Top 10 Most Followed People On Instagram In 2024

Published on 11.05.2024 by Chizoba T

Since its establishment in 2010, Instagram has grown into one of the biggest social media sites with over 2 billion monthly active users. The social media site has become popular with celebrities who command hundreds of millions of followers. At the same time, it has also created a career for influencers with a huge following.

This article will look at the reasons why Instagram is popular with celebrities. We have created a list of Instagram's top 10 most followed celebrities. We also share lessons that brands (and individuals too) can learn from these accounts.

Top 10  Most Followed People on Instagram

If you want to leverage the power of influencer marketing to grow your brand, here are the  top 10 people who are most followed on Instagram:

10. Kendall Jenner

With over 294 million followers, Kendall is Instagram's 10th most followed person. A model and influencer from the United States, Kendall's following reflects her influence in the fashion industry. The socialite and businesswoman has featured in campaigns for brands such as  Marc Jacobs, Fendi, and Balmain. Her large social media following results from combining fashion, beauty, and personal experience.

9. Khloe Kardashian

With 311 million followers, Khloe Kardashian is Instagram's 9th most followed personality. As an entrepreneur and TV personality, Khoe shares about her personal life and work. She initially rose to prominence because of her role in the popular TV series, Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Khloe is famous for her openness when sharing her images.

8. Beyonce

With an impressive 319 million Instagram followers, Beyonce is the 8th most followed Instagram personality. As a singer and songwriter who is a powerhouse in the music industry, it is clear why Beyonce has such a huge following. Besides, she has over 2000 well-curated posts about her career and personal life. Just as her performances, her account reflects her commitment to excellence.

7. Kim Kardashian

With 364 million followers, Kim Kardashian is the 7th most followed personality on Instagram. As an astute businesswoman and media personality, Kim has left a significant mark in the fashion industry. Kim has worked as an ambassador for international brands such as Balenciaga. Her influence transcends beyond entertainment and shapes contemporary pop culture. 

6. Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande is a chart-topping singer and songwriter with an impressive following of 380 million followers. She is famous for her strong vocals and artistic prowess. Grande uses her social media account to share her musical journey with her followers. She is also popular because of her creativity and resonates well with her global audience.

5. Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne is a renowned actor in the World Wrestling Federation and his fame has followed him to Instagram too, judging from his 397 million followers. However, this can also be attributed to his charismatic online presence. He shares his fitness journey, inspiring content, and movie projects with his authentic posts that resonates with his audience worldwide. 

4. Kylie Jenner

As an entrepreneur and TV personality, Kylie is a renowned Instagram influencer with 399 million followers. She uses her platform to showcase her business ventures such as the  Kylie cosmetic brands, Kylie Swin, Kylie Skin, and Kylie Baby. On top of shaping beauty standards, she also significantly influences entertainment and fashion standards. She shares entertaining content that fosters a deeper connection with her global audience.

3. Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez has benefited from this popularity as one of the most celebrated singers. She is the third most followed Instagram influencer with 430 million followers. On top of her music career, Selena is also an entrepreneur. She uses her Instagram account to connect with her audience through music, personal insights, and entrepreneurship. Selena is the founder of Rare Beauty, a famous brand which is a testament to her business acumen.

2. Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is one of the most iconic figures in the football world, and this fame has been transferred to his Instagram handle. With 502 million followers, he is the second most followed Instagram influencer. The Argentinian striker uses his Instagram account to show his fans his achievements in the football world. He also offers insights into his personal life beyond the football field, which adds to his popularity.

1. Christiano Ronaldo

And now ladies and gentlemen, we bring to you the most followed Instagram personality. Drums roll… It's none other than Christiano Ronaldo. With 628 million Instagram followers, the Portuguese striker's massive following is due to his exploits on and off the field. At 38, he has mesmerized many with his ability to remain in top form. On his Instagram account, he also offers insights into his personal life.

Why Instagram Is Popular With Celebrities

Instagram is one of the most popular social media sites with celebrities. You can already see that most of the top 10 followed Instagram personalities are celebrities in different fields such as music, football, and even wrestling. So, what makes Instagram so popular with them? One of the reasons is the visual appeal of the site. The site has a well-made UI and UX that provides an unmatched viewing experience.

The site also lets celebs go live and interact with their followers. They can also use the feature to showcase their daily lives. Therefore, Instagram is the best site for celebrities to showcase what is happening in their lives.

Instagram also enables celebrities to embed countdowns, polls, and other interactive elements in their stories. Finally, Instagram can help celebs determine their engagement and reach.

Lessons that Brands Can Learn from Celebrities on Driving Engagement

We have noted that the top 10 people with the biggest followers are celebrities. This brings us to the next question: why do people prefer to follow celebrities on Instagram more than brands? What can brands learn from celebrities? Here are our top lessons.

Lizzo: Good Use of Instagram Reels

Undoubtedly, one of the latest Instagram trends is using reels to drive engagement. Studies indicate that 91% of Instagram users watch at least one reel per week. Therefore, brands that want to use Instagram to market their products or services should learn how to leverage the power of reels to grow their engagement and following.

One example of an Instagram influencer who does this well is @lizzobeeating who does great reels that help her drive engagement. She does a combination of funny, hot, and career-related reels. At one time, she can post a video of herself shopping at Target or another one where she is wearing the latest Yitty collection.

While Lizzo’s reels focus on advertising Yitty, she also infuses fun, humor, and a sexy angle, which is true to her brand. With 12 million followers, and receiving many negative comments that try to body shame her, she is undeterred and continues to exude confidence. Some of the lessons that brands can learn from Lizzo are:

  1. Good use of Instagram reels to showcase your brand.
  2. Marketing reels work better when they are authentic and have a unique angle to marketing.
  3. The importance of staying true to your brand with genuine and down-to-earth content.
  4. There will always be people who are pessimistic about your brand. But they should not worry you.

These are among the great tips to help you get 1000 Instagram followers.

Olivia Rodrigo: Real Photo Dumps

One of the latest trends in influencer marketing is photo dumps, a collection of videos and images gathered to make a carousel post. In an Instagram world where people filter and edit images, people seek a new form of authentic photos. Photo dumps have become unique with celebrities such as Olivia Rodrigo rejecting perfection and instead sharing blurry images, or even ugly.

One Instagram influencer who has perfected the art of using photo dumps is Olivia Rodrigo. Her photos range from blurry food photos to selfies. The American singer doesn't spend time perfecting her images, which look random. While photo dumps may not initially look great for marketing, they mainly come when mixed with other regular posts.

Some of the lessons that brands can learn from Olivia Rodrigo are:

  • Instagram posts don't have to be perfect.
  • Authenticity adds beauty.
  • You can use photo dumps to change your regular posts.
  • There is no need to overthink social media posts.

Kerry Washington: Use of Instagram Live for Activism

Many celebrities use the live feature of Instagram to connect with their audience. This is because it enables audiences to comment in real-time and creators to react to these comments. One such celebrity who has used this feature is Kerry Washington.

The American actress uses the live feature to share new projects she is participating in and even promote brands she is partnering with. She also uses Instagram Live to highlight the  social causes she is a part of. In the past, she has shared live sessions with her followers on the importance of voting and speaking up against racism.

Since the Instagram live feature is unedited and unfiltered, it offers authenticity and vulnerability, making it a great way to communicate with audiences looking for non-promotional content.

Some of the lessons that brands can learn from Kerry are:

  • Going live can be a great way to create a human connection with brands.
  • Instagram Live is a great tool for activism.
  • Brands can invite advocacy experts to their lives to create a meaningful dialogue.

Cami Mendes: Use of Behind-the-scene Content

Another way of creating unique content is by showing your brand's behind-the-scenes pictures or videos. You can imagine an actor who shows her followers the behind-the-scenes footage of the shooting. It gives the audience a sense of being included.

One actor who posts regular videos of her off-the-screen life is Cami Mendes. The American actress also posts backstage images and some great selfies of her favorite on-screen outfits. This is something brands can do. For instance, a cake-baking business can share images of the cake decoration process. If you are a retail business, you can see the behind-the-scenes footage of the packaging process when preparing to ship products.

Brands can therefore learn several lessons from Cami Mendes such as:

  • With so many brands showing videos of the finished products, posting behind-the-scenes content can show authenticity.
  • Take photos and videos wherever possible even when they don’t look exciting.
  • Use the behind-the-scenes content to spotlight the people who don't get a lot of recognition.

You can use these tips to grow your business on Instagram.

Simeon Biles: Content Diversification

A critical skill that any media personality should have is diversifying their content. One of the Instagram influencers who is a powerhouse when it comes to this is Simeon Biles. She uses Instagram to showcase snippets of her personal life. The American gymnast also offers a good balance between promotional content and her social cause. This provides her followers with a good preview of the type of person she is.

Some of the lessons we can learn from Simone Biles are:

  • Don’t just create one type of post. You will bore your audience when all your photos look the same.
  • Use Instagram following for a good cause. This could be to uplift the lives of your followers or any other cause you care about.

Terry Crews: Using Reels for Trending Content

Are you finding it hard to create content? One of the options is to use trending videos to create challenges and other forms of content. You can learn a lot from using this kind of content. Terry Crews is one of the people who has used these videos to create trending content. Some of the lessons we can learn from the American actor are:

  • The use of Instagram reels for content ideas.
  • Add your twist to a trend instead of just copying what other creators are doing.
  • Some trends require a lot of effort while others are easy to implement. Before choosing a trend, consider how much time you have to put into it.

These are among the great tips for Instagram marketers.

Dojacat: Using Humor and Branded Content 

One of the mistakes that brands make on Instagram is that they take themselves too seriously. Instead, they can learn from Dojacat who uses humor to grow her following. The American rapper combines beautiful photographs with other raw and uncut photos that many wouldn't love to have in their profiles.

Her sense of humor isn’t only felt in the pictures. Instead, she combines them with humorous captions that leave a smile on the faces of her followers. However, Dojacat also posts serious and well-polished serious pictures. Here are a few lessons that brands can learn from her:

  • Use of humor to add a unique brand voice.
  • Balance humor with serious content.

Jennifer Lopez: Hashtags

Another Instagram celebrity who has mastered the art of using hashtags is Jennifer Lopez. She uses them well on her reels, stories, and hashtags. While she focuses a lot on promotional posts, she doesn't leave any chances with her hashtags. The American singer uses short and snappy captions and tags her team members and sponsors in her eye-catching content.

In most of her hashtags, Jlo uses proper camel case to enable screen readers to read the capitalized words in each hashtag as separate words.Some of the lessons that brands can learn from Jlo are:

  • Increasing the reach of their tags by using camel cases in hashtags.
  • Team tagging. Instead of just giving credit to your team, you can also tag them. This increases the chances of those people you tag sharing your post.

Vanessa Hudgens: Selling Using Instagram Shops

Instagram shops enable businesses and companies to sell their products easily. This has resulted in Instagram celebrities using an Insta shop in their profiles. One of the celebrities who has made good use of this feature is Vanessa Hudson. 

Vanessa Hudgens co-founded her Caliwater brand. She regularly posts about the brand on her profile, bringing it to the attention of her followers. When you visit the Caliwater account, you will see many links to her shop. You will be taken directly to the Caliwater account by clicking the link.

Here are a few lessons we can take from the Hudgen Instagram presence.

  • When you include links to your Instagram shop on your feed, it becomes easier for your followers to buy your products.
  • Have a diversified feed that mixes shop links with other kinds of content.

Conclusion

Instagram has become a popular platform for celebrities, brands, and individuals. Many users use the platform to catch up with their adored celebrities. The celebrities don't disappoint as they give behind-the-scenes previews of their lives. This has made them get hundreds of millions of followers. 

As you can see from our list, Ronaldo leads the pack with over 600 million followers. This makes him arguably the most influential Instagram influencer. While working with these influencers can be great, having them promote your brands can also be costly. Fortunately, we have included some tips you can learn from the top influencers in your Instagram marketing effort to help you take your brand to the next level. Also, check out our guide on grasping the power of Instagram marketing.