Businesses are all about brand influencers these days. Mega, macro, micro, and nano, the options can really span the spectrum. Though it might seem that anyone and everyone is an influencer, or could be, that’s not exactly true.
What’s an Influencer?
Influencers, or more specifically social media influencers, are people who have built medium to large followings on social media, usually within a specific industry or niche. They often hold sway over their audience due to their experience, interests, and specialized knowledge.
Since they’ve already built up an audience of people who trust their knowledge and give value to their views and opinions, brands have discovered that by partnering with these influencers in different industries, they can increase brand awareness and boost sales. Influencer marketing has turned into a bit of a subcategory of its own beneath the social media marketing umbrella.
What Makes a Good Influencer?
Influencers, by the very definition of the word, means they have influence with their followers. The reality is just because someone on social media has a bunch of followers, it doesn’t mean they hold much sway with those followers or receive much engagement from them. Real influencers have a rabid fan base, whether small or large, and their followers trust them and make purchase decisions based on their recommendations.
Business Influencer Criteria
Social media influencers are categorized according to their reach and level of influence and engagement. To see if they are a good fit for your brand and influencer marketing strategy, you’ll need to consider some key factors.
What kind of reach do they have?
Do they have real, quality followers?
Are their follower numbers fake and inflated?
Is there clear engagement from their following?
Is their niche relevant to your industry?
Do they produce top-tier content?
Are they within your budget?
Other KPIs you might want to track once you begin working with an influencer include:
CPC and CTR
Conversions
List growth
Referral traffic
Which Type of Brand Influencer is Right for You?
The influencer you choose should be based on your goals, your budget, and your industry. You wouldn’t want to work with an influencer that has a rabid following of tech geeks if you’re trying to sell beauty products. By the same token, you wouldn’t want to work with a global mega influencer if your target market is your local community. Below are the four tiers of ‘influencer’ status to consider, alongside the factors we just mentioned.
Mega Influencers
Mega Influencers are people like celebrities, athletes, and artists, who can reach millions of people with every social media post. At the start of influencer marketing, it was the mega influencers doing most of the work, with brands reaching out to celebrities for endorsements to promote products and services.
Nowadays, only huge global brands can afford mega influencers; since they don’t really need the exposure as they are already well-established successful brands, they really just need the influence and clout.
Macro Influencers
Macro influencers are social media personalities with 100,000 to 1 million followers. More often than not, the people in this range are industry experts, global thought leaders, and well-known within their niche. These influencers are ideal for larger, established brands, or new brands that are ready to put a lot of money into their influencer marketing campaigns.
Though their followers may have been gained organically, it is impossible for them to interact personally with a million people; therefore, most of their content marketing is done on the basis of their reputation and influence.
Micro-Influencers
A micro-influencer has a social media following of 10,000 to 100,000 people. Most of the people in this follower count range are social media celebrities in their chosen categories and niches. In fact, most social media influencers are in this range, since there is a huge difference between 10,000 and 100,000 people.
Micro-influencers are considered the most effective global and local influencers for most brands; largely because their audience is real and interactive, with their follower count built and earned by the influencers' own hard work and content creation. Micro-influencers are ideal for large-scale local brands, as well as small new businesses, and are significantly more affordable than mega or macro influencers.
Nano Influencers
Lastly, nano influencers are social media persons with less than 10,000 followers. Most of the people in this range are bloggers and content creators and are considerably newer in the influencer industry. With that said, nano influencers can be ideal for small local businesses, provided they are within your niche and industry.
Need Help Knowing Where to Start?
Finding the right brand influencer for your business should take some time. Carefully evaluate your potential selection and make sure they are the best fit for your brand. The last thing you want is to choose an influencer that isn’t a good fit and unintentionally harms your brand in the eyes of the public.
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