by By Stella Lucas
If you have scrolled on Instagram or TikTok recently, chances are high that someone has tried to persuade you to buy something. Whether it be a new makeup product, hoodie or everyday gadget, influencer marketing has become a regular part of our scrolling experience on social media platforms. But, with this new wave of brand partnerships and influencer marketing, it’s becoming harder to tell what recommendations we can really trust.
Introducing the micro-influencer. Different from celebrities or large creators, micro-influencers have anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 followers and offer a more niche community of fans. Micro-influencer’s more focused interests like house plants, vegan recipes or acne-safe skincare, allow them to build deeper, more personal relationships with their followers. Their content often feels more authentic and the relationship they have with their fans becomes more personal. For brands looking to partner with creators, micro-influencers give them a unique opportunity to sell their product in a way that feels authentic and organic to their target audience’s feed.
Small Creator, Bigger Influence
Because of their more niche content, micro-influencers have focused audiences with more specific needs and consumer behaviors. For example, a micro-influencer who creates content about acne-safe skincare would have a more relevant audience for a clean ingredient skincare brand than a celebrity like Kim Kardashian. Although Kim Kardashian may have millions more followers, they have a wide spread of different interests and may not be the target audience for the product. Alternatively, micro-influencers acquire most of their followers through showcasing similar values or interests to their fans, which can make recommendations from them feel even more truthful and helpful.
Research findings suggest that when consumers view an influencer as authentic, they also view them as trustworthy, improving their intent to purchase whatever product is being recommended. These findings help explain the reasoning behind a brand choosing a micro-influencer with a focused audience over a celebrity with large reach. If a brand strategically selects micro-influencers to sell their products it can help create naturally aligned, long-lasting partnerships that can grow over time.
Small Doesn’t Always Equal Trustworthy
But just because a creator has a smaller audience doesn’t make them automatically more trustworthy. Just like any other influencer, micro-influencers have the opportunity to partner with brands, receive PR packages, and earn commission through links on content, making it harder to decipher whether the creator genuinely recommends a product because they love it or because they are being paid to promote it.
Although some paid partnerships can appear as UGC because of their organic feel, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Endorsement Guides details the safeguards around transparency regarding UGC ads. The FTC has regulations in place that detail how influencers must make their relationship with the brand they are selling clear to consumers, whether it be familial, employer or financial. The FTC does this in order to keep UGC ads transparent and allow consumers to understand the influence that commission or other incentives can have on recommendations and decide whether they want to trust that recommendation.
Brand Takeaways
Data table from: https://mochee.com/how-can-engagement-rate-help-your-influencer-marketing-campaign/
For brands, the rise of micro-influencers is a reminder that it’s not always best to target the widest audience, but rather a more niche, specific audience for the best engagement. But, it’s equally important for brands utilizing these creators to allow them to speak to their audience in their own unique voice in order to continue to connect with their fans authentically. As consumers become more intertwined with UGC ads in their everyday lives, trust becomes the most essential tool micro-influencers can bring to brands. In the end, it’s not about what the creator is recommending, but rather trusting them enough to buy it.
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stella-lucas-425a742a8/
ChatGPT used for: Finding sources that connected with blog topic.
Hi Stella,
I really like that you chose this topic of micro0influencers because I think it is very relevant to our current project with our respective clients. It is very true that oftentimes the use of micro-influencers is much more effective than the use of major influencers. I liked when you noted that “Because of their more niche content, micro-influencers have focused audiences with more specific needs and consumer behaviors.” Not only do micro-influencers have more focused and niche content, but I think that they can also be much more trustworthy because there is a higher chance that they actually feel passionate about whatever brand or organization they are promoting.
I also liked how you mentioned that for many brands it is not always best to target the widest audience. This has me thinking about how micro-influencers can also help customize what customers are attracted to a brand, and could cause the customers influenced by the micro-influencer to be more in alignment with the brand than if one was influenced by a major influencer. For brands that feel very strongly about their brand identity and values, this could earn a lot of trust from all parties.
Hey Stella, I enjoyed reading this article, I think you make a lot of good points. To be honest when I am scrolling through social media and I find something that actually appeals to me when it comes to digital marketing towards a brand, I find myself leaning more towards what nano/micro influencers are talking about. Mainly because I get tired of mainstream celebrities or influencers preaching about products they are outrageously paid to talk about. My only concern if paid advertising, because whether they are nano or not, I want a brand to be described authentically, which I think gets lost in translation for many influencers.