Nano- vs Micro- vs Macro-influencer: Who to choose for your campaign?

In this blog, we'll explore the differences between nano, micro, and macro influencers and help you determine which is the best fit for your influencer marketing strategy.

Before we get started let’s look at some definitions and differences between these types of influencers.

Definition of Nano-influencers

Nano-influencers have in recent years been more popular to use in influencer marketing. These content creators have followers ranging from 1,000 to around 10,000 followers. They typically have an incredibly close connection to their followers and are focused on very specific niches.

Definition of Micro-influencers

Micro-influencers are content creators with smaller, yet highly engaged, niche-focused followings typically ranging from 10,000 to around 100,000 followers. They are often regarded as subject matter experts within their specific niches, whether that's beauty, fitness, technology, or any other area of interest. Micro-influencers excel in creating authentic, relatable content that deeply resonates with their dedicated audience.

Definition of Macro-influencers

Macro-influencers are prominent social media figures with substantial follower counts, typically from +100,000. Macro-influencers have a broad reach, enabling them to connect with a diverse and extensive audience. While their follower numbers are impressive, their engagement rates may vary, as their content may not always connect as deeply as that of micro-influencers.

Who should you choose for your influencer marketing strategy?

There is a reason to use all types of influencers. While they all bring something unique to the table, there are some questions you can ask yourself before settling on your influencer marketing strategy:

• Budget: How much money am I willing to spend? Nano and micro-influencers are much cheaper than macro-influencers.
  
  
• Campaign objective: What is the goal of my influencer campaign? Reach, conversions, or branding? Macro influencers might be the right choice if you're aiming for reach while if you’re going for conversions it might be better to partner up with a few micro influencers.
  
  
• Risk and professionalism: Macro influencers are often better at maintaining partnerships so there is often less risk involved. Make Influence counters this by manually verifying all influencers on the platform.
  
  
• Creativity: Newer content creators, often offer fresh and innovative content ideas. Macro-influencers, with more experience, maintain a polished approach. Your choice depends on your campaign's creative needs and audience preferences. Consider the influencer's creative style when deciding whom to partner with.
  
  
• Higher engagement rates: Smaller influencers have on average a much higher engagement rate than their macro counterparts.

Micro-influencers are often more effective: Micro-influencers have an average engagement rate of 3.86%, while macro-influencers have an average engagement rate of 1.63%. (Influencer Marketing Hub)

Why are nano and micro-influencers often more effective than macro-influencers?

While performance differs from influencer to influencer, nano, and micro-influencers overall have better engagement rates than their macro counterparts.

Nano and micro-influencers are known for their ability to create authentic and relatable content. Their followers often view them as peers rather than distant celebrities. This relatability leads to higher engagement rates as followers are more likely to trust recommendations and engage with content that mirrors their own experiences.

They also frequently specialize in specific niches or industries. This specialized knowledge not only attracts followers who share the same interests but also positions these influencers as experts in their fields. Brands benefit from this expertise as it allows them to tap into highly targeted and passionate communities.

While macro-influencers certainly have their place in many influencer marketing strategies, particularly for broad brand exposure and as brand ambassadors, nano and micro-influencers offer a unique ability to connect with their niche audience on a personal level.

Their authenticity, expertise, and cost-effectiveness make them powerful allies for brands seeking to drive meaningful engagement and conversions within specific market segments.

How to find and recruit micro-influencers

Manual recruitment

Plenty of micro-influencers can be found by recruiting them manually on social media such as Instagram and TikTok. Often influencers have a business email in their bio or you can DM them from your brand account.

Using Make Influence

If you want to dig deeper and make sure you recruit the best influencers for your brand and campaign, Make Influence allows you to view their creator data, to make sure you recruit the best influencers possible.

This way your influencer marketing strategy gets driven by data instead of gut feelings, removing risk and increasing the chance of success.

Get started with the right influencer marketing strategy today

Start today and recruit the perfect influencer for your brand. Our platform is created to make it easier to recruit, collaborate, and expand your influencer marketing. Through our platform, you also get access to pay-per-performance campaigns that allow you to pay when you finally see the results.

Book a demo and see the platform.