Over 60% of consumers trust influencer recommendations more than company-made advertisements. Internet accessibility and social media have given influencers unprecedented power in swaying people’s opinions. However, not all influencers have the same audience size. Those with more modest followings are called micro-influencers.
Despite their relatively small audience, these influencers can still greatly help your small or medium-sized business gain traction. Read on to know more about micro-influencers, the benefits of partnering with them and how you can find one that’s right for your brand.
There are varying opinions as to how many followers a person needs to be a micro-influencer. However, the general consensus is that you must have a relatively bigger social media presence than an average person. This means you should have anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 followers or subscribers.
These influencers usually produce niche content and feature products that are personally interesting to them. For instance, a travel micro-influencer will feature the camera model they used in their last adventure while a gamer will make a first impressions video of a new AAA title.
There are several perks to partnering with micro-influencers and having them promote your brand.
Hiring micro-influencers is a cost-effective means of introducing your brand to a target audience. On average, a micro-influencer will charge you anywhere between $50 to $3,000 per post. The cost is mostly platform-dependent, with Twitter posts being the cheapest and YouTube posts being the most expensive.
If you think that such a price range is still too much, a celebrity-level influencer charges $4,000 to over $20,000 for each post. While these well-known influencers do have a wider reach, their average rate is simply out of reach for most small business owners.
Micro-influencers are perceived as more authentic content creators who provide honest opinions about the products and services they use. They do not have the tainted reputation of some big influencers who are shackled by corporate dealings. Hence, over 80% of consumers prefer brand suggestions from micro-influencers more than that of celebrities or bigger names.
Since micro-influencers have a more manageable audience, they also tend to form closer relationships with their followers. This personal connection fosters trustworthiness, with followers considering these influencers as their friends and not merely celebrities.
This means that a micro-influencer can sell your brand faster to their audience since people are more likely to listen to a friend than a stranger.
The advantage of having fewer subscribers is that you often get quality over quantity. Micro-influencers usually have more dedicated and loyal followers, giving their posts high engagement rates. The average engagement rate for each of their posts is 3.86%. To put things into perspective, a mega-influencer is lucky to even get a rate of 1.21%.
This is good news for you since the higher the engagement rate, the greater the online visibility. Hence, if you partner with a micro-influencer, you’ll give your business a higher chance of gaining brand recognition.
If you want to improve the engagement rate of your own website, you can also partner with an SEO agency in Michigan like Hierographx.
Micro-influencers have a niche audience compared to more famous influencers that have a general viewer base. While a wider audience is good for large companies appealing to bigger markets, a narrower viewership is ideal for small businesses that target specific clientele.
For instance, if you sell chess boards and the Michigan chess community is your target market, you can partner with a local grandmaster micro-influencer and ask them to feature your product. That way, your product will be exposed to the very people you intend to sell to.
There’s no need to overspend and hire a mega-influencer since a huge chunk of their audience is outside the scope of your target market.
There are several ways to find a micro-influencer that can best feature and promote your brand.
It may seem too simple, but a Google search can help you find the right micro-influencer. Search engines use algorithms to rank online sources. Those that are placed on a higher rank are often the most credible and reliable. Hence, by typing the kind of influencer you want in the search box, you’ll have access to posts providing lists of top-rated micro-influencers in your local community.
If you don’t trust search engines, you can hire a Michigan local SEO agency that has robust web consultation, marketing, and development experience. Hierographx has teams specializing in search engine optimization (SEO) and social media management. This includes providing recommendations of micro-influencers that can best advertise your company branding.
If you’re looking for micro-influencers on Instagram, you can use hashtags. Type in a hashtag that is relevant to your product, business, or brand. Are you selling beauty products? Use hashtags like #personalcare, #skincareroutine, or #beautyblogger.
A list of micro-influencers that use these hashtags to promote their content will appear. When choosing, remember to consider factors that influence engagement rates like the number of likes and comments.
Social media is revolutionizing the world of advertising, and influencers are leading the charge. Even micro-influencers can make a positive impact on your small or medium-sized business. From their relative affordability to the high engagement rate of their posts, micro-influencers can offer a great value proposition to boost your brand’s growth.
To make sure that you get the right micro-influencer, partner with Hierographx. We are a local Michigan SEO company that can help you find an ideal influencer and implement the best SEO strategies for your site.