Rise of the Micro-Influencer – When Hype Gives Way to Real Strategy and Results

Rise of the Micro-Influencer – When Hype Gives Way to Real Strategy and Results

The micro influencers are people, who have a small but intensely dedicated following. Earlier very few people considered micro influencers to be of any value and the sudden trend of using micro influencers for promoting brands was considered to be hype. Most people did not understand the importance of these influencers and at the same time, many marketers did not even understand how to use micro influencers in the proper manner. However, with the passage of time the marketers started understanding the strategy of using micro influencers in a manner that actually produced results.

Let us look at how micro influencers can help brands

Micro influencers already have an audience that brands require as target audience. The audience trusts these influencers because of a lengthy association with them. These influencers tell a story rather than blatantly trying to sell a product or service. They already have a close association with their followers due to the stories that they have been telling them about a certain niche. This is the reason that when they tell their story about a brand the followers believe them.

According to a study 40% of Twitter users have made a purchase directly after reading a Tweet from an influencer. This is the reason that many brands have now started using micro influencers as their brand ambassadors. There was a time when the surge in influencer marketing was considered to be a hype. But with time the marketers started getting amazing results from influencer marketing and slowly they also started developing strategies and formulas which gave them great ROI on influencer marketing. Let us look at the best way to go the maximum ROI from influencer marketing.

Best ROI from influencer marketing

If you wish to get the best ROI from a micro influencer campaign then it is advisable to hire a group of them. Micro-influencers do not have the reach compared to macro influencers, even though they have a much better communication with their followers. Therefore if you wish to get a good result from your micro influencer campaign then you should hire more than a couple of them. It has been proved that macro influencers have a large audience but their engagement rate is lower than that of micro influencers with their audiences.

The next step is to create engaging content which their audiences will respond to in a positive manner. Some influencers create their own content and if you choose a group of micro influencers who have good command in creating content then it is all the more better. This is because these influencers know the language that their audiences want to hear. Therefore they will be able to create content that will engage their audiences in a better manner. This will make the content more creative and effective.

How to look for and work with micro influencers 

The best way to look for micro influencers is to take help of some online influencer identification tools. These tools will help you to find the micro influencers who are already taking about your niche. For instance, if you are in the business of cosmetics, then it is a good idea to get associated with influencers who are already talking about the beauty and cosmetic products. The audience of these influencers is already listening to their advice on beauty and cosmetics and when they talk about your products their audiences will believe them. These tools are very easily available online and you can find some great influencers from their data base. These tools are easy to use and will save you a lot of time in searching for influencers in your niche because the tools segregate them according to niche.

IT is also a good strategy to send some of your products to these influencers because if they make videos about the method of using these products they will automatically catch the attention of the audiences. Content that shows products in organic real life situations will go down well with the audiences and they will be motivated to buy the products. This is true of most products and services. It is also more realistic if the influencers use the products and services themselves and then write their opinions or take photos and make videos of these products and services.

More benefits for smaller brands

If a brand is a startup then using micro influencers is the best way to opt for your social media marketing. Of course there are celebrities whom the larger brands use, but sometimes these celebrities don’t have the level of engagement with the audiences that the micro influencers have. At the same time, celebrity endorsement is a thing that has been used for decades and now people do not much trust the celebrities. They instead have more faith in the top social media influencers who they are in constant communication with.

They have followed the advice of these influencers in the past and been benefited by their advice. Hence if they say that a particular brand of the product is a good one then the followers will believe that also. This is particularly true if the influencer has used the brand himself or herself. This type of marketing is very beneficial for new or small brands. In fact even larger and older brands have started taking the help of micro influencers instead of celebrities nowadays. This is because the commoner now knows that celebrities are being paid to say what they are saying about the brand.

Of course audiences may also know that the influencer is also being paid for the promotion. However, they have been associated with the influencer for a long time and earlier thoughts and ideas that the influencer gave them proved to be worthwhile. This is the reason that when the influencer speaks about your brand then the audiences will trust it to be as useful as the earlier advice that he or she gave. Hence the audiences are bound to trust an influencer more than a celebrity.

These are the reasons that influencer marketing has become a revenue generating method of promotion rather than a hype that everyone thought it to be. It will be advisable for you also to make use of influencer marketing in a properly strategized manner and get good ROI.

SEO and Digital Marketing