What Are Micro and Nano Influencers?

Micro influencers have 50,000 followers or less on a given platform and have typically grown an audience based on a specific niche. They’re regarded as an expert in the space because of their curated content through reviews, tutorials, or by sharing their own experience and insight.

Nano influencers have even smaller followings — between 1,000 and 10,000 followers — and boast even more dialed-in, niche audiences. If you’re thinking, “What? 1,000 followers is all it takes to be an influencer?” 1. You’re correct. 2. Nano influencers can be a marketer’s best friend.

Unlike celebrities with millions of followers that run the gamut of interests, likes, and dislikes, micro and nano influencers have dedicated audiences that follow them specifically for their content. Part of their appeal is that they come across as more relatable than influencers with celebrity status or even celebrities themselves.

Partnering with micro influencers creates more authentic and personalized messaging as they’re speaking on behalf of your brand. In fact, 44% of Gen Z say they’ve made a purchase decision based on an influencer.

Why Should Organizations Partner With Micro Influencers?

There’s been a wave of push-back on the faux-perfection of celebrities, influencers, and some brands. Consumers’ desire for authentic content has never been stronger. They want to follow someone who feels relatable rather than see a photoshopped ad come across their feed. Almost 80% of Gen Z says they will trust a brand more if the images they use are not photoshopped and 84% trust a company more if actual customers are featured in their ads.

Consumers prefer genuine and authentic recommendations and feel confident they will get those from the micro influencers they follow. According to a study done by HelloSociety, respondents were more than three times as likely to follow an influencer than follow a brand. Micro influencers can position a brand’s message as a trusted recommendation from a friend. This creates a unique opportunity for brands to partner with micro influencers to connect with their target audiences and reach them through a familiar voice.

Influencers are acting as intermediaries, helping to connect brands with consumers in highly resonant, authentic ways thanks to the rapidly growing integration of e-commerce and social. However, it’s key that organizations make sure their messaging is tailored to the audience consuming it; anything that feels inauthentic or add-like won’t go over well. Influencers should be aligned with a brand’s values to ensure an authentic partnership.

Tania Yuki, CEO and founder of Shareablee, recently spoke on the Business of Social podcast about just how well influencers know their audiences. She interviewed influencers and found they knew the ins and outs of their audiences so specifically, “they could predict, like hairline crack sensitive, to anything their audiences wouldn’t like or wouldn’t resonate with them…they’re putting the audience first.”

Still Not Convinced? Take a Look At These Stats

Influencers with a following of less than 10,000 had an engagement rate of 3.7% on Instagram, compared to the 1.1% engagement rate of accounts with over 100,000 followers. Additionally, micro influencers deliver over 30% better ROI per dollar spent compared to about 20% for influencers with over 1 million followers. A recent report found businesses are making $5.20 for $1 spent on influencer marketing.

It’s important to note that certain platforms tend to be more popular for this kind of partnership. Nearly four in five brands or 79%, predominately use Instagram for influencer campaigns compared to 46% on Facebook, 36% on YouTube, 24% on Instagram, and 12% on LinkedIn. No matter what platform you choose, developing your influencer strategy on social is key especially if you’re trying to reach younger demographics;  85% of Gen-Z learns about new products through social media.

It pays to partner with micro influencers — you’ll not only get a higher engagement rate but you’ll be spending less to position your brand in front of a highly captive audience.

What Do Partnerships With Micro Influencers Look Like? 

There are countless ways brands can work with micro influencers, we’ve outlined a few fun examples we’ve worked on below:

Social sampling is an easy way to drive tune-in for movie and show premieres as well as new product releases. Organizations send products related to the theme of the show to influencers and allow them to promote the products and show to their audience. The key to social sampling is matching your brand with micro and nano influencers who have similar niche audiences and who will genuinely love your message. They’ll generate hype around the movie and products to their highly engaged friends and followers.

The team at STN put together a social sampling for the season 3 release of Mr. Mercedes on Peacock. All the products were curated around the show’s psychological thriller theme and included a Google Nest Indoor Cam along with a hardback copy of Stephen King’s Finders Keepers- the book the series was based on- and a bespoke blood splatter bookmark.