Micro-Influencers On the Come-Up!
With the rise of social media, companies have come to rely on influencers such as celebrities, bloggers, vloggers, radio personalities, social media stars and so on, to promote their products and/or services. These influencers are the marketing strategy; their influence and following has granted them power within the marketplace. Before, the go-to influencers were celebrities and those with millions and millions of followers but now, those within the digital marketplace are utilizing a different strategy. The micro-influencer strategy!
Hereâs how influencers are classified:
Celebrities - 1 million+ followers or subscribers
Top Influencers - 500,000 to 1 million followers or subscribers
Middle Influencers - 100,000 to 500,000 followers or subscribers
Micro Influencers - 1000 to 100,000 followers or subscribers
As you can see, micro-influencers have the smallest following. I know youâre thinking, why would companies want to utilize those losers when they can have celebrities promoting their brand? Hereâs why! Because celebrities have so many followers, (and are busy with their careers and most likely have hired someone else to manage their social media) they are unable give consumers the attention they need and they canât reply to every message or comment they receive. On the other hand, micro influencers are able to engage with their followers and have authentic conversations.
Letâs say you have a company. What kind of company? A hair vitamin company. You decide to hire Rihanna to pretend to eat your product in order to promote it to her 100 trillion fans and followers. But you must consider that an overwhelming percentage of her following may not be interested in hair care. They may be interested in music and fashion but not so much in the vitality of their hair. Instead, the best thing to do would be to hire micro influencers who vlog or blog about their hair on a regular basis because their audience already has an interest in the content that they post. These individuals are also trusted more then celebrities and require less money.
When implementing this strategy itâs important to think about the audience you are trying to reach and to make sure the particular micro-influencer you hire is aligned with the direction of your company (in terms of mission, knowledge, career trajectory, motivation and etc.). With all of that in mind, youâll be set!