Why Micro-Influencer Promotions Will Continue to Dominate in 2022

Data fetched from Statista indicates that the global influencer marketing industry has been growing at an exponential rate, from $1.7 billion in 2016 to a staggering $13.8 billion in 2021.  

And with an ever-increasing number of businesses investing their top dollars in influencer marketing, we’re witnessing influencers, especially ones with millions of followers, charging budget-draining rates.

And while the charge per post depends on different factors, we’ve put together the standard market rates to give you a rough idea:

While large corporations can easily allocate thousands of dollars towards influencer marketing, the same can’t be said for small or medium-sized businesses. 

Despite mid-tier, macro, and mega-influencers charging thousands of dollars per post/video, brands all across the globe would love nothing more than to collaborate with them. However many brands have yet to see the value of working with small creators or micro-influencers – social media users with less than 25,000 followers/subscribers.

Some businesses out there are under the assumption that going bigger is better. Either they’ll collaborate with influencers with more than 25,000 followers, or they’ll ditch the idea of running influencer marketing campaigns at all.

And while going bigger is basic human nature, the thing is – going bigger is not always better. While some brands believe larger follower counts to be the only criteria – when it comes to choosing influencers, what if the mega or celebrity influencer you want to collaborate with has an extremely disappointing engagement rate?

Let’s say a micro-influencer with 20,000 followers ($100 per post) has an impressive 20% engagement rate, whereas a macro influencer with 600,000 followers ($7,000 per post) has a disappointing 1% engagement rate. 

Now, if you collaborate with a micro-influencer with 20,000 followers and a 30% engagement rate, you’ll be engaging about 6,000 people for $100. On the other hand, if you collaborate with a macro influencer with 600,000 followers and a 1% engagement rate, you’ll be engaging with the same amount of people (6,000 followers) but instead of paying $100 you’ll be paying $7,000. 

This right here is a perfect example of why bigger isn’t always better. While choosing the influencers to work with, you should seriously take different factors into consideration, including engagement rate, niche, type of content, and more.

And while some brands have shown their disinterest in running micro-influencer promotions, it’s important to note that influencers with a limited following can help you generate an ROI that macro or mega-influencer campaigns may fail to.

To help you navigate the realm of mega-influencer promotions, we’ve put together this blog post, where we’ll explain:

• What are Micro-Influencers?
• 3 BIG Benefits of Collaborating with Micro-Influencers Over Mega-Influencers

Without further ado, let’s dive straight into the realm of micro-influencer marketing.

What are Micro-Influencers?

Micro-influencers are social media with a tight-knit following who are willing to promote or represent a product or service. Their follower or subscriber count is less than 25,000.

And while these influencers do not have a gigantic-sized following, they’re well known for their area of interest/expertise as well as high-engagement rates.

Unlike some mid-tier, macro, or mega-influencers, micro-influencers will personally work with you on your campaigns and help you achieve the desired results. 

And as a result of their high engagement rate, you may achieve great results at a pretty limited budget.

Here, we’re not saying that you shouldn’t collaborate with influencers with a massive following. 

If you have the budget and if the engagement rate of these influencers is impressive, then you should obviously go for it. 

However, if you are just ditching the idea of running micro-influencer promotions just because you don’t want to collaborate with an influencer with a pretty limited following, then we’ve put together the three BIG benefits of collaborating with micro-influencers over mega-influencers in the next section.

3 BIG Benefits of Running Micro-Influencer Promotions Over Mega-Influencer Marketing Campaigns

Following are the three reasons running micro-influencer promotions are more beneficial than mega-influencer marketing campaigns:

– Budget-Friendly
– Can Dedicate More Time
– High Engagement Rate

Budget-Friendly

As we mentioned in the introduction section, the global influencer marketing industry stands at a staggering $13.8 billion. And with more and more brands wanting to tap into influencer marketing, you’ll obviously find influencers charging a budget-draining amount per post.

Should you choose to collaborate with a mid-tier, macro, or mega influencer, you’d end up spending thousands of dollars each month. On the other hand, micro-influencers don’t charge as much and sometimes you can even just give influencers your products without any monetary compensation (like we do at Stack Influnece). On average brands most commonly pay anywhere around $43 – $721 per Instagram post. And you will never be able to collaborate with a mega-influencer at this budget.

While money is a crucial factor, micro-influencers are in it to establish long-lasting relationships and grow their following. So, if you collaborate with a micro-influencer with a high engagement rate, not only will you be subject to higher returns, but you’ll also see them overdelivering, resulting in a successful influencer marketing campaign.

Can Dedicate More Time

Mega-influencers are already collaborating with dozens of brands at any given point in time. You’ll find their schedule to be jam-packed. At the same time, they already have dozens, if not hundreds, of brands reaching out to them for collaboration.

And with such high demand, if you’re able to close a deal with a megaThe -influencer, chances are that he/she would not be able to dedicate a huge chunk of their time to your campaign. And while such influencers already have their dedicated teams in place, the follow-up and creative process will be impacted if you aren’t able to work with the influencer directly.

On the other hand, micro-influencers don’t have dozens or hundreds of brands contacting them. When compared with mega-influencers, they have fewer long-term relationships and contracts in place. This means – they’ll better be able to allocate their time towards your campaign and work with you directly to help you generate a great ROI.

High Engagement Rate

As stated by Social Bakers, micro-influencers boast up to about 60% increased engagement when compared with macro-influencers or nano-influencers. While it’s important to work with influencers in your niche, if you work with a micro-influencer in your niche, you’ll not only be subject to a higher engagement rate, but your conversion rate may skyrocket by an impressive 20%.
But that doesn’t mean you should go on a micro-influencer-hunting-spree. While micro-influencers have a limited yet engaged following, not every micro-influencer is subject to high engagement rates. While filtering the influencers you’d like to work with, make sure that you are taking into consideration the engagement rate of their followers and subscribers.
Running strategic micro-influencer promotions will not only help you generate an impressive ROI, but you’ll also be on your way to increasing brand awareness.

Conclusion

According to the Later x Fohr Influencer Marketing report, the lower the follower base, the higher the engagement rate. Many brands don’t know this yet but smaller is better. 

In today’s crowded market, brands should prioritize engagement over follower count. So, if you haven’t yet tapped into micro-influencer promotions, you’re missing out on a lot. 

Hire the #1 micro-influencer marketing platform today.

By William Gasner

CMO at Stack Influence