Like most marketeers and Instagram specialists, I've grown jaded of 'peak influencer' articles in recent months.
But this article is worth a read because it doesn't dwell on the obvious (consumers are weary of over-filtered, glamorous influencers with millions of followers and likes).
Instead, it presents a nuanced analysis of Instagram consumers, by age, income and interest. The conclusions are stark.
While marketeers bang on about experiences, many people find shopping a chore. Engagement? The only thing that matters for many of this cohort is the need to balance the household budget.
That's a tough message for those of us who spend our time extolling the need to build ever more original and creative campaigns measured by engagement scores.
There's one ray of hope. As I've said many times already this year, the future of Instagram marketing relies on your ability to build relationships with micro or nano influencers.
Why? Instagram is finally reshaping its engagement model to better reward more authentic content, rolling out new features such as removing the number of likes visible to followers.
In the short-to-medium term we’ll see a shake-out of face-tuned selfie accounts and bot-like behaviour.
Over time this will be replaced by a new wave of ‘smart’ influencers that have sufficient integrity and wit to flourish on the platform.
By all means be creative in your efforts to build relationships with this new wave. But stay focused on the new themes of influencer marketing: simplicity, repetition, value.
Don't forget these basic rules. Your customers haven't!
“We are at peak influencer,” says Casey Ferrell, vice president and head of U.S. Monitor, owned by Kantar. “And it’s beginning to run its course. We hear a lot about the Instagram aesthetic, and it appeals to millennials. “But to Gen Z, who are more grounded in realism, it seems fake. They are interested in what I call micro- or nano-influencers. They want to know what real people think before making a purchase.”
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