In today’s social media landscape, micro and nano influencers have been making waves. At the other end of the spectrum to their larger counterparts - macro, mega and celebrity influencers - they can offer unique value to brands and their target audience. Let’s explore how.

Who are nano and micro influencers?

Both of these influencer types are relatively new on the scene. Nano influencers are emerging as a new base of influencers, gaining a larger share of the attention economy by creating content around a very specific, narrow niche or sub-niche. 

They usually have between 5,000 and 50,000 followers on their social media pages, and focus on a personal interest or passion which they share with a tight-knit audience of like-minded individuals.

On the other hand, micro influencers are a step ahead in terms of follower size and reach. They cover niches that have broader appeal, and they’re more established with anywhere between 50,000 to 150,000 followers.

Both nano and micro influencers are much more likely to engage with small brands and companies they genuinely use, rather than actively seek out brand deals for the sake of generating income.

They have a tight relationship with their audience and promote brands that closely align with their interests and values, rather than large corporations. To them, building and sustaining trust with their audience is paramount, and they’re not willing to compromise on that - they don’t want to be associated with a brand or project that doesn’t align with their values and content style. As a result, they’re having to be rather selective about what brand they mention or what products they display in their videos, and why.

Nano and micro influencers can simply mention products they like in their posts, tagging the brand in them, rather than working on full-blown paid campaigns and creating original content for a brand. 

This is because their audience expects to see their own, original content in their normal style - not something imposed by a brand and their creative brief. They also have limited resources and time, as most of them will not be doing this full-time, or even consider themselves “influencers” as such.

Essentially, nano and micro influencers are typically not focused on landing brand deals. They want to share the products or services they enjoy, or that have made a difference to their lives, with their audience. 

This is exactly why their followers trust these smaller influencers more when it comes to product recommendations; as opposed to mega or celebrity influencers who will promote close to any brand they can get paid for.

5 reasons brands should work with nano and micro influencers

There are many reasons why brands should consider such influencer profiles to reach their target audience on social media.

Reason #1. Trust and authenticity

These influencers are more likely to be trusted by their audience. In this day and age, trust and authenticity mean everything - both brands and creators are adapting their content, especially on fast-growing platforms like TikTok, to appear as genuine and authentic as possible. Trust has become the number 1 factor for effective marketing on social media.

Nano and micro influencers will recommend products that they have actually used and like. The audience knows they can trust their opinions because they aren’t primarily motivated by financial gain. 

This trust is based on the authentic nature of the creators’ content and their closeness to the audience - they’ll often respond to comments, incorporate ideas or feedback from viewers in their videos and so on, to nurture a two-way relationship. Followers can relate to them on an individual level, building a stronger relationship, and never feel like they’re being sold to.

This stands in stark contrast to the larger, star influencers which most people can’t relate to or interact with in any way. 

Such a trust factor is a big part of what makes nano and micro influencers so valuable for brands today.

Reason #2. Relevance and consistency

Nano and micro influencers are more likely to promote products that closely match their own interests, and those of their followers, so their content remains relevant.

As these influencers’ priority is to remain genuine, they’re less likely to promote a brand simply for the sake of money, ending up with a page jammed with random product sponsorships. 

Instead, their selective approach keeps their page clean and consistent in the eyes of the audience. This consistency in their content and voice is why their followers keep coming back for more.

Reason #3. Engagement

Smaller, niche influencers often have significantly higher engagement rates than bigger profiles. 

Sure, mega influencers with millions of followers have more reach and can drive more views to your brand, but since their audience is far less qualified and engaged, this might not achieve the outcomes your brand is after. 

This is because larger influencers often create content that spans across a number of mass-appeal niches, and so every piece of content they put out is less likely to engage all of their followers at once, who will have varied interests and reasons why they’re following the account.

Since their content is hyper-relevant to their audience, nano and micro influencers don’t have this downside. As they're more likely to be open and honest about their recommendations, something their audience values, followers are more likely to like, comment and share their content. 

Reason #4. Targeted audience

Since nano and micro creators speak to a highly curated audience, their following is very targeted. This is especially true for nano influencers who focus on a narrow niche or sub-niche.

So, if your brand is selling products or services in a very niche market, then working with these influencers could make a lot of sense. This level of targeting reinforces engagement, since followers feel like the content was made for them and perfectly suits what they’re looking for. 

This is a great opportunity for your brand to seamlessly integrate in the influencer’s content, and tap into a highly targeted group of users. Every dollar spent here will almost guarantee to reach the right group of users.

Reason #5. Maximizing RoI

As a brand, especially a small to mid-sized business, you probably don’t want to spend tons of capital on influencer marketing promotions and campaigns.

Collaborating with nano or micro influencers can be a cost-effective strategy to reach your target audience in a relevant and genuine way that drives engagement - without a large marketing budget.

Typically, a nano influencer will charge between $10 to $100 per post; a micro influencer, between $100 to $500. On the flipside, macro influencers charge up to $5,000 per post, and mega influencers anything above that figure.

When should brands partner up with nano and micro influencers?

Every brand and every campaign is different. Whether these types of influencers make sense in your case will depend on a number of factors.

• What’s your primary goal: is your brand focused on reach, increasing brand awareness by putting its message and products in front of as large an audience as possible? Or is the aim to generate high engagement on your content and build a longer-term, more meaningful relationship with a specific target audience? Nano and micro influencers are perceived as much more authentic, and are closer to the audience compared to bigger influencers which most people can’t easily connect with. So if engagement is the priority, working with smaller influencers might be the right move.

• How niche is your niche: do your products and services appeal to a mass market of consumers - such as a regular fashion brand - or are you targeting a more narrow niche - say, fashion for young moms who want to keep fit? In the latter case, then an influencer with a small, highly-engaged audience in the target demographic who creates content around related topics is more likely to resonate, and maximize engagement.

• How much marketing spend can you allocate: clearly, this is a key constraint to consider. How much your brand is willing to spend on influencer marketing, and across how many platforms, will define the art of the possible to a great extent. You may also want to consider, based on the above, whether working with a few well-chosen nano or micro influencers to represent your brand would be more effective than spending all your budget on a single, larger influencer.

Wrapping up

Nano and micro influencers can be great partners for brands. They tend to generate higher engagement rates; they’ve cultivated a stronger sense of trust and authenticity among their audience; and their content is targeting a very specific niche, which your brand can more naturally integrate into.

Finding the right influencers to work with is the key enabler to successful campaigns. So don’t limit yourself to the obvious choices when it comes to influencer marketing; add these influencer types into the mix!

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