Business
28.02.2017

The Rise Of The Micro-Influencer

The Rise of The Micro Influencer

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

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?

Still not sure how to make the most out of micro-influencers? No stress, that’s what we’re here for. Get in touch.

NEWS