What are Micro-Influencers?
Micro-influencers are people with a distinct social media presence, typically between 1,000 and 100,000 followers, in a given niche. They know a lot about their area or field of influence and people look to them for recommendations and advice about what matters and what to purchase.
Since micro-influencers resemble more of a trusted friend than a slick salesperson, they have some serious marketing power that you should capitalize on starting now.
The Data on Micro Influencing
A 2017 Consumer Content Report surveyed 2,000 adults in the US, UK, and Australia about their unique perspectives on the consumer buying process.
When it comes to engaging with a brand, it turns out that what matters most to 90% of Millennials is authenticity. And what do they consider “authentic”? Certainly not perfectly packaged branding.
Instead, Millennials prefer to consult a trustworthy source to decide where to spend their money, and 60% of them find that content created by consumers themselves is where they can find it.
And it’s not just Millennials who are responding this way. In fact, a study conducted by HelloSociety found that survey respondents were 3x more likely to follow an influencer than an actual brand.
What does this mean for you? That micro-influencing is a powerful tool to reach your customer base, no matter what their age or demographic.
A Powerful Tool in Your Local Market
We all know that word-of-mouth is the most powerful tool to win new customers. Well, micro-influencing takes it to a whole new level by combining word-of-mouth with social media.
Micro-influencers have “influence” because they’ve built a rapport with their audience and, in many cases, some of that audience is made up of a local community of followers. By connecting with micro-influencers in your area, you can create buzz and make a serious local impact.
Local Micro-Influencer Can Drive Sales!
According to a study cited in this article on restaurant marketing, restaurants can generate $17.50 in revenue for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.
And it makes sense. Users of Instagram love to see the appealing images of local products and services in their feed because it helps them discover new businesses to explore right in their backyard.
San Diego influencer Coco San Diego is a perfect example of a local micro-influencer whose very authentic enthusiasm for her community translates into a lot of foot traffic for businesses she features.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2E1fhTnY_E/
How to Find Micro-Influencers for Your Brand
Ok, now that you know how powerful local micro-influencers can be for your business, let’s cover how to find them.
Here are three simple recommendations:
- Search keywords and hashtags on Instagram, Twitter, or other social media channels to find influencers that fit your business and have a local audience.
- Use Google to manually type in [YOUR CITY] + [YOUR INDUSTRY] + [BLOGGERS or INFLUENCERS] and scan the results. For example, a restaurant could type in ‘San Diego Food Bloggers’.
- Check out a micro-influencer marketplace like heartbeat. Here, you’ll be able to find up-to-date info on trending influencers and connect to influencers that are available to do paid campaign work.
What if you run a business that doesn’t exactly attract influencers, like a car wash? That’s ok, just look for local influencers that have a good-sized general audience similar to your customer base and let them strategize creative ways to share your business…that’s what they do!
Tips for Using Micro-Influencers
- Invite them to try your business “on the house.” If they love your service or product, you may get some good (and free!) exposure as they could respond by mentioning it or posting a “thank you.”
- Reach out and ask if they are open to doing paid posts or shout-outs. Prices could vary depending on their amount of influence, so determine what you’re willing to pay ahead of time-based on what their influence could mean for your business.
- Let them be authentic… don’t try to guide their campaigns too much. Remember, your potential consumer base is looking for genuine interactions with your brand, and the micro-influencer will provide just that.
- Use a variety of micro-influencers. Rinse and repeat! The more positive exposure form multiple avenues, the more awareness for your brand. But don’t use them all at once or it will be very clear to the Instagram community that it’s a paid campaign, which defeats the purpose of using influencers for more authentic feeling marketing.
Your Turn!
It’s time to get off the fence and commit to putting in the time and effort to find micro-influencers that can drive you more business!
Use the tips outlined above to launch your first local micro-influencer campaign!
Let us know how it goes, and let us know if we can help.
