The experiment showed how easy it is to become a fake Instagram star and make money on brands

It turns out that the volume of the marketing influence market in Instagram is already $ 1 billion. Moreover, it is not necessary to post photos with a cute dog or lead a celebrity lifestyle to get into the club.

According to a study by the Mediakix marketing agency, anyone for a certain amount can achieve such a result from their account that brands of fashionable clothes and various products line up, offering to sign a lucrative contract.

The agency has created two fake Instagram accounts. One allegedly belonged to the model Alexa Rae under the nickname calibeachgirl310, who led an appropriate lifestyle and was interested in everything related to the fashion industry. The other is to travel photographer Amanda Smith under the nickname wanderingggirl.

For the first account, Mediakix hired a model and filled Instagram with photos taken in one day.

And with the content for the traveler, it turned out even easier — her account was filled with free stock photos of random places with blondes not looking at the lens.

Then the agency started buying subscribers. "We started with thousands of subscribers a day because we thought that more would attract attention and Instagram could close the account. However, we soon discovered that we could buy up to 15 thousand subscribers at a time without any problems." And it cost 3-8 dollars for one thousand followers.

However, if subscribers do not comment on photos and do not put likes, they are, in fact, useless. Therefore, the next step was to purchase audience engagement.

"As soon as each account began to have several thousand subscribers, we started buying likes and comments." The agency paid about 12 cents for one comment and about 4-9 dollars for one thousand likes. For each publication, they bought from 500 to 2500 likes and 10-50 comments.

As soon as calibeachgirl310 and wanderingggirl reached the mark of 10 thousand subscribers (the minimum number for marketing influence platforms and Instagram influencers), the agency switched to the search for sponsorship deals.

"We have concluded deals with four brands, two for each account. The model was supposed to promote the swimwear brand and the products and drinks of a local company."

For the traveler's account, they agreed with the alcohol brand and the same local company that produces drinks and products.

To publish their products, brands offered cash rewards and free goods.

At the end of the experiment, Mediakix summed up the results. About $1,000 was spent on two fake accounts: 700 dollars for a model and 300 for a traveler. Having bought subscribers, comments and likes, the agency concluded four lucrative contracts without making much effort to promote and fill out accounts. Surely, if the experiment continued, they would have been offered many more lucrative contracts that would have brought even more profit.

So, becoming an Instagram star, and even earning extra money on it, turned out to be quite simple, isn't it?