Read this article to know everything there is to know about a micro-influencer. Who are they? How to work with them? And, why work with them?

What is a micro-influencer?

A micro-influencer is someone who is mildly famous. Micro-influencers fall under many ranges, starting from 1,000 followers to around 1 Million followers.

However, the Association of National Advertisements defines Micro-influencers as someone who have around 10,000 to 50,000 followers. For example, Melaine Laurene is a micro-influencer

These people usually have a niche following, making them so distinctive, unlike mega influencers who have millions of followers.

These micro-influencers tend to have a smaller group of people following them. Still, this small group is a dedicated group that makes a micro-influencer a good investment because a micro-influencer will have a more loyal base of followers who interact with them.

A micro-influencer is more like a friend to their followers. So they are more likely to be impacted by the micro-influencer.

To put it into better context, for example, someone who has started trying new make-up products and trends attracts people interested in make-up and found the person worth following.

This creates a micro following for the influencers, and there will be constant interaction between the followers and influencer which will lead to a higher engagement rate.

What is an influencer?

Before we get into more details of what a micro-influencer is, here is a short introduction to what an influencer is, why they are so important, and how they work.

An influencer can influence people; in today’s day and age influencer is usually a person who has a high following on social media platforms; they have managed to become famous on the internet and garner a loyal fan base for themselves.

How do influencers earn?

Companies use the fan base. This influencer’s reach, influence, and popularity to market their products and increase sales.

Today, sponsored content is in almost all genres, but some are more common than others. For example, influencers who post content related to fitness get approached by brands related to healthy and fit living; similarly, influencers who make their content around make-up are approached by make-up and cosmetics companies for endorsements and collaborations.

Significant genres of influencer marketing are

• health and fitness
• Make-up and cosmetics
• Food & beverages
• Travel ( which includes destinations, hotels)
• Sports
• Lifestyle
• Organic

It is impossible to open Instagram and not see sponsored content, and this tells us that everyone has come to realize the power of influencer marketing.

No company wants to lose out on the golden opportunity to acquire new customers via influencers, and it is also a great way to make sure you are capturing the attention of the youth.

3 Reasons why micro-influencers are beneficial:

When there are many stars you could choose from to become the ambassador for your brand, why will you choose someone who has just 10,000 followers?

1. High conversion rates

A macro or mega influencer is less likely to convince all social media users or their followers to try a product, but a micro-influencer is more likely because they have a greater bond with their followers, and followers of micro-influencer seem to trust them more than macro-influencer.

A follower will be able to relate to the micro-influencer more than a celebrity or mega-influencers, which also leads to more conversion.

A micro-influencer will be able to place the product in a general way and share their everyday problems with their subscribers, resulting in greater trust and leading to higher conversion rates.

2. Affordability

Unless you are a brand like Coca-Cola with a massive budget for marketing, it becomes hard to get a mega-influencer on board given how much they charge; in these cases, micro-influencers are a better choice.

Micro-influencers are affordable, which makes it easier to work with them. The return on investment is also higher in terms of a micro-influencer; one can go to more than one micro-influencer to widen their reach.

3. Relatability

Micro-influencers have shared their entire journey of ups and downs with their followers, and they are usually from humble backgrounds, which makes them more relatable to their followers, and so their followers tend to trust them more than mega-influencers or celebrities.

Today’s audience is very smart, they know that a celebrity is not using the product they are endorsing, and so they don’t trust the reviews of celebrities, but people know that micro-influencers have used the product and give their true reviews of the product.

Who benefits from Micro-influencers?

In today’s day and age, when advertisements, promotions, endorsements, and sponsored content are everywhere, people tend to get over-dosed by these.

In such circumstances, micro-influencer marketing can cut through the noise and represent the authenticity that a brand wants to associate itself with.

No one wants to be left behind in the digital marketing race as it often proves to be the best marketing strategy; having a micro-influencer on your side can make you stand out from the crowd.

Authenticity has been a big factor when it comes to an influencer, they promise authenticity, and many deliver it, too, which makes them more relatable and reliable. They have to develop a rapport with their followers to form a loyal fan base.

Brands that want to stay relevant.

Many brands which have been in the market for quite some time and want to stay relevant with the upcoming generations have tried to use micro-influencers and social media platforms in general to breakthrough; for example, Victoria’s Secret came under major scrutiny for only having supermodels as their brand ambassadors, its entire brand image was based on “impossible standards.

They wanted to shift their brand image, and so they connected with some new “ambassadors,” which were micro-influencers; they did not partner up with mega-influencers. Instead, they partnered up with thousands of small women influencers.

Micro-influencers prove very useful and practical for many companies looking to change their brand image.

They carefully screened all-female influencers above 5,000 followers and whoever they found fit for their campaign. This helped them change their brand image. Micro-influencers prove very useful and practical f

Small businesses that want a social media presence.

Another benefit of micro-influencer is that small businesses that need a boost through social media can get that kind of boost through micro-influencer; as micro-influencers are more affordable, it helps small businesses reach their target audience micro-influencers help target the niche markets.

Micro-influencers are also better for brand partnership because unlike a Mega influencer who has a whirlpool of new opportunities every day.

Micro-influencers do not, which results in micro-influencers posting less sponsored content regularly. This also helps build trust among the followers, as people who regularly post sponsored content seem to be just advertising and not actually using the product or even liking it.

So if your company wants to have a social media presence but is on a tight budget, micro-influencers are the ones to go to.

Micro vs. Mega influencer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CboCObZGM6Y

Mega influencers we all know and follow are ones with massive followings of sometimes millions and billions, like Kendall Jenner, who has 233m followers and is a mega-influencer, and you can see from the number of influencers or at least reaches 233m people. Mega influencers are celebrities only, and so their followers are their fans mostly.

Mega influencers influence many people; they are public figures, but how effective are they? An increase in followers leads to a lesser engagement which is not something brands want.

A micro-influencer, on the other hand, has an average number of followers. Hence, it makes it easier for the micro-influencer to address their followers individually and respond to their texts and comments, which again increases the engagement and makes micro-influencers a better investment in terms of marketing. Moreover, micro-influencers followers increase steadily, ensuring more visibility for the brand.

A mega influencer will have a huge budget. For example, back in 2017, Kim Kardashian earned 500,000 dollars for sponsorship; one can only imagine what the rates might be now. A micro-influencer will not charge as much, so for companies looking to associate themselves with an influencer but are on a low budget, micro-influencers are a go-to.

Small or relatively budding businesses often do not have the power, resources, or money to sponsor some mega or mega influencer. Hence often for niche businesses, the most effective marketing is via micro-influencers.

There are two reasons for this one is evident that micro-influencers are budget-friendly, and the other is that since micro-influencer have a niche following so, the companies can choose a micro-influencer whom they think fit for the brand, and the influencer’s followers will be able to connect better to the product given that it is niche.

For example, a micro-influencer who has an Instagram account on food talks about a new type of Chips in the market, which will have a stronger impact on his followers. It is a given that the followers are interested in food.

As a mega influencer is not an expert on any one topic or genre and is more famous than influential, they will not have a high conversion rate, but their massive and diverse following will ensure a very wide reach.

Macro vs. Micro influencer

Mega-influencers have more than one million followers, they were once a micro-influencer, too but they grew and garnered a more diverse following.

However, their increase in followers has reduced their engagement rates, which makes them less influential. Mega influencers have gained fame through the internet, only they are not celebrities but have become famous via the internet.

A macro-influencers could be used when a brand needs to target its advertisements to a certain kind of audience and need a large number of people.

For example, a female-influencer markets or reviews a tampon company. She has more than 5 million subscribers. She has many followers and the correct kind of audience too.

Micro Vs. Nano

Nano influencer is a relatively new term; a nano influencer is someone who has less than 1,000 followers. They could be very influential in their neighborhood or community, but they fall at the end of the spectrum on a larger scale.

Companies can create a chain of nano-influencers to market their products well, which will help reach the grassroots levels and make sure one’s product reaches everywhere.

Micro-influencers have more than 1,000 followers, sometimes close to 1 million, which makes their reach higher than nano-influencers. However, brands can start investing in nano-influencers if they see enough potential.

Brands that have associated themselves with Micro-influencers

1. Asos – Asos picks out fashion and beauty experts to promote their new products and brands; they work with micro-influencers on a very large scale sometimes, and they even re-share content where they are tagged in.
2. How to work with micro-influencers. Coca-Cola – also uses many small Instagram influencers to promote their brand continuously. There is no one rule book that no one rule book can be followed in this case because no influencer is the same, and the kind of work varies from brand to brand.

How to decide how much to pay a micro-influencer?

1. Reach and engagement rate- The higher an influencer’s engagement rate you can use while working with a micro-influencer to have a better and more fulfilling experience and get higher they will charge. There is, however, a major pay gap between influencers.
   
   A case in point is an anonymous account named The Influencer Pay Gap that posts the quotes given to influencers by various brands, from one can easily see the wage gap.
   
    However, many digital marketers adhere to one cent per follower or 100 dollars for every 10k follower. This is usually the starting point. 
2. Time and resources required- every social media campaign is different. The number of resources and time a micro-influencer has to spend on meeting the brand’s requirements should also be considered.
   
   The brand should sufficiently compensate for the micro-influencer and not take advantage of its lack of popularity. 
3. Length of the campaign- There are various social media campaigns, and now there are many micro-influencer campaigns too; influencers could promote the products via reels, posters, stories, and blogs. 
   
   Depending on how long the campaign would run and how frequently the influencer has to post, payment should be accordingly. Once the monetary side is taken care of, here are some other tips that you can use while working with a micro-influencer to have a better and more fulfilling experience and get the job done. 

How to work with a micro-influencer?

Working with micro-influencers can be a little tricky as you have to give them creative freedom to deliver you what they promised but also you need to get the job done and ensure that your brand image is not tarnished.

Outline your goals and expectations- having an outline of what you want from the micro-influencer campaign will help you plan how to achieve the said goals. Have an outline of what you want and what metric you are judging it; for example, you want more brand awareness, visibility, or increased sales.

You might be doing the campaign because you want to increase the sales of a particular product, or you might want to increase your company’s sales in general. Lining down the objectives and helping you search for the correct micro-influencer and how long to work with them. 

How to find the correct micro-influencer for your brand?

By: Jzlynalle on Shutterstock

Find influencers who you think connect to your brand and represent what your brand stands for. Here are some quick tips for finding the one.

a. Pay attention to branded hashtag– if an influencer uses your brand’s hashtag, it is advised to keep a close look on their account because it is better to have influencers who are already fans of the brand. This will show authenticity as well, and it will also make working with them easier as they have been following the brand and are aware of its image.

b. Brand should always pay attention to their comments and tags as there might be a chance that a micro-influencer who follows the brand might comment; associating the brand with such an individual is always better.

c. Brands could use third-party apps to funnel down the right kind of influencers from the innumerable micro-influencers present on the Internet today.

d. Asking for a verified performance report from a micro-Influencer is not an invalid ask; it will help you assess if they are the right fit for your target audience or not.

It’s a Wrap

That was all about micro-influencers and how to work with them, the benefits of working with them, etc. To sum it up, here are a few pointers to keep in mind.

• Micro-influencers get high engagement and have a good relationship with their followers, and they have a strong social media presence.
• Their followers trust them, and they can reach the target audience more effectively.
• Micro-influencers are affordable and loyal.
• Having a clear idea of what you want from a micro-influencer will help you work with them.

Well well, are you feeling like being an influencer yourself? What’s stopping you? 

Last Updated on September 1, 2023 by kalidaspandian