Those looking to grow their following on Instagram may have heard of an Instagram influencer network. Many people make the mistake of mentioning these things without explaining them, so in this article we’ll clear up any questions you might have.
What’s an influencer network?
An
influencer network is a network created for the purpose of enabling
influencer marketing. Influencer marketing revolves around using “influencers” (prominent figures in culture or society) to market a product, service or business. TV ads with celebrities, for instance, are often using a form of influencer marketing.
Lately, though, influencer marketing refers to influencer marketing done in the digital space.
Influencer marketing is also done on YouTube, in addition to Instagram. Online content creators are making more money and raking in more views than ever before, and this is a trend that’s only continuing as more people get online. Young people have a huge bias towards social media platforms for their attention, versus traditional outlets like TV. Because of this, marketers are looking to these platforms: to find the most prominent people on these digital platforms, and use them as
influencers.
How does it relate to Instagram?
The biggest people on Instagram? Influencers. All of these people have a massive following of people who regularly view and engage with their posts, which is something that makes advertisers practically drool. People big enough to be considered influencers on Instagram are frequently being asked to plug this outfit, this product or this place in return for money, and a surprisingly large amount of them
do. You’d be surprised just how many of your favorite Instagram stars are taking advantage of influencer marketing.
The biggest users on Instagram take advantage of Instagram influencer networks.
Once you’ve started to grow your audience, you can take advantage of these Instagram influencer networks, too, and start making some money.
What options are available for me?
Before we list the options, it’s imporant to note that a lot of these may not be relevant to smaller Instagram users. If you have less than one thousand followers on Instagram, you probably want to walk away right now: by most definitions, you don’t yet qualify as an influencer. For those of you who are growing and at numbers as high as 10K, however, stick around: most people consider you influencers, and you should be able to find good work here.
The Mobile Media Lab
The Mobile Media Lab is one of the most popular examples on this list, advertised across many outlets as a marketing agency for Instagram. They’re partnered with multiple big-name companies, including Sony, Expedia and Puma. TMML working with big brands makes them an essential entry on this list as an Instagram influencer network, though it’s worth noting that requirements for working with them starting the required follower count at 10,000+.
StarNgage
StarNgage is another Instagram influencer network. This one doesn’t work with countries quite as large as TMML does, but as a result they are significantly more accessible, with their barrier of entry starting at just 1,000 followers, a far cry from the 10K expected of you by TMML. They expect you to be active and have high levels of engagements with your audience, and while not necessary, they say you’re “likely to be an amateur chef, foodie, fashionista, avid traveller, fitness freak, artist or designer”: in other words, popular molds for Instagrammers the world over.
In addition to linking you with brands, they also give you access to analytics tools to help you learn more about your following.
Speakr
Speakr is another large Instagram influencer network, and may be perhaps the most large network on this list. The brands they work with are numerous and all big names: Sony, Microsoft, Samsung; Disney, Universal, Warner Brothers; PlayStation, Xbox; Bravo, Fox, Wendy’s…the list doesn’t end, and covers most major arenas in the consumer market right now. For this reason, Speakr is completely huge, and continues to grow.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find information on their requirements. However, we’d project anywhere from TMML’s 10K+ to 100K+, since many of their stars seem to be at 100K and above.
Instabrand
Despite their name, Instabrand isn’t just an Instagram influencer network, they also do influencing work for other social media and content creation platforms. This includes Vine, Snapchat and Twitter, and even giants like YouTube and Facebook. Instabrand also works with a number of trusted brands, including Amazon, Hyundai, Marvel, FIAT, Colgate and other major businesses. Due to the prevalence of large brands, it’s important to question the amount of required followers to use the platform, but unfortunately this information is not readily available.
ReadyPulse
ReadyPulse separates itself from the other networks on this list by working with brands that are mostly unique to it. This includes brands like Nickelodeon, Lugz, Atrium and more. The brands advertised on their site are generally significantly smaller than the ones seen on Speakr and Instabrand, and have little to no crossover. Because of this, it’s a fair assumption that the requirements are lower, though yet again it’s impossible to be totally sure because this information is not readily available and may even vary on a case-by-case basis.
Regardless, I’d expect their numbers to start in the 10K area. Their brands are smaller and their network seems to be, too- there’s no reason for this platform to have as high requirements as its rivals, so if you have some thousands of Instagram followers, it definitely won’t hurt to apply to this one as well.
How does Grin help?
Finally, you’re probably asking yourself what Grin has to do with all of this. If you’re smart, you’ve already realized that Grin is not an Instagram influencer network. Instead, we offer a social marketplace for content creators.
Grin’s Marketplace works with content creators from YouTube and Instagram for the time being, but will soon be expanding to all kinds of other platforms. Our goal is to eventually cover every social media/content creation platform you can think of. The creators operating on our social marketplace will be selling their services to each other, and these services include:
- Shoutouts.
- Collaborations.
- Work on audio design, graphic design and video editing.
- Constructive feedback to encourage growth.
- And more.
By taking advantage of the services on our Marketplace, you can kickstart your growth to become big enough to be considered an influencer on Instagram and take advantage of Instagram influencer marketing.
Besides working with other creators on our Marketplace, we also offer our blog.
Our blog is full of informative posts like this one, posted on a regular basis: stick around to keep reading the best guides on staying relevant and growing your following on Instagram, YouTube and more!