Are you planning to be an influencer? If you’ve ever tried to become an influencer, you must’ve realized by now that it is not an easy task at all. There are many things that you need to keep in mind to become an influencer. Influencer marketing is getting more dominant day by day. So, let’s find out why influencer marketing is on the rise.
Introduction
A. Definition of Micro-Influencers
A micro-influencer is someone who has a significant following but less than that of a celebrity, so I guess you can call them mini-celebrities. The following of these influencers starts from 1000 followers and continues till like 100k and so on. Some names of these micro-influencers include names like @the.rebel.kid @carryminati @whejdmrysy etc.
B. Rise of Micro-Influencer Marketing
You must be asking why these micro-influencers got so popular within a short period. The major thing that helped is social media, Instagram being the biggest contributor to their popularity. These influencers capitalized on the short-form video content to make everyday relatable content that a lot of their followers liked. So, a vast number of influencers creating content around almost every situation we face in our lives proved to be a brilliant strategy for these micro-influencers.
C. Importance of Targeted Campaigns
After the rise of micro-influencers, brands observed that some influencers have a loyal audience who look forward to the suggestions that the influencers present, which opened yet another opportunity for brands to promote their product with the influencers. Such targeted campaigns have proved to be an effective strategy for influencers to get sponsorships and brands to get a nice ROI on their investment, which is a win-win situation for parties.
II. Understanding Micro-Influencers
A. Characteristics of Micro-Influencers
Follower Count:
Micro-influencers typically have a relatively modest number of followers compared to macro-influencers or celebrities. While there is no universal definition, micro-influencers often fall within the range of 1,000 to 100,000 followers.
Niche Expertise:
Micro-influencers are known for their specialization in specific niches or industries. Unlike broader influencers who may cover a wide range of topics, micro-influencers focus on a particular area of interest, such as fitness, beauty, technology, or travel.
Authenticity and Engagement:
One of the defining characteristics of micro-influencers is their authenticity. They are often seen as more genuine and relatable compared to influencers with larger followings. This authenticity stems from their ability to maintain a closer connection with their audience.
Micro-influencers tend to engage actively with their followers. They respond to comments, participate in discussions, and create a sense of community. This high level of engagement is attractive to brands seeking a more personal and authentic endorsement for their products or services.
Authenticity is crucial in building trust with the audience. Micro-influencers are perceived as less likely to promote products solely for financial gain, contributing to a more authentic and trustworthy brand-influencer relationship.
B. Benefits of Collaborating with Micro-Influencers
1. Increased authenticity and trust
The best reason to work with micro-influencers is that there is more authenticity and trust involved, as interacting with their followers builds confidence and credibility amongst the followers.
2. Cost-effectiveness
The cost of a micro-influencer is much less than what you would normally pay a macro-influencer or celebrity, which makes them cost-efficient.
3. Higher engagement rates
The engagement rate of these influencers is higher than others because of the authenticity they can build with their audiences, and are seen as more trustable than mega-influencers.
III. Identifying Your Target Audience
A. Importance of Target Audience
The whole point of the target audience is to find the quality audience and not the quantity. You want to reach the audience which is ideal for your product. For example, you have a sneaker brand, so ideally, your target audience is young teens and adults to like to wear casual sneakers a lot. So, you’ll focus more on reaching young people rather than old people, who are not your target audience.
B. Utilizing Micro-Influencers for Niche Markets
It is best to find influencers who create content in a niche where you also have a business. This will prove to be useful for both the brand and the influencer. So, try to find an influencer who also creates content on your brand’s niche. This way you can gain the trust of influencers for your brand and increase your sales.
C. How to Define Your Target Audience
1. Demographics
What is the area where the majority of your target audience is from, this way you can make tailor-made content for those audience, who will find it more relatable.
2. Psychographics
You can classify your audience according to their psychographics and prepare different strategies for this particular audience.
3. Behaviour
It is essential to understand the behavior of the target audience, you can study the behavior of your audience with their comments on the influencer’s posts.
IV. Finding the Right Micro-Influencers
A. Research and Discovery
1. Social media platforms are a great way of finding your desired influencers. You can check out the influencers with niches and pick who you think will work best for the brand.
2. Influencer marketing tools with the help of metrics so you can make data-driven decisions to help your plan perform better.
B. Evaluating Micro-Influencers
1. Relevance to your brand is really what matters with the influencer’s identity. If your brand’s industry is healthy, then you must also look for an influencer in that same niche.
2. Engagement metrics are another way of evaluating the performance of your campaign and how your audience interacts with the campaign you have put forth.
3. Previous collaborations and partnerships provide a check of how the influencers have faired with the last partnerships as you want the influencers to deliver smoothly without any controversy.
In conclusion, micro-influencers are on the rise due to their short investment and quick ROI with flexibility. So, think hard about how your brand can use influencer marketing to boost your sales and create a brand presence in the market with appropriate strategies.