Get maximum value from your Instagram marketing
1. Track bots to analyse authenticity of accounts
When approaching influencers, it’s short-sighted to be enthused by merely large follower numbers. Regardless of whether you’re working with influencers or micro-influencers on Instagram, be sure to run the account’s URL through a bot checker tool to audit how many fake followers they have. Tools such as HypeAuditor and IG Audit are free and give you transparency on these numbers at a glance. If an account has more than 15% fake followers it's probably a warning sign. Essentially 15% of the followers on the account will drive zero engagement.
2. Approach Instagram Influencers with an open mind
Not every Influencer wants to be compensated with a monetary payment. Granted, the majority will probably be looking to be paid this way, but it’s worthwhile being open-minded when it comes to compensation. Other potential requests could be free products, blog advertisements, affiliate partnerships etc. Whatever you might be asked to provide to come to an agreement for the work provided, make sure you’re flexible in your approach.
It’s also worth approaching influencer partnerships with a degree of fluidity when it comes to creative licence. Giving yourself complete autonomy over the posts will not inspire the influencer to work with you. Showing adaptability will make the project more exciting for them and putting your faith in their abilities will help forge a long-lasting relationship built on trust. It may also take some of the extra creative aspects away from your workload.
3. Use a social media listening tool
Before you make an approach to an Instagram account, research and data analysis will give you the confidence that you’re approaching the right individual for your business needs. A social media listening tool will help you to understand metrics such as reach and engagement, which wouldn’t otherwise be at your disposal. Having these numbers consolidated on a tool that makes comparative analysis of accounts possible means that you can easily identify the right individual to approach.
Once you’ve began work with your chosen Instagram influencer you can use a social media listening tool to identify the most suitable hashtags for your campaign and monitor the success of influencer partnerships.
4. Choose specific influencers for specific campaigns
As with most campaigns, the success of your work with your Instagram influencer will, for a large part, rely on the relevancy of the posts to the influencer’s audience. If you’re promoting a pizza restaurant and an influencer you’re working with posts 50% about pizzas and 50% of burgers, you might be throwing budget away when there’s an influencer whose niche is solely dedicated to pizza. Undertaking this extra research and using a multitude of influencers and micro-influencers for different campaigns will result in a higher return from your investment. . Tip: You haven't found the perfect influencers for your brand campaigns yet? Then, the Meltwater social influencer tool might be the solution you were looking for.
5. Use Business Accounts to get more insights
In light of Instagram’s recent API changes you will only be able to track the data behind accounts that are marked as Business Accounts. Get real-time metrics on how your stories and promoted posts perform throughout the day. With a Business Account, you can get insights into your followers and how they interact with your posts and stories. If you already have an account that’s not a Business Account, you can convert to a Business Account within your app account settings.
Want more hacks? You can now watch our webinar - 10 Hacks to Become an Instagram Star on demand at your leisure!
