With around one billion users worldwide, Instagram is one of the most successful social media platforms. While private individuals share impressions from their everyday life on Instagram and exchange ideas with their followers, more and more companies are getting a taste for it and are using Instagram for their marketing purposes.
After all, the social network now offers various ways to earn money with it. One form of marketing even works without the involvement of Instagram itself and is organized by active companies on the platform. We are talking about influencer marketing, one of the newest advertising types, which is mainly operated via Instagram.
What are Influencers?
Influencers are Instagram users who have a large reach-in or an exceptionally committed community on the platform. If these influencers show and advertise a product or a brand in their Instagram feed, they are likely to trigger purchase intentions in their subscribers. After all, their followers trust them.
Influencer Marketing is a Billion-dollar Market
Companies can book influencers for their purposes and let them present their products for a certain fee. There are now numerous agencies that have specialized in finding suitable influencers. Companies’ advantage is that they can place their product directly in their target group in this way.
Influencer marketing has developed into a billion-dollar business, and companies are pouring more and more money into collaborations with high-reach Instagrammers. For the young target group, advertising loses its vigor by strolling through the shop windows in the city center or watching television. Streaming providers and social media set trends, and users follow their successful role models.
Also Read: How To Gain Followers On Instagram?
Example: This is how Influencer Marketing Works
Suppose influencer posts a lot of content on the topic of babies, families, and parenting. With her followers, she exchanges a lot about the respective experiences as a mom in her comment columns and repeatedly gives authentic insights into her everyday life in her postings.
If a baby toy company comes up to you and asks you if you want to introduce a product to your followers on your Instagram feed, the chances are high that some of your followers will buy this toy if the influencer makes positive comments. After all, she enjoys excellent trust in her community, thanks to her otherwise so authentic insights.
Make the Success of Influencer Marketing Visible with Discount Codes
In the best case, the company has even given her a discount code for her followers. This means that everyone who orders the baby toy with the code XY in the company’s online shop receives it at a discount. The principle is simple. Just as values are given in other places, for example, in sports betting, in real money casinos, or after signing up for the newsletter in online shops, influencers can also encourage their followers to buy with discounts.
For the company, this has the advantage that they can track their marketing activities. By checking how often the influencer’s discount code has been redeemed, they can see whether the cooperation was worth it and how much sales the influencer generated.
Companies can target potential buyers through influencers. The influencers negotiate their fee with the company. In the case described, your Instagram account is the advertising platform on which the companies buy advertising space – a posting.
This is how Instagram Earns from Advertising
Instagram doesn’t earn anything from this type of cooperation. Therefore, the social network that belongs to Facebook has integrated further options for how they can be involved in marketing activities. For example, companies can book advertising on Instagram that is shown to users in their feed.
After three to four postings from users followed by users, a paid post is intended to trigger purchase impulses. This advertising is tailored to your own user profile.
When creating these advertising postings, companies can decide which users should be shown their advertising. Ultimately, an algorithm then decides on which profiles an advertisement is displayed at which point in time.
Also Read: How To Promote Instagram Using Traditional Marketing Techniques?
Instagram Marketing via the Shopping Function
Another way to use Instagram as a marketing channel is to set up a shop. In this way, products shown on Instagram can be directly linked to your online shop. In this way, a company can also see how many purchases have been made via Instagram.
It is crucial to design an attractive Instagram channel. This should contain high-quality photos and be filled with content that users enjoy looking at. This includes exciting information, entertaining content, and visually appealing images. After all, communication via Instagram is highly visual and the platform thrives on beautiful photos.
Potential customers can only be forwarded to their online shop if the offer they see on Instagram is also attractive. An appealing and well-thought-out Instagram presence is, therefore, the be-all and end-all.
