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The ever-evolving world of social media is not limited to leisure and entertainment anymore. It has now become a major source of revenue and a much sought-after business platform by giving rise to influencer marketing.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, our recreational time switched from social outings to social media. Thus, social media became an important platform for businesses to promote their products and services by partnering with influencers.

These influencers have a concentrated reach and targeted audiences who engage with their content and help brands build credibility and drive sales.

At present, given the developments in existing businesses and the emergence of new startups, the need to stand out and branding the business well has become a necessity.

Brands are developing influencer marketing strategies, carefully targeting their audience, and planning the course of action accordingly. Social media is a huge place to be, and if used well, it holds the exponential power to open doors to new target groups and help businesses in expanding their reach. 

As the influencer marketing realm continues to boom, the industry has further been categorised into macro- and micro-influencers. While both sets enjoy a massive following and engagement, micro-influencers are the niche category — up and coming in the influencer marketing domain. 

Who are micro-influencers, and what do they do? 

The advent of shifting from macro- to micro-influencers seems to be the new fad that brands are now adopting. Micro-influencers are the ones that have a follower base between 10,000 to 100,000 and are considered experts in their respective niches.

They are seen to have diversified ideas and a promising audience base. These influencers understand the needs of different platforms and their algorithms, thus helping businesses to connect with the audiences more organically.

The zeal and enthusiasm a micro-influencer bring to a campaign not only opens doors for innovations but also takes them a step closer to connecting organically and being relatable to their audiences. 

The future of micro-influencers

Micro-influencers may be small-scale influencers, but they influence almost more than half of their follower base and generate sales for the products or services they promote.

The enthusiasm and creativity micro-influencers display to stand out from the established ones make them an ideal choice for brands. They are passionate, creative, and driven to give everything their best shot. This significantly increases the value of the brand’s product.

Micro-influencers have shown overwhelming conversions, thus motivating brands to increase their spending on influencer marketing rather than traditional marketing.

They not only justify the authentic reach and high engagement but have also proven to be cost-effective and are more reasonably priced.

Since micro-influencers are “just another person” with a strong influencing power over an average number of audiences, they leverage their power to its best and build a rather transparent relationship with their followers, which, in turn, helps them gain their trust and invest in the products/services they suggest/promote.

They have an audience following that is highly drawn and engaged with each piece of content shared. When it comes to scaling up a campaign, the micro-influencers are the real amplifiers, and tend to pick up challenges and help in building scalable campaigns. 

After chasing mega influencers, brands have started to realise that it’s the quality that matters, and not the quantity. Micro-influencers have a defined niche and scope of work, which helps them focus on the content they deliver.

The stats speak for themselves. Micro-influencers are found to have 60 percent higher engagement than their megastar counterparts. They are 6.7x more cost-effective per engagement. Finally, they drive sales — 22.2 percent more weekly conversions than the average consumer.

With social media being a major part of our lives, influencer marketing is here to stay. In the long run, using micro-influencers, understanding their niche, and finding the right audience for the product are going to be the driving factors to survive in the age of social media and digital marketing.

Social media will never go out of style and will only upgrade. So it’s best to capitalise on the increased use of social media and use it as a source to drive better conversions.

As long as brands utilise these effective marketing techniques and create long-term, stable, and beneficial relationships with influencers, it will help in perfectly voicing the brand ethos.

The key to making it big in the influencer marketing space is to make sure the brand adapts to the changing needs of the consumers while also maintaining consistency.

The industry is moving towards subject matter experts, with an audience following that is highly drawn and engaged with each piece of content shared.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)