Introduction / Methodology

This is a quantitative analysis of influencer performance on Instagram between 1 Jan 2016 and 30 June 2017.

The KPIs of this analysis are:

The first metric is fairly easy to understand; the second metric Avg.Likesper1k is introduced to this analysis as it is important to have a fair metric to compare influencers who have very different follower bases. Intuitively, the natural expectation is that the more followers someone has, the more Likes they will get per post. However, we know for a fact that this is not always the case. Hence, we normalize Avg.Likes using the corresponding person’s volume of followers to get a better understanding on how engaging his/her posts are, rather than placing our focus on the flat metric Likes.

The structure of our analysis is as follows:

Our Data

In this analysis, we have studied the performance of 405 influencers whom Marriott have partnered with previously in UK, DE, FR, ES, IT and RU markets. Throughout this report, we will evaluate the performance of influencers by market and by follower size. These influencers are also subsequently classified into two groups by their follower size - Micro (under 100k audience) and macro (over 100k audience).

Below is a breakdown of the distribution in each market:

Market No.of.Influencers
FR 172
IT 90
UK 73
DE 58
RU 11
ES 6

As you can see from the waffle chart above, influencer partnership was the most active in FR, followed by IT and UK.

In terms of size of influencers, the distribution is quite even, with 58% Micro vs 42% Macro.

And across all markets, here is the distribution:

Does Post Frequency Matter?

Within the monitoring time frame, influencers had very different active level. Let us investigate the relationship between frequency of post and engagement.

In the chart above, each dot represents an influencer and position of the dots represents the relationship between the number of posts an individual has created and the overall Avg.Likesper1k. Looking at the distribution of our data points, we see little evidence to support the view that the more posts someone does, the more engaging their post will be. Instead, there is a moderate negative trend between post frequency and engagement. The red solid line shows that there is a non-linear relationship between frequency and engagement, and the region within the dotted red lines show how confident we are in terms of predicting the Avg.Likesper1k given their post volume.

Implication: When selecting influencers, pay attention to the frequency of postage. Those who spam their followers’ news feed may not be as welcomed.

Does Follower Size Matter - Micro VS Macro?

It is understandable why one might expect posts by bigger influencers would be more popular, i.e. have more Likes. But is there any evidence supporting that this is a reasonable expectation? For simplicity, we will investigate this by follower size: micro and Macro, then subsequently conclude whether size matters.

Micro:

In this analysis, we have studied 235 micro influencers who have less than 100k followers.

From the plot below, we observe a fairly positive correlation between follower size and engagement, where some performed exceptionally well, represented by the data points above the upper red dotted line.

Macro:

Another 170 macro influencers who have more than 100k followers were also analysed. A very similar story to micro influencer is showing within the macro influencer group - very strong relationship between follower size and engagement.

To sum up, a very strong relationship between follower size and engagment is found in both micro and macro influencer groups. Once again, this proves why we should use Avg.Likesper1k to compare influencers who have different follower size.

Market Level

UK

In UK, Marriott worked with `

Size Count Avg.Follower
Macro 25 265894
Micro 48 38908

Influencer Avg.Likes1k
caleb.femi 72
cheriecity 71
mikecleggphoto 45
reena.rai 44
zobolondon 39
bengreenphotography 36

Influencer Avg.Likes1k
jack_maynard 60
jamesrelfdyer 55
maximilianhurd 50
stevebooker 39
wildcoyphotography 33
gallucks 28

DE

Germany influencers performance are shown below: * who are they * how many micro and macro influencers * what are their corresponding avg. of followers * how many posts they have created in this time frame and their overall performance metrics

In the DE market, the split between micro and macro influencers whom we have worked with are as follows:

Size Count Avg.Follower
Macro 28 313568
Micro 30 57345

Influencer Avg.Likes1k
alessaa_w 53
themodernleper 45
joeylondonstyle 35
jeissonmartin 30
into_theworld 29
normanroehlig 28

Influencer Avg.Likes1k
eskimo 64
juelimery 50
mlsacbc 49
debiflue 34
thisislisax 31
pilotmadeleine 31

FR

worked with are as follows:

Size Count Avg.Follower
Macro 61 566860
Micro 111 55893

Influencer Avg.Likes1k
miss_sego 81
lily__paris 78
elleatable 73
french_gourmandises 65
elieyobeid 60
herve_in_paris 55

Influencer Avg.Likes1k
chloebbbb 79
sergeysuxov 54
wonguy974 54
ingwervanille 46
estellefitz 42
lilyrose 42

IT

Size Count Avg.Follower
Macro 47 545472
Micro 43 47477

Influencer Avg.Likes1k
indyblue_ 79
BlacKittenClub 61
patatofriendly 56
annaleeitaly 55
nonsoloamoreblog 50
andreacarlolonati 45

Influencer Avg.Likes1k
virginiavarinelli 102
laurensvleeuwen 79
desserted_in_paris 31
romeestrijd 31
gianmariasainato 24
ITALIAN_PLACES 23

ES

Size Count Avg.Follower
Macro 5 155909
Micro 1 94909

RU

Size Count Avg.Follower
Macro 8 584675
Micro 3 69753

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusion:

Size Avg.likes1k Avg.likes1k25perc Median.like1k Median.like1k25perc
Macro 19.48500 29.22751 16.05520 24.08281
Micro 18.49307 27.73961 14.59243 21.88864

Recommended Influencers:

Due to insufficient data in ES and RU, we can only recommend influencers in UK, DE, FR and IT. However, any influencers who meet the criteria that Avg.Likes1k > 3 should be considered.

Market Size Influencer Avg.Likes1k
DE Macro eskimo 64.3
DE Macro juelimery 49.8
DE Macro mlsacbc 48.6
DE Macro debiflue 33.9
DE Macro thisislisax 31.3
DE Macro pilotmadeleine 30.8
DE Micro alessaa_w 52.6
DE Micro themodernleper 44.7
DE Micro joeylondonstyle 35.4
DE Micro jeissonmartin 30.2
FR Macro chloebbbb 79.0
FR Macro sergeysuxov 53.8
FR Macro wonguy974 53.6
FR Macro ingwervanille 45.5
FR Macro estellefitz 42.3
FR Macro lilyrose 42.2
FR Macro dazzlingdrew 37.4
FR Macro georgiasecretsyt 36.5
FR Macro madisonramaget 36.3
FR Macro nicolassimoes 35.7
FR Macro madisonbeer 34.1
FR Macro enjoyphoenix 33.3
FR Macro julinfinity_ 32.5
FR Macro zorannah 31.8
FR Macro taylor_hill 31.6
FR Macro safiavendome 31.1
FR Macro camillecerf 30.6
FR Micro miss_sego 81.3
FR Micro lily__paris 78.3
FR Micro elleatable 73.5
FR Micro french_gourmandises 65.1
FR Micro elieyobeid 59.6
FR Micro herve_in_paris 54.8
FR Micro cheriecream 53.3
FR Micro marc_nouss 53.3
FR Micro aurorefrg 49.2
FR Micro denisesaycheese 45.5
FR Micro thierry.richard.paris 43.3
FR Micro victormalecot 42.5
FR Micro wildpastelhair 40.7
FR Micro blogdelili 39.4
FR Micro holycamille 39.1
FR Micro doriancuisine.com.leblog 37.4
FR Micro coralineball 35.5
FR Micro mamzellelychee 34.6
FR Micro meryldenis 32.6
FR Micro fleurensucre 31.0
FR Micro hinalys 30.6
IT Macro virginiavarinelli 101.7
IT Macro laurensvleeuwen 78.9
IT Macro desserted_in_paris 31.4
IT Macro romeestrijd 31.1
IT Micro indyblue_ 79.0
IT Micro BlacKittenClub 61.2
IT Micro patatofriendly 56.2
IT Micro annaleeitaly 55.4
IT Micro nonsoloamoreblog 50.2
IT Micro andreacarlolonati 45.3
IT Micro arleneantoinettegibbs 45.0
IT Micro nightshift 44.0
IT Micro Pierreblake 43.4
IT Micro labnoon 39.1
IT Micro mary.land 35.7
IT Micro TotallyMilan 33.9
UK Macro jack_maynard 60.4
UK Macro jamesrelfdyer 54.6
UK Macro maximilianhurd 50.2
UK Macro stevebooker 39.0
UK Macro wildcoyphotography 32.9
UK Micro caleb.femi 72.5
UK Micro cheriecity 71.2
UK Micro mikecleggphoto 44.7
UK Micro reena.rai 43.8
UK Micro zobolondon 38.6
UK Micro bengreenphotography 36.3
UK Micro simon_reeve 31.3