The Power of Micro-Influencers: How Small Followings Can Drive Big Results in Digital Marketing

Micro-influencer marketing has become a rising concept in digital marketing. The concept is quite similar to influencer marketing but on a smaller scale.  

Micro-influencers have become one of the leading ways to generate sales. As per BigCommerce report, about 17% of companies spend more than half of their marketing budget on influencer marketing.  

Going bigger isn't always important.  

Most businesses think investing in bigger influencers is the key to getting big returns. However, this isn't the case, always.  

Micro-influencers' success relates to their ability to connect closely with their audience. It ultimately translates to more engaged and authentic promotional activities than working with the bigger influencers.  

Despite the broader following base, working with influencers with a large follower count also contains a few downsides.  

These typically include: 

• The higher cost of working with big influencers  
• Reduced availability  
• Big influencers sometimes lack protection for their authenticity. Typically, it is because more brands and businesses approach them to work.  

Instead, small and more focused micro-influencers are better to work with. They usually have stronger relationships with their audience and can benefit your business more.  

Why are brands focusing on micro-influencers in digital marketing? 

In the micro-influencer marketing concept, brands and businesses partner with people with a smaller social platform following. Instead of running sponsored ads, they ask individuals to promote their services or products with visual and authentic content.  

Even though, for some people, it may seem counterintuitive to use micro-influencers. However, there are various reasons why brands are focusing on this.  

For instance: 

Micro-influencers have enhanced engagement rates  

Markerly found some surprising micro-influencer study trends.  

According to Markerly, influencers with more followers usually have decreased engagement rates. Their number of comments and likes is less than micro-influencers. 

Instagram micro-influencers with less than 1000 followers typically generate 8% likes. In comparison, influencers with above 1 million followers generate 1.7% likes of the time only.  

That’s why businesses pursue their marketing with micro-influencers having 1,000 to 10,000 followers to experience higher engagement.  

The audience of micro-influencers is more targeted  

According to Markerly, the following base of micro-influencers is more targeted than influencers with millions of followers. Partnering with these micro-influencers can therefore result in more conversion.  

In addition, about 82% of consumers in a survey said they are more likely to follow a micro-influencers recommendation. 

Results derived by micro-influencers are more authentic  

Micro-influencers are generally real and make authentic content. These social media users are more likely to create and post their unique content as per their targeted audience. They interact with more people by replying to comments, answering their DMs, and behaving more authentically.  

Therefore, whenever a micro-influencer posts any promotional content, its audience is likelier to click on what they’ve posted. Consequently, businesses can get more authentic results.  

Micro-influencers hold greater recommendation power.  

Micro-influencers hold great power to create conversations and increase sales of their recommended products or services. According to Experticity studies,  

• Micro-influencers can help achieve 22.2x more conversations with their recommendations than average consumers.  
• In addition, about 82% of consumers report that they are more likely to follow a business, service, or product a micro-influencer recommends.  

In simple words, micro-influencers can generate more conversations about purchasing recommendations. Overall, they hold better powers for recommendation. So, it is the right time to start investing in micro-influencers to drive amazing results with your digital marketing campaigns.  

Things to look at when working with a micro-influencer  

Before starting with micro-influencers, businesses need to know important factors to consider here. Some important factors to look for include the following: 

• Learn about their niche. Understand what type of content they share. Can their content align with the services or products you want to promote? 
• The number of followers in micro-influencers is of less weightage than its engagement rate. So, consider the engagement they receive as a key aspect when looking for the right micro-influencers to work with.  
• Understand who their audience is. Does your audience share similar interests? The goal here should be reaching more of your target audience.  
• Understand the type of links, apps, products, tools, services, etc., they share. For instance, look for the link types they share to generate more traffic to your site.  
• Learn about the authenticity of your potential micro-influencers. Consumers usually trust micro-influencers with a more authentic and organic promotional approach.  

How to leverage micro-influencers for your next digital marketing campaign? 

Small and focused influencers can provide powerful results. That's why more and more businesses are opting for micro-influencers to create better results, even with small followings. If you also want to achieve the benefits of micro-influencers, use the above strategies to make things more workable.  

Here are the key strategies that you should consider to leverage micro-influencers in your digital marketing campaigns:  

Define your digital marketing campaign goals 

Firstly, you need to establish your micro-influencer marketing goals. Before reaching out to any micro-influencer in your niche, understand what you want to achieve with this campaign.  

For instance, 

• Do you want to increase your brand awareness?  
• Is your marketing campaign all about creating conversations around your business or product? 
• Are you looking for ways to increase your site traffic? 
• Do you want to boost brand engagement? 
• Are you planning to capture more qualified leads or increase sales? 

Setting a clear campaign objective will make it easier to reach the right micro-influencers.  

Research and identify the right micro-influencers  

If you are already on social media, you must know some micro-influencers in your niche. Otherwise, you can perform competitor research or your due diligence to research the best micro-influencers for you.  

In addition, different tools such as BuzzSumo can help you find micro-influencers on your set criteria.  

Nurture positive relationship  

After identifying potential micro-influencers, you would like to work with, build a positive relationship with them. Communicate your marketing goals clearly with them. Then ask how they can add value to your business through collaboration.  

Ask micro-influencers to create authentic content for you  

It is imperative to ask a micro-influencer to create authentic content with your product. Tell them not to use sponsored ads.  

However, it is always better to give micro-influencers the freedom to create unique content that aligns with their audience's interests. Ensure they stay true to your brand’ values when creating content. The practice will help them ensure that their followers trust their recommended products or services. It will ultimately result in greater engagement and higher conversion rates.  

Keep tracking micro-influencers campaign results

Don’t forget to track metrics, including engagement, reach, and conversion of a micro-influencer marketing campaign. Measuring the campaign will let you understand how successful it was for your business. In addition, it will also help you to track the data and analyze it for future improvements.  

The practice will ultimately help you to run more refined micro-influencer marketing campaigns.  

As a result, you can reach a more targeted and highly engaged audience authentically. The campaigns will certainly help you to generate real results for your business.  

Embrace the power of micro-influencers to reach new markets  

Conventional influencer marketing approaches aren’t that effective anymore. Consumers, at present, only prefer recommendations from small influencers. It is mainly because they have established credibility, earned trust, and nurtured personal connections with their audience.  

Follow the pointers and strategies we provided earlier to craft effective micro-influencers marketing campaign ideas. The practice will ultimately help you reach markets that you haven’t before.  

Resource:

What Is ROI And How to Maximize It?