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What Do Instagram Influencers Post?

Influencer Marketing
What Do Instagram Influencers Post?

The world of influencer marketing may not have existed 20 years ago, but today, it is crucial to a marketing team’s success.

The fourth most popular social media platform, Instagram, launched in 2010 and is now beloved by over 2 billion users. It’s come a long way since its invention, though, with new features like stories (content that disappears within 24 hours), reels (short-form video content), and enhanced messaging encouraging people to stay on the platform. Earlier this year, company head Adam Mosseri announced that the app was officially no longer just a “square photo-sharing app.” 

Thanks to the popularity and constant innovation of social media platforms like Instagram, content creators have found a way to monetize their social following, turning their online presence into a business. Read on to learn more about influencers, how they make their money, and what types of content they can post for success.

How Do Instagram Influencers Make Money?

While being an influencer is not a salaried position, for some creators, it is a full-time job. 

There are multiple ways that an influencer can get paid for creating branded content and keeping up their persona online. Here are a few:

  • Sponsored social media posts. These are posts that brands pay for. Since popular influencers can get paid for every social media post they create, sponsored posts and stories have the potential to be very lucrative for content creators.
  • Brand ambassadors. Another popular way that influencers make money is by serving as brand ambassadors. These are more long-term partnerships with influencers, who are expected to generate overall brand awareness by supporting it over a period of time. 
  • Affiliate marketing. Brands also pay out influencers for the percentage of sales they drive with personalized affiliate links. 
  • Advertising. Bloggers and website owners have made money from advertisement views and clicks for decades. On certain platforms such as YouTube, social media influencers can do the same thing. 
  • Webinars. For influencers that are knowledgeable about a certain topic, creating webinars and inviting their followers to attend for a fee can be another way to make some money.
  • Events. As modern-day celebrities, influencers can often help draw in a crowd wherever they go. Brands can capitalize on this by paying them to attend special events.  
  • Digital products or product lines. For many content creators, where influencing transforms for a side hobby to a side hustle is in creating their own product lines. Selling online content like e-books or tutorials or even developing products is a great way for influencers to continuously make money.
  • Tips/Subscriptions. A final way that influencers can get paid is if fans want to support them directly through tips, gifts, and subscriptions. Patreon is a popular platform that allows creators to make money off of monthly subscriptions. 

What Are The Most Common Types of Instagram Posts By Influencers?

Influencers create all types of Instagram content. Not only do they post, promote, or even sell things themselves, but they are constantly cultivating their brand image. Thus, the most common posts by influencers are usually lifestyle content or content related to their niche. 

Due to the nature of the business, many of the most common posts influencers make are sponsored. However, not all of their posts can be sponsored, or else they’d lose some of the personality and genuineness that attracted people to follow them in the first place.

The type of content you create as an influencer may depend on the niche you’ve selected. Some influencers lean into being comedic, making engaging short-form and long-form video content. Others mainly rely on fashion, beauty, or other aesthetics to get likes. 

Once you understand an influencer’s niche and analyze what types of posts their followers engage with most, you can decide if they are a good fit for your brand.

What Are Some Instagram Post Ideas That Work For Influencer Marketing?  

Here are some popular Instagram post ideas that are prime examples of influencer marketing working well:

Guides and Tips to Help Your Followers

Guides and Tips to Help Your Followers

Kanoa Greene, a fitness influencer, engages with her niche by sharing small guides such as “3 Plus-Size Friendly Excursions in Nicaragua” and “3 Tips for Beginner Surfers.” Notice that she uses a well-designed cover image and breaks up text-heavy content with images of herself. 

Lifestyle Content to Interest Your Followers

Lifestyle Content to Interest Your Followers

Julie Sariñana is a fashion influencer who curates her feed aesthetically with images of herself and her adventures. She keeps her captions fairly short and shares small snippets of her life and what she’s wearing.

Funny Videos to Engage Your Followers

Patrick Starrr, a beauty influencer, shares lots of his makeup looks on Instagram. However, he also remains engaging to his audience by posting funny videos and sharing pictures from events he goes to and so on.

How Lionize Can Help With Your Influencer Marketing Strategy

Want to up your Instagram game and start working with influencers? Lionize makes it easy. Our AI software finds the perfect influencers for your niche and then manages the influencer marketing process for you. Book a Discovery Call with us today to learn more about how we can help your brand tackle influencer marketing the right way from the beginning.