Advantages of Instagram Micro-influencers

Are you considering trying your hand at influencer marketing on Instagram? If so, consider partnering with micro-influencers. These influencers generally have 10,000-100,000 followers and are the ideal match for businesses of all sizes. In fact, micro-influencers are responsible for some of the most successful campaigns on the social network. 

Let’s go over some of the key benefits of working with micro-influencers.

Engaged, Connected Audiences

Influencers with 500,000 or so followers are like celebrities. As with Hollywood stars, there is a wall between them and their fans. However, micro-influencers enjoy true connections and engagement with their audiences. Their followers view them more like friends than celebrities. Thus, when a micro-influencer recommends a product or service, followers are likely to listen. 

Think of it this way. If your best friend recommends a product to you, you’d probably give it a try. However, if a major celebrity did, you might roll your eyes and think, “He’s just in it for the money.” Therefore, you probably wouldn’t put a ton of weight into the endorsement. 

When micro-influencers recommend products, it’s like getting endorsements from a friend. That means you can expect a high conversion rate when you run a campaign. 
 

Reach a Specific Niche

Micro-influencers also deliver high conversion rates because their audience typically fits into a specific niche. For instance, a micro-influencer who focuses on health and beauty will have a following full of people interested in that topic. However, a major celebrity’s followers will come from all walks of life and have various interests. Therefore, partnering with someone who serves your specific niche will make it easier to run a successful campaign. You’ll reach people who are interested in your products instead of blowing your budget on people who couldn’t care less about your offerings. 
 

High Engagement Rate Increases Exposure

Instagram considers engagement rate when choosing which posts to display to users. The engagement rate is not the same as the number of likes. For example, a post might have 5,000 Instagram likes, but it’ll have a low engagement rate if the account has 500,000 followers. However, if an account with 100,000 followers gets 5,000 likes on a post, that’s a high engagement rate. The high engagement rate means more people will see the post. 

On average, the engagement rate goes down based on the number of followers an account has. Thus, you can expect a higher engagement rate when you partner with micro-influencers. Then, your posts can end up reaching more people who are interested in your brand.  
 

Create a Campaign Within Your Budget

Partnering with major influencers can kill your marketing budget. You could easily spend five figures for one post. On the other hand, micro-influencers are so affordable that you can partner with several of them for a single campaign, expanding your reach. Some will even work in exchange for free products. Whether you have a massive marketing budget or are working with a small amount, overspending isn’t something you want to do. Thus, micro-influencer marketing makes sense for businesses of all sizes. 
 

Honest, Trustworthy Reviews

If you send your product to a celebrity, he or she might try it before posting about it, but that’s unlikely. However, micro-influencers thrive on authenticity and trust. They are not likely to promote anything they haven’t tried and don’t believe in, so people turn to them to get the real scoop on products. Getting reviews from micro-influencers can help you build trust with people on the social network. If you have a product you believe in, partnering with a micro-influencer is a fantastic way to get exposure. 
 

Willing to Collaborate

Some celebrity influencers have made major mistakes on Instagram. There have been a few instances where they’ve copied and pasted the marketing instructions into the post, forgetting to delete the part meant for their eyes only. When influencers do that, you have to assume they aren’t interested in collaborating. Instead, they just want to copy, paste, and make some money. 

Because micro-influencers care about their audience and the products they promote, they’re often willing to collaborate during the promotion. Collaborating makes the campaign more authentic, so this can benefit your brand. Plus, it will help you deliver the type of content the audience wants. 
 

Create a Long-term Relationship

When you partner with a micro-influencer, you can enter into a long-term relationship. That means the person can become a brand ambassador for you.  This is much more challenging to accomplish with influencers who have larger follower counts. They’re often approached by numerous brands each week, so they might not want to settle down with one option. Also, it’ll be hard to afford an ongoing relationship with them. 
 

Get to Know Your Audience

Partnering with micro-influencers makes it easy to get to know your audience. Since the influencer’s audience is part of your niche, you can see how they interact with and engage with content. Then, you can identify their pain points and desires. The more you know about your audience, the easier it is to deliver the products and messaging they want. Then, you can speak to them authentically and build trust. 
 

Get Honest Feedback

Micro-influencers are part of your target market. These are the people who are buying your products, so they can provide excellent feedback. Find out what they think about your products and services. Where do you excel, and what could benefit from changes? They know your market inside and out, so pick their brains when working with them. Then, use the information to improve your business. 
 

Develop a Micro-influencer Marketing Strategy Today

These are just some of the benefits of working with micro-influencers on Instagram. You can enjoy these and more by creating a campaign. First, find one or more influencers you’d like to work with, and then conduct outreach. Next, you can discuss your goals and ideas and build the campaign with the influencer’s help. It won’t be long before your campaign is live and you’re reaping the numerous benefits.