I recently bought an adorable cable knit sweater from TikTok Shop just because I saw an influencer Post about it.
The appeal that influencers of all followers have on social media users is great today.
Finally, 63% of consumers are likely to purchase products promoted by an influencer they trust.
In my role at Nickelodeon, I work in international influencer marketing, so I know how important an influencer strategy is for brands of all sizes.
However, we don’t always have the budget to hire the biggest influencers in the game. Enter micro-influencers.
In this guide, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about micro-influencers, including brands that use them successfully and how you can connect with these people to promote your brand.
Table of contents
What is a Micro-Influencer?
Micro-influencers are social media content creators with an average of 10,000 to 100,000 followers who typically post about niche topics. Brands partner with these people on social media to promote products with authentic, visual posts instead of sponsored ads. Although they may have a smaller audience than larger influencers, their audiences may be more engaged.
Micro-influencers are social media users, unlike typical celebrities, experts, or public figures. These are people who work in or specialize in a particular industry and often share social media content related to their interests.
Unlike traditional “influencers,” micro-influencers have a more modest number of followers but boast a highly engaged audience.
What is influencer marketing?
When brands work with influencers, they can leverage the trust they have built with the influencer’s audience. Consumers are more likely to buy from someone they know. Therefore, influencers are extremely effective when it comes to strategies such as word of mouth or increasing social proof.
Brands often pay influencers to either post content about their products or sponsor their events, leveraging the influencers’ wide reach. However, with some influencers, organic content can also be achieved by concluding an exchange agreement that does not involve a monetary payment.
Types of influencers
Influencers are generally divided into four groups based on the number of followers they have.
Nano influencers
1,000 to 10,000 followers
Often these are normal people who have recently developed a larger following.
They are still on the smaller end and may not have the reach a brand is looking for, but their followers are engaged and engaged with the influencer’s authentic niche content.
Micro-influencers
10,000 to 100,000 followers
They are stronger than nano-influencers in terms of followership and still have a highly engaged audience.
Their content may still be niche, but they are more likely to try new concepts and work on targeted marketing campaigns.
Macro influencers
100,000 to 1,000,000 followers
These influencers are likely well-known among social media users and brands and may already be receiving multiple requests for brand partnerships.
While they have greater reach than nano and micro influencers, their content may have less engagement and personalization.
Mega influencer
More than 1,000,000 followers
They are probably celebrities or big personalities with whom you can work with high fees.
While an endorsement from one of these influencers would be huge for a brand, it may not be as worthwhile if they promote many other brands or if their content is less authentic overall.
I think micro-influencers can be the perfect middle ground for brands starting their influencer marketing strategy. Because they have fewer followers, their fees can be lower and availability greater. However, they still have a greater reach than nano-influencers, making micro-influencer marketing a powerful option.
The value of micro-influencers
A micro-influencer marketing strategy may seem counterintuitive. Why would I go see someone with a…? smaller Will you follow me to promote my brand? Check out the following list of reasons why micro-influencers may get better results.
Micro-influencers have better engagement rates.
In my experience, the number of followers does not always equate to how well content is received by those followers.
A good way to track how engaging an influencer’s content is is by the number of likes, comments, shares, and saves they receive. This shows that users are making every effort to interact with the influencer and the post.
Micro-influencers can produce up to 60% more engagement than other types of influencers.
For example this average engagement rate on TikTok For micro-influencers the figure is between 8.37% and 17.96%, compared to just 4.96% for mega-influencers.
Micro-influencers have a more targeted audience.
Typically, micro-influencers have a more targeted audience because their content is more niche. People follow them not because they are a popular name, but because they are tuned into the influencer’s content or style.
When I build my influencer strategy as a fashion brand, I can either work with one mega-influencer or multiple micro-influencers. A mega-influencer with 1 million followers has one average engagement rate of 1.21%. That’s around 12,100 interactions per post.
However, because mega-influencers have such a wide audience, those 12,100 engagements probably don’t all come from followers who are interested in fashion.
Now if I work with seven fashion micro-influencers with 50,000 followers each and one average engagement rate of 3.86%That’s a total of 13,510 engagements.
This method leads to more engagements And is aimed at followers interested in fashion who are more likely to become buyers.
Micro-influencers are more affordable.
The highest paid mega-influencer in the world is Cristiano Ronaldo, who earns hefty sums $3.2 million per sponsored post. I would say that most brands cannot afford such exorbitant costs for a single post with an influencer.
Micro-influencers are usually much cheaper. Your fees can vary between $100 to $1,000 per postwhich can help brands afford broad content that spans an entire campaign rather than just a single post.
To do the math a little more precisely, you would need to work with 6,400 micro-influencers at a cost of $500 per post to match the cost of a sponsored post with Ronaldo. While Ronaldo is obviously an outlier, it’s a good lesson in how brands can better allocate their resources.
At Nickelodeon, we sometimes even work with micro-influencers for free as part of a barter deal. For example, we create a customized press mailer promoting a new series and send it to the influencer, who posts about the mailer in exchange for keeping the great new products.
Micro-influencers are more authentic.
Micro-influencers are real people, so their Instagram content is real too.
Instagram users with a few thousand followers are likely to post their own content, respond to comments, and behave more authentically than a brand or celebrity with a social media manager would.
When a micro-influencer creates a promotional post on Instagram, their followers may be more inclined to click on it to learn more about the brand they are posting about.
Instagram’s algorithm also prioritizes posts in users’ feeds from profiles they follow and interact with, as well as authentic, high-quality content. This means that content from micro-influencers can be viewed higher than that of mega-influencers because their content is considered more honest.
TikTok’s algorithm prioritizes content that is diverse and interesting and does not necessarily prioritize content from creators with more followers. Therefore, micro-influencers still have a chance to be seen more often on a user’s FYP (For You) page.
Now that I’ve successfully convinced you of the value of micro-influencer marketing, read on for a guide to discovering micro-influencers to work with.
How to find micro-influencers
1. Use influencer discovery tools.
This is my favorite way to discover influencers. Many Influencer discovery tools like Traackr and Sprout Social’s Tagger are designed with features for exactly this purpose.
On the homepage of most influencer marketing tool websites, you will see a button to do this Request a demo. This allows you to schedule a live demo with a specialist to test whether the tool has all the features you need.
The right influencer marketing tool should have discovery features. This is a dashboard that allows you to search for influencers in the tool’s database.
For example, I can use a tool’s discovery dashboard to discover fashion micro-influencers. I would filter for influencers with 10,000 to 100,000 followers.
Then I would add more filters, such as “Fashion” for the category or topic and “English” for the language. I can also filter by the influencer’s age, audience, average engagement rate, and preferred social media platforms.
When receiving demos, ensure the influencer discovery process goes as smoothly as possible. The tool should also provide all the information and metrics you need to know about the influencers, such as: B. Brand affinity, keywords, average fees and contact information.
2. Use the search function on social media platforms.
Another great option for brands that are just starting out and may be hesitant to invest in an influencer management tool is to find influencers where they are: on social media.
I use this method often because it’s quick and organic. Instead of entering a lot of information and filters, I can simply scroll through different accounts and see who resonates.
I can search for a topic that interests me on Instagram. For example, I searched for “fashion style.” Then I switched to AccountsTherefore, I only received results from profiles on this topic and not actual posts or locations.
The first few results are usually big, expensive personalities and publications, so I scrolled down a bit until I started seeing influencers with followers in the micro-influencer space.
The screenshot above shows an account with 66.2k followers.
Next, I clicked on accounts that interested me, such as @just_trish_styleand viewed their profiles. This gives me a good overview of the types of content they publish as well as the brand partnerships they have recently signed. This information helps me decide whether the influencers are a good fit for each other.
If I want to connect with an influencer I discovered on social media, I can start by checking out their bio. Many influencers share an email for their management directly in their bio, as seen in the example above. If there is no email address listed, I can send a direct message expressing my interest in collaborating.
A similar tactic is to search for hashtags instead of keywords. Use the same search bar and enter a relevant hashtag. For example, I searched for #nycfashion Tags Tab and got dozens of results for related hashtags.
I want to avoid hashtags with millions or hundreds of thousands of posts as this makes it harder to sift through the crowd of influencers and regular users using those hashtags.
So I scrolled down until I found #nycfashioninfluencer, which had more than 1,000 posts. I clicked on the hashtag and it automatically searched for it For you Tab.
I clicked on a post that interested me and was taken to that influencer’s profile.
The account has 49.1k followers and falls into the micro-influencer category. I like the rest @bria__bryantProfile so I can then contact the email address provided in their bio.
3. See who similar brands work with.
Another option, which also includes the use of social media, is checking the competition. While you probably don’t want to hire the same influencers that competitors use, it’s helpful to get an idea of what types of influencers have worked for similar brands.
Most brands either integrate the influencer directly into a post on their profile or create a joint post with an influencer. Otherwise, they may have reshared an influencer’s post to their story or in-feed. Regardless, you should be able to view some of their influencer content on their account.
Start by searching for similar brand accounts on Instagram. For example, if I work for a women’s fashion brand, I can search Lisa says Gaha woman-owned, ethical, independent boutique. As I scrolled through their profile, I spotted a post where the brand tagged various micro-influencers who modeled their clothing.
I like the atmosphere of @vivianyrlso I navigated to her profile. Here I clicked Follow Button. Instagram will then automatically fill in a series of Recommended for you Accounts. These are profiles that are similar to or followed by the account I just followed.
I decided to check out @aishafaridaProfile. Here I can see that she is also a micro-influencer with 25.7k followers.
I like the type of posts Aïsha posts, which are fashion and aesthetically curated. For a final check, I clicked on a few posts in her photo gallery to see if she usually tags brands.
I can see that Aïsha tags clothing and jewelry brands in most posts, which is a good sign. It shows that if I were to collaborate with Aïsha, tagging and showcasing my fashion brand would be in line with her usual social media style.
I can now reach Aïsha via the contact email provided in her Instagram bio and see if a partnership is possible.
4. Use a search engine.
If doing this social media investigative work seems daunting, have no fear! You can do very similar research in a search engine.
Search for the type of influencer you are looking for. For example, I searched for “fashion style micro-influencers” on Google and got several results related to my search query.
When you click on it linkI scrolled through the list of 10 options. Since this article is from February 2023, some of the influencers have increased in size and are no longer micro-influencers. However, I have discovered several great fashion niche micro-influencer options such as @heyimlindz.
I liked the sound of her style so I navigated to her Instagram account. I prefer scrolling through social media on my phone rather than my laptop, so I manually searched for her account there. However, many articles like this have direct links to social media profiles, which saves time.
Lindsey’s profile fits my fashion brand personality and has 31,000 followers, which falls into the micro-influencer category. I then looked at some of her posts, like I did on Aisha’s Instagram.
I can see Lindsey tagging fashion brands and promoting their products directly.
She also mentions unique shop discount codes for her followers. This is someone I would love to work with to get my brand out there so I can reach out to the email in their bio or send them a DM.
I can follow the same process in a search engine to find other similar micro-influencers. If the search results are not satisfactory or the results are too broad, try testing different keywords. I suggest using keywords that best represent your brand.
For example, if I wanted to be more specific, I could try “ethical fashion style micro-influencers” if that value is important to my brand.
Or if we’re a New York-based company looking to work with local influencers, I could search for “NYC Fashion Micro-Influencers.”
5. Hire an influencer marketing agency.
I understand – we don’t always have the time to do the work on site. Maybe you have an entire company to run and can’t constantly spend time doing careful research and reaching out to dozens or hundreds of micro-influencers.
In this case, it makes sense to commission an agency to handle the preparatory work. Several Influencer marketing agencies specialize in various aspects of an influencer campaign, including outreach, contracts, campaign tracking and payments.
When researching agencies, consider the following factors:
- payment. How do their fees compare to competitors? Do they take an annual advance or a payment per campaign?
- Influencer database. How many influencers do they have access to? Do they only deal with domestic influencers or can they access influencers worldwide? Can they discover influencers with as few as 10,000 followers, or is there a higher minimum follower count that can be filtered into their system?
- Customers. Have you ever worked with customers in your industry? Do they have past campaign performance metrics to share?
Once you find the right agency, they should be able to handle the entire influencer discovery and outreach process for you, as long as you inform them of the campaign summary and goals.
Now that you know how to find the right micro-influencers, I will show you how to work with these micro-influencers to ensure meaningful and effective campaigns.
How to work with micro-influencers
1. Create an influencer brief for the campaign.
As with any campaign, the best place to start is with a briefing. This is a document that explains the campaign summary and goals to the influencer.
Typically, I like to keep this document as short and simple as possible – after all, we don’t want to bore or overwhelm influencers with detailed jargon.
If possible, keep the brief to one page and include the following:
- Campaign name
- Campaign summary
- Goals
- Messaging Requirements
- Target group
- Services
- Timeline
For example:
Campaign name: Black Friday Sale
Campaign summary: (Fashion Brand) is having a huge Black Friday sale this year and we need your help to spread the word! We’ll send you a collection of curated pieces that you can style in your own unique way on your social media. Show your audience that now is the time to treat yourself to ethical fashion that’s perfect for a business lunch, a family dinner, a girls’ night out and everything in between.
Goals:
- Bring people to our website to make a new purchase.
- Increase awareness of our brand and social media followers.
- Show your followers that we are the hot new brand for young, trendy women.
Messaging Requirements:
- Use my code (NAME)10 for an additional 10% off your order!
- There is a 30% discount on all clothing, shoes and accessories!
- Follow (brand handle).
Target group:
- Gen Z and young Millennials (ages 15-35).
- Women or anyone who appreciates feminine clothing.
Services:
- 1 long reel/TikTok.
- 2 short videos or static stories.
Timeline:
- Concepts due: November 1st.
- First drafts due: November 8th.
- Final edited versions due: November 15th.
- Story 1 Contribution: Week of November 18th.
- Reel/TikTok Post: Week of November 25th.
- Story 2 post: November 29th (day of).
This brief shows the influencer that I take their work seriously while giving them the information and tools they need to be successful.
I try to share the brief at least a week before the first due date to give the influencer plenty of time to review and ask questions.
2. Encourage micro-influencers to use their own style and voice.
While the brief is important for determining the type of posts the micro-influencer will publish, it is also important to give them some creative freedom. After all, I chose them for a reason – and that reason is that I already like their content.
I let the influencer know that I want them to stay true to their brand and style while following the guidelines. In my experience, this leads to a strong, trusting partnership that results in high-quality posts that reflect both the brand and the influencer.
3. Review the proposed content before finalizing it.
Although I already included this in the brief, I can’t stress it enough: always review the influencer’s content and provide feedback before finalizing it.
Originally I was worried that this would compromise the creative freedom and authenticity I just mentioned. However, the authenticity of a brand is just as important as that of the micro-influencer. Even with a brief, the influencer doesn’t necessarily know how to best capture a brand’s voice in their content.
As an expert in your brand, you should always have the final look at the content to ensure it is appropriate, conveys the right message and is consistent with your content Corporate values.
4. Decide how the brand will interact with the micro-influencer.
Once you have successfully completed a micro-influencer partnership, it is important to plan how best to interact with the influencer’s social media post to increase your brand’s social media presence. Take advantage of the influencer’s platform and use it to your advantage.
Brands can get involved in the influencer’s post, which goes beyond just liking. Take a look @melissasonico‘s sponsored post below.
The brand @mate_the_label commented on the post to get involved. This helps increase the brand’s visibility among Melissa’s followers and can inspire them to follow the brand too.
Brands can also ask to publish a collaboration post with the influencer. An Instagram collaboration post is created by multiple accounts together and appears in all of their feeds.
A user creates the post and invites others to collaborate. All contributors’ usernames are displayed at the top of the post, as seen in the following collaboration post between @michelledugor And @vespucciconsignment.
Brands can also post the influencer’s content directly to their own profile and tag them to give credit, as shown below @Girlfriend‘s post with @alissa.iris.
Brands can also reshare an influencer’s post to their story, e.g @womensbest made with micro-influencers @exercisingwitheleanor‘s Reel.
There are many ways to interact with an influencer’s post. So, work with the influencer to decide which option works best for both of you.
5. Ask for feedback.
Of course, at the end of the campaign, I track the results using my company’s preferred analytics and influencer marketing tools. While these campaign results are essential, the relationship with the micro-influencer is also crucial.
That’s why I recommend asking them for feedback after the campaign is over.
What worked well and what didn’t? Did the content and messaging feel authentic to their social media presence? Did the partnership give you a positive mood? What would the influencer change if they worked with your brand again?
These insights are crucial if you want to work with the same influencer again, but they are also important for other future influencer partnerships. Keeping the influencer’s niche and brand at the forefront of the campaign ensures a favorable, successful and painless collaboration.
Now that you’re familiar with the tips and tricks for navigating these micro-influencer partnerships, read on to find examples of real brands already using these processes successfully.
4 brands use micro-influencers successfully
1. Mejuri
Mejuri is a luxury everyday jewelry brand focused on developing high-quality, sustainable products.
A big part of the brand shows that fine jewelry can still be accessible and relatable. Therefore, it makes sense for Mejuri to partner with micro-influencers who can build on this message of authenticity and relativity.
Mejuri works with micro-influencers to showcase its products worn by real people in everyday life.
I love two recent posts from the brand @cheftarathomas which show the micro-influencer wearing her favorite pieces while being in her natural element.
This is a perfect example of how micro-influencers can enhance a brand campaign. With 18.1k followers, Tara has a certain reach, but also the trust and loyalty of her few but powerful followers. Your inclusion in this campaign adds emotion, reliability and credibility to the Mejuri brand and products.
Several from Mejuri Posts have micro-influencers. To some, like Tara, it may seem like an unconventional choice, but that unconventionality is what works so well. Mejuri positions itself as more than just a fashion and beauty brand – it is a lifestyle brand for everyone.
2. LaCroix sparkling water
LaCroix Sparkling Water uses micro-influencers to promote its brand in a competitive market. The brand’s social media presence is bright, colorful and bubbly – just like its iconic mineral water packaging.
LaCroix identifies micro-influencers on Instagram and asks them to share product awareness posts. It finds micro-influencers by searching branded hashtags, such as: #LiveLaCroixand when users tag the brand on Instagram, as seen in @rachelmuse‘s post below.
The brand comments and asks to republish the posts or offer product vouchers in exchange.
While LaCroix works with such great personalities as Katie LedeckyIt also targets profiles with lower follower counts to maintain a sense of authentic “reality” that appeals to Millennials and Generation Z Instagram users.
LaCroix also understands his brand very well and finds micro-influencers who fit his vibrant, energetic and optimistic tone @kaylakane.
By tapping into smaller, more targeted networks of micro-influencers, LaCroix maintains an authentic, entertaining social media presence and ensures its product is in front of similar users.
If you have a physical product that looks great on camera (such as an eye-catching can of LaCroix), try connecting with micro-influencers by sending out free products for Instagram promotions.
3. ASOS
Fashion and beauty retailer ASOS works with micro-influencers on Instagram to introduce new products. ASOS’s social media presence is trendy, moody and ambitious, and the brand effortlessly engages micro-influencers with similar vibes, as seen in this example @hannahkennie.
What I like about ASOS’s strategy is that the micro-influencers they select are indistinguishable from ASOS’ actual models.
This shows precision in the influencer selection process and a commitment to protecting and representing the brand.
Furthermore, in February 2024, ASOS has relaunched its ASOS Insiders programwhich was shut down in 2020 during the pandemic. The program includes 36 employees from different departments who were selected as brand influencers.
These ambassadors curate fashion tips, provide style inspiration and are faces on ASOS’s social channels.
The fashion-conscious employees were given new social media contacts that gave them insider insight into the brand.
While these employees, like @asseenonminiAs they continue to expand their new accounts, they typically fall into the nano or micro influencer realm in their personal social networks.
ASOS prioritizes Expansion of existing contentand the creation of new content.
This fits with its strategy of building real relationships with customers – ASOS takes the trust and connection that micro-influencers have built with their audiences and uses it to reinforce the brand message without the need for constant content creation.
4.Samsung
Samsung has harnessed the power of micro-influencers for several campaigns to promote various products, from smartphones to smart TVs, as well as a way of life. Most influencers are selected from specific niches related to the Samsung brand, including tech, photography, gaming, music, and general lifestyle.
I love how Samsung features real people using its products in real ways. For example, the brand featured award-winning influencer artists @aerosynlex Live creation of all-new works of art, accompanied by an exhibition of Samsung Frame TVs, transforming TVs into works of art.
The partnership makes perfect sense and allowed Aerosyn-Lex to remain true to its brand and craft while benefiting from Samsung’s platform and the opportunity to participate in the largest electronics trade show in the world.
Likewise travel and lifestyle micro-influencers @lauramourinhobelbut captured her summer travel memories on a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 phone. Here too, the content stayed true to their typical style and effortlessly integrated the brand’s new product.
Think micro
There is often resistance from leadership to bringing in the biggest influencers in the game, but I hope this post highlights the value of micro-influencer marketing.
Success on social media doesn’t always mean reaching as many people as possible with every post. It’s about targeting the right people in the right way.
The key is to choose micro-influencers whose niches align with your brand’s niche and trust them to create content that conveys the message authentically.
There is also the advantage that choosing an influencer with a smaller audience can mean that they will remain loyal to your brand in a way that is not guaranteed with more well-known influencers.
You can be assured that the influencer is likely to work with you on multiple campaigns and will not immediately be poached by a competitor.
My main advice is to be open to micro-influencers you discover and also those you seek out. Keep an eye out for social media users who tag your brand or use brand hashtags because they could become your next big ambassador.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2017 and has been updated for completeness.