How to find the right Instagram influencers

Internet Retailing

31st Aug 2016

With 92 per cent of consumers reporting that they trust recommendations from individuals over brands, there’s little wonder why brands are turning to social media influencers to build stronger connections with their target markets.

And Instagram is leading the way. The photo-sharing platform now has more active users than Twitter and achieves almost 50 times more engagement than Twitter.

However, there are some important things brands should know before engaging with Instagram influencers. Here are five tips for retailers:

1. Focus on relevance over reach

Although it’s tempting to choose the top tier influencer with 1 million followers, this isn’t always the best option. When selecting an influencer look at who is commenting on and liking their posts – are they the same gender, of a similar age and in the same location as your target customers?

2. Choose engagement over follower size

With the rise in popularity of social media influencers, we are seeing a rise in fake influencer accounts. To differentiate between the two, look at their engagement rate. If someone has 50K followers but is only achieving 50 likes per photo, chances are they have purchased followers.

3. Engage influencers multiple times

Engaging an influencer multiple times can help to build a strong rapport with their followers. Run an initial campaign engaging a couple of influencers with one post each. After the campaign has finished, take look at your metrics. Which influencer received the highest engagement?

4. Allow for creativity and authenticity

When engaging influencers, remember to give them the creative freedom to do what they do best – create awesome content that their fans will love. Too many brand requirements takes away from their personal branding and their followers will see right through it.

5. Compensate correctly

Some smaller influencers (around the 5k mark) are generally happy to promote brands in exchange for a free product or service experience. Once you start engaging influencers around the 20k mark, expect to pay them in addition to gifting your product or service.

Victoria Harrison is an influencer marketing specialist at The Exposure Co.