Large-scale influencer marketing is being ousted for a savvier digital strategy that is proving to be much more effective: the use of micro-influencers. While traditional celebrity-style advertising strategies are becoming increasingly less effective with today’s knowledgeable consumers, micro-influencers occupy that warm, fuzzy grey area between advertising and valuable free content. Let’s just say, they’re in the sweet spot.
What is a micro-influencer?
Influencers tend to be celebrities with mass followings on social media, numbering into the hundreds of thousands, and even millions. Micro-influencers are usually every-day citizens who are highly respected in their particular niche and who have a decent following. These micro-influencers may have less followers, but they have a more engaged follower base. People interact with their posts at a higher rate and are more dedicated to the niche. In other words, after a certain point, the more followers you have, the less engaged they will be.
Why micro-influencers?
To gauge the value of micro-influencers, you’ll need to focus on cost-per-engagements. In a survey conducted by Markerly, results showed that Instagram influencers with fewer than 1,000 followers have a like rate of about 8%, those with 1,000 to 10,000 followers have a like rate of 4%, and those with 1 to 10 million followers have a like rate of just 1.7%. This trend doesn’t just apply to likes, but to comments too. With big-name influencers charging up to $10,000 per post, and micro-influencers just $100-$200 per post, it’s clear to see which are better value.
Take @rosielondoner (282K followers) and @hayleykhoward (5.8K followers) for example. The difference in their total following is significant, yet their post engagements are strikingly similar.
![Bigcommerce design](https://old.thenatives.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/rosie-1.png)
How does it work?
Aside from the decrease in engagement that accompanies mass followings on social media, large-scale influencer marketing fails in another way. An influencer may be called upon to advertise a particular product, but only a fraction of their follower-base is going to be the right target market for that product. For example, if you get a TV star to post about new runners, how many of that celebrity’s followers are going to be interested in sport? Micro-influencers dominate a specific niche, with the majority of their followers belonging to that same niche.
What’s next?
Micro-influencers help you tap into a niche that closely resembles your target market. With these influencers using and recommending your product or service, you’re likely to get more likes, more shares and more clicks for a lower cost. What’s not to like?