How can influencers increase engagement in their posts?

Influencers can boost engagement by featuring close friends or family members in their content, expressing genuine emotions, using first-person language, and posting during peak times like weekends.

Why does including friends and family in influencer posts enhance engagement?

Including close connections makes influencers appear more authentic and relatable, fostering trust and encouraging higher engagement from their audience.

What impact does authenticity have on influencer marketing?

Authentic content that showcases personal relationships and emotions resonates more with audiences, leading to increased likes, comments, and a greater likelihood of driving sales.

What are some best practices for influencers to enhance their content's effectiveness?

Influencers should include 1 or 2 close friends or family members in their posts, express genuine emotions, use first-person language, post during high-engagement times like weekends, and experiment with various content formats such as slideshows and concise captions.

Where can I find more information on this topic?

For a deeper understanding, you can refer to the original marketing study linked in the blog post.

Boost the impact of influencers with friends & family

Imagine you’re working with influencers to promote your products. Do they look like polished professionals or are they chilling with their besties in a backyard? Believe it or not, this small tweak can make a big difference.

Lucky for us, Stanford and Rice University researchers dug into 55,000 Instagram posts from 763 influencers to uncover a secret sauce for engagement. Spoiler: It’s all about the company you keep.

TL;DR 🎯

Want more engagement? Ask influencers to include 1 or 2 close friends or family members in their posts. It makes them feel more authentic, relatable, and downright human. This little shift can boost likes, comments, and sales-driving clicks like crazy.

The data doesn’t lie 📊

Here’s what the research uncovered:

Posts mentioning a close social relationship (like a best friend or sibling) saw an 8.67% boost in engagement.
A photo with 2 people got 28.7% more likes than posts with larger groups.
People were 95% more likely to like a post that mentioned a close connection versus something more distant (e.g., “colleague” or “brand partner”).

Oh, and posts featuring raw emotions—like frustration, joy, or vulnerability—tend to crush it too. Apparently, we like our influencers a little messy (in the best way).

Why this works 🤔

Authenticity wins hearts (and wallets). When influencers share personal, intimate moments with close friends or family, it makes them feel real, not like walking billboards.

This makes us see them as warm, approachable, and—here’s the kicker—trustworthy. And we’re more likely to engage, recommend, and, yup, buy.

What to do ✅

Got influencers on board? Great. Here’s how to make this work:

Keep it close: Suggest they include 1 or 2 close friends or family members in photos, videos, or captions.
Encourage emotion: Vulnerability is gold. Let them express emotions (the good, the bad, and the relatable).
Use first-person language: Pronouns like “I” and “we” feel personal and connected.
Post smart: Weekends are prime time for engagement.
Test multiple formats: Slideshows, short captions, and fewer hashtags work wonders.

Quick tip: Tell your influencers to imagine their followers are their real-life friends—they’ll feel more authentic without even trying.

So, go ahead—bring the “friends and family” vibe to your influencer campaigns and watch the engagement roll in. It’s like hosting a dinner party, but for your brand. Let’s call it a win-win.