instagram influencer and regularly posts family updates, holidays, tips and sponsored content. She has collaborated on social media campaigns with several authors and beauty brands.


9. Zendaya

Zendaya is an American actor and a singer. She started her career as a child model and backup dancer before becoming famous for the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up.

She produced and starred as K.C.K.C. Cooper Undercover from 2015 to 2018. In 2019, she played a leading part in the HBO drama show Euphoria. She's been playing Michelle (M.J.M.J.) in recent Spidermen videos.


10. Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato is an American performer, songwriter, and actress; she is a pop, pop rock, and R&B artist.

She was awarded the MTV Video Music Award, 13 Teen Choice Awards, 5 People's Choice Awards, a Latin American Music Award and an ALMA Prize.

Demi is also very open and passionate about spreading the word about mental health awareness. She’s a great influencer when it comes to acknowledging social causes and issues more influencers don’t normally pay attention to.  


11. Cardi B

Cardi B (born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar) is an American rapper, lyricist, entertainer, and TV character. She turned into a web superstar after a few of her posts and recordings got viral on Instagram. She showed up as a regular cast member on unscripted TV arrangement Love and Hip Hop: New York.

She has now earned three number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and is the main female rapper to achieve different number-one melodies on the outline. Her presentation studio collection, Invasion of Privacy, appeared at number one on the Billboard 200. That collection won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, with Cardi B the main lady to win the honour as an independent craftsman.


12. Kim Kardashian West

Kim Kardashian is just another celebrity that has risen to fame since she was shown in the family-based TV program Keeping Up With the Kardashians. After the footsteps of her half-sister, Kylie Jenner, she just unveiled her beauty label known as KKW skin. Kim is very popular on the internet and has consistent media attention. That right there can result in the most famous Kardashian receiving both good and bad publicity.

The Instagram presence of Kim Kardashian is such a legendary one that she could publish a successful book full of selfies. That she is adorable with Kanye West, displays affection for her famous parents, promotes her addictive video game or images from her beautiful children. Her audience rose from 40 million people in 5 years to 183 million people, more wanting to know what makes the world’s most-watched personality tick.


13. Niomi Smart

Niomi Smart is a British blogger, YouTuber, author and internet personality renowned for her values and content on health, wellbeing and lifestyle. Niomi is at the forefront of lifestyle influencer campaigns and has even founded her own company. Niomi’s blog combines all of her passions, with articles on what to wear this season, healthy twists on classic recipes, tips on exercising, organic makeup you can trust and travel guides among many others. 

Niomi is the ideal social media influencer with a dedicated audience and conscious tone that promotes health and happy living. Niomi is also unique in that the majority of her audience is over 18 years old. This provides Niomi with access to an audience that is young, ambitious and looking for a healthier alternative.

Niomi Smart is a tour-de-force with her likeable personality, strong values and a healthy lifestyle marking her out as a role model. Her website, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube all boast incredible engagement and this macro influencer is a must for all brands looking to create a lasting impression on their market.


14. Amanda Cerny

Actress Amanda Cerny originally became famous for her Vines and comedy sketches on YouTube. She was recently featured in Cardi B’s music video alongside J Balvin and Bad Bunny. 

Though her Instagram following is enormous, she has also amassed 2.6 million subscribers on her YouTube channel.

Want more Instagram influencers to follow? Here are the top 25 influencers crushing it on Instagram.


15. LISA

The mononym, Lisa, is more familiar with Lalisa Manoban. She is a South Korean-based Thai artist, actress, dancer, and model. She is renowned as a leader of the BlackPink community of South Korean people. 

She was raised as Manoban Pranpriya, but she later changed Lisa's name. She is the South Korean beauty company's brand spokesperson, Moonshot. She also has quite many followers on Instagram, which has paved the way for her to be one of the most influential people on the platform.


16. Lilly Singh

Hailing from Canada, Lilly Singh is a YouTube personality best known for her username ‘IISuperwomanII.’ Launching her channel in October 2010, she rose to stardom with her skills as a vlogger, comedian, and actress. 

Altogether, her YouTube channel has over 15.5 million subscribers, with her videos surpassing the 3 billion view mark. Reportedly, she was the third highest paid YouTuber in 2016, and first on the 2017 Forbes Top Influencers list entertainment category.


17. Julia Sarinana

Latina influencer Julia Sarinana started her blog, titled Sincerely Jules, back in 2009. Her fashion tips and travels have been featured by countless magazines, including Glamour, Elle, and Teen Vogue. 

Julia has toured in over 13 countries, exploring new places and meeting fans. She also sells hand-designed t-shirts on her site and has an accessories line at Target.


18. Summer McKeen

Makeup and fashion vlogger Summer McKeen began her rise to prominence when she posted her first YouTube video in April of 2010. She later became a partner with a YouTube collaboration channel called ‘Style Haul,’ and went on to appear in an online series called ‘Afterschooled.’ 

On her main channel, she currently has 2.3 million subscribers tuning in to watch her fun, feminine vlogs.


19. Ling.kt

Ling.kt started out as a humble makeup and fashion blogger, but her helpful tutorials jumpstarted her Instagram account. Fairly new to the social media scene, her YouTube channel only dates back to July of 2016. There, her product reviews and walkthroughs have earned her 282,000 YouTube subscribers. 

At one point, she experienced a rapid leap in popularity, going viral after a few fellow Instagrammers gave her a shoutout—an interesting phenomenon demonstrating how online connections have a huge effect on the sway of new influencers. 


20. Happy Grey Lucky

Sina, the mastermind behind Happy Grey Lucky, is a mom blogger from Toronto, Canada. Passionate about simplicity and minimalism, she shares her affinity for monochromatic, Scandinavian design on both Instagram and her own personal blog. 

While she has a YouTube account, Instagram is where she shines. There, she posts sweet, family-focused tutorials, tips, and inspiration.


21. Liza Koshy

"Liza" (Shaila Koshy) started off on Vine and quickly grew to the YouTube stardom as well. She has steadily established many subscribers on the site, accounting for 6 million in 2016 and another 6 million in 2017. The inspiration of her content is certainly her volatile, humorous comedy. She has currently got 16.7 million fans on YouTube. It’s amazing that she's built a much more significant Instagram presence.

Elizabeth “Liza” Shaila Koshy started out on Vine and quickly rose to YouTube stardom, too. She gained subscribers on the site rapidly, reeling in 6 million in 2016 and another 6 million in 2017. The draw of her content is decidedly her explosive, witty humor. Today, she has 16.7 million followers on YouTube and has built an even stronger Instagram presence.


22. NikkieTutorials

Nikkie De Jager is a makeup artist who shows her skills and strategies with her favorite YouTube blog and Instagram page. The pro-makeup guru has accrued 11.8 million subscribers to its site, plus another 1.5 million fans on Twitter. 

A Netherland-native, Nikkie De Jager is one of the originals with a YouTube presence that is a decade old. After a couple months of learning more about makeup and videography, Nikkie uploaded her first video, receiving only 8 views and 3 comments. She didn't let low viewership hold her back, she was hooked. She continued makeup classes and posting weekly tutorials encouraging fans to accentuate their natural, beautiful features. 

Nikkie has been featured in magazines and ads for her artistic, individual spirit. Her rise to fame may have been a sudden happy accident, but her edge and bubbly personality make her unique, inspiring, and so fun to watch.


23. Negin Mirsalehi

Dutch blogger Negin Mirsalehi initially attracted attention on Instagram, eventually developing her own blog style and YouTube channel of 304,000 subscribers. 

Negin is also the creator of Gisou Hair and was illustrated in Esquire in the line 'People We Love Instagram.' She also won a spot on the Forbes 30 under 30 list for her social networking popularity.


Final Words

Before the Instagram boom, there were no influencers in both mainstream and social media. It’s almost as if no influencers even existed. At least not influential people we can easily reach if we needed to. 

We are in a revolutionary time on social media. Influencer marketing on Instagram is growing in popularity faster than ever before. Picking the right influencer for your brand campaigns takes a lot of time, research, and planning. Even when you pick the right influencer, not all influencer marketing campaigns are successful. But you can still make them worth it. 

Picking the best influencer for your marketing and advertising goals and needs is a must thanks to the rise of influencer marketing on Instagram. And these ladies we listed here are changing the influencer marketing industry one post at a time. 

Ready to get to work? Check out these five things you need to know before collaborating with Instagram influencers. 

About the Author
With over 15 years in content marketing, Werner founded Influencer Marketing Hub in 2016. He successfully grew the platform to attract 5 million monthly visitors, making it a key site for brand marketers globally. His efforts led to the company's acquisition in 2020. Additionally, Werner's expertise has been recognized by major marketing and tech publications, including Forbes, TechCrunch, BBC and Wired.