The Perks and Pitfalls of Micro-Influence

Considerations in Activating Micro-influencers, Nano-influencers and Beyond

The term micro-influencer has been one of 2018’s hottest marketing buzzwords. Brands seek micro influencers for campaigns and collaborations thanks in part to their high engagement, focused audiences and more manageable partnership expectations. We’re even starting to see some brands opt for nano-influencers, creators with no more than a couple of thousand followers whose audiences are even more niche.

But at what point do we draw the line between consumer and content creator? How micro is too micro, how do we best engage this type of user, and how do we qualify influence in an expanding pool of social media stars?

The Challenges of Going Too Micro

The risk of working with an amateur creator can sometimes outweigh the benefits. This is particularly true for marketers seeking a formal relationship with nano-influencers. Working with influencers who haven’t spent significant time building branded content can result in talent management difficulties like missed deadlines, disjointed communication over DM and deviation from brand guidelines. Not to mention that their audiences may not be receptive to branded content from a creator who does not have a wealth of creation and audience development experience. We sometimes see stagnant engagement rates or sub-par user sentiment on branded content from influencers with sub 5,000 followers.

If brand awareness is one of your marketing objectives, macro or mid-tier influencers can be a more efficient option. Working with creators with less than 1,000 followers won’t give you an audience scale to move the needle. And if boosting this content with paid spend is part of your strategy, it’s important to consider how audiences will engage with content from a user with little-to-no digital notoriety in comparison with a recognized creator.

Opting for influencers with nano followings might also mean less access to social tools and ROI drivers. For example, Instagram (where the majority of today’s influencer marketing campaigns are run) does not permit influencers with less than 10,000 followers to include a swipe-up link in their stories. Swipe ups are a key method of driving traffic and purchase that many brands and retailers rely on within their influencer marketing strategy. Secondly, when commissioning content from a mid tier or macro influencer, content strategy is often driven by data. Nano influencers likely have little access to or understanding of their social media metrics to inform creative or publishing approach.

On two recent scaled collaborations ACTIVATE ran in the micro and nano influencer space within the same vertical and at a similar budget, we observed that while nano influencers (categorized by us as creators with fewer than 5,000 followers) drove a higher average engagement rate by 79%, micro influencers drove exponentially more in social action volume with consumers (by over 400%). We also saw micro influencers drive 25% more impressions with relevant audiences through fewer pieces of content.

Where to Pull The Micros and Nanos In

All of this is not to say that micro and nano influencers have no place in the influencer marketing ecosystem. When looking to align with thought leader consumers or tastemakers in local markets around the world, we recommend taking a relationship-led approach that allows brands to cultivate loyalty and achieve grassroots buzz through organic content.

We’ve seen success with testing new products with nano influencers, engaging them through product seeding initiatives with a strong call to action. Events and experiences are also easy ways to build an organic relationship with nano influencers and avoid the potential challenges and pitfalls of a formal campaign with this type of influencer.

When looking at the long game of influencer marketing, having a network of Nano and micro influencers is becoming increasingly more relevant. Not only does this balance out paid creator relationships but sets a brand up to grow beneficial relationships over time as these emerging creators grow their profiles.

Qualifying Micro Influence

At ACTIVATE, we tap creators at every level of the influencer ecosystem for brand collaborations. There are a few key factors we look out for when asserting whether a nano or micro influencer wields true influence:

• Credibility and Expertise — We seek emerging creators who are experts by trade or passion.
• Key Life Moments & Personal Experiences — We pinpoint via our micro-survey technology creators that can provide personal relevance, eg. identify those that may be purchasing a home in 6 months, or a caretaker for someone with a degenerative condition
• Targeted Audience — To drive impact for brands, we seek influencers who have relevant audience concentration
• Content Quality — We actively recruit influencers who create content that feels premium but still candid and relatable
• Branded Content Saturation and Engagement Rate — We consider the frequency of branded content this influencer creates as well as the performance in comparison to organic content
• Audience Growth — We consider how quickly the creator is amassing new followers

These factors give us a sense of whether an emerging influencer is viable for a partnership and has the ability to provide sustainable ROI for a brand.

All in all, micro-influencers do have a place in the influencer marketing ecosystem, though they pose their fair of challenges when not engaged correctly. Brands should continue to diversify their influencer networks with valuable emerging and established talent to meet their KPIs.

ACTIVATE is a fully end-to-end influencer marketing platform, covering influencer discovery, program workflow, measurement, and analytics. Our ACTIVATE Studio team also helps brands build out and execute their influencer strategy. Last year, the ACTIVATE platform enabled over 75,000 influencers to collaborate with brands.

Want to learn more about Bloglovin’ or ACTIVATE? Just drop us a note at research@activate.social.