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11 May 2020
Influencer Marketing
May 11, 2020 Tami Nealy

The Scoop on Micro-Influencers: Digital Marketing

Social media influencers are an important part of the digital marketing strategy for any brand from packaged goods to automotive.

When brands begin their first influencer campaign, they may often feel paralyzed by finding the right influencers to promote their product. What do they need to know about an influencer’s audience size? What does engagement mean and why does it matter? These are important questions to ask when developing a digital marketing strategy.

Since 2013, Find Your Influence (FYI) has worked with more than 600 brands to help them execute successful influencer marketing campaigns. Today FYI is sharing the scoop on why micro-influencers should be part of every brand’s influencer marketing strategy.

Why are social media influencers important to a digital marketing strategy? 

Social media influencers work with brands to create content to drive awareness and/or engagement about a product or a service. Influencer marketing is the art of connecting brands and the powerful voices of digital content creators. This connection leads to authentic conversations around a product message. Social media influencers are an important part of the digital marketing strategy for any brand from packaged goods to automotive.

At FYI, a micro-influencer is any creator with 10,000 followers or less.

What should brands look for in micro-influencers?

Before working with micro-influencers, brands should understand the influencer’s content, style, tone and demographics of their followers, often the brand’s target audience. Much of this can be learned simply by viewing the influencer’s posted content. Influencers aren’t just creating content on Instagram. Be sure to review their blog, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat or any other social media channel.

When reviewing an influencer’s content, it is important to understand their engagement with their followers. Who is commenting and how does the influencer reply? This will give brands insight into how committed the influencer is to engaging with their audience.

An influencer’s engagement rate is a metric often measured by brands when selecting influencers. Engagement rate is determined by taking the number of engagements on a post (likes + comments) and dividing it by the total number of views (eyeballs on the post).

How can brands find micro-influencers on Instagram? 

To find influencers on Instagram, begin by searching for branded hashtags as well as location-based hashtags. For example, many micro-influencers try to establish community by using #azblogger or  #cablogger to establish their location.

For example, if you are a CBD brand looking for CBD influencers try searching for #cbdhealth or #cbdwellness. Micro-influencers exist for so many niches and can be found if you know the trending or common hashtags they may use. 

Why the recent surge in brands using micro-influencers?

Micro-influencers are becoming more frequently requested by brands because of their higher engagement rates. FYI has seen 294% growth in micro-influencers being used in social media campaigns in 2019 over 2018.

Because micro-influencers have a smaller following, their audiences often feel a higher affinity, like a friendship, with the influencer. This relationship often leads to higher purchasing rates as well as engagement rates.

FYI data shows that engagements across all social media platforms doubled from 2017-2018. Analyzing influencer engagement growth over a six year period (2014-2019) shows a growth of 500%

What tools can  be used to find influencers on Instagram?

Find Your Influence is an all-in-one influencer marketing solution powered by proprietary technology. The FYI platform allows brands to identify influencers, launch campaigns, track performance and report results.

The FYI platform allows brands to search for influencers based on keywords that show up in their content. The platform also provides look-alike modeling. For example, if you like a fashion blogger based in Washington DC and want to find other DC-based fashion bloggers, the FYI solution allows brands to find look-alike influencers.

Check out, and follow, some of FYI’s favorite micro-influencers today:

 

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