We have all heard of the benefits of using celebrity influencers to endorse your brand, but those big celebrities lack authenticity and have begun to loose their luster. What about micro-influencers?Micro-influencers have a base of 1,000 to 100,000 passionate followers who seek out their niche expertise in a specific field. They are not celebrities, but people look to them for advice or for reviews about products and their opinion is considered very valuable. Insights indicate that micro-influencers can have more credibility and power than celebrity influencers in many ways. As a result, more brands are starting to use micro-influencer to represent their products and the results are impressive.
Four Key Powers of Micro-influencers
Expand Social Followers and Reach a Target Audience
Micro-Influencers usually specialize in a specific area, topic, or field and attract a niche audience. Therefore, finding a micro-influencer that fits your brand can be very beneficial. If a micro-influencer believes in your product and starts to promote it, you will begin to acquire new leads. Your target audience has a strong relationship with the micro-influencer, and as a result your brand is now gaining more visibility. For example, if your brand sells organic beverages and a micro-influencer’s audience is interested in organic trends, this partnership can expand your social following, brand recognition, and sales!
Higher Engagement Rates
Unlike celebrities, micro-influencers are less likely to promote a product or brand that they don’t personally use or believe in. As a result, their followers consider their opinions about products credible. Do your research! If you think a micro-influencer aligns with your brand, send them a sample of your product and ask them to write a review. They can post their review on their social profile and authentically promote the benefits or value of the product/service. Micro-influencers have hyper-engaged followers and are more likely to receive comments and questions from their audience. “Where can I get that product?” “Where is this company located?” “Do they have that product in different colors, flavors, etc.?” Conversations in the comments can lead to higher engagement with your own brand’s social profiles.
Increase Conversions & Sales
As we know, word of mouth is one of the best marketing techniques to gain a sale. People are more likely to buy a product when it is recommended by a friend or relative. Micro-influences are able to cultivate a similar relationship with their followers which can translate to significant increases in sales. Although a celebrity endorser can increase brand awareness, people are more likely to buy a product when it comes from a more trustworthy source. Since micro-influencers have high engagement, a product review is likely to increase traffic to your website. The key is to create customer personas for your brand and find an influencer who speaks directly to that target audience.
More Cost-Effective
Some micro-influencers are willing to promote a brand for free. Most likely because they really love the product or because they truly believe in it. Either way, paying a micro-influencer to promote your product on their page is a lot cheaper than paying a celebrity. According to OurSocialTimes.com,“YouTube stars with more than 7 million followers can expect to earn an eye-watering $300,000 per post.” Wow! However, According to digitalmarketing.org, “For marketing on Instagram, social media influencers are charging brands anywhere between $75 and $3,000 per Instagram post.” Digitalmarketing.org also stated, “A micro-influencer with less than 1,000 followers is charging an average of $83 for advertising.” For businesses looking to build brand buzz and acquire long-term customers, partnering with micro-influencers has a better ROI.
How to find a micro-influencer that aligns with your brand
You should already know the your customer demographics, including age, sex, location, industry, interest or hobbies and etc. Now it is time to research social accounts with followers that align with your target audience. Here are a few tips:
- Research your current customers and competitors and take note of which pages they are currently following
- Search hashtags that related to your product or brand
- Finding micro-influencers who may be already talking about you is a hot lead.
- Look for accounts with quality content and a healthy dialogue in the comments
- Audience size is not as important as engagement!
Motivated Audiences
Micro-influencer marketing is one of the most cost-effective tactics to building awareness, expanding reach, and quickly gaining visibility with your ideal consumers. Suitable for any size business size, micro-influencer partnerships tap into motivated audiences which can yield impressive results for your brand and bottom line.
Author: Felecia Anson
