A Comprehensive Guide to Instagram Influencer Marketing

If you use Instagram, you’ve probably seen influential users promoting brands and products. You might be wondering how your brand or business can work with influencers on Instagram too. This guide will provide you with an in-depth look at what you should do to run a successful Instagram influencer marketing campaign.

Why Use Instagram for Influencer Marketing?

First of all, you want to make sure that this type of campaign will yield the desired results. You already know that influencer marketing is effective. Now you need to determine if executing your campaign on Instagram is really the best option. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you should use Instagram for influencer marketing.

Massive Reach

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. According to the Pew Research Center, it’s the second most popular social media platform after Facebook. The report found that 32 percent of internet users in the U.S. are on Instagram.

Image via Pew Research Center

High Engagement Rate

Instagram is also the most engaging social media platform. According to a study by TrackMaven, Instagram sees the most average interactions per post per 1,000 followers. The average engagement ratio is 29.67 on the platform, while Facebook sees around 16.54 average interactions per post per 1,000 followers.

Image via TrackMaven

Influencers’ Choice

Instagram is also a great platform for executing your influencer marketing campaign because influencers prefer it. Bloglovin talked to 2,500 micro-influencers and found that Instagram is their most preferred platform. 59 percent of them say that it’s the most effective platform to engage their target audience.

Image via Bloglovin

Influencers testify that Instagram is the most effective platform for engaging their audiences.
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Understand the Cost

Before you can start planning your campaign, you should also consider your budget and make plans accordingly. While influencer marketing isn’t always expensive, proper planning and budgeting can help you avoid unnecessary costs.

It’s crucial to understand that the cost of working with influencers will vary according to the influencer’s follower size and the industry you’re in. According to Influence.co, influencers charge more as their audience size increases.

Those will fewer than 2,000 followers may charge around $124 per Instagram post. The price may increase to $258 per Instagram post for influencers with 75,000 to 100,000 followers. And if an influencer has more than a million followers, they may charge over $1,400 for a single Instagram post.

Image via Influence.co

The cost of working with influencers on Instagram will also vary according to the sector in which the influencer specializes. The Influence.co report found that travel influencers charge the highest, taking an average of $220 for each sponsored post. Next come entertainment influencers, followed by home and lifestyle influencers charging $209 and $204 per post respectively.

Once you understand all of these costs, you will have a better idea how much you might need to spend on your campaign. And depending on your budget, you can decide how many influencers you can work with and how much you can afford to spend on each of them.

How to Find the Right Influencers

Now comes the process of finding the right influencers. This is easily one of the most challenging steps in influencer marketing, whether it’s on Instagram or on other platforms. In fact, a study by Econsultancy found it to be the biggest challenge of working with influencers.

If you want to overcome this challenge, you need to be clear about what you’re looking for in an influencer. What characteristics will define your ideal influencer? First of all, they should be relevant to your brand and campaign. They should be creative and engaging. And depending on your campaign goals, they should also have significant reach.

By defining your ideal influencer, you’ll find it easier to narrow down the best influencers for your brand from a list of potential influencers. There are several options to find these potential influencers.

1. Search for Branded Hashtags

Look for influencers who are already fans of your brand and creating content about your brand. Conduct a search using a branded hashtag so you can find relevant content created about your products. You can then check out the users who have created these posts to look for potential influencers.

For example, the cosmetics brand Too Faced might conduct searches using hashtags like #toofaced or #toofacedcosmetics. They could even include the name of a popular line of their cosmetics such as #toofacedbornthisway.

Now let’s take a closer look at some of the posts in the search results. The first one is posted by @flawlessdolls, but as you can see in the description below, they’re only reposting someone else’s content.

We’ll examine the account of the original content creator instead. The original content creator is Mari Maria, and judging from her bio, she has expertise in beauty and makeup. Not only is she relevant, but she also has 2.8 million followers. She’s a perfect influencer for Too Faced because she’s already a fan of the brand and has massive reach.

2. Search for Relevant Hashtags

If you’re not an established brand yet, or if you’re not satisfied with the results from the previous tactic, you can also conduct a search of relevant hashtags. Just like with the first tactic, you’ll need to examine the results and the accounts of users who have created the content that appeals to you.

Let’s say you’re a brand that wants to promote a new line of ingredients. In this case, you’d ideally be working with foodie influencers who can also cook and implement your ingredients into their recipes. Let’s try searching for the hashtag #homechef and analyze the results.

The screenshot below shows content created by @claudialiciouslondon, which shows up in the search results for #homechef. Next, check out the user’s profile and see if they would be relevant to your campaign.

As you can see in the screenshot below, the user has 12,300 followers, qualifying her as a micro-influencer. In addition, most of her posts are related to food and are of high quality.

3. Use the Right Tools

You can also make use of influencer marketing tools to simplify your search further. Using these tools, you’ll be able to get a list of potential influencers based on a relevant keyword or category. Some of the best tools you can use are BuzzWeb, BuzzSumo, Ninja Outreach, and Influence.co.

Influence.co is an exceptional choice because it’s free to use. And you can easily filter the results based on location and Instagram follower count. So you can easily conduct your searches based on your campaign requirements.

BuzzWeb also has a free usage plan, which allows you to conduct searches on over 100,000 influencers. You can then analyze their audience and see which influencers would work best for you.

Or you can skip all of this and work with an influencer marketing agency instead. In this case, the agency will carefully analyze your needs and expectations to connect you with the most relevant influencers in their network.

Execute Campaign Based on Goals

Finally, you can start executing your Instagram influencer marketing campaign based on the goals you’ve set. Some of the most popular types of campaigns on Instagram are:

1. Sponsored Post: Here, you’ll be paying influencers to create content for your brand. They could simply feature your product in their content or tell an entire story about your product depending on what you choose or need. This type of campaign can be useful for achieving any type of goal.
2. Contests: Send out free products to influencers so they can organize a giveaway contest. This is an excellent tactic to engage a new audience and can help you gain new followers to raise brand awareness. It could also help build buzz around a new product.
3. Branded Content: You can also feature influencers in your branded content to give the content a little extra push. The content will be created and published by you but involve influencers. For instance, have an influencer create something using your product or participate in your storytelling. Branded content can be effective for promoting a new product or reaching a new audience in general.
4. Reviews: You could also have influencers review your products so their followers can make an informed decision when buying from you. Make sure the review is as honest as possible so you can win the trust of your target audience. This form of campaign is perfect for those who wish to raise brand awareness, build trust, and drive conversions.
5. Brand Rep Programs: You could even turn influencers into representatives for your brand. Provide each influencer with a custom discount link or code, which they can share with their audience. For each conversion they drive, pay them a small percentage. This type of campaign can help raise brand awareness and drive conversions effectively.

After you execute your campaign, don’t forget to track your progress and see what kind of results the influencers are driving. Having a custom URL or unique discount code for each influencer will make it easier to track the performance of your campaign. Based on your analysis of the campaign results, make changes and improvements as needed.

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