Want to Post Like a Kardashian? The Data Tells You How

pcmag.com:

J Lo’s Versace dress gave us Google Images(Opens in a new window). Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction launched YouTube(Opens in a new window). And while the Kardashian-Jenners didn’t inspire the creation of Instagram, they’ve arguably made it what it is today. 

The family really hit their stride on the social media platform in 2015, when Kim Kardashian became the most followed person. She had enough selfies on there to make an entire book called—what else?—Selfish(Opens in a new window). By then, every woman in the family was commanding Instagram(Opens in a new window). 

The proof lies in the extensive research of Liz Hagelthorn, CEO and co-founder of PostMarket(Opens in a new window), a licensing platform for social and digital content. Hagelthorn recently did a social-strategy deep dive(Opens in a new window) into all Kardashian-Jenner Instagram activity from 2015 to today. It’s a project born out of spite, she told PCMag (see our video, below), which is a plot line that has propelled many an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians(Opens in a new window) and The Kardashians(Opens in a new window).

Hagelthorn read a piece on a SKIMS ad (the company owned by Kim K.), and after disagreeing with the premise, proceeded to calculate Kardashian statistics and analyze them so she could use her experience to explain the extraordinary engagement they attract.

Combined, Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kylie, Kendall, and Kris have 1.55 billion followers on Instagram. In the past year alone (January 2022 to January 2023), the count has increased by 24.33%. Hagelthorn, who oversees creative strategy for 127 Instagram accounts that have 300 million followers, said in her report that growth of even 2% to 6% is considered very high for