Regardless of whether your partner is defined as a macro, micro or nano social media influencer, this new age marketing method has some serious perks on offer.
Since more than four billion people around the world are using social media across everyday activities, it’s safe to say that this trend is here to stay. On top of that, these four billion users distribute their screen time across an average of 6.6 social media platforms or apps per month.
Just like any other medium, each social media platform has its fair share of users that have managed to elevate their following above others. If Graham Kennedy was regarded as the king of Australian television, and Christian Ronaldo the face of soccer, then it’s only natural that each social media platform would have their own equivalent: the social media influencer.
However, for brands and businesses doing their best to make their mark online and on these types of platforms, partnering with a social media influencer can be a gamechanger when it comes to elevating your content to a wider audience – but how do you get it right?
Influencer Marketing For Business Explained
Although once scoffed at by the advertising industry, the rise of the social media influencer cannot be understated. In fact, Estee Lauder spent over $900 million on influencer marketing in 2017, and for 2020, they allocated a whopping 75% of their marketing budget to influencer marketing alone.
By definition, a social media influencer is a figure that exerts influence over their audience members or followers. As a form of social media marketing for business, this strategy involves issuing product placements, endorsements and discount codes to influencers who can promote the partnership to their “fans”.
While it’s easy to become infatuated with big numbers, the right social media influencer for your brand may not necessarily be the one with the most “followers”. Mega influencers, or those with over one million followers, arguably have their own brand to promote. As a result, they generally cost a great deal more to work with, even though their engagement levels are actually also proven to be much lower thanks to a broader audience.
If you’re a business looking to partner with a social media influencer, then the sweet spot has been proven to be micro influencers. Although one “tier” under macro influencers who normally have between 100K to 1M followers, micro influencers usually have a much more specific or niche following. Usually capped at a maximum of 100K followers, micro influencers may have a smaller audience base, but you can bet that those audience members are significantly more engaged than those with a larger base.
The power of a micro influencer stems from the fact they aren’t a celebrity or an internet sensation, but a real person. Often perceived to be thought or opinion leaders within their niche, the magic of this type of social media influencer is their humanised approach to the world of social media. In turn, this encourages stronger and long lasting relationships with their smaller, but more specific audience or followers.
It’s also worth noting that as follower counts increase, the cost to work with influencers rises, creating a situation where brands must go all-in on a single content piece. Protecting their perceived authenticity is also critical to the success of an influencer – the more sponsored content an influencer posts, the more likely their followers will distrust their authenticity and wonder if all they are just interested in the payout. For both brands and micro influencers, partnering with smaller players in this arena is simply a win win.
Before selecting a micro influencer to partner with, it’s important to know your audience. Without this vital information, your business could be paying for marketing to the wrong people, and in turn the benefits of using a micro influencer would be null and void. Consider things like age, location, gender, occupation and hobbies, all of which can be found using Google Analytics or your social media statistics.
If you manage or run your own brand or business, maintaining a presence on social media can feel like a waste of your time. However, as more core components of our day to day lives shift online, it’s more important than ever to stay relevant in the online space as a means to craft a consistent message that matches the tone of your business. If this is something that you can’t quite commit to, it might be time to consider outsourcing.
The Key To Good Marketing Is Great Content
Producing quality, consistent and on brand content takes time, effort, experience and resources, but avoiding these responsibilities altogether may actually be doing your brand a disservice. Thankfully, investing in a solid content marketing strategy has actually never been easier.
Here at Content Hive, producing top quality digital content is exactly what we do best. We have itemised a list of digital content services, and allocated credits next to each of these. This means that each month, you can use your credits with us to produce digital content such as blog articles, social media posts, videos and even animated Instagram stories. By using this model, we believe that it enables us to produce high quality content with faster delivery times.
If you aren’t quite sure where to start on your digital marketing journey and would like to speak to a professional, why not book in a free discovery call with us at Content Hive today to discuss how we can get your brand buzzing online.
