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A Guide to Influencer Marketing on Instagram

The influencer marketing space is estimated to be worth a staggering $15 billion by 2022. The influencer marketing space is estimated to be worth a staggering $15 billion by 2022. Click To Tweet In today’s increasingly connected world, more and more companies decide to run influencer marketing campaigns.

Influencer marketing on Instagram has the potential to generate great returns for brands, both large and small. In fact, 89% of marketers agree that influencer marketing can generate better ROI when compared to other marketing channels. With this channel, you can expect a return of $18 for every $1 you spend on influencer marketing. In fact, 89% of marketers agree that influencer marketing can generate better ROI when compared to other marketing channels. With this channel, you can expect a return of $18 for every $1 you spend on influencer marketing. Click To Tweet

In this article, we’ll outline how your business can best tap into influencer marketing on Instagram.

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First off.. What is “influencer marketing”?

An influencer is a person on a social media platform who has a large number of subscribers (also known as “followers”). These personalities can influence their community’s behavior and purchases in specific fields, from fashion and beauty to sports and entertainment. This is why influencers can be a vital marketing lever for companies.

Influencers appeal to Internet users in different ways other than classic marketing campaigns to the general public. Real-life endorsements from public personalities often appear more authentic and attractive than a message broadcast by radio, television, or a commercial. With many influencers, their audience trusts them to be honest and only recommend products or services they trust. This is why, according to review42, 87% of users on social media platforms like Instagram responded that they have purchased products or services after a glowing review from an influencer. According to review42, 87% of users on social media platforms like Instagram responded that they have purchased products or services after a glowing review from an influencer. Click To Tweet

Getting the most out of your Instagram Influencer Campaign

To get the most value out of your influencer campaigns, we recommend studying these 5 pointers well.

 1) Determine the objectives of your influencer marketing campaign.

Like any marketing strategy, the first thing you need to do is clarify your campaign’s objectives.

Ask yourself what you would like to achieve with your influencer marketing campaign.

For many businesses, the core objective of an influencer marketing campaign is to drive sales or conversions of their product or service.

However, influencer marketing campaigns can also have additional benefits and objectives, such as:

• Increasing the visibility of your brand through generating more social media impressions.
• Reaching new audience segments through your Instagram influencers’ accounts.
• Increase your following on social media networks, e.g. Instagram.
• Engage existing customers and increase customer loyalty.

Remember to set objectives that are S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound) to ensure that you can evaluate the success of your influencer marketing campaigns.

2) Identify the influencers that are the best-fit for your brand

To identify the best influencers on Instagram for your business, you need to first understand the target customer segments you are trying to reach. Any campaign that is not clear about who it wants to target is doomed before it even starts. 

Before you start, understand your audience.

Identify your customer segments by answering the following questions:

• Demographics: What is the age, gender, occupation, and income level of my target audience?
• Geography: Where are most of my target audience based?
• Interests: What are the interests of my target audience?

This then allows you to find influencers that have a similar following to what you are looking for. 

The first step is thus to research your influencer's audience. Does it match yours?

Next, is this influencer relevant to your brand?

You need to consider the tone and style of your influencer’s Instagram account. Does it match your brand?

Sourcing and selecting the best-fit influencers for your business does not only depend on the size of their following community. Like brands, influencers all have different stories. If your business values or brand doesn't match that of the influencer, the content produced will not seem authentic, and followers will quickly notice this crass juxtaposition.

The most followed influencers may create great photos with well-groomed captions, but if there is no emotional resonance between your product and the influencer’s community, the return on investment on your marketing campaign can be adversely affected.

So, how do you find Instagram influencers with the same values as your brand?

A simple way is to search for their accounts with keywords either on Google or directly on Instagram. Taking the time to ensure that you have selected the right influencers for your brand means that your sponsored posts will appear more organic, and also are more likely to reach potential users who are more receptive to your product.

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Selecting Instagram influencers… Micro or macro-influencers? Size is not always the right indicator.

Indeed, the term “influencer” is often automatically associated with a celebrity.

However, influencer marketing can also be very effective (sometimes even more effective) on smaller scales.

If you are looking to collaborate with influencers with a tight marketing budget at your disposal, then micro-influencers (less than 10,000 followers) are often the best option for your brand in terms of cost-effectiveness. Research has shown that collaborating with micro-influencers generates 4 times more engagement due to the greater loyalty of their audience. Research has shown that collaborating with micro-influencers generates 4 times more engagement due to the greater loyalty of their audience. Click To Tweet

Again, your marketing goals will have a real impact on how you approach your choice of macro or micro-influencers.

If you operate in a niche market, micro-influencers can be better allies, but if you are looking to develop your brand awareness, it will be more relevant to work with macro-influencers.

Seek genuine community engagement

You need to consider many factors when it comes to setting up a successful influencer marketing campaign. From the number of followers to demographics and context, determining the true reach of an influencer content isn't as easy as observing the number of "likes" on a post.

One metric that is absolutely essential in determining the reach of an influencer: audience engagement.

You must remember that popularity doesn't necessarily mean results for your brand. It could be that the person is actually a fake influencer.

Real engagement is the key metric that drives conversions, and it's the most important thing you need to consider when looking for the right Instagram influencers for your brand.

Watch the comments on the influencer posts to see if there is real engagement with the sponsored products. A good influencer’s particularity is their ability to generate conversations in the comments and encourage their followers to tag their friends to generate future conversions.

As you do this, ask yourself if the accounts that interact with these posts match your potential customers, and see if the influencer answers questions from their followers regularly. This last point is crucial because you will want to resolve all problems during sponsored promotional operations for your products/services.

Recommended: 7 Ideas on How to Engage Your Audience on Instagram

3) Define a budget

This is one of the most complicated segments of planning an influencer marketing campaign, due to the significant disparity in prices charged by each influencer, which can vary very widely.

Regardless of the amount you decide to spend, you should always think about the return on investment (ROI) you will achieve with the campaign. There are also opinion leaders and influencers who love certain brands and who talk about it and recommend it without expecting financial remuneration.

If you want to differentiate yourself from the competition, locate them, and give them special treatment in the form of gifted products or influencer-exclusive discounts and perks.

Factors that usually predominate when setting the price of a campaign are:

• The number of followers.
• The engagement ratio.
• The type of collaboration. 

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4) Monitor the campaign

Don’t just sit down during the campaign and expect your influencer to do all the work while you wait for the results.

As a business, you should continually follow-up and engage your influencers during the course of your collaboration. Tips to follow during your campaign:

• Check influencer’s content for any errors with a pre-approval posting process.
• Monitor your user reactions to the campaign. You might respond directly on the Influencer’s Instagram post.
• Review the influencer’s replies to questions.
• Make sure the influencer is representing your brand the way you like.

To ensure the smooth course of the campaign, make sure you also provide the influencer with all the necessary information they need to showcase your brand in the best way. 

Each influencer might have their unique requirements, but here are some of the things you should provide...

• Product (naturally, for image shots). You can then recycle these images for paid social media ads to save cost.
• Whilst your influencer is not expected to post these information on the Instagram post, you should also give them information on how to order, guarantees, and your return policies so they are educated and briefed beforehand.
• Answers to commonly asked questions.
• Information on any relevant promotions.

5) Measure the effectiveness of the campaign

Measuring the effectiveness of Instagram influencer marketing is a common challenge faced by marketing professionals.

You need to measure your campaign results to determine if it meets your expectations and objectives.

Measuring your influencer marketing KPIs are essential to the success of your campaign.

According to influencer marketing experts, the most critical metrics and KPIs when measuring a campaign with influencers are:

• Quantity and quality of the audience reached.
• Web traffic.
• Sales
• No. of mentions in social networks.
• Impressions
• No. of clicks made on publications.
• Conversion rate.

Recommended: Measuring the Impact of Instagram Influencer Marketing in 2020

Conclusion

Influencer marketing has a bright future ahead. With the advent of social networks, influencers have become the new spokespersons for brands.

And don’t forget: the best influencer marketing results are often achieved by building long-term relationships, so don't forget about your influencer partners when your campaigns ends!

Jaron Soh

As the COO and Co-founder for Traktion.ai, I am passionate about helping companies hire and collaborate with the world’s best digital marketing talent. Traktion is a platform to hire pre-vetted digital marketers, verified across 25+ factors.