Unveiling the Power of Instagram Influencers: Strategies for Success

Instagram is one of the most powerful tools in a marketer’s arsenal, but it’s not just about what the platform itself can do for you. Collaborating with the right people on this social network could potentially lead to mind-blowing results.

In today’s landscape, working with an Instagram influencer is almost mandatory if you want to help a brand succeed. From better brand recognition to improved trust and even more conversions, there’s a lot you can gain from these key partnerships.

Check out this comprehensive guide to learn everything you need to know about Instagram influencer marketing, no matter if you’re a company looking for someone to promote your brand or a content creator in search of their next big deal.

The Influence of Instagram Influencers

Instagram is the most-used tool for influencer marketing in the US, with over 3.8 million posts tagged with #ad in 2021 alone.

These key content creators help shape consumer behavior and completely change how the public views a brand. Around 50% of Millennials claim they trust the product recommendations coming from influencers, while only 38% trust the endorsements of celebrities.

Younger people are even more likely to buy a product if their favorite Instagram influencer recommends it. Around a third of Gen Z users buy a product based on these types of sponsored posts.

Identifying the Top Instagram Influencers

Who are the top Instagram influencers you should work with? Choose your Instagram influencers based on these key factors:

1. Audience alignment: First, it’s worth making sure the Instagram influencer has access to the right audience segment. Big influencers usually have a more general audience and stand a good chance of promoting your brand to relevant users, while smaller creators often specialize in a certain niche.
2. Authenticity: The key to a successful Instagram influencer marketing campaign is ensuring the content is genuine. If the influencer cannot be authentic in their recommendations, then the strategy can fall flat.
3. Engagement rates: Look at the number of likes, shares, and comments the Instagram influencer has on their account, not just the total following. Higher engagement means their community is active and responsive.

When searching for influencers, you can start by checking your brand mentions to see if there are people with large followings who’ve already talked about your brand possibility, or even use an influencer marketplace like Collabstr to search for creators.

Collaborating with Instagram Influencers

Instagram influencer marketing isn’t like other types of advertising efforts. In a way, you’re outsourcing some of the marketing tasks to another person, and a lot of things can go wrong.

Here are some tips that can make this collaboration smoother:

1. Establish a clear and accessible way to communicate (email, messaging apps, recurrent meetings, etc.).
2. Be clear about your campaign goals and objectives.
3. Lay out the exact terms of the collaboration, down to the number of posts the Instagram influencer should make.
4. Negotiate a clear rate for the partnership.
5. Ask to review the content before posting to ensure it meets your demands.
6. Allow the influencer the space to make the content in their style to ensure maximum engagement from their audience.

Becoming an Instagram Influencer

If you’re a content creator wanting to become an Instagram influencer, you should know there’s a long road ahead. But, since smaller creators can still have profitable brand partnerships, be sure to implement these tips to improve your chances:

1. Choose a specific niche rather than a general-audience type of account to make yourself more attractive to customers.
2. Test several types of content and topics to see which works best for your audience.
3. Invest in cameras and editing tools to make your content visually appealing.
4. Interact with your followers directly by adding CTAs, replying to comments, and even sending DMs.

Instagram Influencer Marketing Strategies

Working with an Instagram influencer can take on different shapes, but there are some common strategies that almost always work:

1. Sponsored posts: This is the simplest strategy and allows you to work with several influencers at the same time. Unfortunately, they often come off as disingenuous.
2. Giveaways: While it involves both paying the influencer and giving out free products (so a higher cost), giveaways usually get the highest levels of engagement.
3. Takeovers: This can help you get brand-new content to engage your audience, but it usually only works if the influencer has experience or knowledge of your specific niche.
4. Affiliate programs: Another simple model where the influencer promotes a link and gets a commission from each purchase. It’s incredibly easy to set up, but unless the influencer continuously pushes the link, results might be minimal.

Navigating Instagram Influencer Pricing

It’s impossible to say how much working with an Instagram influencer will cost since it usually comes down to two main factors:

1. Their follower count
2. Their engagement rates

Influencers with bigger followings will often charge more per post or collaboration than smaller creators. Even so, you should always double-check their engagements, since lots of these huge influencers may have non-active accounts following them.

Micro-Influencers on Instagram

Surprisingly, the best Instagram influencers to work with aren’t necessarily the people with the largest audiences, as micro-influencers are also quickly gaining traction in the world of advertising.

The unique benefit of smaller creators is that they have higher engagement rates and even conversion rates. Their audiences are niche-based and display higher levels of trust for the recommendations of the person they’re following since the relationship is much more tight-knit.

Leveraging Mandala AI Tools

Mandala AI can help you elevate your influencer career or even spot the right people to collaborate with.

Our suite provides enhanced social listening and trend identification tools to help you move away from guesswork and make data-driven decisions for your influencer career or marketing efforts.

Discover how Top Mentions, Top Channels, and other key features can help you here.

Wrapping Up

Instagram influencer marketing has infinite potential, and if you haven’t given it a shot yet, now’s the time to try.

Let us know your thoughts about this advertising method in the comments and whether you’ve used it before.

Also, discover how Mandala AI optimizes influencer marketing today, and sign up to get started.