Brands Tap Into Instagram Influencers

This has already been a big year for Instagram. With the unveiling of the  Instagram Android app and Facebook’s purchase of the company for $1 billion, an increasing number of brands are looking to Instagram for their content efforts.

Many companies are now trying to recruit Instagram influencers with large audiences to capture content. Brands are looking to reach a wide audience within a visual community that still does not offer advertising opportunities.

There is however the recently launched (as of March) marketing agency for Instagram, The Mobile Media Lab, which works with influential Instagrammers and helps brands develop interactive experiences.

While beneficial to brands, some Instagrammers asked to post on behalf of a brand may worry about misleading their audiences, according to AdWeek’s article Instagrammers in Demand by Major Brands.

Anthony Danielle (@takinyerphoto, 166,000+ followers) said he was concerned about the fine line between editorial and advertising.

“Nobody wants to be deemed a sellout, but everybody has to make a living,” he said according to AdWeek. Danielle has attended launch events for Barneys New York, Warby Parker and Delta.

The secret to success on Instagram is not a posting strategy or a call to action. A brand has to make sure its content is interesting enough to provide value to audiences. Both methods of getting a brand on Instagram (creating a presence or leveraging someone else’s) has benefits; one requires time and the other requires making relationships.

While using bloggers to create content on behalf of a brand has become a common marketing practice, a new era of influencers is created on every platform being tapped into for their content creation.