There is this wrong perception that small brands have: the more followers an influencer has, the more conversions will generate. This is true, especially for brands just tapping into Influencer Marketing.
Read this blog post below to learn why this is false and why micro influencers are better to work with.
A more considerable following does not mean more conversions
In our perspective, there are several reasons for this:
Engagement
Macro influencers are less engaged with their communities. The more people you have in your community, the harder it is to engage with them naturally. Think of this: one Instagram post with around 300 comments; it’s almost impossible to foster a relationship with your audience.
Being less engaged with the community and answering their pain points slowly translates into a lower conversion rate over a period of time.
Fake followers
A fake audience or a percentage of phoney audience automatically means close to zero interest in what the macro influencers do, which leads to small conversions. Therefore, brands risk losing money.
Not all macro influencers have fake followers, but it’s almost impossible to check this.
Authenticity
As an influencer becomes more popular, more and more brands will start working with them, and therefore, more sponsored content will emerge on the profile. With more sponsored content coming regularly, the audience will wonder if the creator still fosters the community or more about the cash-on-hand.
With trust and authenticity slowly going down, so will the conversions. Another interesting fact is that the trend keeps going up because big brands have astronomical budgets to spend on influencers, plus most of the time, they don’t care about conversions.
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Micro influencers have better engagement rates
They are part of small, enclosed communities spawning on Instagram, Facebook or blogs, and they are passionate about sharing their thoughts on the products or services they use regularly. Because they are part of such tight-knit groups, they tend to engage up to five times more with their community than macro influencers or celebrities.
A better engagement is the first advantage. Secondly, the community around micro influencers is more inclined to listen to their recommendations, especially if they have a track record of promoting products and services that make people’s lives easier.
Micro-influencers have more targeted audiences
It’s not about how big is your audience, but more about how targeted it is, and to explain this, we come back to the concept mentioned earlier: community. An online community gathers around people passionate about the same or similar topics; they get together in Facebook groups, blogs, Instagram, and more.
These small communities start with several dozen people, and they can bring together a few thousand or maybe tens of thousands, a point where we believe it’s already becoming less influential. So, therefore, it makes sense that the members are focused on a few interests in this case, and it makes sense to promote products to them.
Micro-influencers are more affordable
Work with micro influencers at a fraction of your cost for a macro influencer.
Small, emerging brands can’t pay some of the macro influencers’ high fees. However, they can still tap into Influencer Marketing and create a small network of micro influencers constantly generating content, awareness, and conversions.
Tap here and discover engaged micro influencers and tight-knit communities!
Micro-influencers are more authentic
In general, micro influencers have more freedom to review products and share their thoughts in a more original manner, allowing them to add a bit of personality to the review. In addition, different micro influencers will address reviews in their specific way, their speaking style, tone of voice, decor and more.
Macro influencers are sometimes bound by rules imposed by brands, which view the campaign and what it should look like.
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About Stefan A.
Stefan is a Growth Marketer turned founder with a background in customer acquisition, Influencer Marketing, and early-stage startups. At Social Cat, Stefan drives day-to-day operations and growth, helping small brands connect with the right influencers to scale their reach and impact.
