Advertising a service or a product is getting harder and harder. People require authenticity and personal content that entertains them. Many marketers have now realised the benefits of using micro-influencers to advertise products. But why is micro-influencer marketing so beneficial?
In this article, we will discuss what a micro-influencer is, their role on Instagram and how you include micro-influencers in your social media strategy. Continue reading; it will be fun!
But first, do you know what an influencer is?
What is a micro-influencer?
So, what is a micro-influencer? The definition of a micro-influencer is a social media creator that has a social media presence more significant than an average person’s but smaller than a celebrity or a macro-influencer. Like every influencer, micro-influencer uses their ability to influence other users' purchase behaviour for commercial purposes by pursuing promotional collaborations with brands.
Micro-influencers stand out because they gain authority and trust with an audience in a particular niche. Often their influence comes from something other than their status or job outside social media.
The significant benefit of working with micro-influencers is that they promote products that align with their interests or expertise. They use their social media presence to promote products that are relevant to their interest or expertise – and with that said, also their followers.
Brands use micro-influencers for marketing their products as they can provide an authentic endorsement – and at a much lower price than if they would use a macro-influencer.
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What are micro-influencers on Instagram?
Micro-influencers and Instagram are firmly connected and used as part of a marketing strategy that has taken off primarily on the platform. Instagram is visual, making it a perfect platform for micro-influencers to post photos of products and brand experiences. This type of content is also highly appreciated by the audience.
We are not saying that this marketing strategy can't be done on other social media platforms. Still, Instagram's Explore tab helps users find and interact with micro-influencer content.
Chelsea Martin is a travel advisor who specializes in personalized luxury travel. In addition she is also one of the top micro-influencers on Instagram.
How many followers does a micro-influencer have?
Micro-influencer have between 1.000 and 100.000 followers. Some people call influencers that have less than 10.000 followers nano-influencers.
What is micro-influencer marketing?
We live in a world where people are tired of advertising and celebrity endorsements. You can use micro-influencers to cut through the noise when advertising your brand. When talking about advertising nowadays, the word authenticity often comes up.
For a micro-influencer – authentic content is what they do best. Social media users develop authenticity by building a connection with their audience, and brands try to use that personal connection and trust.
Micro-influencer marketing is the same concept as influencer marketing but on a smaller scale. Brand partners with individuals with smaller followings on social media to promote products with authentic, visual posts instead of sponsored ads.
Why is micro-influencer marketing beneficial?
When using micro-influencers to advertise your brand, you will increase your engagement. These social media users have more frequent and genuine interactions with their audience because they often have a strong connection with them.
In general, Social media users tend to have more positive responses to product recommendations from people they trust, and that is where micro-influencer comes into the picture. Micro-influencers and their audience have been influencing each other long before the brand entered the picture, so product placements usually come off as more natural and genuine when they come from a micro-influencer.
The feed of a micro-influencer is filled with products, places, outfits and services that are included in their everyday life. Therefore, when the influencer publishes advertising content, this product or service will benefit from the influencer's perceived trustworthiness.
Use micro-influencers to market products
When a macro-influencer, on the other hand, shares a product on their platforms, the followers will probably view the post as an advertisement. Because of their bigger audience, the relationship between a macro-influencer and their audience is usually more superficial and communication is often unidirectional from the influencer to their audience, similar to mass marketing channels like tv and radio. For this reason, the audience of a macro influencer will usually only tend to associate a small set of values and attributes with the influencer rather than having a clear picture of who this person is.
This makes macro-influencers better at promoting brands rather than products because their values can spill over the brand's perceived values. However, when it comes to promoting products, endorsements from macro-influencers will often feel less genuine compared to micro-influencers.
One of the essential benefits of micro-influencer marketing is that the micro-influencer publishes content on their account within a niche they are passionate about. Their followers will automatically be interested in the same things, so the micro-influencer will strongly impact marketing a product within that niche. Likely every follower of the micro-influencer will follow them because of their knowledge in that specific area of interest.
Do you also want to market your brand on social media with micro-influencers? Make Influence provides over 200 brands with successful influencer collaborations – and you can be our next success case. Discover over 3500 verified active micro-influencers and check out their platform and data. Then, invite them to collaborate, track their performance, and pay them – all on the same platform. We believe that choosing an influencer with the right niche and qualities is more important than the number of followers. Find a micro-influencer that is perfect for your next influencer marketing campaign.
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Micro-influencers are more affordable
Micro-influencers are usually more affordable than influencers with millions of followers, who often are paid very high sums. Some brands can work with more than one micro-influencer, but perhaps one macro-influencer.
Micro-influencers are often very independent, so you can create a more direct collaboration without passing through agencies and talent managers. As a result, collaborations with micro-influencers often come cheaper because you don't pay a +20% commission to their agent as an admin fee.
Another thing worth mentioning is that micro-influencers are often keen to work on a performance-based model, where they get a commission for the result they generate—for example, 10% of each sale generated or 0.50€ per click.
On Make Influence, you can track how many impressions, clicks and sales each generates and pay influencers a commission, as well as pay a fixed sum on top of it.
Outside-the-box ideas
Micro-influencers market a wide variety of different things on social media. They are usually very authoritative in specific niches. It could be everything from food to science to ASMR-related products. If you want to market your product in a certain way, you will be able to find a micro-influencer who produces the content of your choice. Suppose you, for example, sell food that you want people to associate with adventure. In that case, you have various micro-influencers who publish adventure-inspired content and are also into food to choose between.
Close and personal connections
Micro-influencers are real people that show up their personal life on social media. They post Micro-influencers are real people that show up their personal life on social media. They post their own content, reply to comments, and connect closely with their followers. Often, their followers are somewhat micro or nano-influencers, so there is an actual exchange of ideas and thoughts in their community.
It is worth mentioning that Instagram recently changed its algorithm to mirror Facebook’s. This means posts from profiles users follow and interact with are shown first in Instagram feeds.
As a result, authentic, quality content is prioritized over promoted content from famous brands, but also from celebrity influencers. For this reason, content published by micro-influencers may be more visible on Instagram than content from macro-influencers, as is proven by higher reach/followers ratios and engagement rates experienced by micro-influencers.
Higher-quality connections is the key
Are you planning on starting a new influencer marketing campaign? Then you probably have set a goal that connects to quality-based variables. But this should not be your only focus.
Instead of focusing too much on quality-based variables, you should also improve the quality of your marketing by finding and homing in on the perfect target group. Micro-influencers can grow high-quality relationships with potential consumers. Their work is founded in trust and will likely offer you consistent long-term sales. Their followings are often a specific target group, with people interested in the same things as the influencer. You should focus on publishing high-quality content on platforms that reach out to the right target group.
You have to do it the right way
As with all marketing, there is never a promise that your strategy will work – and micro-influencer marketing is not always the best strategy.
Being creative is always very positive. Try to find a micro-influencer that will create compelling content, and you will most likely generate more engagement. Worth mentioning is that it’s often challenging working with several micro-influencers simultaneously. You will have to manage several different relationships – even though it will be worth it.
If a micro-influencer is already tagging your brand without collaboration, you should contact this person. There is a big chance that this will be your next big promoter.
Do you need help getting started with your next micro-influencer marketing campaign? Let Make Influence help you find the perfect match.
Also, read our article on how to get started with influencer marketing as a small business.
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