What is a Micro-Influencer?

In this blog series, we are breaking down the 4 main categories of influencers. We started with nano-influencers and now we are taking a look at micro-influencers. You can think of a nano-influencer as a hobbyist in influencer marketing. Whereas, the next step up is what the industry calls a micro-influencer. In this blog, we are going to break down what a micro-influencer is, what value they provide, and when you should look to use one.

What Makes a Micro-Influencer?

A micro-influencer is the second step in the influencer food chain. At the lowest level, you have nano-influencers then comes micro-influencers. The question you want to know is what makes a micro-influencer. Most commonly micro-influencers are identified by their follower count. Generally, a micro-influencer is someone with anywhere between 10,000-100,000 followers on any social media platform.

Aside from follower count the most significant jump that really differentiates a nano-influencer from a micro-influencer is the quality of the content that they produce. Micro-influencers aren’t just using social media as a hobby anymore. They are people that are making a career off of the audiences that they have built. The time and effort they put into each of their posts matters. Micro-influencers also have a clear niche picked out and stay true to their branding and message. The majority of micro-influencers content will revolve around one or two themes.

What Makes a Micro-Influencer worth it?

The top three reasons for working with a micro-influencer are quality, authenticity, and reach. Every level of influencer has these things in their own way but a micro-influencer has the perfect combination of all three. Micro-influencers are so valuable to a social media marketing campaign because of how they combine their top traits. The quality of content that most micro-influencers use is borderline professional grade if not better. When it comes to production value and attention to detail micro-influencers take it to the next level. Because the quality of their content is so good many brands just hire them for that and will never require the influencer to make a post (this concept is called UGC or user-generated content).

The second reason micro-influencers are so valuable is that they still maintain an authentic appeal to their audience. Even though most micro-influencers have been making content for many years they remain authentic to their core audience. They do that by sticking to a specific niche and haven’t diluted their content to appeal to millions of people like a macro-, or mega-influencer might have to do. Micro-influencers are also able to stay relatable but maintain a level of authority because of the size of their following.

The third thing that makes micro-influencers worth it is their reach. With the range of a micro-influencers audience being anywhere between 10,000 to 100,000 people on social media the opportunity to reach hundreds of thousands of people is made easy. By utilizing the right partnerships with multiple creators in this category of influencer your brand can gain exposure to new audiences in the demographics you want.

When Should I use a Micro-Influencer?

The first indicator you should use when hiring micro-influencers is when your business starts having a budget to work with. Once you decide to start putting marketing dollars into your business and can afford to pay influencers with more than just free product is when you should start looking at micro-influencers. Because they have built a relatively large social media following the cost to partner with them ranges from $100 to over $10,000 depending on the requirements of the campaign.

A micro-influencer campaign is recommended when your business needs more visibility to a specific audience. Because Micro-influencers don’t have millions of followers their audiences are relatively uniform. Micro-influencers are also great at driving attention to your own company’s different social media pages where people can learn more about your brand and products. They are like the Swiss Army knife of the influencer world, they are great for creating social proof, generating UGC, or getting their audience to engage with your brand online.

Micro-Influencers are another tool in your marketing arsenal that when used properly can create massive gains for your company. With a platform like Reach you can easily manage and scale your influencer campaigns to get the most out of your budget and time. Sign up today or set up a demo to learn more!