One of the most common stumbling blocks for brands new to influencer marketing is thinking the only way to see a real impact is by working with expensive celebrities and social media stars with millions of followers.
The fact is, for many brands and organizations, micro-influencers are the ones driving the greatest ROI and building consumer affinity.
Micro-influencers are those with 10-50k followers. They are gaining traction in their space, dialed into their niche, and usually have a strong, loyal community.
While the top way to maximize your influencer marketing efforts is by recruiting the right influencers for your brand, micro-influencers are the group most coveted by companies new to the world of creator partnerships.
Why?
Micro-influencers have built their following based on authenticity and transparency, which is what makes their followers trust them so much, according to Forbes.
This is good news for marketers, as the trend toward using more targeted collaborators for your influencer marketing campaigns makes it easier to leverage this channel – and still see positive ROI.
You can build your brand, save money, and create long lasting relationships with the right creators in your space without having to go after “the big whales.”
How to Use Micro-Influencers to Grow Your Brand
1. Recruit influencers who share your brand’s mission, vision, and/or values.
When it comes to influencer marketing, more isn’t always better.
There’s no guarantee that recruiting influencers on the higher end of the “micro” category is your best bet.
It may be, but it really comes down to 1 key thing…
Relevance.
- How aligned are the creators to your brand’s mission, vision, and values?
- Are they actual consumers of your product or service already?
- Would it be a natural fit for them to become fans of your brand?
For example: Let’s say you have an organic, vegan skincare line.
Would you rather partner with a creator with 50,000 followers who reviews skincare products but doesn’t promote your conscious values…
Or with one who lives and promotes your values, is a huge fan of your product, and uses it daily – but only has 25,000 followers?
The answer truly depends on what your brand’s intentions and goals are.
But chances are, in this example, you will see a much stronger return from the smaller, but more aligned, creator partner.
Not just because they (and their community) are more compatible with your brand, but because the influencer’s natural enthusiasm and willingness to collaborate will shine through.
This means their community is much more likely to take notice… and action.
2. Choose micro-influencers with heart.
A micro-influencer is often much more conscious of the brands with which they work.
Micro-influencers aren’t usually driven by a paycheck (although offering fair compensation for the time, effort, and talents is important to attract and retain your best creators).
Instead, for creators with heart, offering value to their community is their guiding light. They will create content and choose brand partnerships for their audience from a place of deep understanding and care.
The ideal micro-influencer for your brand puts the trust of their followers above their desire for increased income.
But this one can be tricky.
After all, before someone becomes a “mega influencer,” they have to pass through the “micro-influencer” stage.
Authenticity and relatability are what makes micro-influencers so impactful – as is their desire for collaboration.
Here are some signs to look out for in finding a collaborative creator with heart:
- How willing are they to offer input into the campaigns based upon what their community responds to?
- Do their suggestions come from a place of supporting their community – or their own interests?
- Are there open lines of communication and feedback between both of you?
In general, the more engaged your micro-influencer is in tailoring your campaign to appeal to their audience, the more heart they likely have.
While it may be uncomfortable at times – especially in the beginning of a relationship – true collaboration means maintaining continual feedback loops.
As a marketer, you should want to hear from the creator what resonates (and doesn’t) from the campaigns you work on together. There should be willingness to compromise, iterate, and try new things – and creators should be given a degree of creative freedom to offer value to their community.
Remember: the secret to making a micro-influencer campaign fruitful is authenticity.
Influencer marketing is not like traditional media buys or sponsorships where the brand dictates every aspect of a campaign.
When this is the relationship, creators become order-takers – their energy and enthusiasm becomes stifled.
People can feel this energy through the screen – so when your influencer partner has their followers’ best interests in mind and is empowered to be part of your process, their fans respond.
3. Use the right technology tools.
There’s a popular saying in business: “What gets measured gets managed.”
There’s also another saying: “Trust, but verify.”
Both of these idioms come into play with influencer marketing – particularly in tracking efficacy and ROI. Operational accuracy is extremely important to the influencer marketing experience, both for the brand and the influencer.
Now, more than ever, as social media platforms rules shift, legislation and privacy laws evolve, and consumer sentiments about privacy and data tracking become heightened, the traditional method of tracking influencer marketing is becoming increasingly challenging.
Third-party attribution is the antiquated way many brands and creators are still monitoring their campaigns. But this is a risky proposition, particularly as technology insights become more and more cloudy and unreliable.
In the third-party model, data is collected from multiple external sources and you must attempt to cobble it together into a report that tells the story of your influencer marketing efforts.
Data is often lost or incomplete. Different platforms report different numbers than your own internal sources. Connecting the dots becomes unreliable – which means you’re forced to make important business decisions on shaky ground.
The most reliable way to get the analytics you need for smart, strategic decisions is by utilizing a first-party tracking model.
The best tool on the market is Creatable, which not only offers first-party attribution by connecting directly into the backend of your ecommerce platform, but also provides clear analytics, reporting, and data – in real time.
Micro-influencers love how Creatable’s Creator App and client integration makes their jobs so much easier. They can spend more time creating and iterating… and less time on the reporting, analytics, and research the third-party model often entails.
Plus, they rave about the ability to land high quality gigs through the Marketplace portal – which means top micro-influencers are attracted to brands that use the Creatable platform.
If you’re ready to find out more about the powerful technology platform built specifically for busy teams leveraging influencer marketing – and get help recruiting the authentic, relatable creators for your brand – Creatable is the ideal choice for you. Schedule a demo here: https://www.creatable.io/demo.
