Micro-influencers: the new stars of influencer marketing
Gone are the days when brands only wanted to collaborate with major influencers or celebrities. Now, to promote their products and services, they're clamoring for micro-influencers. Who are they? Why are they increasingly appealing to brands and businesses? What added value do they truly bring to an influencer strategy? How do you find micro-influencers? Our influencer agency tells you more about these essential profiles in influencer marketing.
What is a micro-influencer?
A micro-influencer is someone with between 3,000 and 50,000 followers on social media. It all depends on the topic they cover. But beyond the number of followers, this type of profile is also, and above all, defined by the quality of the relationship they maintain with their community.
Thus, micro-influencers are distinguished from macro-influencers (those with 100,000 followers or more) by their authenticity and the trust they inspire in their followers. In short, it's the type of engagement they generate that makes them prime brand ambassadors. And brands, especially the biggest ones, have clearly understood this.
What are the advantages of micro-influencers for brands?
As we've just seen, a micro-influencer isn't your average influencer. They don't simply push content or even cultivate their own image or that of the brand they collaborate with. No, micro-influencers offer brands a range ofadvantages that are hard to resist.
A high and sustainable engagement rate
Generally speaking, on social media, the smaller your community, the stronger your fan base. Consequently, it's logically easier to engage and convert. Of course, the number of followers shouldn't be too small either, otherwise it wouldn't be worthwhile for brands.
For a micro-influencer with between 100 and 1,000 followers, the average engagement rate is around 7%, while that of an influencer with a community of 10,000 to 100,000 followers is approximately 2%. Therefore, it's easy to understand why brands are interested in this type of profile.
An unparalleled level of trust
Micro-influencers also inspire trust. This makes sense, because above all, they are experts in their field! As a result, they can more easily refresh their content formats and regularly enrich their posts by following current events or drawing on their personal experiences.
But above all, micro-influencers are able to interact with their community with a very high level of sincerity. This fosters a very high-quality relationship of trust with their followers. Here, it's their authenticity that counts in the eyes of their community. Micro-influencers aren't afraid to take a stand, to display their values (for example, by presenting themselves as ethical influencers), in short, to be genuine. This is perfect because, more than immediate visibility, that's exactly what brands are looking for today.
A very attractive price-quality ratio
For brands, partnering with micro-influencers also offers a significant financial advantage. Indeed, in terms of marketing budget, collaborating with ambassadors who have smaller followings is inevitably less expensive. Furthermore, the fact that there are far more micro-influencers than macro-influencers on the market allows brands to leverage competition to secure cost-effective collaborations.
However, as we have just seen, this does not necessarily mean a lower return on investment. Indeed, as we have seen, the visibility and brand awareness deficit offered by micro-influencers compared to macro-influencers is largely due to the engagement they generate.
Conclusion: Micro-influencers, the future of influencer marketing
As we have just seen, the contribution of micro-influencers to influencer marketing is enormous. Given the advantages they offer brands, we had already predicted that using this type of profile would be a trend in influencer marketing and social media in the coming years. For brands, the primary goal is to increase their visibility and reputation at a lower cost while creating more effective and targeted marketing campaigns for specific audiences.
However, we know that everything evolves very quickly on social media. Therefore, it would be a shame for brands to rely on only one type of influencer. At So Bang, we believe that a diversity of profiles is key to a brand's success. In fact, the goal is to find the right mix of different influencer profiles. The success of a marketing campaign, for example, can depend on combining micro-influencers and mega-influencers.
For brands, the key challenge is knowing how to choose influencers to achieve their goals. All the more reason for them to partner with an influencer agency like So Bang 😉 Do you have an influencer project and want to collaborate with micro-influencers? Contact our team of experts.