In the golden age of social media, every business has at least one online account. For most businesses, Facebook and Twitter are probably the go-to social media platforms when creating an online presence.
However, this means that Instagram, the world’s fastest growing social media app, is being overlooked.
Instagram currently has more than 800 million monthly users with an average 3.21% user engagement rate, more than double the average social media rate of 1.5%.
90% of the one hundred most popular brands are on
Instagram, 70% of the most-used hashtags on social media feature brands and 50% of Instagram users use the app to research products. How did this all happen? How did
Instagram, a social media platform, become such a highly- trusted source for product and brand information? In a word, influencers.
There are influencers on pretty much every social media platform, with Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter being the most prevalent.
An influencer is someone with a large sphere of influence; this term includes celebrities, but is usually reserved for people who have built their personal brand almost exclusively on social media.
Instagram users are more likely to connect with influencers than celebrities because they seem more “normal”- usually because they post about their life, food, and pets on a daily basis.
Influencers are often seen as the middle ground between the average Joe and a celebrity- they have glamorous holidays and beautiful selfies, but they don’t live in LA or drive a Ferrari.
Social media users like and trust influencers because they see their status as attainable- once upon a time, each influencer was just like them. Many Instagram users try to emulate influencers in the hope of gaining their own influence.
As they do that, they look to influencers’ posts for inspiration and guidance, eagerly absorbing any marketing messages those posts may contain.
A company working with an Instagram influencer pays the influencer to include their product or service in a post.
This includes tagging the company’s Instagram (if they have one) in the photo and in the post description.
The post usually features a photo of the influencer using the product and a description of why they like it.
Sponsored posts can often just feature an aesthetically pleasing photo of the product, as this is also a large part of Instagram culture.
What kind of product or service your company sells will inform your decision of which influencer you work with. The most popular Instagram influencers break down into three categories: celebrities, fitness, and beauty.
The “celebrities” category features people who are famous outside of Instagram and other social media- singers, actors, etc.
These users do make featured posts, but they are very expensive to hire and tend to only work with large brands.
For most companies, it’s best to focus on the traditional Instagram influencer- someone whose fame and influence is exclusive to social media.
Fitness influencers tend to promote gyms, exercise equipment, sportswear brands, and healthy food and drink products. Beauty influencers tend to promote makeup, skincare, fashion, and homeware products.
Many influencers, regardless of their profile’s style, will also promote “lifestyle” products such as vacation services and clothes.
Instagram is about presenting a curated version of your lifestyle to your followers, so you’ll want to collaborate with an influencer whose lifestyle fits your product.
Working with an Instagram influencer can help to boost awareness of your brand and show your product being used by someone your potential customers admire.
Many Instagram users follow influencers because they share their interests. Therefore, if a user sees an influencer using and enjoying your product, they’re more likely to think they’d enjoy using it too.
Having an influencer feature your product on their account shows customers what your product is, how it can be used, and where to find it.
Instagram advertising can be even more effective than traditional ads because it can really capture the joy a user gets from a product they love.
