Anna Rolke
What is more credible: traditional advertising or the recommendation of a good friend? The latter is usually more effective because friends always have an advantage in terms of trust. This is where influencer marketing comes in, a topic broadly discussed in the last few years. This article wants to deal more intensively with the topic of Micro- or Nano-influencers. As a close-up into practice, watch the Instagram-Takeover of a fashion influencer who belongs to the nano-influencer category: Kastanja.
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Influencer-Marketing: Big players are out
Advertising with the help of professional Instagram stars, influencer marketing, has long been part of the marketing mix of many companies. However, the professionalization of the discipline has led to some challenges in recent years. Increasingly, the credibility of influencers is being viewed critically. Social media stars with several hundred thousand followers, called Mega- or Macro-influencers, who swear by a wide variety of products on a weekly basis are becoming less and less convincing and thus less successful. Micro- or nano-influencing is a new way out of this crisis for companies.
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What are Micro- or Nano-influencers
The term Micro-influencer is not precisely defined. In general, one speaks of an influencer if the person has a certain reach on a social media channel. In practice, one speaks of a Micro-influencer when the reach is between approximately 10,000 and 50,000 followers. One is called a Nano-influencer from 1,000 followers up to 10,000.
For those smaller influencers, almost every one of their followers is a friend, or a friend of a friend. The high authenticity and credibility they bring offer you the same advantages as a friendly recommendation. In many cases, they are an expert in a particular field or have a passion for a particular topic. Their reach has grown organically and is made up of family, friends, acquaintances, or simply people who find themselves in their profile.
Micro-influencers are content creators on social networks and blogs who are defined by their high engagement rate of around 2.4 to 4 percent when integrated into an effective online marketing strategy. The fewer followers the influencer has, the more engagement it can register. For example, the average engagement rate for influencers on Instagram with 5,000 to 10,000 followers is four percent. The Micro- and Nano-influencer industry continues to grow: at the start of 2020, 300% more smaller influencers were working with large companies than in 2016, and they stand out for their high authenticity and the trust of their loyal, engaged community.
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How else do Micro-influencers differ from Macro-influencers?
Apart from the higher reach that the big stars in the influencer sky achieve, there are factors in which the advantages of Micro-influencers become clear:
- Their engagement rate is about 60 percent higher than that of macro influencers.
- Collaborations are around 6.7 times cheaper than with Macro Influencers and are largely based on free products.
- Their proximity to the community makes them target group experts and expands the opportunities of a Micro-influencer strategy as a market research tool to further develop the brand.
- The relevance of their content to their followers is paramount – as is their honest experience with brands and products.
- Being a content creator is more of a passion than a profession for the majority of Micro-Influencers, with their interest in brand and product making them potentially powerful brand messengers.
- They attach great importance to the quality and regularity of their content, which is characterized by a high level of creativity and can often be reused very well by brands.
- They often have a high interest in building long-term relationships with brands, making them suitable brand ambassadors to grow and add value to the brand community.
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A closer Look to Nano-Influencing: Instagram-Takeover with Kastanja, a Fashion-Influencer
Aula News had the great opportunity to take a closer look at a fashion influencer and ask her various questions. Kastanja is from Finland, but lives in Brussels, Belgium. She studies international communication and media for the second year in Thomas More university. She has been active in social media since Instagram became a “thing” back in the day – today she has about 1,500 followers.
Being creative is a big part of her and a way to express herself. Also, she loves coming up with new ideas about what to video or photograph. Being an Influencer is more than anything, it’s great fun for her. On our Aula News’s Instagram-account she will tell you about herself, her being an influencer, her relationship with her community and about working with companies. All the answers and the whole Instagram-Takeover can be found on the Aula News Instagram-Account!
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Conclusion: Micro Influencers are in no way inferior to the big players
Although Micro-influencers register significantly fewer followers than macro influencers, they certainly don’t have to hide. Due to their higher engagement rate, trust with the community and their expert status, even in niche areas, they are particularly interesting for companies.
Micro- or Nano-influencer marketing brings great opportunities. They are less expensive than the big social media stars with a reach of millions, yet often achieve a higher engagement rate. As a result, companies can launch a highly successful campaign with a small budget.
It is often difficult for companies to address consumers in an authentic way. If the Micro-influencer matches the product in terms of content, this challenge can be solved. An influencer has a more genuine effect on his followers because he can respond to their comments and questions and enter a content dialogue with them about the product.
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