For mum influencer Karen, it all started in July 2022 when Instagram changed their feed. She had been sitting pretty with 10,000 followers and 2% engagement. Brands were queuing up to work with her. Overnight hashtags stopped working, engagement fell and she began to feel invisible. 

She wasn’t alone. There was a massive backlash to Instagram’s move. No less than Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner posted ‘Make Instagram, Instagram again. Stop trying to be TikTok, I just want to see cute photos of my friends.’ 

Since that seismic moment, Karen and her fellow parent influencers have had to work hard to shore up their falling engagement figures. ParentStars surveyed its database of mums to find out what techniques they are employing, to achieve high engagement in 2023. 

Make friends

Kate, a North West based mum with 24K followers and an above average 3.6% engagement rate believes one of the keys to engagement in 2023 is to get to know your followers: ’Genuine engagement I think requires you to have a relationship with your audience. People rarely naturally comment on posts, but they will support you if they see you as a friend.’ 

This is advice echoed by many other mum influencers. ‘Connect with people’ said Cassie, ‘make friends. They’re always your biggest supporters.’

 A tip from another creator is: ‘I always engage with my followers 10 minutes before I post and for 10 minutes afterwards too.’ 

Relatable posts

Sarah, whose Insta bio describes her as a content creator from the North East with 20K followers, says that her recipe for success is to post content that is always informative, relatable and inspiring. 

Kate also advocates relatable and inspiring content plus she likes to invite opinion; ‘I think people like to share their thoughts and opinions so give them a chance to speak, whether it’s a post or a poll on stories.’ 

Tanya, a mum influencer from Wales with 28K followers and 3.9% enagagement has a simple philosophy. She advocates authenticity above all: ‘Post content you truly love and support’ she says, ‘and engage with other people’s posts.’ 

Timing & hashtags

When you post has an impact on engagement, some mums point out, ‘5.30am on a Monday for me’ said one. 

Others mention the impact of hashtags. ‘I stick to ones that have been used under 500K times’ said Sally, an influencer from Norfolk with 10K followers and a 3.7% engagement rate. ‘I particularly like mum community hashtags as they often run photo challenges that get good engagement’. 

What brands think

In a recent survey* of brands, engagement ranked as the most important criteria for evaluating influencers (39%) followed by content (23%). Influencer and brand priorities are clearly aligned on this. 

One client of ParentStars has stated they will collaborate below their target follower level if the creator has higher than average engagement. 

Conclusion

Building their own community of followers, being authentic and posting high quality, relatable content, at the right time is the  formula for high engagement in 2023.

Brands looking for parent influencers with these qualities  should contact ParentStars here

ParentStars surveyed 180 mum influencers from their database in March 2023.

*The State Of Influencer Marketing 2022