Thought Instagram influencing was only for 20-somethings? Think again! Research commissioned by the Remarkables Group shows there are more than 700,000 over-45s on the social media platform, strutting their stuff.
Sarah Jane Adams (@saramaijewels) has 180,000 loyal Instagram followers. In one of her most recent posts, she wears a brightly coloured quilt-like dress with green and pink stripy socks. It’s to raise awareness of Underworks’ #igiveasock campaign, in which the underwear manufacturer commits to donate up to 20,000 pairs of socks to those in need. It was liked more than 5,500 times.
This is just one example of the many ways businesses are using “Insta-grans” to reach the over-50s market. They are a diverse audience with fitness, youth, time and disposable income on their side. This surge of Instagram users is, in turn, stimulating the rise of the more ‘mature’ social influencer.
Becoming an Insta-gran isn’t as difficult as you might think. The Remarkables Group managing director, Natalie Giddings, says to focus on four key elements:
1. Express something unique about you. What makes social media, and Instagram in particular, so popular isn’t the platform itself, but the individuals who express themselves through it. Accentuate what makes you different.
2. Choose a niche. People are looking to connect on social media and one of the easiest ways to do that is to use your passion to build a like-minded community. The key here is to be genuine, partly because you’re going to have to talk about it a lot, and partly because people can smell a fake.
3. Be consistent. Similar to how you tune into your favourite TV or radio show or catch up with a friend on the phone, people will want to hear from you regularly. A good rule of thumb for consistency is to post at least once a day, but for Stories – the more the better.
4. Don’t think it’s too late. A veteran in the blogging world, Nikki Parkinson from @stylingyou was already on the other side of 40 when she started her blog in 2008. Her popularity has proved that savvy women of every age group want to be inspired and read handy trips and tricks, no matter the age of the storyteller.
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