It can be difficult to decide which social media channel to focus on when starting influencer marketing. Instagram has over one billion, monthly active users. Influencer marketing on Instagram could be your golden ticket to accessing a large pool of potential customers. Many brands are now learning to make money with Instagram.
According to the influencer agency, Mediakix spent over $1 billion in Instagram influencer advertising in 2017. The figure is expected by 2019 to surpass $2 billion.
This is not a surprise. Influencers on Instagram are creative people who add a story to their posts, balancing style with substance.
As the Instagram algorithm continues to reduce the organic reach for some brands, the demand for Instagram Influencers will only increase.
This article will cover the following:
Instagram Influencer Partnerships: The Most Popular Types.
Three successful Instagram influencer marketing examples.
Instagram Influencer Secrets
What makes Instagram Influencer Marketing so effective?
A lot of this has to do with authenticity.
Influencers on Instagram don’t just post about the positives… they also share the negatives. Influencers are confident in sharing their opinions will gain people’s trust. As humans, we are naturally drawn to authenticity. Those who provide it will earn our confidence.
Creativity is another reason companies choose to partner with Instagram influencers.
Instagram influencers can help you create new ideas for your campaign and post relevant content.
Imagine you are a travel agency and want to reach out to more people through Instagram.
If you sponsored a traveler or backpacker to document their experience in a particular location, you would probably receive just a few generic photos to post later. If they wanted to impress, they would make a slide show.
Instagram influencers are putting together stunning visuals to take us into new realities.
An Instagram influencer could be a powerful tool to help raise awareness for your brand.
When starting, many drop shippers, James Holt, opt to run Facebook Ads. James Holt advises that you should go straight to Instagram influencer marketing:
I want to give everyone my advice. Start with Instagram influencers rather than Facebook ads.
Once you have data for creating a lookalike campaign in Facebook ads, it is simple to transition later.
My first two Shopify shops never made a single sale. My first sale came only after I invested in an existing shop, learned from experts, and did Instagram shoutouts instead of wasting time with Facebook ads.
The first sale took some time, but there wasn’t only one sale; the notifications for deals on my phone began going off in a frenzy!
Most Popular Instagram Partnerships
You’ll find that there are many ways to partner with Instagram influencers.
Instagram Stories
Instagram stories are among the best features influencers and brands can use to increase their organic audience.
Stories are great for finding real-time, ‘in the moment’ content. It doesn’t feel as fake or as polished. Reports are excellent for ‘in the moment,’ real-life content.
Instagram Stories don’t have to look like the feed.
The’swipe-up’ feature is another unique Instagram Stories feature.
Influencers can link directly to a landing page for their company instead of telling people to click the link in their bio while looking at standard posts in the feed.
This feature is a great asset for brands who want to implement shopping on Instagram.
Instagram Stories is the most effective way to partner with Instagram influencers.
Sponsored posts
Instagram partnerships most commonly involve paying influencers or offering them free products in exchange for sponsored Instagram posts.
Influencers can use a variety of methods to highlight companies. From soft mentions and in-depth reviews to alternative uses, they can leverage the trust their audience has already gained to encourage them to try out the company’s offering.
This partnership is between an Instagram influencer, an ice cream brand, and a latter representative.
Influencer partnerships are a popular model of influencer marketing. Most brands pay their influencers in advance for sponsored content.
If you give your products to influencers, they are not legally bound to endorse you. If a contract specifies the compensation will be limited to free goods, then they are legally bound.
It can also go in the other direction if you do not have an agreement with Instagram influencers and only give away products in the hopes that they will post about them.
Important note on sponsored posts: Brands and influencers must disclose their partnership by the Federal Trade Commission guidelines. You can do this by using hashtags #sponsored or #ad.
Instagram Live Takeovers
Instagram live allows Influencers to interact with brands’ existing audiences in real time. It is the perfect way to create exclusivity and share personal experiences with audiences.
Instagram Live Takeovers can be an excellent way for businesses to engage with their customers in an exciting and fun manner.
Commentaries, for example, allow people to ask questions or interact with each other. Influencers can use filters and invite viewers and friends to participate in their takeover.
You can also download and save the Instagram Live video into your camera roll after it has ended.
The broadcast will then be available 24 hours on Instagram or another social media platform.
Instagram Live is a popular tool for influencer marketing. It offers authenticity and helps to keep sponsored content from appearing as such.
Influencers promoting a product in real-time can make it seem less like sponsorship and more like another day for the influencer.
Pro Tip: If you want to increase the number of viewers who watch your Instagram Live Takeover, ask an influencer to share your broadcast on their social media page and encourage their followers to follow and watch.
What type of Instagram influencer partnerships is best for your business?
You don’t need to choose one over the other. Start with one and see if it’s effective. If you are not happy with the results, then change your course. Brands can try different Instagram influencer partnerships at the same time.
Find Instagram Influencer
Find the perfect Instagram influencer.
Influencer marketing on Instagram and other social channels is a difficult task.
67.6% of marketers admit that the biggest challenge in influencer marketing is finding the right influencers.
What is the first step? What should you look for in Instagram influencers? What is the best way to search for Instagram users?
Influencer marketing tools, specifically designed to connect you with Instagram influencers, make it easier. Let’s say you are doing this on your own.
