The use of Influencer marketing continues to increase and it looks like Instagram is fueling the growth.
Instagram has emerged as a go-to channel for etailers to drive their brand’s message to larger market segments in 2017, according to new research from Klear, an analytics and social media marketing platform.
Klear reported that the number of influencer posts on Instagram nearly doubled to more than 1.5 million posts worldwide between 2016 and 2017. And in 2017, sponsored Instagram posts generated 1 billion likes (an average of 682 per post).
Meanwhile, with continued growth on the Instagram platform, its viability for influencer marketing isn’t expected to slow down. eMarketer estimates the number of Instagram users in the US will reach 96.3 million in 2018. And 118.1 million by 2021.
Additionally, the Stories feature on Instagram will continue to be part of the influencer marketing movement. Many brands have experimented with their own content in Stories. But brands are also working with influencers to created content.
Exerting Targeted Influence
In the early days of influencer marketing it was all about partnering with those that had massive social media followings – including celebrities. But the most successful influencer campaigns are about targeting the right consumers based on an influencer’s followers.
And according to Klear women are leading the way. Instagram influencers were overwhelmingly female, with women accounting for about 84% of the total. That makes sense given that the two top industries that partnered with influencers on Instagram were the fashion and accessory sector. A quarter of al sponsored posts on Instagram we’re for fashion and accessory brands. Beauty and cosmetics was second.
Additionally, Instagram influencers have younger audiences (millennials). Klear found that nearly 75% of Instagram influencers were between 18- to 34-years old age range. And those ages 18 to 24 accounted for 42% of them.
Research from Collective Bias states that 70% of millennial consumers are influenced by the recommendations of their peers.
TapInfluence partnered with Nielsen Catalina Solutions for a study on influencer marketing that shows Influencer marketing generates 11x more ROI than traditional forms of marketing. Maybe that’s why 84% of marketers had influencer campaigns in 2017, according to eMarketer. And 51% of marketers believe they acquire better customers through influencer marketing, according to research by Tomoson.