Where these smaller influencers truly shine is in their authenticity. Many consumers may not even consider some of the influencers they follow to be influencers at all, recognizing them primarily as someone they follow with similar interests or values. This wholly differs from most common perceptions of other types of marketing, in which consumers can increasingly recognize when they are being marketed to. Establishing a level of trust with their followers is essential to an influencers’ success, and it adds an automatic level of credibility to those products and services they chose to recommend. It’s modern-day word-of-mouth marketing.
In addition to the distinctions of micro- and nano- influencers, marketers will want to consider the types of influencers they want to reach out to. Of course, these will need to be narrowed down to influencers within the correct industry, but beyond their area of expertise and the scope of their following, some influencers possess additional distinctions. For example, deal-centric influencers focus on curating a comparative shopping experience for their followers within a specific market, such as beauty products or home goods; they’d be able to reach consumers who may not be looking for a business’ product through its traditional website.
Once marketers have determined the kind of influencers they want to reach out to, they can begin to consider how these partners can be utilized most effectively. Doing so in any capacity may require some minor tweaks to an organization’s overall marketing strategy.
Measuring success
Micro- and nano-influencers specifically thrive on authenticity and reliability—so one may consider allowing these influencers to share their unique affiliate links to a specific product in a way that best resonates with their individual audience. This could range from a post on their story to a live video in which the product or service is highlighted. As a benefit, most influencers have a presence across social media channels, allowing them to create and share a diverse array of content, and followers willing to use their link so they earn a commission. However, establishing a baseline for campaign performance, as well as tracking metrics, is essential.
Campaigns with mega-influencers are most often billed per post, similar to a television ad which marketers pay just to air, while most micro-influencer campaigns are measured for clicks and conversions. This minimizes the risk to the brand, since they only pay for engagement and they’re able to effectively understand the value of the campaign. While an acceptable baseline for clicks and clicks to conversions varies by vertical, there has been a significant upswing in average conversion rates, growing from from 1.83% in 2020 to an impressive 26.9% as of 2022. Unique content through video and livestreams has proven itself engaging—on average, micro-influencers have a 47% higher engagement rate than macro-influencers.
The realm of affiliate marketing has evolved extensively since its inception, and today, it can streamline the process of collaborating with influencers of all sizes across platforms. Marketers can utilize any number of tools to easily set campaign restraints and track conversions in real time—these technologies help keep the elements of a campaign’s performance attributable for marketers and influencers alike. Marketers can participate in the socially integrated influencer space through research, outreach and a few tweaks to their campaigns, optimizing for social media and the unique audiences of relevant influencers for their niche.
