5 Lesser-Known Advantages of Collaborating with Micro-Influencers

Have you ever been convinced by a celebrity or a movie star to make a purchase? It wouldn’t be too surprising if you said yes. We all have been there and done that. However, influencer marketing is no longer just restricted to celebrities or huge stars.

Brands want to collaborate with real people who can create genuine content for them to help them expand their reach. This is where micro-influencers come in. Unlike mega-influencers (celebrities) or macro-influencers, content created by micro-influencers doesn’t sound too promotional or salesy. Micro-influencers also understand the value of nurturing online communities.

Typically, micro-influencers have anywhere between 1,000 and 100,000 followers. Even with a small number of followers, micro-influencers influence the audience in a particular niche. They create content which is relatable, trustworthy, original, and can get the attention of your target audience.

In addition to these benefits, there are other advantages to partnering with micro-influencers. The following are some of the lesser-known advantages of collaborating with micro-influencers.

1. Micro-Influencers Generate High Engagement Rates

Unlike macro-influencers, micro-influencers don’t have a huge number of followers. However, they do have very active relationships with their loyal followers. Since they don’t have a huge following, it is easier for them to build and maintain personal relationships with their followers.

Micro-influencers often respond to comments and interact with their followers on social platforms. That’s why their followers consider their recommendations more seriously. This helps brands expand their reach, gain trust, and build strong relationships with their audiences.

According to the 2018 Global Micro-Influencer Study, micro-influencers can generate 8X more engagement than influencers with a large following. A study conducted by Markerly on Instagram engagement revealed that influencers with less than 1000 followers receive likes 8% of the time. However, influencers with more than 10+ million followers receive likes only 1.6% of the time.

For instance, NA-KD is a fashion brand that collaborated with micro-influencers to promote their products. One of the micro-influencers was Marieke Kazen, with 21.2K followers on Instagram.

She promoted the brand by sharing a unique discount code to her followers. As you can see in the screenshot, the post isn’t promotional. In fact, it looks very authentic. As if she’s just sharing her travel experience. It managed to generate pretty good engagement with more than 1600 likes and hundreds of comments.

Image Source - Instagram

2. Micro-Influencers are Cost-Effective

Affordability is one of the biggest advantages of collaborating with micro-influencers. This also makes micro-influencers easier for brands to reach out to. Partnering with micro-influencers is a super affordable and equally effective way to increase your reach and tap into new markets.

Usually, micro-influencers are not reluctant to collaborate with smaller brands. When compared to big celebrities or macro-influencers, they are typically more affordable too. Having said that, there’s no fixed rate card for micro-influencers.

It largely varies on the number of followers they have on social platforms. However, Instagram micro-influencers with 2,000 to 10,000 followers charge $75 to 250 per image. Micro-influencers with 10K to 50K followers charge $250 to $500 per image.

If you want to collaborate with a blogger, they will charge you around $175 to $500 per post. Unlike Instagram micro-influencers, the charge for bloggers is based on the number of monthly impressions.

Micro-influencers are one of the best options to work with if you are a small business or startup. They are especially ideal when you have to market your products or services on a shoestring budget.

3. Micro-Influencers Create Authentic Content

This is one of the most powerful weapons of micro-influencers. Unlike mega or macro influencers, the content generated by micro-influencers is more authentic and relatable. That’s because micro-influencers are just like everyday consumers. They don’t have an unattainable and unreachable status, which is more relatable for regular people.

The content they create is not too promotional or salesy. That’s one of the reasons why the popularity of micro-influencers is rapidly increasing. Micro-influencers often give their honest opinions and feedback about products or brands. That’s why their followers trust what they have to say.

According to a study conducted by Experticity, 82% of people would follow the recommendations made by micro-influencers. So, identify micro-influencers who are genuinely interested in your brand to boost your sales.

Having said that, it’s almost impossible to find micro-influencers manually as it takes up a lot of your time. Instead, you can use tools like Grin to discover relevant micro-influencers for your brand. You can use filters like engagement, activity, and/or niche to find the perfect micro-influencer for your brand.

Makingupashlee is a beauty vlogger and YouTuber from Canada. Her videos include reviews of new beauty and makeup products, beauty tutorials and tips, and shopping hauls. She has 5.8K followers on her YouTube channel. The screenshot below shows a video in which she reviewed and gave her genuine feedback about Dior lipsticks. And the video managed to gain more than 7K views.

Image Source - YouTube

4. Micro-Influencers Have More Targeted Audiences

They say the best things come in small packages. And that saying can be applied to micro-influencers as well. Micro-influencers have more targeted audiences when compared to macro or mega-influencers. That’s why they can also generate 22.2X higher conversion rates, according to the Experticity study.

Let’s break this down further. Assume you have a beauty brand and you have collaborated with an influencer with a huge number of followers to promote your product. It’s true that influencers with a huge following will help you to reach out to more people. But how many people from a large number of followers will actually be interested in your beauty product?

With micro-influencers, whatever following they have is more or less made up of people who actually are interested in the influencer’s subject of expertise. So, instead of collaborating with macro or mega-influencers, team up with micro-influencers. That’s because they have targeted and niche specific audience which will help you generate more sales.

5. Micro-Influencers Have a Range of Niches

Collaborating with micro-influencers allows you to tap into very specific niche markets. Micro-influencers comes in all sizes and shapes. Each of them is an expert in a specific niche like fashion, beauty, travel, and lifestyle. All of them have a different style of creating content and they also have a different set of audience.

Create a buyer persona before you approach a micro-influencer. Find answers to the questions like - what will motivate your audience to buy your products? Or to whom can your audience easily and quickly relate? Answers to questions like these will help you discover relevant micro-influencers for your brand.

Usually, micro-influencers collaborate with brands only when their interests are aligned with the brand’s values. So, you need to identify people who are catering to your specific target audience. This will help you run a successful micro-influencer marketing campaign. Otherwise, you could end up wasting your money by targeting the wrong audience.

Final Thoughts

The demand for collaborations with micro-influencers is increasing and will continue to do so. That’s because they create authentic, original, and relatable content that appeals to consumers. They can help you expand your brand’s reach and tap into new markets.

They also understand the importance of building online communities. So they create content which helps brands to generate higher engagement rates. Unlike mega and macro-influencers, micro-influencers are accessible to your target audience, which can help you win their trust.

Have you ever collaborated with a micro-influencer to promote your brand? If so, then please share your valuable experience in the comments.