Influencer marketing has become a powerhouse in digital marketing strategies in recent years. Influencers connect with their audiences in meaningful and authentic ways that traditional “marketing” never has. Around 90 percent of consumers prefer recommendations from trusted family or friends rather than advertising–thanks to the parasocial nature of influencer content, many consumers trust an influencer’s recommendations as much as someone they know.
Influencers build and maintain a connection with their following via content that often makes them feel like extended friends. This trust and engagement steer audiences’ purchasing decisions and brand loyalty, as influencers often carefully curate their partnerships to align with established values such as affordability, sustainability or small business support.
Four Types of Influencers
Marketers consistently work with four categories of influencers to build brands and drive sales:
- Mega influencers like celebrities—they have millions of followers
- Niche influencers have 10,000 followers or less but high engagement rates.
- Macro- and micro-influencers
As you might’ve guessed from the title, we will focus on Macro/Micro-Influencers, how they have changed the influencer marketing game, and what you can expect from them.
Macro-Influencers
Macro-influencers are those with 100,000 to 1 million followers. They are considered “thought leaders” and have built this reputation through long-term, consistent content creation to showcase their expertise. This time and consistency builds rapport and, therefore, trust with their audiences—so much so that some followers may purchase a recommended product purely out of curiosity or desire to keep engaging with the influencer and their community.
Macro-influencers’ ultra-loyal audience typically spans over a couple hundred thousand followers, so prices to partner with macro-influencers are higher per deliverable or post.
Partnering with macro-influencers is an excellent tactic not only for their wide reach but also because influencers have an excellent understanding of what resonates with their particular audience. Macro-influencers are called “influencers” for a reason: they have quite a bit of influence over their following. They can motivate their followers to purchase a specific product or fall in love with a brand or service through the trust of their following and how they have established themselves as thought leaders.
Micro-Influencers
Micro-influencers are considered rising stars in influencer marketing due to their relatability and genuine engagement with their followers—where a macro influencer has to rely on relatable content and branding, a micro-influencer can engage in comment threads and direct messages more directly (like a personal friend).
Micro-influencers have a strong presence on a specific platform and are creators with 10,000 to 100,000 followers.
Their audiences are genuinely passionate and highly engaged with the content the influencer is producing. Micro-influencers are perceived as more trustworthy due to their authenticity, quality of content and audience engagement. Those with a smaller following tend to be creating content as a passion project (making less money), so their subject matter and style are highly niche and specialized.
Since micro-influencers still have room to grow in influencer marketing, partnering with these types of creators is more affordable overall. It allows sponsors or partners to leverage content that is specifically curated to the influencer’s following while promoting brands or driving sales in a fluent and authentic way.
Conclusion
In conclusion, partnering with macro- and micro-influencers can be valuable for any digital marketing strategy to increase brand awareness and drive sales. It is a necessary move in today’s digital economy to maintain brand relationships with current and potential new customers.
Influencer marketing has come a long way from just celebrity endorsements; with the continued rise of social media, influencers are now powerful tools for brands to further drive business and build trust with your demographic.
The question isn’t whether you should be using influencers. The question is, “What influencer(s) will best support my business goals?” Whether you’re looking to increase engagement, drive sales, improve brand position, grow overall brand awareness or increase campaign ROI, macro and micro-influencers can authentically support your goals while increasing visibility and engagement. Once you have clear goals, you can better gauge if working with a macro or micro-influencer will best achieve these goals.
To Learn More
about influencer marketing and how you can use it for your business, contact us today.
