Micro-Influencers – What Are They And Are They Worth It?

A word-of-mouth recommendation is one of the most powerful ways to promote your brand, company, and offerings. Genuine, non-solicited recommendations from people your audience knows and trusts are highly persuasive and they are perceived to be more reliable.

Word-of-mouth recommendations from celebrities also hold a lot of convincing power. With close to 74 million followers, how amazing would it be if you got someone like Ellen DeGeneres tweeting about your products? Or what about having Mark Cuban talk you up to his almost eight million Twitter followers?

Of course, attracting A-list attention is no simple (or likely) feat, as celebrities are inundated with messages every single day.

But this is where micro-influencers come into play…

What Is A Micro-Influencer?

A micro-influencer (along with recommendations from friends and family) is a form of “earned media.” And according to a Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising report, “92 percent of consumers around the world say they trust earned media…above all other forms of advertising.”

Micro-influencers are “tastemakers, opinion-shapers, and trend-forecasters who generally have between 1,000 and 50,000 followers,” says Simon Moss. And while the follower counts of micro-influencers are typically much smaller than those of many celebrities, the fans of micro-influencers tend to be more loyal and engaged.

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Micro-influencers thrive on nurturing personal connections with their followers. In fact, forming personal connections with their audience is essential to micro-influencers’ popularity and clout. Micro-influencers know their fans really well, from their likes and dislikes to the types of content and products that resonate most strongly.

How To Find Micro-Influencers

1. Through your own social networks

Social media networks, especially Twitter and Instagram, are ripe with micro-influencers. But not every micro-influencer is relevant to your niche. So you need to look for micro-influencers who fit in well with your business.

The best way to start this search is to look through your own social media profiles to see if any micro-influencers follow you. These are the best kind of micro-influencers to contact because they are already fans, meaning you won’t have to hard-sell them on the idea of promoting your business.

2. Through a third-party agency

Another option is to use a third-party agency (for a fee) to obtain the contact information of micro-influencers in your niche. BrandBrief is one such agency that companies can use, especially if the company involves health and wellness, fitness, or nutrition. According to BrandBrief’s website, posts cost between $50 and $250, and brands generally see a 6X return on their investment.

BuzzSumo is another great tool to help you find micro-influencers, with plans starting at $79/month. (All plans come with a 14-day free trial.) BuzzSumo allows users to search for micro-influencers by keyword. So with this agency, it doesn’t matter what niche your business is in.

“Plus, you can see [each micro-influencers’] retweet and reply ratio, as well as a number [of] average retweets, so that you can start getting an indication of how engaged they are with their audience—and how likely they are to share and retweet your content,” says Lilach Bullock.

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Other micro-influencer databases include…

As you assess your micro-influencer options, look at the type of content the micro-influencers post on their website and share via social media. Then, look at how engaged the micro-influencers are with their audience and vice versa. You should see ample two-way engagement.

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Micro-influencers can be an especially useful investment for small businesses, as micro-influencers can yield impressive results in terms of increasing sales and traffic, building customer trust, and enhancing brand loyalty.

What do you think about using micro-influencers to advertise your company’s offerings via social media? Do you think it’s a helpful strategy or a waste of resources?