It’s Time to Invest in Influencer Marketing on Instagram

2015 was an exciting year for brands on Instagram. The social network was growing continuously in popularity, yet it still offered fresh new opportunities for brands to engage with their followers.

It’s already clear that 2016 is off to a different start. Instagram has 400 million active users and 80 million photos posted each day, and it’s becoming more and more difficult for brands to get the organic growth and engagement they’ve seen in the past on the platform. And like Facebook before it, Instagram is becoming a “pay-to-play” social network for brands that want to get noticed.

Social analytics company Locowise recently published its 2015 recap offering Instagram data, analysis and predictions for the future.

Some of Locowise’s discoveries included:

• Instagram follower growth declined 88.21% in 2015 (from a high of 1.95% in April to a low of 0.23% in December)

• Instagram engagement declined 61.43% in 2015 (from a high of 2.8% in April to 1.08% in December)

• Instagram still outperformed Facebook and Twitter in terms of follower growth and engagement

So what does this mean for brands that still want to engage and grow their audience on Instagram?

Locowise offers this advice:

If you want to achieve a great growth on Instagram you do need to consider alternative tactics. Organic growth will not get you far. 

Influencer outreach (just like on Twitter) is another powerful tactic worth considering. 

We couldn’t agree more. Influencer marketing is the most effective way to cut through the noise and get your message to the right audience. You could spend a lot of time spinning your wheels, trying to figure out what would interest your ideal followers. Or you could team up with a top-notch Instagram influencer and capture the attention of people already primed to love your brand.

Interested in seeing what influencer marketing for Instagram can do for your brand? Contact MtoM!