Welcome to the world of micro-influencer marketing. You might be looking for an influencer because you’re launching a new product, have a promotion coming up or want to reach a wider audience.
Here, you’ll learn what a micro-influencer is, the pros and cons of working with them and how to find the right one for your small business goals.
What is a micro-influencer?
A micro-influencer is an influencer with a smaller audience than their more established counterparts. They typically have between 10,000 and 100,000 followers. Those with a following of under 10,000 would be classed as nano-influencers. These creators are worth considering too, as Jordan Price, director of Small City Marketing, explains:
“The 5,000 to 10,000 range is a real sweet spot for micro-influencers. They’ll accept gifted collaborations, their engagement and audience trust are truly quite high, and the relationship often grows into paid work later anyway which is always positive for both the brands we work with as well as the influencers.”
For the purposes of this article, we’ll be sticking with micro-influencers. Note that we’ll be using the terms ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’ interchangably.
Pros and cons of working with micro-influencers
As Influee puts it: “You’re paying for access to an audience, not a guaranteed outcome.”
Find your micro-influencer
Before you make the approach, define your goals. This could be in the form of more traffic, sales, engagement or awareness. Measure these with in-built social media analytics, information from a tracked link and Google Analytics. The snag in working with a micro-influencer in this case is that they would hold some of the analytics you’re measuring, such as their audience demographics and the number of unique accounts that interacted with the content.
Establish which niches your audience is in. It could be by age group, hobby, region or other interest. As the micro-influencer’s audience will be more specialist, this is an important metric to pinpoint. “The overlap between their audience and your ideal customer target is the only metric that matters at this particular stage,” said James Demetriades, co-founder of jewellery brand, Undeniable London.
Now, down to searching. The consensus amongst marketers seems to be that it’s best to sift through and find influencers yourself. Specialist databases will be filled with larger influencers so that won’t be a good use of your time.
Start by going on the platform that your audience is on. Check your own following as there may already be a micro-influencer there who already has an interest in your product.
Failing that, search using hashtags and keywords that you’ll be targeting your audience with. “Most of our research is deliberately manual rather than tool-led, because you understand an influencer ‘ecosystem’ far better by getting into it yourself,” said Price. “For small businesses, it’s much more cost-effective than paying for a load of tools (which I’ve found, for the most part, tends to get expensive with influencer marketing). We search hashtags and, more usefully, look at who’s actively commenting on the top pages in a given niche. That tells you who’s genuinely embedded in that world, not just posting for freebies.”
Pay attention to the influencer’s engagement metrics (i.e. likes, comments and shares relative to their follower count). While we’re on the topic, if comments seem like they’re from bots then steer clear.
It’s also worth looking at the creator’s previous sponsored posts to check that there won’t be any conflict of interest. Though we’re way too old to be saying this, gauge the vibe of the influencer – are they in line with your business or what you would like to be? “I was looking for creators whose style, audience and energy matched my brand before making any approach,” said Demetriades.
Demetriades pointed out an influencer agency is a good option for small businesses that don’t have as much time to play with.
How to make contact
Once you’ve found someone to speak to, tailor your initial research to that influencer. Be specific about what you want to work on with them, how performance will be measured and how they will be compensated. Product samples can work if you have them available, just be clear that they are in no way obligated to work with you if you gift them before an agreement.
There are a few different ways to go about making that initial contact. The first way is to contact their management/agent if they have one. Details will usually be in their bio. This is more professional and shows that you’ve done your research. Then again, they are smaller creators. Both Price and Demetriades go through direct message (DM) on social media to make the contact more personal.
“Keep the first message short, genuine and specific to their content rather than a copy-paste template,” said Demetriades. “I’ve found influencers are getting far more selective as they grow their platform and tailoring your offer is paramount.”
The negotiation conversation
You’ve moved a step closer to a deal with the micro-influencer you have in mind. It’s just the negotiation stage to go.
Again, it needs to be a tailored conversation, while still securing value for your brand. Know how long you want to work with them for, how many posts are expected of them and what rights you have to that content. Can you repurpose some of the content for your future marketing?
Demetriades stresses that you should start small and let the results do the talking. “A single piece of content from a TikTok micro-influencer I engaged with had 60,000 followers. I initially paid them £300, then went on to generate over £750,000 in revenue for Undeniable London across eighteen months. First organically, then repurposed into paid ads where it kept performing. That one single video became the foundation of the brand’s entire paid advertising strategy and set the standard of what success looked like.”
As with so much in online business these days, collaboration is key. “When both sides feel like they are moving towards something together, the negotiation becomes a conversation rather than a haggle. Rates come down, quality goes up and the relationship lasts,” said Demetriades. “If the first piece performs, that influencer becomes one of your most valuable long-term assets – treat them that way from day one.”
You might want exclusivity from the influencer so that they’re unable to work with anyone else for a certain period. Exclusivity is desirable, especially if they’ve worked with some of your competitors before, but respect the fact that they could say no as it’ll limit their earnings.
Finally, be clear about how the approval process will work before content goes live.
Relationships are so important. Having longer-term relationships with a group of micro-influencers will be more beneficial than a one-off campaign with a bigger name. Keep them in good favour with gifts, cards and offers outside of campaigns.
Only after seeing the return on his micro-influencer investment did Demetriades go back and negotiate a monthly retainer at 10 videos per month for £4,000. “That relationship started with one affordable test, not a big upfront commitment,” he told Small Business.
“The businesses that get the most from this are the ones who lead with what’s in it for the influencer and play the long game,” said Price.
Quick micro-influencer tips for small brands
- Use a contract
- Authenticity is key – avoid content that’s clearly ‘staged’
- Give the influencer creative freedom
- Give them a unique code to help track website visits or sales
- Influencers must know advertising rules as well as you do so that they can create compliant content
