Social media usage is increasing every year and the coronavirus epidemic has greatly increased the need to shop online, it’s not surprising that influencer marketing has exploded. In fact, a recent survey suggests that 51% of consumers have purchased a product or service, as a direct result of seeing it promoted by an influencer.
The industry has been dominated by micro influencers. People prefer their recommendations to celebrities rather than celebrity endorsements. Let’s look at why micro influencers could be the perfect fit for your brand.
Which tiers do they belong to?
In order to distinguish between different types of influencers, they are usually divided into five tiers according to their follower count. It’s not only the number of followers that changes, but also how influential they are. As the tiers change, we begin to notice changes in engagement rates and cost as well as audience types.
* Nano influencers are those who have between 1k-5k fans.
* Micro Influencers can have 5k-50k followers.
* Medium influencers are those with 50k to 100k followers.
* The following Macro Influencers range from 100k-1M.
* Over 1M followers are Mega Influencers
What are their benefits?
It’s not just the number of followers that changes when you move up in the tiers. Micro influencers are the most popular because they have all the benefits of the higher tiers without being lacking in any area. Mega influencers, for example, may have great reach but high costs and low engagement rates. Nano influencers may be cheaper, but they will not have the same experience you want. Let’s take a look at the specific benefits of working with micro-influencers.
Engagement rates
Nano influencers are the most engaging when it comes to engagement rates. To have high engagement and a greater reach, you will need to consider micro influencers. You should consider micro influencers. Although their engagement rates are lower than those of nano influencers, they have more followers and can still maintain a high level of interaction with their audiences. With more followers comes greater reach, which means your product is seen by a wider audience. However, they still value the opinions and recommendations of their followers.
Cost
Micro influencers offer the ideal middle ground for incentives. They are affordable and deliver results. As you move up the influencer tiers, you will receive a greater payment, which includes manager fees for professional influencers. Micro influencers don’t usually have managers as they are still advancing their account from a hobby into a career.
You can expect to work with a micro-influencer for your product as an incentive or for a small fee. Fashion is a great example of the benefits of micro influencers. Many start-up fashion companies have discovered this method of marketing to work wonders, so if this applies to you, then check out this guide to using influencer marketing for fashion brands.
Niche Audiences
Another benefit of working with micro-influencers is the audience type. This is the most difficult part of finding influencers. So, we would recommend using an influencer marketing platform to find influencers, whilst being able to analyze their followers.
Micro influencers are a great way for brands to benefit from their expertise and a small audience. You can access data about an influencer’s audience to understand their age, gender, location, and interests. While celebrities and mega influencers tend to have a wide range of followers, micro influencers can target a specific market with their expertise and knowledge. You can narrow down your target audience to find influencers that have followers who reflect this.
What to watch out for
There are certain things you should be aware of when following any influencer. We have seen many accounts with fake followers in recent years as micro influencers have taken the spotlight. They are trying to raise their profile to a higher level. This is another way that an influencer marketing platform could help you out, by analyzing Instagram influencers‘ profiles and providing you with audience authenticity data.
Most authentic influencers see steady growth in their followers over time. If an account experiences a sudden rise or fall in followers without a reason that can be found within their content, this could indicate suspicious behavior. Here’s an example of healthy follower growth:
You should also be aware of comments and likes ratios. You can use a platform such as Heepsy to compare the engagement rates of influencers with an average account size.
If you decide to investigate this yourself, make sure to ask these questions:
Do they have different numbers of likes?
Do they have very few followers for a small number of posts?
Do they get few likes for their followers?
Do they have very few comments to the number of likes?
These are the things that will help you to determine if an influencer has bought followers, likes or comments. While it is discouraging to consider fake influencers, there are many authentic ones who can support your brand.
Conclusion
In conclusion, influencer marketing can be a worthwhile investment and micro-influencers could be the right choice for you. They are definitely the most popular at the moment, and with that in mind, check out our Influencer Marketing Guide to find plenty more information on them, and every other type of influencer too!
