You don’t have to be Kylie Jenner to get noticed on Instagram these days!
Micro-influencers are typically smaller-scale sized influencers who have between 1,000-100,000 followers.
So, what exactly do they do? Forbes describes micro-influencers as having “the potential to engage audiences around topics that are specific to a particular interest” – as they predominantly tend to focus on a niche.
Due to having generally more hyper-engaged viewers on their accounts, brands can expect a good ROI if the particular influencer is evidently interested in an area of expertise.
With influencer marketing holding great power over our society and the positive impact it holds for both people and brands, there is no doubt why someone wouldn’t want to leverage on their following to get on PR lists and get paid to post.
Finding your niche & adding value
Before you start on your path, it is crucial to find an area that you are interested in and can continuously post content about.
Whether its fashion or food, as an influencer you should have some degree of expertise in that field and be able to deliver this through the brand you are representing to your followers.
Once you have established yourself you can begin to build your skills around this and expand your reach.
Choose what platforms to optimize
Selecting the right platforms is critical. This is where your followers and brands can find you.
A great way to start is to decide what type of content you’re looking to produce, short videos? TikTok is a fantastic starting point. Or perhaps you’re looking to showcase your skills in the beauty world and think YouTube is a better fit.
Each platform format has its perks and downfalls and these days sticking to just one is simply not enough. When just starting out, we recommend to focus on just 1-2 channels before creating new profiles.
During this stage, it is also essential to switch your accounts to a Business Account. By doing so, you are opening doors to a whole new set of features that can help you track your performance much better.
Keep it consistent with posting
Upon making the decision on what you’re looking to share in terms of content, you must establish a schedule to ensure you are posting regularly. The majority of social media platforms’ algorithms will in fact prioritize accounts that post frequently and in turn increase your visibility.
Data given from 99 Firms details that ‘77% of micro-influencers post once per day’, and ‘48% post twice per day’.
It is recommended to determine certain days and times during the week, to create some form of routine that your followers are expecting to see content that you post.
A useful way to get started with this is to check your analytic tools on the platforms you are using. This grants you the ability to understand your audience better – from their demographics to their interests.
Connect with brands to receive products
When you’re just starting out, it’s all about building your reputation and getting noticed.
Typically, smaller brands will have either a very small or no extra capital to spend on a marketing budget. Targeting these smaller, independent brands enables you to build your portfolio whilst collaborating in return for free products.
Let businesses know you are open to partner up. If you are focusing on the makeup industry and particularly like a product, reach out to the business and express your interest in their product. Maybe you’re a foodie and are looking to become a food blogger, pitch what you can offer to restaurants in your area and provide your contact details to make it easy for people to connect with you.
Most often, these types of transactions are not as complicated as they may be with larger influencers that are in high demand and lead to longer arrangements (allows things to get moving a lot faster!).
Take British Influencer Molly-Mae as an example. With over 6 million followers on Instagram, it is a much more difficult for businesses to reach out, negotiate a deal and collaborate in a short window of time.
Another great way to get noticed by brands is simply to tag them and ensure you mention them when talking about their product to viewers.
Influencers at this stage are typically focusing on expanding their following, so it is common for them to accept deals without charging in order to solidify long-term relationships with brands, creating a win-win situation overtime.
Receiving higher engagement rates
A concern sometimes surrounding micro-influencers is that because they have a smaller following, they won’t attract as much attention on a post.
As mentioned previously, as these types of accounts tend to have a stronger more refined focus with their audience, the level of engagement and conversion are often higher! As more of the followers trust that person they are more inclined to comment or purchase what they are being shown.
According to Social Bakers, micro-influencers have “60% increased engagement rates compared to macro-influencers” and above “20% conversion rates”.
Depicting that despite their smaller following, they do in fact effectively boost sale value for the businesses they work with.
Be authentic & don’t be afraid to say no
Large accounts such as celebrities and mega-famous influencers don’t usually manage their own social media accounts.
Often, they employ social media managers to post their content and interact with their audience (a lot of the time you can tell).
This can be obvious when these social media personalities share products or services that are completely off brand with who they are and what they typically represent.
On the other hand, when you’re a micro-influencer, you will responsible for taking the content and posting it yourself. It is most likely going to be a product that you genuinely take an interest in and this comes across authentically to viewers.
It’s really important to stay true to yourself, at the end of the day as an influencer your followers are going to want to know about you and what you stand for.
Another top tip, if something does not align with your ‘image’ on social media or you genuinely have no interest in the product, it’s perfectly okay to turn it down politely and wait for another opportunity.
Influencer marketing has become mainstream in todays society and brands have recognised this in every industry.
Micro-influencers boast incredible advantages and by becoming one you can open the door to countless opportunities to grow your social media presence and work with notable brands that align with your passion.
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