Having 800 million monthly active users, Instagram has become a goldmine for marketers who want to connect with potential customers and boost sales. As a result, the community of businesses on Instagram has grown to 25 million. To stand out from the crowd, investing in promotion is a must.
But:
As various advertising campaigns bombard users from all sides, there is no wonder people find it annoying and 21.9% laptop users opt for blocking ads.
While ad blockers have become a common pet peeve of all markers, companies still need to find alternative ways to promote their products without losing customers' trust. Thus, word-of-mouth advertising is more influential than brand content, so the power of influencer marketing is booming.
Here's the thing: influencer marketing delivers 11x higher ROI than traditional forms of digital marketing; 94% of marketers have found this tactic to be effective; 59% of them plan to increase their influencer marketing budget.
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More and more companies jump on the bandwagon to make the most out of influencer marketing.
When it comes to finding an influencer, most brands believe the more followers an opinion leader has, the better. On the surface it's logical, but proficient marketers distinguish several reasons to lay a bet on micro-influencers, niche-focused opinion leaders with a smaller following count.
Collaborating with Instagram micro-influencers, marketers have a chance to:
- save money: micro-influencers are more cost-effective. 84% of them charge less than $250 per branded Instagram post.
- get better results: Influencer Marketing Hub study claims that a person with 1000 followers has 8% engagement while an influencer who has 100k+ followers has only 1.5% engagement.
- run a native ad campaign: micro-influencers seem to be common people who publish genuine content about the things they love. As they are more authentic, people are more likely to listen to their advice.
For a number of reasons, it's beneficial to collaborate with micro-influencers. However, it's also important to understand how to do it effectively to get results and boost sales.
Micro-influencers revolve around a particular passion or niche, so they attract the niche-focused audience, and their interests should fit with your brand image.
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Choose the right micro-influencer
Micro-influencers are common folk with 1,000-10,000 followers who are speaking with their tribes to share their likes and dislikes, and therefore impact their following. As specified in Experticity research, 82% of consumers report they are highly likely to follow a recommendation made by a micro-influencer.
However, looking for micro-influencers to collaborate, not all of them can help your brand grow. Micro-influencers revolve around a particular passion or niche, so they attract the niche-focused audience, and their interests should fit with your brand image.
So, how to choose the right influencers?
- Do their principles match your brand? To get great results and boost sales, ensure that a potential influencer's views and principles relevant to your business. For example, if you want to promote a tour for youth, it's useless to ask an Insta mom to help you.
- Do they have active followers? There's no secret that many people want to become influential to earn money. Thus, most of them buy fake followers. If an influencer doesn't have many likes and comments, your collaboration may be a waste of time and money.
- Do they collaborate with your competitors? It doesn't seem to be trustworthy when a person promotes Coca-Cola one day and Pepsi the next one. Fighting for the same audience, you need to avoid micro-influencers who are ready to collaborate with your competitors.
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Influencer marketing can help your brand add credibility if you choose the right influencers to work with. Thus, do research to ensure that you've found an opinion leader who can increase brand preference.
While macro-influencers know they can earn money with their following, micro-influencers are new to the business so they act as common people.
Establish a connection
Let's be honest: while macro-influencers know they can earn money with their following, micro-influencers are new to the business so they act as common people. Thus, if you want to collaborate with a micro-influencer, you need to establish a connection first.
It's in human's nature to be prejudiced in favor of brands who take care of you, so when you put micro-influencers first, you create a connection that can lead to a collaboration.
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How to establish a connection with micro-influencers?
- Follow them: most Instagrammers care about their fans, so following micro-influencers is a way to show your respect.
- Show your interest: like and comment without promoting your product.
- Don't hasten to offer a collaboration: follow an influencer for a while and grab his attention. If you like and comment regularly, the influencer will be interested to check out your profile.
Once you've established a strong connection with an influencer, it's perfect time to slide into DMs and offer a collaboration. Moreover, it's a card up your sleeve that helps you stand one step ahead of your competitors.
If you help micro-influencers grow, you gain their trust and respect which may help you get better results with time.
Help micro-influencers grow
Did you know that 40% of micro-influencers want to express themselves?
In fact, only 7% join new platforms to make money. For marketers, it means micro-influencers expect brands to respect their individual voice. In addition, micro-influencers think about their prospects, so if you help them grow, they will never forget you.
For example, if you know that a micro-influencer wants to increase the following, offer something that can help him achieve his goal. For instance, you can stay creative and suggest cross promotion – share his photo and tag his account to attract potential followers.
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Becoming popular on Instagram requires much time and effort, and if you help micro-influencers grow, you gain their trust and respect which may help you get better results with time.
Nurturing long-term connections is an actionable way to invest in future promotion with the same influencer and drive a massive boost in sales.
Nurture long-term connections
You've finally received a post with your brand mention after communicating with a micro-influencer for many months. If you're about to kick back and relax, we have bad news for you then: you need to nurture connections with micro-influencers.
Why?
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It's your chance to maintain great relationships and get back to these influencers once they become more popular. When opinion leaders grow, their prices change. Plus, they become more selective when it comes to collaborating with brands. However, if you'd noticed them when they had a smaller following, it's more likely they will be open for a collaboration in the future.
Nurturing long-term connections is an actionable way to invest in future promotion with the same influencer and drive a massive boost in sales without spending big bucks.
Micro-influencers give alternative opportunities to promote your brand without spending much money.
In a word
Influencer marketing isn't just a buzzworthy trend. It's a powerful marketing tool that allows brands to enter already-established communities and promote their products in a genuine way.
While macro-influencers can be expensive for most brands, micro-influencers give alternative opportunities to promote your brand without spending much money.
In spite of smaller following, micro-influencers have better engagement rate which means giving better results. Bringing micro-influencers on board to boost sales is a great option for brands who want to find alternative ways for genuine promotion.
Native Advertising Institute
