How many times, while scrolling our Instagram feed or Facebook updates, do we bump into photos of our favorite celebrities proudly showing any kind of products?
And when we see pictures like that, one of the first questions that come to our mind is probably: “How much did the brand pay to appear in that picture?”.
Let’s be honest: it happens so many times!
Even if the measurement is considered the biggest challenge for marketers when using influencer marketing, this continues to be one of the most undertaken strategies in the last years. It continues to grow and social stars are putting more focus on Instagram, the main platform used for influencer marketing.
At the same time, costs for these kinds of campaigns are increasing. According to influencer tech firm Hypr, $5,000-$10,000 is the price range per post for influencers with 500,000 to 1 million followers across social platforms.
We can assume then, that working with famous celebrities is not affordable for every company.
But social networks are not only made up by famous celebrities
If celebrities are far away from your company’s budget or you do not care about reaching the mass but a small niche, micro influencer marketing can be your successful strategy.
But this has not to be only a budget-driven choice. Launchmetrics discovered that 46% of fashion, luxury, and cosmetic experts consider micro influencers the most effective way to reach a precise audience.
Instagram influencers with fewer than 1,000 followers have a like rate of about 8%
How do we define a micro influencer?
Micro influencers actually use social networks in the same way of big celebrities but they are connected to a more restricted and small audience. They usually have between 1,000 to 100,000 followers/audience members and they are considered an expert in a specific niche.
Five reasons to choose micro influencers instead of big celebrities
Choosing the right micro influencers is not an easy process. But if your company can manage that, it will benefit in many ways from their word of mouth.
And so, let’s have a look at five reasons why your business should prefer individuals as micro influencers instead of famous celebrities.
1. Higher engagement rates
By having a smaller audience, micro influencers are more likely to interact with their fans and build empathy with them. For this reason, the engagement rate of their posts is definitely higher than big celebrities’ ones.
As a matter of facts, a survey of 2 million social media influencers by Markerly, a famous influencer marketing platform, showed that for unpaid posts, Instagram influencers with fewer than 1,000 followers have a like rate of about 8%, while those with 1,000 to 10,000 followers have a like rate of 4%.
2. Higher perceived trust regarding your brand
Because they are personally invested in their crafts and given that 70% of teenagers trust influencers over celebrities, we can assume that micro influencers are trusted sources of recommendations for their followers, who easily identify more with “everyday people” such as micro influencers than with celebrities.
For this reason, their opinions will evoke high levels of credibility and, as a consequence, your brand will be seen as trustworthy and high qualified.
Moreover, micro influencers can turn into your personal brand’s advocates through more continuous collaboration and long-term campaigns. A unique and simple photo featuring your product won’t do the difference but more everyday pictures and stories about your brand, yes.
3. Affordability
As we already mentioned before, working with celebrities and famous influencers required a high budget. On the other hand, micro influencers are way cheaper and could give you more results than others. Costs for influencer marketing depend on the number of followers and fans of the people you choose as advocates.
According to dedicated studies, influencers on the following platforms will charge on average:
- Instagram Influencers: 1,000$ per 100,000 followers
- Snapchat Influencers: from 500$ per campaign
- YouTube Influencers: ca. 2,000$ per 100,000 followers
4. High conversion rates
A great strategy when working with micro influencers is to share unique discount codes or affiliate links only dedicated to that influencers’ fans. These social individuals are able to feel the audience’s pulse better and further understand what kind of content it admires, pushing it gently and in a spontaneous way to buy the same products they trust or use.
5. Opportunity to reach niche markets and more specific target
Micro influencers come in all shapes, sizes, and topics. Each of them is unique and is considered an expert in a certain field. Everything they share is a unique and real experience for the audience they are talking to. For this reason, your company will be able to reach a specific target who are not following these individuals for their famous name but for what they really say or talk about.
Their audience is homogeneous and this means that, if a company is able to find the right micro influencer to work with, it will reach exactly the right target it wants to.
Final thoughts
The ongoing rise of social media allows people to spread their ideas and share them with an audience that has the same interests and actively listen to what they tell. It’s not just the rich and famous who can access the world of influencers.
As interaction and engagement are getting more and more important, both in terms of visibility in social media and perceived trust, companies should not miss the opportunity to make people talk about their brand and spread their idea about it. A micro influencer can in this sense make the difference.
Fashion is one of the industries that perform the most, together with travel and tech, but there is no field that will not find a place in the influencers world. The crucial step is only to search and find the right ones!