Instagram is a platform that continues to grow in popularity. With over a billion active users, it provides a far-reaching app for influencers and brands to connect with their audiences. For businesses, it is a powerful tool for reaching audiences and promoting products or services. When it comes to influencer marketing, identifying the top influencers on Instagram is essential for connecting with the right audiences. In this article, we'll take a look at the top 10 Instagram influencers of 2022 in terms of community size and audience profile.
When it comes to the top 10 Instagram influencers of 2022, there are a few key metrics to consider. One of the most important is community size, or the number of followers an influencer has. Another important metric is the audience profile, which includes the demographic makeup and interests of an influencer’s followers. Engagement rate, which measures the level of interaction an influencer’s posts receive, and EMV, or earned media value, which measures the monetary value of the engagement an influencer’s posts receive are also crucial metrics to be taken into account.
The top 10 influencers listed below are considered to be macro-influencers. Macro-influencers typically have a large following, usually over 100,000 . They are considered to have a higher level of influence over their followers compared to micro-influencers and nano-influencers.
Some of those on the list are celebrities, for example, Anushka Sharma, Karol G, and Lele Pons. They have a big brand value as well as a huge followership, yet their fame and popularity might have come from other fields (or outside social media). Yet , they have leveraged their fame to grow their Instagram account and built an engaging community.
The influencers in the list are paid in different ways, some of them might be paid by agencies and brands to promote products or services. Agencies help brands connect with influencers who align with their values and target audience. They also offer a range of services such as negotiating rates, managing campaigns, and tracking performance. Kolsquare can be the agency handling your influencer-marketing campaigns from A to Z. You can easily request a free demo of the Kolsquare technology here.
Please note that micro-influencers with around 10,000 followers, might have a more specific and engaged audience, often with a strong interest in a particular niche. So despite the fact that they don’t have a very large following, the level of engagement is high, which can be beneficial for niche brands or products. Read more on micro- and nano-influencers on the Kolsquare influencer marketing blog.
Coming back to the “big influence” on Instagram, here’s a rundown of the top 10 Instagram influencers of 2022 based on community size and analyzed through Kolsquare data:
With 86.3m followers, Lalala Lisa M is one of the top influencers on Instagram for 2022 and beyond. . Her audience is primarily female, with a strong interest in fashion at 26%. She has a high credibility score on Kolsquare at 77 and an average engagement rate of 8% for posts and 4% for Reels. With an Earned Media Value (EMV) of 1.17M€ for posts, 1.54M€ for Reels, and 584K€ for stories, she has a high potential to reach a large audience and drive significant engagement for brands.
Khaby Lame, with 80m followers, was another top Instagram influencer in 2022. His audience is primarily male, with a strong interest in sports and fitness at 40%. He has a high credibility score on Kolsquare at 85, and while his average engagement rate is low at 0% for posts, it is 4% for Reels. Khaby Lame’s EMV is 132.4K€ for posts, 3.2M€ for Reels, and 66k€ for stories, highlighting his potential for brands in the sports and fitness niche.
With 73.3m followers, Nehakakkar makes the Top 10 List of influencers on Instagram for 2022. His audience is mostly male with 45% of them having interests in Camera & Photography. He has a good credibility score on Kolsquare at 77 and an average engagement rate of 1% for posts and 1% for Reels. His EMV is 248.3K€ for posts, 483M€ for Reels, and 124k€ for stories. Nehakakkar’s niche audience is beneficial for brands in the camera and photography field.
Anushka Sharma, with 61.8m followers, was another top Instagram influencer in 2022. Her audience is mostly male with 41% of them having interests in Camera & Photography. She has a good credibility score on Kolsquare at 76 and an average engagement rate of 6% for posts and 1% for Reels. Her EMV is 572.8K€ for posts, 749M€ for Reels, and 286k€ for stories. Anushka Sharma’s audience niche is beneficial for brands in the Camera and photography field.
With 58.4m followers, Karol G is one of the top influencers on Instagram. Her audience is primarily female, with a strong interest in friends and family at 38%. She has a high credibility score on Kolsquare at 82 and an average engagement rate of 9% for posts and 0% for Reels. With an Earned Media Value (EMV) of 1.49M€ for posts, 319.5K€ for Reels, and 747k€ for stories, she has a high potential to reach a large audience and drive significant engagement for brands.
Lele Pons’ audience of 50.4m followers is primarily female, with a strong interest in friends and family at 35%. She has a good credibility score on Kolsquare at 76 and an average engagement rate of 2% for posts and 1% for Reels. Her EMV is 248.8K€ for posts, 572.97K€ for Reels and 121k€ for stories, highlighting her potential for brands, in the niche audience of friends and family.
With 50.1m followers, Salt Bae is also important to name. His audience is primarily male, with a strong interest in sports and fitness at 49%. He has a good credibility score on Kolsquare at 76 and an average engagement rate of 1% for posts and 1% for Reels. His EMV is 220.158K€ for posts, 1.01M€ for Reels and 110k€ for stories, Salt Bae’s niche audience is beneficial for brands in the sports and fitness field.
Georgina Gio’s audience of 44.5m followers is primarily male, with a strong interest in sports and fitness at 43%. She has a good credibility score on Kolsquare at 76 and an average engagement rate of 7% for posts and 2% for Reels. Her EMV is 502.5K€ for posts, 1.19M€ for Reels and 251k€ for stories, highlighting her potential for brands in the sports and fitness niche.
Bruna Marquezine has 43.7m followers on Instagram which places her in the 9th position. Her audience is primarily female, with a strong interest in friends and family at 34%. She has a good credibility score on Kolsquare at 81 and an average engagement rate of 1% for posts and 0% for Reels. Her EMV is 150.3K€ for posts, 178.2K€ for Reels, and 75k€ for stories.
With 41.7m followers, Virginia is the last of the Top 10 influencers on Instagram for 2022. Her audience is primarily female, with a strong interest in beauty at 26%. She has a high credibility score on Kolsquare at 80 and an average engagement rate of 6% for posts and 3% for Reels. With an Earned Media Value of 406.2K€ for posts, 1.38M€ for Reels, and 203k€ for stories, she has a high potential to reach a large audience and drive significant engagement for brands.
Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, offering a data-driven solution that empowers brands to scale their KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing strategies through authentic partnerships with top creators.
Kolsquare’s advanced technology helps marketing professionals seamlessly identify the best content creators by filtering their content and audience, while also enabling them to build, manage, and optimize campaigns from start to finish. This includes measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors.
With a thriving global community of influencer marketing experts, Kolsquare serves hundreds of customers—including Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, Lush, and Hermès—by leveraging the latest Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning technologies. Our platform taps into an extensive network of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers across 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat.
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