What exactly is an Instagram influencer?
This is what you need to know about what an Instagram influencer is and how to become one yourself. An influencer is defined as someone who influences others to partake in an activity or purchase a product/service by using their social media channels to post content and engage their followers.
An influencer is often considered to be someone with a large number of followers. That also has a high ratio of engagement, likes and influence among their fans.
But don’t get confused, it’s not just the size that matters – it’s mainly the engagement. It’s more beneficial to have 5K engaged followers, than 1M followers with very little likes and engagement. Influencers can be sponsored, paid to post, but equally they can also just be doing it for the fun of it as a hobby.
What are sponsored/paid posts?
Due to the extensive reach that many top Instagram influencers have with their audience. Companies are choosing to invest money into paying Instagram influencers to promote their products or services. Doing so often increases ROI compared to traditional advertising methods, especially when their target audience is of younger demographics. Recent studies show that ROI is approximately $6.85 per dollar spent on influencer-related marketing. Which is expected to grow from $1.07billion in 2017, to $2.38billion in 2019.
How exactly are influencers fulfilling these requests?
An influencer marketing campaign could consist of several options, a single paid post, a series of posts and/or Instagram Stories, written reviews, videos, live video on IGTV. Or simply the influencer taking control of the brand’s official Instagram account. To drive new followers, boost engagement, or create a sense of social proof with the brand’s audience.
Payment and how to become an influencer
Payment received is based on several factors that were mentioned in the previous points. Instagram influencers can get paid anywhere from $5 to $10,000 (sometimes even more) per campaign. However, there is no industry standard as of yet. For those with a high number of actively engaged followers on their Instagram accounts, becoming an influencer can be unexpectedly simple and a lot less daunting than most would assume. Below are the two main ways most influencers get started:
Negotiate Directly: If your Instagram account is showing high engagement in a niche topic such as fitness, travel, beauty, fashion etc companies are likely to approach you directly with a proposal via email or DM. This is actually more common than most people think. So, it’s always a good idea to activate notifications for DM’s so you don’t miss out on an opportunity. You too can send a DM or email to companies you are interested in working with. Make sure to send them some details about your account. Such as how many followers you have, your engagement rate, average page views and audience location.
Apps and Services: The most popular way to get started is to try one of the many free apps and services which are designed to connect influencers to brands. These services are very handy as they usually take care of all the payment processing, legalities and will even offer tips and advice to new influencers who may be unsure how to negotiate details or format a post correctly. One of the top services to check out is TRIBE. Which is free to join and has quickly become one of the most popular networking apps for influencers and marketers. Brands can provide direct feedback to users through the app and payments are made either through a bank transfer or PayPal. There are similar apps, however TRIBE is highly recommended as the best place to get started and is extremely user friendly.
Don’t have enough followers yet?
Not to worry, we understand just how time consuming and tedious the growth process can be, especially when you’re doing it all alone. However, growth is where we excel. We’ve been helping influencers and businesses grow their accounts, both rapidly yet organically for over three years. Regardless of your plan, with us you’ll always have a personal Instagram expert to help you along the way. They will assess your needs, offer you a custom working strategy for growth and provide you with ongoing support. Are you serious about becoming the next best influencer? Sign up and expect to see results in just 48 hours!