You’ve probably heard the world influencer before. The growth of this trend is unstoppable. In fact, “social media influencer” now ranks as the second most popular career aspiration among children ages 11-16. Heck, dogs are even some of the best influencers these days. Influencer marketing involves engaging influential people to share a brand’s story through their content. It can be executed in the form of brand spokespersons, celebrity endorsements, testimonials, and any other content that qualifies as social proof. Influencer marketing is a ubiquitous channel for any modern-age digital marketer, with 71% of marketers saying it has helped them gain higher-quality customers and traffic. 

But more brands — even well-known brands like Disney and Microsoft — are leaning away from the influencer trend to take advantage of micro-influencers. As the name suggests, these figures are just influencers on a smaller scale. There are varying definitions, but micro-influencers generally have a follower count between 1,000 and 100,000.

So why take advantage of these less prominent figures and not just go for a tried-and-true influencer? Well for one, the average small- or medium-sized business can’t afford celebrity or macro-influencer endorsements. But more important than that, we live in a world where brand trust is rapidly on the decline — so big-name celebrities aren’t always a cure-all for building reputability. In fact, only 23% of millennials said celebrity influencer content impacted their purchasing decisions — while 70% said social content from their peers was impactful. 

Let’s dive into some of the benefits of micro-influencer marketing and evaluate how you can best leverage this technique.

Six Key Benefits of Micro-influencer Marketing:

• Hyper-Engaged Followings

A bigger audience = more sales and brand awareness, right? Not exactly.

It’s natural to want the Kim Kardashians and David Beckhams of the world to promote your product — they boast billions of followers who hold them in high regard. But when it comes to follower counts, the saying “quality over quantity” really holds true. In fact, engagement starts to flatten out once an account hits 100,000 followers. Micro-influencers may be reaching a fewer amount of people, but what’s important is that they’re reaching the right people. Their appeal as a marketing tool comes from their close-knit networks comprised of people who identify with them. While someone might follow a celebrity they have no common ground with, people are drawn to micro-influencers by shared interests or experiences. If you aren’t convinced yet, let the numbers speak for themselves: micro-influencers campaigns have a 60% higher engagement rate than those with top influencers.

• Authenticity

When your favorite fitness guru shares a photo eating a protein bar after a workout, you usually don’t question it. That’s the holy grail of micro-influencers — they’re just normal people who happened to build a following doing something they love. Their content operates much like word-of-mouth or a recommendation from a friend. On top of that, they usually aren’t driven by monetary rewards, but rather a genuine interest to share valuable content that engages their followers. As a result, their content eludes a more natural-looking feel. They are often pros at organically incorporating your brand into their content, and they aren’t willing to jeopardize authenticity at the expense of promoting a brand that doesn’t align with their values. This is vital in our marketplace, considering 86% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like. This suggests that micro-influencers could ultimately have much more of an impact on purchasing decisions than influencers with higher followings.

• Niche Industry

Another notable benefit of micro-influencers is that they create content concentrated on a certain topic. You’ll find influencers for every niche in the book — as broad as health, beauty, and travel and as specialized as home renovation, origami, or CrossFit athletics. Because of their focus on specific industries, they have the ability to connect with a highly-relevant audience. They are generally subject matter experts, which allows them to build a loyal network of followers that trust them. Collaborating with micro-influencers with a narrow, yet significant reach can help you improve the ROI of your influencer marketing campaign.

• Availability

Let’s face it — top-tier influencers aren’t at their followers’ beck and call and simply can’t respond to over 500 comments a day. That’s where the value of micro-influencer marketing comes in. Because lower-profile influencers aren’t consumed by celebrity stardom, they have more time to focus on your product promotion. Think about it: when you entrust a micro-influencer to promote your brand, this is a major incentive for them to help you gain conversions. If they grow your traffic, they’ll grow their own traffic — it’s a win-win scenario. Macro-influencers and celebrities have already grown massive audiences, so they aren’t as invested in leveraging brand deals to gain more.

• Affordability 

If you’re a startup or small business, hiring a high-profile influencer to for your campaign may seem like a long shot. Luckily, you don’t have to break the bank to see results. The cost varies based on follower count, channel distribution, and industry, but don’t worry — you won’t have to dole out $50,000 for a single sponsored post from micro-influencers. Micro-influencers are less in demand (but not less in quality), which means they can command lower rates. Instead of partnering with just a couple top influencers, marketers can benefit from collaborating with a larger pool of micro-influencers to reach an engaged audience more sustainably. 

• Foster Brand Awareness

Micro-influencers are a great outlet to introduce new products to the market. In fact, 58 percent of people have purchased a product because of an influencer recommendation. On top of that, they can help bolster your audience’s perception of your brand. If your favorite athlete recommended certain sneakers, wouldn’t you be interested in buying those? Most likely. And micro-influencers can even draw attention to special deals, which helps persuade your audience that your product offer is something they can’t pass up.

How Do I Get Started With Micro-Influencer Marketing?

You know the benefits of micro-influencers, and now you want to best leverage them for your business. It may seem intimidating — especially the concept of trusting someone you find on the Internet to advocate for your brand. 

Here are some key steps to help you launch a micro-influencer marketing campaign: 

1. Evaluate Your Need

Maybe you’re preparing to launch a brand new product and want to wow your audience. Or maybe, you’re just looking to grow your follower count and drive more brand awareness. Before you start making use of micro-influencers, have a specific goal in mind so you can measure the success of your campaign. 

2. Conduct A Search

If you’re lucky, micro-influencers will seek out brand deals with you. But if you’re just getting started, you may need to do some upfront manual work to find the right influencer. The best way to do this is to tap into your current network of followers — chances are, you already have micro-influencers engaging with you. If they’re already a fan of your brand, that means they genuinely like your product — so there’s nothing inauthentic about them promoting your company. Plus, there’s no need for cold-prospecting influencers that have no personal connection to your brand. If you’re pressed for time, you can opt to invest in tools that help you find relevant influencers in your industry. Top tools include Influence.co and BuzzSomo, which can help you filter through micro-influencers based on certain criteria like location, follower count, relevant keywords, and engagement rate.

3. Choose The Right Micro-Influencer For Your Brand

Once you have determined prospects, it’s time to seal the deal. Remember: micro-influencer marketing campaigns are only as good as the influencers themselves. Before you jump at the chance to work with just anyone with a few thousand followers, you’ll want to evaluate more valuable metrics, like their engagement rates, content quality, and aesthetic. The quantity of followers is just a vanity metric — there are several fake influencers out there that purchase their followers.

Factors To Consider When Choosing Who To Partner With:

Before you sign on the dotted line and enter a partnership with a micro-influencer, here are some factors to consider:

• Do They Produce On-Brand Content?

You should pay special attention to the personality their brand eludes. Is their niche specialization closely tied to your business offering? How about their audience demographic? Ultimately, you want to be able to picture them selling your product. Evaluate their previous content — you can even find some of the brands they’ve worked with before to see if they align with your values. Also, keep in mind that you don’t have the same control over micro-influencer content as you do your in-house advertising. Why is that? Because micro-influencers are personal brands in themselves, which means they have free range (within reason) to adapt your vision to their unique style and tone. 

Thus, you should consider how they may fit with your brand. Ask yourself: Is their creative direction one that would best showcase your brand? Do they share opinions closely aligned with your brand values? Do they have an appropriate tone of voice in their content?

• What Is Their Engagement Like?

Someone could have a massive following, but look for red flags like a low like-follower ratio. What is the average number of interactions they receive for each post? As mentioned before, the commercialization of influencer marketing has driven people to buy fake followers — so what you see isn’t always what you get. 

• What Channels Are They Present On?

Whether they’re a vlogger, blogger, or social media guru, their expertise most likely falls in one primary outlet. Think about whether you’d like to purchase sponsored posts in the form of a video, blog, or Instagram shout out.

What’s Next?

• Have Them Tell A Story

You’ve accomplished your main challenge: finding a micro-influencer that closely aligns with your brand. Now comes the creative direction that will ultimately dictate how your influencer’s content is received. In today’s world, storytelling is key. This means a picture of a product against a white background is not going to cut it — or close you any sales, either. If you’re working with an Instagram influencer, you’ll want to lay some guidelines for the type of content you want them to produce. This could be in the form of a short video clip or photo paired with an in-depth product review as the caption.

• Create An Ongoing Partnership

One single post isn’t going to cut through the clutter of the increasing number of sponsored posts flooding our Instagram feeds. Before you go partner with a micro-influencer for a one-off project, you may want to give a second thought to investing in a longer-term campaign. This consistency will implant your brand name in your consumers’ minds and help promote recall.

Conclusion

The social media influencer market is set to be worth more than $10 billion by 2020, so there’s no sign of this trend stopping anytime soon. 

Although our instincts tell us bigger is better in terms of followers, the micro-influencer marketing trend has been actively disproving this. With human faces and individual stories to tell, these influencers can help bring your brand credibility and even cost you less in the process.