by Lindsey Rivera
Influencers have taken over our feeds - whenever you open any social networking app, odds are you will see content from influencers showcasing different brands & products.
We all are well aware of what influencers are. But what is a “Micro-Influencer?” Why should your brand consider working with them and what unique opportunities do they present?
The days of brands looking solely at follower count when selecting an influencer partnership are no more. Influencer marketing spend has continued to increase every year for the past decade and Code3 Social Strategists are sharing how Micro-influencers can elevate a brand's social strategy and keep you relevant in an increasingly competitive space.
What makes an influencer a micro-influencer is based on their follower count. A micro-influencer is an influencer with a smaller following on their social platforms, typically ranging from 10,000-100,000 followers per platform. While many businesses naturally presume bigger is better, that is not always the case.
You’re probably asking yourself questions like: how can a smaller follower count benefit my brand? Doesn’t more followers mean more reach, more clicks? You’re not wrong, but micro-influencers offer several unique and valuable benefits for a brand's social strategy. We plan to walk you through these benefits and then tell you how to roll them out.
Micro-influencers have a unique standing with their followers and can be a pivotal part of your social strategy when leveraged the right way. Here are the top benefits we’ve identified.
Micro-influencers’ most unique and valuable offering for brands is their audience targeting capabilities. They typically have a very niched community that you can leverage when promoting your brand and products. This makes it extremely valuable for brands as they can pinpoint their specific target audience with a single influencer.
For example, you could work with an influencer who centers their content around a healthy lifestyle to promote your brand's daily vitamin for healthy living. When you have an influencer who is a good brand fit, their niched community will share traits with your brand identity, and thus, be highly interested in your product and most likely influenced to take action.
Since micro-influencers have a smaller and more intimate following compared to a macro, mega, or celebrity influencers, their following tends to be more engaged. Several studies have shown this to be true. According to data collected by Upfluence, the larger the following, the lower the engagement rate. Micro-Influencers had engagement rates nearly two times higher than celebrity influencers. By working with micro-influencers, you reach a niched community that is highly relevant to your brand, and their content has a higher audience penetration level. Plus the audience is more likely to engage with the content.
One deterrent for many smaller brands when they consider working with an influencer is the costs associated and the myth that only large-scale brands can afford to work with one. However, that is not the case. Since a micro-influencer doesn’t have as large of a following as a macro, mega, or celebrity influencer, they come with lower rates. Micro-influencers can be a great cost-fit for a brand with a smaller social marketing budget.
This can be a great way for small to midsize brands to incorporate the unique and valuable benefits of leveraging an influencer into their social strategy at a lower price tag. Not only are there cost benefits to consider, but also availability; while there are obviously more micro-influencers compared to a macro or celebrity-sized influencers, there’s more availability and more of a selection of creators to choose from.
You can also avoid the hurdle of time and creative constraints and lengthy complex contracts that often come with working with macro, mega, or celebrity influencers.
Given the lower costs and lesser complexity associated with micro-influencers, brands are able to leverage multiple micro-influencers at a time, making them a cost-benefit for smaller businesses and beneficial for those larger businesses with higher budgets.
Instead of leveraging just a single mega-influencer/celebrity, you could work with multiple micro-influencers to hone in on multiple niched and engaged audiences playing to each influencer's differences in their persona and communities. Where one macro-influencer is limited to their single identity and community, brands could instead reach multiple audiences they would otherwise miss by leveraging several micro-influencers for the same cost of one macro.
So, now that you see all the benefits of working with micro-influencers, how can your brand get started?
Follow these steps to start working with micro-influencers in a way that helps you reach your goals.
If you aren’t leveraging influencer content, you’re late to the game! And if you already are - it might be time to utilize the full benefit and power of micro-influencers. Elevate your brand's social strategy and start incorporating them today to take advantage of their unique and powerful opportunities.
Ready to talk about improving your paid social marketing strategy? Contact us today.