Whether we like it or not, influencer marketing is here to stay. Instagram influencers, Youtube influencers, and now TikTok influencers have replaced celebrities when it comes to brand partnerships. And their success is evident. In fact, the influencer marketing industry is set to reach $9.7B this year.
But if you’ve never run an influencer campaign before, things might be a bit confusing at first. In order to get started successfully, it’s important to understand the different types of influencers that exist and how to make the best choice for your brand.
One important way to sort influencers is by how many followers they have. Based on that, they fall into one of the five influencer tiers. Each tier has its own advantages and disadvantages, so you must be familiar with them.
Nano influencers have the fewest followers of any type of influencer but the highest engagement rates. Engagement rate is the level of interaction between an influencer and their audience. As nano influencers can more easily manage their online communities, they can build trust among their followers. Further, followers trust nano influencers’ authenticity, as their feed comes across as less perfect and more natural.
A step up from nano influencers, micro-influencers are a bit more used to working with brands. They have good-sized followings and still maintain high engagement rates. Micro-influencers’ audiences trust them as experts in their niche fields. This has made them one of the most popular options in influencer marketing over the last few years.
At this level, influencers start to transition from amateur to professional. The Medium tier is where influencers may start to leave their day jobs, pick up more and more collaborations, and even hire a manager. Medium influencers have proven they know how to grow an audience. However, it’s harder at this level to maintain an authentic relationship with followers, and the engagement rate starts to drop off.
Most macro-influencers see content creation as their full-time job, and many have managers to help them coordinate their profiles. Their content is highly polished and risks feeling inauthentic to their vast follower bases. Macro influencers may have followers worldwide, but their engagement rate is lower than their counterparts on the lower tiers.
These are the celebrities of social media, the influencers who have truly landed in the big leagues. They have an unparalleled reach, and their audiences span all types of demographics. But they generally have the lowest engagement rates of all influencers. Their heavy-handed editing and constant collaborations can make their profile feel like a revolving display case.
Now that you understand the different types of influencers that are out there, it’s time to decide which would work best for your campaign. There are many things to consider here, from your budget to your target audience to your campaign aesthetic.
It’s necessary to establish what you can offer as an incentive before you start looking for influencers. Incentive in these campaigns usually takes two forms. The first is non-monetary compensation, like products, services, or experiences gifted to influencers for free. The second is monetary compensation, AKA, money.
If you can only afford to offer products, stick to nano and micro-influencers. Any tier higher than that will ask for a fee in addition to your product or service. And the higher up the tiers you go, the more you’ll pay.
Keep in mind that if you hire a nano or micro-influencer, you may have to set aside an extra bit of time to explain the process to them and answer any questions they may have. These people are still learning the ropes, so you can’t expect them to do everything perfectly right off the bat.
If you want an expert, hire a macro or mega influencer. But be prepared to pay. While they’ll be more than familiar with how collaborations go, they’ll also be very expensive. Their managers may also drive up their fees, although the manager can also help with campaign logistics.
If your target audience is a niche market, it’s best to find a micro-influencer. As we said before, they’ll be considered an expert in their niche and can help gain engagement with your brand through the strong engagement they enjoy from their followers.
If you want to reach a niche market, stay away from macro and mega influencers. These influencers have widespread follower bases with diverse interests, so they’re not the best option for a laser-focused approach.
If you’ve planned your campaign well, you should have adequate time to find influencers, negotiate with them, and see them post your campaign content. However, if you’re in a rush, you may want to stay away from the extremes of the influencer tiers.
On the one hand, mega (and probably macro) influencers will be so busy with constant collaborations that they may not have time to squeeze you in. On the other hand, nano influencers might need more time to create and publish their content, as they’re just starting out.
If you need something done fast, your best bet is probably a micro or medium influencer. They’ll already be familiar with collaborations, but hopefully won’t be so busy not to be able to make time for you.
The different influencer tiers mean that there’s something for everyone in this industry. You can go for extreme reach, with a mega influencer who has 15M followers. Or you can hire a micro-influencer with 15K extremely dedicated followers. The choice is yours, but always make sure to tie your decisions in with your campaign goals.
If you are interested in even more social media-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
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