But the million-dollar question is: how do you determine if an influencer is actually a good fit for your brand? It’s a common problem faced by many brands ‒ and one that was highlighted in a 2019 study by Mediakix, which found 61% of marketers struggle to find the ‘right influencers for a campaign’. The problem of the ‘right fit’ is further compounded when you factor in another study by the University of Glasgow, which tells us that eight out of nine UK fitness influencers who advise on weight-loss management are giving incorrect advice.

It’s easy to be swayed by blue ticks and a dizzying amount of followers. But the key metric that we use to determine the actual reach of an influencer is by looking at the combination of their followers divided by the number of likes and comments. Generally speaking, the higher the number of followers, the lower the engagement percentage.

Take, for example, the Australian ‘mega influencer’ and personal trainer, Kayla Itsines (@kayla_itsines) who, with 12.2 million followers on Instagram, is one of the most ‘influential’ fitfluencers in the world. She and her husband have best-selling books, several apps and, according to Forbes, a combined net worth of $486 million. Pretty impressive. However, with many of her posts getting around 25k ‘likes’ and a couple of hundred comments, her engagement rate is a paltry 0.2% ‒ well under what’s considered to be an acceptable 3-6%. Her videos, however, have a much better engagement.

By contrast, a ‘macro influencer’ (500k to 1m followers), such as British adventurer and bodybuilder Ross Edgley (@RossEdgley), has a similar number of likes per post as Kayla. But with 579k followers on Instagram, his engagement is closer to the 5% mark. Interestingly, he’s also an ambassador for Gymshark, a fitness apparel company which has exclusively used influencers to market its products.

Which is why sometimes the ‘micro influencers’ ‒ those with as few as 1,000 followers and up to as many as 100k followers ‒ can not only be a better fit for your marketing campaign, but also give you a higher level of engagement. They’re more ‘relatable’ as they often have real jobs and aren’t constantly trying to sell something. And they’ll cost you less to acquire.

It’s worth noting that whilst the majority of fitfluencers are in their twenties and thirties, there is a growing number of older fitness influencers (aged 35 or over) who are filling a market that has hitherto been ignored.

Take Joan MacDonald (@trainwithjoan) for example. This month, the American fitness influencer turns 74 years old and has amassed an impressive 429k followers on Instagram. And although this baby boomer doesn’t pretend to be an expert on social media (she’s still working out how to use her iPhone), she’s become an ambassador for Women’s Best (another company that exclusively leverages influencers) as well as a personal trainer. And to think she only started on her fitness journey three years ago, and her social media one a year later, after her daughter persuaded her to create an Instagram account in 2018.

Although there are a number of sceptics out there who still wonder how anyone can call being an influencer an actual career, there is some evidence to suggest that influencer marketing might not be the fad that many predicted. The aforementioned Mediakix found that 80% of those marketers who have used influencer marketing have found it to be effective, which explains why 61% were going to increase their influencer marketing spend in 2019. So, with confidence high and a potential 6-11x Return on Investment, like it or not, influencers are here to stay.

Potters Pedals - Join me every Tuesday at 07:05am

Love cycling in the real world? Then come join me in the virtual world – it's a great way to kick-start your morning, meet new people, chat and set your day up for success. Do feel free to join me and a host of other globe trotters every Tuesday for 'Potters Pedals', a weekly social meet-up on Zwift. The meet-up starts at 07:05am so make sure you're ready by the roadside to set off about 10 minutes before. Last week we had participants from the UK and Australia – it would be good to expand our international group. All fitness levels welcome as the group is set to 'ride together'.