The rise of Micro-Influencers

The rise of the micro-influencer – sounds like a camp horror film from the 1980s.

The concept of influencer marketing has been around for a while, with content creators on social media having a big impact on our buying decisions.

But we aren’t talking about big-time A-listers with large followings e.g., your Kim Kardashians. No, the future of influential content lies not with celebrity endorsements but with the little guys who are also known as micro-influencers.

With a small but dedicated following – typically ranging between 10,000 – 100,000 followers – these individuals are considered experts and key-opinion leaders in their respective niches. Be it beauty, health, and wellness through to finance and FMCG, they are extremely valuable to brands that target specific groups.

The value of the Micro-Influencer

While micro-influencers might have a more modest number of followers, they boast significant value to hyper-engaged audiences in three key areas:

1. Reach vs Engagement

While the number of followers is important when running a campaign, you should be concerned about how much engagement they generate. A study by Ad Week, showed that a micro-influencer can generate 60% more engagement compared to a macro-influencer, as they can quickly interact with their followers by responding to their questions and comments, establishing a more genuine connection.

2. Authenticity

The micro-influencer is more believable and relatable to your consumers, depicted as ordinary people who are passionate about specialist subjects. Because of such knowledge, audiences are more likely to have a higher level of trust, appreciating the individual’s reviews and opinions. So much so that, its estimated 82% of buyers are ‘highly likely’ to follow a recommendation made by a micro-influencer

Audiences value the opinion of an informed industry specialist, who has used a product or service extensively – not a paid celebrity spokesman. Micro-influencers who are experts in a particular niche are perfect for this role.

3. Cost Effective

Naturally, celebrity influencers can make huge dents in marketing budgets, all for one ‘Paid-Partnership’ Instagram post, so the macro approach might not be worthwhile for SMEs.

Micro-influencers are much more affordable, meaning it’s easy to settle on a reasonable price for marketing services. A lower budget improves ROI significantly and allows brands to work with several influencers at a go. This increases a brand’s reach and enables them to connect with more of its target audience.

B2B Micro-Influencers

In the B2B sphere, although these businesses sell to other businesses, it is still a person who make B2B business decisions. In this way, B2B is not all that different from B2C. The main difference is that B2B decision making generally requires more research.

Often, buyers in the B2B sector will check a company’s website to see what products are available, then head to review sites to see what experts say about those products. This means that influencers affect people’s buying decisions, and positive reviews from the right micro-influencer can boost sales.

That’s where Nielsen McAllister can help. PR thrives on word-of-mouth and in this day and age of social media dominance, the importance of influencer marketing is just one of many options that should be considered in a B2B PR strategy.

Check out our recent work with a former COP26 President and Cabinet Minister inviting him to our client’s HQ Open Day.

Or creating content with a rewilding expert to showcase the value our client brings to the environmental sector.

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