A micro-influencer is considered to be someone with a smaller following but rather an expert in their field or a niche influencer. Does a larger following mean greater visibility and thus, shouldn’t that mean a greater result? The bigger the better. This is not always the case. Research by GRIN shows that influencers with 1,000 followers generated 85% higher engagement than those having 100,000 followers, and as the number of followers increases the engagement tends to decrease.

Why do you think this is the case? Should social media marketing firms be moving focus to micro-influencers? The answer is yes. A study by Experticity found that 82% of consumers have a higher likelihood of acting upon recommendations from micro-influencers.

• Personal –
  An influencer with a smaller reach can come across more personal in nature. The bigger an audience you are talking to, the more generalized content gets. With a micro-influencer, the audience feels like they are being spoken to on a personal level with content customized to their preferences. This also leads to a higher rate of conversion.

• Authenticity –
  Influencers with a large number of followers often get sponsorships and while it is understandable that they accept the bulk of it, their actions may come across as ingenuine. Recent trends show influencers as being deemed as sell-outs with every alternative post of theirs being paid for, the audience questions how much of their content is original and true to their opinions. Hence, micro-influencers are often deemed more credible and acts as a better asset to your campaign.

• Engagement –
  Micro-influencers have the ability to maintain high levels of interactions due to their manageable audience. People with high engagements can offer much more while promoting your campaign as opposed to someone who has a large following that is stagnant in nature. This type of exposure might mean higher sales along with visibility which an otherwise more popular person might not be able to offer.

• Affordability –
  Needless to say, smaller influencers are less expensive. Sometimes, they may not even ask for a fee if there is a relationship with the brand they have been connected with. This can mean that you can afford to have more than a few micro-influencers to promote your product as opposed to the one, larger influencer. This method can save a large amount of money that can be used elsewhere by the brand.