Four Types of Instagram Influencers + How to Spot Them

If you are a Fashion or Beauty business owner, it is likely that at some point in your marketing journey you have considered utilizing the power of an Instagram Influencer to drive sales and increase brand awareness.

However, the waters of Influencer Marketing are murky – and it can be difficult to understand which type of influencer you should be using for your business.

In today’s blog post I want to help demystify what types of Instagram Influencers you could work with.

Ready to get started? Let’s dig right into the juicy details!

Four Types of Instagram Influencers

#1 – Mega Influencers

It is very likely that you have already heard of a mega influencer who is using Instagram.

I’ll give you a hint – she’s got a famous family, lots of money, and is married to a man whose name rhymes with manye kest.

You guessed it – Kim Kardashian West.

Mega influencers are usually celebrities such as reality tv stars, movie stars, tv show actors, etc.

They are able to garner a large following due to all of the attention they receive from mass media such as television and magazines/newspapers.

These Instagram influencers can be almost impossible to work with – some may not even acknowledge a product sent to them as they are already so busy, and some require substantial payment in order to even pose with one of your products.

Worth it? That is debatable – and completely dependent on how much money you have to throw around in your business.

#2 – Macro Influencers

These influencers have a substantial Instagram following – think upwards of 100,000 Instagram followers.

These macro influencers have managed to build their own personal brand to a large enough scale that a whole community of raving fans has formed around them.

Perhaps at this stage in their influencer career, they have their own product line, brand deals, or you may have even seen them appear as hosts of events, brand ambassadors on TV commercials, etc.

This type of Instagram influencer is also highly likely to have PR company representing them – so if you are going to reach out for a collaboration or to send them something, you better make sure it stands out!

#3 – Micro Influencers

My personal favourite category of Instagram influencer is the humble micro influencer.

While they may seem ‘small’ in comparison to the macro and mega influencers, they have actually been found to have a better return on investment for many marketing campaigns and small business collaborations.

Why?

Because with micro influencers, they are less likely to be promoting multiple different brands from the same category at once – making the mention of the brand seem more authentic to their audience.

Micro influencers often also have a more personal relationship with their community as well as with the brands they partner with – meaning that you are likely to be able to get in touch with them directly via their email address.

I really enjoy when brands think outside of the box when contacting micro influencers, and crafting unique campaign concepts and also choosing micro influencers strategically to ensure the best outcome for both parties.

If you want to learn more about how I recommend you work with influencers as a small-to-medium Fashion or Beauty brand, make sure to join my Facebook groupto be notified when my Influencer Marketing E-book launches!

#4 – Fake Influencers

Oomph. We’re here…

Let’s talk about it, we HAVE to talk about it.

The fake influencers.

These are people who buy followers, or use apps and dodgy techniques to grow a large following on Instagram just so that they can get famous, and likely so that they can get lots of free stuff.

They don’t set out to grow a community – they set out to make themselves look and become famous, cool, and rich.

You can usually tell if an influencer is a fake by….

• Looking at their followers and noting any strange usernames or spammy-looking accounts.
• Noticing that their follower/following ratio is a bit out of whack (i.e. 10,000 followers, following 17,000).
• Realizing they’ve had Instagram for a short time, have only posted 6 things, and already have 100,000 followers.

There are of course a few other ways to tell if someone is faking it on Instagram, which I will go through in my Influencer Marketing E-book when it launches, however you do need to be very wary of who you contact to represent your brand on social media.

Did you enjoy this blog post? If you did, make sure to leave a comment and let me know what type of influencers you’d like to work with for your business!