A few weeks before Christmas 2018, Natasha Maxwell set up an Instagram account for her son, Parker George and uploaded four adorable photos. Parker was eight-months-old. His mom said she wanted a place to share pictures of his life and smiles. Parker’s massive smile and happy blue eyes began to steal hearts almost instantly.
Hashtags and Shoutouts
A couple of days after his first posts, Parker showed off his first haircut and his baptism day. Mom gave a shoutout to the barber and salon, linking to their Instagram profiles. And she tagged @babymodels1, an Instagram page that encourages people to tag and follow it to get a feature on its page.
Natasha also added plenty of targeted hashtags to Parker’s posts. High-traffic keywords, such as #kidsofinstagram, #babiesofinstagram, #kidswear, #smiles, #laughing, #babymodel, #cutebabies, #momsofinstagram, and #love undoubtedly brought attention to the baby’s new account. The savvy mom was also careful to tag the Instagram accounts of Parker’s cute clothes.
Organic Reviews
Over the next two weeks, Parker George (aka Mom) added two or three photos a day. These included fun shots like a throwback of Parker in his Halloween costume, bathtime, going to the market, and playtime. Featured often were also sweets pictures of Parker with his big sisters, Lilly and Phoebe, and his dad, Dan. Without overdoing tags and hashtags, Natasha placed targeted tags where they felt organic.
For instance, in a happy photo of Parker out and about, Natasha tagged the makers of Parker’s car seat. She also gave a short, organic, and positive review of the seat. Maxi-Cosi replied, asking if it was ok to share Parker’s picture. Mom was happy to say yes. She also sprinkled in one- or two-sentence organic reviews and tags for other products in Parker’s posts. “Omg he’s so beautiful! Please may I share?” asked the maker of Parker’s blanket clip right away.
Brand Collaborations
Likes and views began to rise steadily. Natasha’s hashtags and photography — and Parker’s adorableness — started bringing in offers for trying out toys for free as well as other partnerships. Eleven days after launching his account, Parker had his own promo code to a children’s clothing boutique to share with his viewers. Just before Christmas, another online clothing store for kids approached Natasha for an opportunity to collaborate.
Top Influencer Tip: Love What You Do
After the new year rung in, Parker’s posts started consistently getting over 100 likes and increasingly more comments. Fifteen months after launching, life.of.parker.george has attracted 18.4K followers and has a healthy engagement rate of 3.3 percent, according to Social Blade. Parker’s current posts get an average of 60 comments and 547 likes as well.
On Parker’s first birthday April 6, 2019, his mom summed up what possibly draws so many people to keep up with his sweet smile and family. “Parker George you have made me a better person made mummy and daddy solid as a rock. Laughs and smiles at everyone, happy to go to anyone, eats anything and everything, and sleeps 13 hours. How did I get so lucky.”
Gifting: Influencer Campaign Strategy for Nano-Influencers
A few days later, Timberland Europe’s official page reached out to the nano-influencer, saying they’d love to feature Parker’s latest post showing his new Timberland boots on their official channels. That same week, Sea Life Manchester gave the family free tickets to spend the day at the exhibits in exchange for a review on Parker’s Instagram page.
Parker’s account had a surge of new followers in May 2019, as reported by Social Blade. And by July, his page hit over 10,000 followers, says Real Fix, pushing the toddler’s status to micro-influencer.
The free gifts and offers for sponsorships have continued to roll in for Parker. All told, he’s been gifted over $12,000 in merchandise as of January 2020, reports Daily Mail. He has a sea of collaborations, some of which include Thule outdoor products, Stokke children’s furniture, and Quinny strollers.
Muscle Food gifted Natasha 12 weeks of nutritious meals to help her reach her goal weight to fit into her wedding dress. Natasha and Dan married in February 2020, bringing together their blended family of Natasha’s Lily, Dan’s Phoebe, and Parker, the mine of his, hers, and mine. Natasha regularly shares their family photos on Parker’s account.
Becoming an Instagram Influencer
Natasha also collaborates with other nano- and micro-influencers on Instagram, sending traffic to each other’s accounts. She says she spends an average of nine hours a day managing Parker’s Instagram account, which includes curating content as well as responding to comments. The influencer’s mom has created a full-time job for herself, but she says she loves sharing her family’s life on social media and always has. Some posts have received as many as 20,000 views, according to Real Fix.
The evolution of Parker’s Instagram account to influencer status within a year is an example of applying smart content creation strategies. Most importantly, love what you do. In addition, use targeted hashtags and tagging, respond to comments and collaboration offers, use high-quality photos, and keep your content genuine and organic.
Marketers can reach out to influencers like Parker and Natasha for brand exposure. Influencers provide genuine reviews that their followers take notice of and trust. To find more influencers like Parker, turn to IZEA.
