Most people are familiar with the concept of influencer marketing, which involves developing a relationship with an influential personality – such as a celebrity or social media star – and having them promote your brand. However, most small businesses don’t have the budget or reach to get someone like Kylie Jenner to post about their products.

Recently, the concept of micro-influencing has emerged, providing a more affordable and realistic way for smaller companies to tap into this new form of advertising. Read on to learn about why you should consider implementing micro-influencers into your business strategy and how they can help you grow.

What is a Mirco-Influencer?

Micro-influencers are essentially the same concept as typical influencers, just on a smaller scale in terms of follower count. They have a more modest following, ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of followers. Generally, anyone with over 100,000 followers would graduate to the “macro-influencer” tier. 

These micro-influencers tend to have a more niche brand, and are usually pretty well-known within their area of interest. Due to their smaller followings, they can feel more approachable and will often have high engagement rates with their followers.

Why Choose A Micro-Influencer?

Sometimes, less is more. Organizations may think that it is most effective to partner with someone with as many followers as possible. However, influencers with tons of followers don’t always have a high engagement rate. Out of those millions of followers, maybe only two percent will actually engage with their content. Furthermore, macro-influencers receive so many PR products and invitations to collaborate that it can be hard for a smaller brand to even get noticed by them.

Authenticity

Unlike macro-influencers that seem more like a celebrity, micro-influencers have that “they’re just like us” energy. They reply to their DMs, engage with commenters, and typically have a less-curated feel to their content. As a result, their followers are more likely to trust their recommendations, as it feels like it is coming from a friend.

Furthermore, micro-influencers tend to revolve their content around a specific community, which means they have a more targeted audience. For example, this can be makeup, fashion design, college life, or more. This is useful if you’re hoping to reach a specific audience or establish a brand presence in a niche community. 

Affordability

Collaborating with micro-influencers is usually a lot more cost-effective than working with people with bigger followings. Celebrities and the top social media stars can charge tens to hundreds of thousands just for an Instagram post (it has been rumored that a post from Kylie Jenner can set a company back a million dollars.) 

Someone with only 10,000 followers is going to have a more affordable rate. Therefore, micro-influencer marketing is a much more reasonable and realistic option for a small business. For the price of paying a macro-influencer, you can probably get several smaller influencers to promote your product.

Finding the Right Micro-Influencer for Your Brand

So, now that you’re sold on the effectiveness of micro-influencer marketing, how do you find the right person to work with?

First, it’s important to identify your goals and expectations. Are you trying to grow brand awareness? Increase social media following? Make more sales? Having a clear idea of what you want to achieve will help you find the right influencer to collaborate with.

Make sure you’re working with a person who your customer base will identify with, as well as someone who aligns with your brand image and values. They should also have a relatively high engagement rate and post consistently. 

Finally, there are many third-party tools that can aid you in your search, and help you verify the influencer’s metrics. 

With the ever-increasing prominence of social media, especially newer platforms like TikTok, brands must adapt to new ways of advertising. Don’t underestimate the impressionability of humans, and start incorporating micro-influencers into your marketing plan.