The Value of Influencer Marketing in the 21st Century
Influencer marketing has completely taken over social media and we’ve seen brands completely thrive due to their use of influencers. The market for influencers on social media has grown tremendously over the past 5 years. Not only are companies using celebrities but mega-influencers, macro-influencers, micro-influencers, and nano-influencers.
Mega-Influencers
- The top of the influencer scale.
- 1 million+ followers on social media.
- Recognizable.
- Weak connection with their audience (they post but rarely interact).
- Most expensive to work with.
Macro-Influencers
- Between 100,000-1 million followers on social media.
- Most are popular purely from viral content on the internet.
- Good relationship with their audience.
- Usually from a specific niche.
- Tend to work with agents to book them.
Micro-Influencers
- Between 10,000-100,000 followers on social media.
- Largest category of influencers.
- They are SMEs (subject matter experts).
- Loyal followers who trust them.
Nano-Influencers
- Less than 10,000 followers on social media.
- Have high levels of engagement.
- Influence in small communities or areas.
According to Sprout Social the Instagram Influencer industry alone is worth 10 billion dollars as of 2020. That is on one platform alone. This is clearly something of value, but how can it be done in the best way that benefits your company in the long run?
Before influencer marketing even begins, be aware that this will take a lot of trial and error. Remember the goal is not just to use the influencer once and be done, but to build a relationship.
Founders of Grey Bandit call it “marrying an influencer.” Instead of solely relying on large, mega influencers to promote their products they work with micro influencers who have the potential to grow and those who create original, unique content. Influencers whose audiences are inspired by them always show the best purchase rates.
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Through trial and error they found this a lot more successful than sending a mega influencer product and hoping to see valuable return off of one post. “It usually takes a customer seven times to hear about a brand in order for them to make a purchase. If an influencer is only talking about your brand one time, their followers may be interested, but they’re not ready to buy yet,” says founder Courtney Glasser. Since graduating college in 2017 and launching shortly after, young founders Courtney and Lindsey Glasser just hit 5 million dollars in sales.
Through the pandemic, lockdowns gave many “normal” people to take to social media. This has caused brands to realize more and more the benefits of micro influencers. These influencers have a very niche audience, have a personal relationship with their followers, and their content they produce is highly relevant to their audience.
Next time you’re going over your marketing strategy and budget consider adding an influencer, specifically a micro influencer, to your strategy.
