Influencer marketing is a well-known concept. It involves brands working with influencers who are popular on social media. When an influencer promotes a brand or its product, it sends a strong message to their followers. They believe that the brand and product can be trusted. Influencer marketing is today a common practice that all brands include in their strategy.
Generally, a perception is that influencers are celebrities who are famous. However, it is not only the top celebrities who matter, even micro-influencers can make an impact. In this guide, we look at micro-influencer marketing and how you can use it to achieve success.
Who are micro-influencers?
A micro-influencer is someone on social media with anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 followers. Influencers are celebrities who have 100,000 or even a million followers. Micro-influencers have fewer followers, but they do have an impact. The key feature of micro-influencers is that they usually focus on a particular area of interest and get good engagement.
Why work with micro-influencers?
The power of influencer marketing is well-known. But working with an influencer is not so easy. They are celebrities who are selective in working with brands. They also charge more. Working with micro-influencers offers many benefits. Go through the reasons listed below, and you will understand why it makes sense for brands to partner with micro-influencers.
1) They charge lesser money
Ultimately, it all boils down to money. Influencers charge huge amounts from clients. You must have a big budget if you want to work with influencers. For businesses with budgetary constraints, micro-influencers are helpful. They charge much lesser than macro influencers while offering similar kinds of benefits. Micro-influencers charge anywhere from $100 to $500 per post on Instagram. An influencer would charge a minimum of $5000 and their charges can go up to $20,000 per post.
2) They get good engagement
Influencers have more followers, but micro-influencers have followers who matter. Not all those who follow an influencer will engage with all their posts. But in the case of micro-influencers, they have committed followers who will engage with them. A study showed that an influencer gets 1.67% engagement whereas a micro-influencer has 6% engagement.
3) You get access to a target audience
Influencers are followed by a wide audience. It is difficult to target a particular segment. If you have a niche segment of the market to target, working with micro-influencers is a better option. A micro-influencer usually focuses on a niche and has a target audience. If you can identify the right micro-influencer, you get access to your target audience. The results will be much better because you are doing targeted marketing.
4) They are authentic
Influencers are celebrities whom a majority of people follow. Not all the followers are regular users of the platform. Many of them may be fake accounts too. On the other hand, micro-influencers have fewer followers who are authentic. They are unlikely to have fake accounts following them. Also, most of their followers would regularly see their posts and engage with them.
Working with micro-influencers
Now that you know the benefits of working with micro-influencers, it is time to start working with them. The following guidelines will help you get the best results from micro-influencer marketing:
- Decide your marketing goals. It is important to list your objectives. Why do you want to do micro-influencer marketing and what do you hope to achieve from it? The answers to these questions will help you decide your goals.
- Identify the right micro-influencer. Look for a micro-influencer who has interest areas related to your business. Such a micro-influencer will get you the best engagement. Go through their posts and see if their posts resonate with your brand’s vision. Also, check out the type of engagement they get.
- Another strategy is to check your followers list. You may already have micro-influencers following you. If so, it is easier to work with them since they know you.
- Once you identify a micro-influencer get in touch with them. Let them know your goals and find out how they can help. Sign a contract or agree to the terms.
- Start working with them. Put out a post and ask them to promote it. Or they can put up a post collaborating with you. Study the response and try to understand if it helps you. The feedback from the first collaboration can be used for improvement.
- Don’t expect instant results. Remember, a follower will not spend money because an influencer asks them to do so. It takes time to build credibility – so, have patience.
Opt for micro-influencer marketing for your next social media project and see how it works out for your brand!
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