What is an Instagram Influencer?

There is no doubt that Influencer Marketing wouldn't be where it is today without Instagram. Yes, influencer collabs already existed with blogs and YouTube, but with the creation of Instagram in 2010, influencers became more popular. The platform made it easy for brands and influencers to create paid partnerships. Moreover, it gained so much popularity in the years following its creation that it just made sense for content creators to use this app. Influencer Marketing developed hand in hand with Instagram development. But what is an Instagram influencer? And what differentiates them from other content creators? Keep reading to find out!

What is an Instagram influencer?

Different types of influencers 💁

At the beginning of social media, there were only a few famous influencers, making it easy for brands to identify who they wanted to work with. Nowadays, there are millions of influencers. As such, influencers are now being put in different categories based on their number of followers:

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• Nano influencers : 0 to 10k followers
• Micro influencers: 10k to 50k followers
• Mid tier influencers: 50k to 200k followers
• Macro influencers: 200k to 1M followers
• Mega influencers: +1M followers

A few years ago, brands only worked with influencers with a certain number of followers, but things have changed. Brands realize that a large community doesn't equal a high engagement rate. Many brands have now decided to work with smaller influencers who are often closer to their community and thus have a very engaged audience. This is also why there are more influencers because you don't need to have millions of followers to be considered a content creator.

Instagram is also the social network with the most influencers because it is easier to post pictures than doing YouTube videos, for instance. It is a bit less time-consuming, and most of the time, it is the social platform that shows the best results regarding influencer marketing.

But the number of followers isn't the only thing differentiating one influencer from another.

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Variety of content

Influencers also differentiate themselves with the type of content they share on their account. Keeping in mind that Instagram was at the beginning a platform to share mostly pictures, the most popular influencers are the ones that can provide visually pleasing content. However, Instagram has clearly stated its will to become more than just a platform to share pictures and wants to resemble TikTok's model with short video formats. So things might change soon.

As of right now, some categories are more popular than others.

Beauty and Fashion 👗

An important category is the beauty and fashion influencers. Instagram makes it easy for them to share their favorite new looks, tutorials, etc.

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Health and Fitness 💪

Lacking the motivation to go to the gym? With these influencers, you're sure to get in shape in no time. With their sculpted body and their tips to have a healthier lifestyle, they inspire many people.  

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Travel and Food 🍕

When scrolling on Instagram, you want to be entertained and inspired. So what is better than travel and food to inspire people? These influencers can easily gather a huge community as these topics appeal to almost everyone.

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Lifestyle ☕️

This category is the very definition of Instagram: aesthetically pleasing content. These influencers like to share different aspects of their life: their clothes, their favorite spots in their city, cooking recipes, etc. These types of influencers are extremely popular on the platform.

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The strengths of Instagram influencers 🚀

So why should you choose to work with Instagram influencers rather than other influencers?

Well, Instagram influencers allow you to reach niche audiences more efficiently. For instance, TikTok is tricky because people tend to watch TikToks from creators they don't necessarily follow. With Instagram, it is easier to know who you are targeting when working with influencers.

On Favikon, you can even have information about their audience: age group, location, gender, etc. This information is crucial when choosing influencers if you want to see better results with your campaign.

As we mentioned before, Instagram is about visual and eye-catching pictures, so if you are trying to promote a product, this is the right platform for you.

On top of that, the app has made it easy for brands and creators to do paid partnerships: label declaring it is a paid partnership, collaborative post, Instagram shopping, etc.

How to work with Instagram influencers

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Now that you know a bit more about Instagram influencers, you might want to work with them! But don't rush into it! First, we have a few pieces of advice for you.

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How to contact them 💌

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When you decide to implement influencer marketing into your strategy, there will always be a time when you will wonder how you should contact influencers. You will probably want to know which communication channel is the most effective.

There isn't one answer to this question. However, many influencers clearly write their professional email address in their Instagram bio. This clearly means that they wish to receive partnership propositions by email. The advantage of this channel is that emails often look more professional, and it is easier if you wish to add images or files to your message.

Another option is to send them a message directly on Instagram. This can be a good idea if you want to work with smaller influencers. Nano or micro influencers aren't professional yet, so they don't necessarily have an email address, or they don't check it very often. So direct message is often very effective with these types of influencers. Moreover, by contacting them directly on Instagram, they can look at your brand's account and easily understand what you are selling and what your brand's values are.  

The different types of partnerships

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Instagram has many formats, which creates this variety of content that makes the platform so unique! So let's have a look at the different types of content an influencer can create for a partnership:

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First of all, there is the story format. ⏳

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‍Since stories only last 24 hours, it is usually less expensive to do a partnership in this format. The other advantage is that stories are really popular. Many users are more likely to watch a story rather than scroll through their feed. This is probably because they are temporary, and people don't want to miss something. Stories are also practical for collabs as the influences can add a link redirecting directly to the brand's website.

Then there is the picture format. 📸

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It is more costly since it will stay on the influencer's feed. In the long term, the partnership will have more visibility. Moreover, with hashtags, the post can be seen by people who aren't following the influencer. This format comes with many advantages: it can be less time-consuming than other formats, and it helps the organization as brands can communicate their clear directives and expectations to have a perfect shot. Thus, the partnership looks professional, clear, and visually pleasing. Then there is a point to keep in mind: an influencer's feed is like their project and work. Content creators work hard to build a structured feed that represents them, their work, and their passion. Thus their image and reputation are built. Therefore when using this format, the picture will stay on the influencer's feed, so be sure to adapt the content you ask to their initial work.

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Finally, there is the Reel format. 🎥

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These short videos allow content creators to be creative. The result is often very dynamic. This is probably the easiest format to go viral, mainly since Instagram has expressed its will to push this type of content. And as it is a longer format, it allows the influencer to showcase the products better. They have time to show their audience how it should be used, they can share their favorite details, and finally, to spread a message they've worked up with the brand. It creates a sense of closeness between the influencer and their audience, which helps them build an authentic relationship.

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Now that you know everything about Instagram influencers, all is left to do is contact them and plan your next influencer marketing campaign. Instagram is still the number one place to do partnerships and the safest platform if you want to be sure to reach your objectives. On top of that, the platform offers different formats, which isn't the case with TikTok.