Lifestyles of the Instagram Famous: What Fashion Micro-Influencers Want from Brands and how Brands Should Partner with Them.

Kevin, Reed Ashton (2019) Lifestyles of the Instagram Famous: What Fashion Micro-Influencers Want from Brands and how Brands Should Partner with Them. Undergraduate thesis, under the direction of Graham Bodie from Integrated Marketing Communications, University of Mississippi.

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Abstract

In an age of social media, Instagram ranks among the most popular mobile sharing platforms in the world. Created in 2010, Instagram now boasts over 800 million users and has widespread community engagement, leading worldwide trends.With the exponential growth of Instagram, it is no surprise that companies and their brands began to pay close attention to its marketing potential. And although marketers have utilized Instagram in many ways, perhaps the most successful tactic has been through influencer marketing. An influencer is any person in a position to affect the decisions of others. Influencer marketing works well for brands because of the influencer’s highly engaged followership. While influencer marketing is seen as a strong method for modern day marketing, there has been little formal research into the Instagram influencer population itself. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the identities of female fashion influencers on Instagram. By knowing more about influencer motivation, experience, and perspective, brands will be able to more accurately identify how influencer marketing can work to meet their goals. In this study, I discovered data that suggests influencers value real interactions and real relationships, rather than simply presenting a facade. While their presence on Instagram is curated, planned, and strategic, influencers believe their online personas reflect their own identity very personally. It is important for marketers to remember the person behind the social media account if they hope to secure a lasting relationship, as well as gain the full benefits of influencer marketing.

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