Influencer Marketing

5 Ways To Use Micro-Influencer Marketing To Boost Your Brand

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Micro-influencer marketing is a fantastic way to target a niche audience more directly while still saving money. It is particularly useful to small businesses that don’t have a big enough budget to pay bigger macro-influencers.

What is micro-influencer marketing and what are its benefits? And in what ways can you use it to boost your business’ growth and other areas like reach and brand awareness? We’ll answer these questions below… Let’s dive in!

What Is Micro-Influencer Marketing?

Ask anyone alive today (unless they’re completely off the grid) and they’ll tell you exactly what an influencer is. They may even be able to share the handles of some of their social media faves. 

But what is the difference between a micro- and macro-influencer?

Honestly, it just comes down to the numbers; how many followers the account has. 

Macro-influencers have about 500 000 to 1 million followers while micros have between ten and one hundred thousand. 

Then there are other layers: nano (0-10k), mid (100k-500k), and mega-influencers(over one million).

On this scale, micro-influencers don’t have too large a following. This is the main reason for the benefits a business can get from micro-influencer marketing.

What Are The Benefits?

These are the benefits of working with a “smaller” (in social media terms) account over a macro account.

Benefit 1: You reach a niche audience

A smaller audience size can offer a more targeted engagement with social media users. Unlike macro-influencers who may have various users attracted by different topics, micro-influencers often focus on one or two themes. 

When you work with them, you know exactly who their audience is. You know the unique topics they focus on and how they can fit into your campaign. 

A smaller audience also gives the potential for a closer relationship between users and the influencer’s account. This more intimate connection can encourage their followers to view the micro-influencer as a trustworthy source and advisor. 

So, when they share products and brands on their page, their followers trust them. It’s like getting recommendations from a friend.

Benefit 2: They get higher engagement stats

The plus side of this “personalized” relationship is that it can be reflected in high engagement rates. 

According to Social Bakers, influencers with smaller follower counts have much higher engagement rates (up to 60% higher!) 

Benefit 3: It’s more affordable

Macro- and mega-influencers target large business sponsorships with hefty budgets for marketing campaigns. This can make it hard for smaller businesses to compete. 

As such, micro- and nano-influencers are the perfect solution for smaller companies with tighter marketing budgets. 

Micro-influencers are cost-effective and budget-friendly. This makes it possible for small businesses to even work with multiple influencers in a single campaign.

5 Ways To Use Micro-Influencer Marketing To Kickstart Growth

Low costs, high engagement potential, and the ability to target the right users are all great reasons to go with micro-influencer marketing. 

These all promise fantastic possibilities for your marketing campaigns and efforts.

1. Campaign hashtags

Hashtags are a fantastic tool for discoverability and boosting visibility. Create a campaign-specific hashtag and get your micro-influencer partners to share it with each post. 

The influencer’s followers or users who see their post can go check out other posts under the same hashtag. This exposes them to more of your products and brand content. 

A hashtag also makes your brand content and page more discoverable on the Explore page.

Influencer showing product to her audience

2. Original content creation

Some campaigns may suit pre-created content that the influencer simply shares on their page. For micro-influencer marketing collaborations, content created by the influencer works better. This leverages the authenticity of the micro-influencer’s relationship with their audience.

The original content fits more genuinely into their style and feel. You can also share this new content to your page, using it as you would user-generated content (UGC).

3. Product features

Social media plays a vital role in building product awareness. Micro-influencer marketing is a great way to do this. By getting micro-influencers to feature your products in their posts, you increase awareness of your goods and brand. 

You also leverage the authentic trust micro-account audiences have in the influencers. As they trust the individual, they trust your product on their recommendation. As a result, you will see more sales. 

4. Social media takeovers

Takeovers are a great way to get influencers to create new content for your page. They bring their vibe and authentic energy to your page, along with their followers and audience engagement. 

Takeovers can develop a more direct connection with new users and your account as they have to visit your page to engage with their favorite influencer. This can even increase your following if these visitors stick around afterward.

Each micro-influencer will approach a takeover differently depending on your needs, their approach to content creation, etc. This can be an IG story takeover, feed posts, behind-the-scenes reels, and more.

Find out more about how to plan a successful takeover here: How to Plan, Prepare, and Host an Instagram Takeover.

5. Prioritize storytelling

Encourage micro-influencers to really get creative with their visual storytelling. Rather than the same old cute pic or selfie, prompt them to create a narrative for your product or collaboration. 

Using video is a great place to start, getting them to use and showcase your product in an everyday setting or in a fun way.

How To Get Started With Micro-Influencer Marketing

Getting started with micro-influencer marketing depends on your campaign goals, brand identity, and your target audience. When you know these three factors, you can use them to pick a micro-influencer account that fits your business.

Defining your goals and target audience will guide you to suitable accounts. The topics matching your brand identity will narrow these accounts down. 

Once you’ve defined these important aspects from your side, you can also select things you want in your influencer collaborator. Consider what vibe and personality, engagement rate, follower count, etc you want from the influencer.

How to find and shortlist influencers:

  • Keep an eye on your brand hashtags to see accounts that use them regularly or actively. You may find an influencer already featuring your brand to work with.
  • Also watch your likes, comments, and shares. These can also lead you to micro-influencers that actually like your stuff, encouraging an organic collaboration.
  • Search for influencers on third-party influencer marketing tools.

Once you’ve shortlisted some accounts, you can ask for their metrics and media kit, using it to help you pick the best collaborator. The media kits will also guide you on the most suitable collaborator for your budget.

Once you’ve agreed on payment, you can finalize other aspects like:

  • Briefs
  • Content rights
  • Commitments and deliverables
  • Campaign length
  • Non-compete stipulations
  • Collaboration or sponsorship disclosures
  • Cancellation conditions

All that’s left after setting all this up is to monitor the collaboration and track analytics to constantly improve your approach.

Influencer doing a Live video

Give Your Business A Boost With Micro-Influencer Marketing!

Micro-influencer marketing can be a great step up the ladder of business growth. It can boost brand and product awareness, develop user trust and loyalty, and attract new followers to your social media accounts.

Get started with micro-influencer marketing today and try out our five ways to optimize this marketing approach.

Account Manager | Contentellect - Intelligent Content Creation

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