Micro and Macro Influencer: Which Is Right for Your Business?

Influencers are individuals who are perceived as having expertise on a topic and use this authority to engage with a large follower base to influence their attitudes and behaviours. The influencer marketing industry has doubled since 2019, revealing the critical impact that micro and macro influencers have on businesses worldwide.

So if you want to work with influencers to hit your company objectives, how do you know which type of influencer to opt for?

In this article, we’ll discuss the difference between nano, micro, macro, and mega influencers to help you make the right decision for your next campaign.

A macro influencer’s follower count falls in the range between 100,000 and 1 million followers. While they don’t always have deep connections with their audience, they can use video marketing and other content to reach a large number of individuals.

• High Reach - With such a large follower base, you can expect your business to be visible to a vast number of potential consumers when working with a macro influencer. If their audience aligns with your own, you’ll see a spike in brand exposure and a higher chance of generating more conversions.

• Consistent follower growth - Macro influencers are known for producing a relatively consistent performance in their follower growth, meaning that if you hire this type of influencer for a long-term campaign, you can expect to reach increasing numbers of people.

• Expensive - Partnering with a macro influencer will cost you much more than if you were to partner with a micro influencer. After all, those with over 100K followers can charge over £350 per post, meaning you could collaborate with around four or five micro influencers for the same price as one macro influencer. Expect these prices to increase for video content, like Reels or TikToks.

• Lower engagement rate - Because of their prominent following, macro influencers sometimes find engaging with their followers and building solid relationships tricky. Always check their engagement rate before collaborating with a macro influencer.

• Bots and fake followers - Macro influencers often have more fake followers more than micro influencers. If you spend money on an influencer with fake followers, you risk wasting it on people who won’t actually take action on the promoted posts.

If your brand objectives include increasing awareness and reach, macro influencers could be the answer you’ve been looking for. Macro influencers also tend to work for companies with quite a generous budget and a broad target market.

Hiring a macro influencer can help modify how a large following perceives your brand. You will effectively associate your brand with a popular person or someone leading an aspirational lifestyle, thus making it more attractive.

Micro influencers are individuals who have a follower base of 10,000 to 100,000. They usually focus on a particular area of expertise and are perceived as topic specialists, meaning their consumers can fall within a niche market.

• High engagement rate: Micro influencers often have stronger engagement rates than macro influencers because they are able to build strong connections with their followers. With a smaller following, micro influencers can respond quickly to their audience and have more meaningful and personal long-term conversations with them. This helps the influencer to understand their audience better, and create content that truly resonates, driving engagement and trust.

• Possibility for higher ROI: It’s no secret that micro influencers cost less than macro influencers. They will tend to charge around £50 to £350 per post, depending on their specific following, engagement rate, content quality and niche. Because they cost less than macro influencers, you may see a much better return on your money in the long run.

• Community focus: Micro influencers typically take the time to answer people’s comments and messages to build relationships and a strong community. This helps them to stay relevant and retain followers.

• Smaller reach: Because of their niche topic focus, micro influencers have a smaller reach than macro influencers, meaning that their sponsored posts won’t be exposed to as many people.

• Can be hard to find: Seeking out the best influencer for your brand is no easy process, mainly because you want to work with someone that fits your target audience, is excellent value for money, and has high engagement. Because of this, finding the right micro influencer that fits your specific requirements can be challenging.

Consider collaborating with a micro influencer if your business objective is to enhance conversions, sales, and brand credibility. Brands with niche target markets and smaller budgets are also more likely to go for micro influencers.

However, even the largest brands are investing in micro influencers nowadays. For example, Coca-Cola worked with micro influencers in Belgium to generate social media content which promoted the company. This content helped reinforce Coca-Cola as an everyday drink of choice for real people with all different types of lifestyle.

You should hopefully see an increase in your audience base after using a micro influencer since they can be very relatable to specific target audiences.

Aside from micro and macro influencers, you may also consider working with mega influencers or nano influencers.

Mega influencers are the highest ranked in terms of their following – they have over 1 million followers. Although a mega influencer may have a similar number of followers as a traditional celebrity, mega influencers grew their audience through social media, not through traditional media (television, music, films etc.). While they don’t tend to have strong connections with their followers, mega influencers can provide brands with a substantial reach.

An example of a mega influencer is Zoe Sugg (a.k.a. Zoella), who has amassed over 9 million followers on Instagram and over 10 million subscribers on YouTube through her lifestyle and beauty social media content.

At the other end of the scale, nano influencers have the smallest follower base, which falls at less than 10,000 people. Despite their small reach, nano influencers can still influence people in your target demographic. Nano influencers are seen as more everyday social media users, like the majority of your audience, and so are viewed as more relatable and genuine. Therefore, small brands who are on a low budget and focus on specific niches, such as veganism, pets or gaming, may benefit from the brand awareness and social buy-in generated by nano influencers.

• Google search:
  You can use Google search alerts to notify you of keywords related to your company. This can help you discover individuals discussing your business, industry and forte.

• Try influencer marketing platforms:
  Influencer marketing platforms can help you discover influencers in your niche, who you can then contact to get the partnership started. Most of these platforms will require a monthly or annual subscription fee, but you should see if they offer a free trial or free plug-in (e.g. Uplfuence’s Chrome plug in) to get a feel for the software. Platforms vary in what they can offer – for example, some will allow you to run end-to-end influencer campaigns, whereas some will focus on just one part of the process (e.g. the discovery phase). When researching these platforms, consider your budget along with the social platforms they’re compatible with, the level of data they can pull, which integrations they offer, and the different features they provide. Examples include Upfluence Inc. and SocialTalk.

• Search for hashtags and keywords:
  By searching currently trending and relevant hashtags and keywords on social media, you can find influencers who have created content around your niche in the past. Another tip is to look at branded hashtags that other companies use for their influencer, ambassador or UGC content - just make sure their target audience is similar to yours!
  

• Check what other brands are doing:
  Take a look at which influencers similar brands are partnering with. Look at your direct competitors along with brands whose target audience similarly aligns with your own.

• Contact influencer agencies:
  Get in touch with an influencer or talent agency to see if they can provide you with an individual with the perfect brand fit. This is generally the most efficient way to find the best influencers for your campaign, but is more costly than finding influencers on your own. Talent agencies will have different influencers on their books, so don’t be afraid to contact various agencies for a clearer picture of your options.

All in all, whatever influencer is right for your brand will depend on your audience base, goals, and budget. As a relatively new style of marketing, social media influencer marketing can feel overwhelming, but it holds the potential to generate profit and help you to expand your audience base if used in the right way.

If you think you need help with your brand’s current social media strategy, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly team!