When Instagram first launched, it was a treasure trove of overexposed photos of meals, #sunset, and pets.
Now, though, Instagram is dominated by “influencers,” or people who have a large following. As well they should.
If you want to increase your brand’s visibility and ultimately your sales, you should consider forming strategic partnerships with Instagram influencers.
With so much at stake for your store’s participation, it can be challenging to choose the most effective means of utilising Instagram influencers.
Instagram influencers: what exactly are they good for?
A person who has built a significant following and reputation in a specific field on Instagram is considered an influencer in that field. They frequently use lifestyle material to advertise goods and services.
Thus, Instagram influencer marketing describes the collaboration between ecommerce firms and Instagram or Shopify influencers for the purpose of promoting products, services, or campaigns.
Alexa Chung for fashion, Marie Kondo for design and organisation, and Kayla Itsines for fitness are all instances of influential people on the cusp of fame. We haven’t even scratched the surface here; Instagram influencers may be found in a wide variety of sub-communities defined by things like follower count, brand aesthetic, and more (which we’ll discuss in further depth below).
Is it effective to sell with Instagram influencers?
Influencer marketing initiatives on Instagram require significant investment of time, resources, and strategic thought. Brands can create quite a splash with these if done properly.
In reality, e-commerce companies can increase their conversion rate by working with Instagram influencers. Brands may expect a return of approximately $5 for every $1 invested in this form of advertising.
A campaign may not immediately result in purchases, but it still creates several interactions with customers.
Consider the Fabletics athletic apparel brand:
- Fabletics’ goals were to spread the word about the company, get their message out, and motivate their consumers to excel. Twelve influencers, including three with nano-sized followings and nine with micro-sized ones, helped launch the #KickButtLookCute campaign.
Fabletics was able to get the most out of the campaign by collaborating with Instagram influencers who have a wide range of followings and engagement rates. - The goal of this campaign wasn’t to sell something so much as to promote a way of thinking that is consistent with the ethos of Fabletics. As a result, the ad attracted the attention of 9.41% of those who viewed it, a sizeable portion of potentially converted Instagram users.
- While this may not directly translate to sales for Fabletics, a massive quantity of people would have seen the products promoted among the influencers’ audiences.
- This is just the way these campaigns work! Brand recognition may be the desired outcome when attribution becomes too difficult or impossible.
Different categories of Instagram celebrities
One of the greatest benefits of partnering with ecommerce Instagram influencers is that there is so much more choice than when working with A-list celebrities.
Beyond fields like cosmetics, clothing, and lifestyle, the number of one’s followers is often used to classify influencers. Generally speaking, the budget is determined by the number of followers (more followers means more exposure, which in turn usually means more cost).
This infographic by Mediakix illustrates the many echelons of Instagram celebrities.
There are clearly several levels of Instagram marketers, such as:
- Famous people like Kim Kardashian, Ariana Grande, and many more fall under the category of “mega-influencers.” The most costly influencers are those who have extensive expertise dealing with businesses (or whose publicists do).
- Influencers whose impact has spread far and wide are considered macro-influencers. You’ll have to shell out serious cash to work with these influencers, but their massive fan bases will bring in plenty of new customers.
- Power brokers in the middle: The number of creators and prominent figures in this tier is significantly larger than in the previous two, increasing your exposure possibilities.
- Micro-influencers: Those in this category may have a larger audience than nano-influencers, but they still maintain a devoted fan base. If a company wants their marketing initiatives to feel more personal, they should work with micro-influencers.
- Nano-influencers are those who periodically advocate a business or product, such as producers, hobbyists, and bloggers. But don’t think too little of this level! Higher engagement rates can be expected from accounts with a lesser number of followers.
Gains from collaborating with Instagram celebrities
You’d be hard-pressed to find a reason why ecommerce firms shouldn’t collaborate with creatives that have a loyal following in a specific area.
Let’s take a look at the most salient advantages of working together.
Lifestyle influencer Sandra D from South Carolina can help you reach her audience of 7.4k moms (aged 28–45) by including your business in her Instagram Stories.
These people don’t even have to be following you for you to obtain access to them. When someone you know recommends a product to you for the first time, it feels less like an advertisement and more like a normal conversation.
Rapidly expanding your campaigns
When numerous influencers are collaborating on a campaign for the same e-commerce company, the marketing efforts may be quickly scaled up. You’ll get greater visibility at scale because each influencer will bring their own style to the campaign (within your guidelines, of course).
The best part is that, depending on your agreement, you can promote these campaigns by posting them to your brand’s Instagram account.
Gain your client’s confidence
When it comes to authenticity, marketing with Instagram influencers (or any other form of influencers) may be a minefield. Customers value authentic recommendations from their favourite influencers more than they do irrelevant, unpleasant advertisements.
The key to coming across as genuine is getting the balance right between knowing the message you want to communicate and giving the influencer authority to build that message based on what they know about their following.