Branded content and influencer marketing make up an increasingly larger share of digital ad budgets

What was once a simple photo-sharing app has turned into an advertising powerhouse.

Of course, we’re talking about Instagram.

Moving away from the early casualness of the app, Instagram has become a hub for branded and influencer content. With roughly one billion monthly active users, it’s safe to say that if you’re not advertising on Instagram, you’re losing your customers to businesses that are.

A study by Influencer Marketing Hub found that 67% of brands use Instagram for influencer marketing, and that 90% of survey respondents believe it to be an effective form of marketing However, despite the growing popularity and increasingly larger share of money backing influencer marketing, brands still struggle to execute effective campaigns.

Not all Influencers are created equal

The sheer amount of influencers on Instagram creates a problem for brands: there are too many to choose from. To simplify things, they can be grouped based on their following to have the title of either a nano-influencer (less than 1k followers), micro-influencer (1k - 100k followers), macro-influencer (100k - 1 million followers), or mega-influencer (1 million+ followers).

• Micro-influencers have an average engagement rate of 3.86%, while mega-influencer have an average engagement rate of 1.21%.

• 34% of brands that run campaigns in-house say that finding influencers is the most significant challenge for them.

To source effective influencers, brands need to know what they’re looking for. With millions of influencers on the platform, there are surely some that fit into your specific niche - you just have to find them. But this is no easy feat, and to source influencers that will yield a position ROI for your campaign, you must have a strong grasp on your brand’s identity, an eye for trustworthy partners, and access to important statistics.

Luckily, BB3 has all three. We dive deep into our client’s brand to create the perfect influencer profile, then use our database of influencers to find your perfect match.

The future of influencer marketing? It’s here to stay.

In an ever-changing advertising landscape, one thing is guaranteed: influencer marketing is here to stay. It’s ability to connect brands to their audiences in intimate ways has changed advertising forever, and brands are starting to invest more of their overall marketing budget into branded content and influencer marketing.

• Marketers are putting 20% of their digital ad budgets into branded content and influencer marketing combined

• 63% of marketers intend to increase their influencer marketing budget in the next year

With millennials and Gen Z spending most of their day online, specifically on social media, influencer marketing is necessary to raise brand awareness and keep your brand relevant in a fast-paced world.

If you have yet to explore the possibilities of an influencer campaign, or need help restructuring to yield a positive ROI, reach out to BB3 to explore how we can deliver best in class influencer campaign management.