Thinking about getting into the business of influencing? Think again!
A study by analytics firm InfluencerDB show engagement rates have been declining for Instagram content creators throughout the past few years – and the drop is quite shocking.
According to Mobile Marketer “the engagement rate for every industry category of influencer has declined in the past year. Travel influencers, who typically have the highest engagement rates, have seen an average drop to 4.5% this year from 8% in 2018.”
Yep, we’re talking almost a 50% decline for content creators who shares photos, videos and reviews of tourist attractions and cities within their feeds.
Rates of engagement have also been dropping in for beauty, fashion, food, lifestyle, sports and fitness influencers.
Mobile Marketer also reports “the engagement rate for sponsored posts fell to 2.4% in Q1 2019 from 4% three years earlier, while the rate for non-sponsored posts slid to 1.9% from 4.5% for the comparable periods.”
And it’s not only influencers who are seeing a drop in their Instagram engagement.
According to Social Media Today “a new report has shown just how much brand engagement on the platform is dropping.”
Read the full report by Trust Insights here.
“The concern with the rise of Instagram, at least for brands, is that we’ll eventually see the same trends we saw on Facebook,” Social Media Today’s Andrew (@adhutchinson) writes.
“Facebook started out by giving brands plenty of organic reach, but eventually, that reach started to decline, then decline further, to the point where now it’s very difficult to maintain any type of non-paid connection with the majority of your Facebook Page audience.”
What does this drop in Instagram engagement mean?
It’s not the end for influencer marketing as we know it – just the end of lazy content and feeds filled with sponsored posts.
Influencers are going to have to work harder than ever before to capture their audience’s attention on Instagram, especially if they’re cover broad topics like travel, fashion or lifestyle.
Aspiring influencers will need to have a think before getting into the influencer marketing game. They may need to reconsider where their content lives and the topics they cover.
Unfortunately, some creators still haven’t received the memo that “Content is King” (or, simply, choose to ignore it.) Whether you’re just starting out or have been doing it for over ten years all content creators, at any stage in their career, need to focus on churning out high-quality, indepth content.
This rule also applies to brands as will have to put in the extra effort to snag the attention of consumers on social media. This could be anything from instigating a conversation with consumers to using interactive tactics on social to encourage engagement.
At the end of the day if you’re creating amazing content, have a strong strategy and are engaging with your audience on a consistent basis your engagement is a lot less likely to take a dip.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo credit: Shutterstock.