Influencer marketing has been on the rise over the last few years, and shows no signs of slowing down in India. Instagram influencers are to influencer marketing what Yin is to Yan. So any conversation about it is incomplete without a reference to Instagram influencers. Convince and Convert reports that as a channel, influencer marketing has 11x more ROI than traditional display ads. So why not take time out to learn a bit more about it?

Marketers need to be careful about the influencers they partner with. A recent study shows that Indian instagram influencers have over 16 million fake followers (the third highest number globally after the US and Brazil). Maybe this is where TikTok comes in, but that’s another story altogether.

How to choose Instagram influencers

So what is the criteria for choosing Instagram influencers? You definitely don’t want to be caught in a vicious circle where you end up spending marketing dollars on influencers who have little to no ROI on account of their fake followers.

What should you consider when looking for Instagram influencers to work with? Depending on your brand or campaigns, these are some of the factors you should consider.

• Relevance: How relevant is the influencer with regard to your brand identity and brand message? Does the influencer’s audience consist mainly of Gen Z or Gen Y? Do you sell to Gen Z or Gen Y? These are some of the things to consider when you’re assessing the relevance of the influencer.
• Quality of content: The quality of the content produced by the influencer is a huge factor – maybe even more important than the first. Does the influencer constantly have fresh, engaging content on their channels? Or is it something that is more often than not a quick fix? If it’s a quick fix then it is probably not going to generate the kind of engagement you want.
• Engagement: How many of the followers are actually engaging with the influencer? Great content is always good but influencers with followers that don’t engage with the great content that they produce? That’s not what you’re looking for.
• Size: This one is debatable but still a consideration. How big is your influencer’s following?

  Of course earlier, people would advise marketers to go for the biggest influencers they could find, however, not anymore. It’s the age of micro influencers and nano influencers. You want to find the influencers with the most engaged following – the ones who are taken seriously and actually can influence on their followers. Yes, Kim Kardashian looks nice in a certain kind of outfit, but how many followers would purchase the outfit based on its wearability.

• Price: Unless you’re an influencer yourself, chances are that influencer collaborations won’t come for free. So maybe you’ve found the perfect influencer based on all of the above criteria but they’re pricey, and if you’re just starting out, proving ROI can be a real pain. So better to go easy on the level of investment.