When you think of what an influencer is, you probably think of a social media personality with hundreds of thousands of followers. While this is true for Macro influencers, there is another category of influencers on the rise – Micro-influencers.
Micro-influencers can be defined as social media influencers who have 10,000-50,000 followers whereas macro-influencers have approximately 500,000-1 million followers (Forbes).
One example of a brand who has done an excellent job of working with micro-influencers is Glossier. Glossier is a skincare and beauty brand who partnered with micro-influencers around the world to show consumers how ‘real people’ are using their products. While glossier could have chosen to work with celebrities or high profile influencers for this campaign, they chose to work with women who they believe are authentic, genuine, and represent ‘real life.’
Traditionally, brands have aimed to work with macro-influencers because of their large follower base and the assumed power they have over their audience. While working with macro-influencers has its advantages, such as the potential to reach wider audiences, it also has disadvantages. Disadvantages of working with high-profile influencers may include lower engagement rates and a high percentage of fake followers.
Although micro-influencers have a lower follower count, they typically have higher engagement rates than macro-influencers. Because they are typically an expert in their niche, micro-influencers’ followers trust and value their opinion when they promote a product or service whereas with macro-influencers, there is often the perception that they are only interested in brand partnerships for monetary gain. Another factor to consider: if budgeting is a concern, it is advised you partner with a micro-influencer as they cost less to work with than macro-influences.
Overall, it is clear that micro-influencers may just be the future of influencer marketing. With their engaged audience, authenticity and lower costs to work with, brands are almost always guaranteed a successful campaign and high ROI.
Something to remember: when choosing an influencer to work with, the quality of their audience, such as how engaged they are, is far more significant than how many followers they have. A highly engaged community will almost always result in a high ROI.
Resources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/06/02/micro-influencers-when-smaller-is-better/?sh=6282ddea539b
