It’s official: Instagram influencer marketing is now a billion dollar industry.
Since its inception in 2011 Instagram has proven to be the world’s fastest growing social media platform; and as hundreds of millions of users are newly added every year, it’s exponential growth is only expected to continue.
With this growth has emerged a new industry of Instagram influencer marketing – a result of slowing television advertising and the increase in paid or sponsored posts on social media. From micro influencers making $50 per post, to Instagram stars pocketing hundreds of thousands for sponsored content, the value of influencer marketing is projected to reach $5-10billion by 2020.
However, while market growth for Instagram marketing increases, the disclosure of sponsored posts remains a grey area. Fashion and beauty influencers have been notoriously guilty of evading the #spon #ad #paid hashtags in the past; but as the new Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) guidelines now dictate, paid posts must be “clearly distinguishable” from other content.
The change stems from the calls of advertising executives and social media experts for greater transparency in the industry; and while the guidelines are yet to be rolled out, the likes of Tribe CEO Anthony Svirskis believe “Greater transparency is a positive change,
“Every element is evolving; from more sophisticated ways to measure ROI, to creating campaigns with hundreds of micro-influencers instead of a handful of top tier influences. So naturally it’s time for clearer guidelines to step up.”
