______
Thanks to the advent of Instagram, the
world of online marketing through the use of personalities with large
followings has quickly become the norm, and making a living off essentially
being a promotion tool more viable.
We all know about the big bucks some
social media stars are getting paid to post a picture of them holding up their
“favourite”
teeth whitening product or skinny tea. However, as those big accounts become
saturated with promotional material, the public loses interest and trust, and
that’s where mircoinfluencers have come in to steal the spotlight. Brands and
PR companies are now also targeting those known as mircoinfluencers; people who
have a smaller, but loyal following, with 55% of agencies choosing to incorporate mircoinfluencers
as part of their marketing strategy.
These smaller Internet personalities
seem more “human”, approachable, trustworthy and credible to those who loyally
follow. As Caroline Johns, Managing Director at Raw Vision Marketing,
highlights, this more authentic connection to their followers really shows that
less equals more.
“Smaller bloggers and influencers are
the ones with a captive audience. So while the overall reach may be less, the
editorial cut-through is greater, as there is more interaction with their loyal
followers, more discussion and consequently, more impact.”
Recently moving into full-time
blogging after being in the online world for seven years, Peta Serras, from the
Maitland based online publication Professional Babe, also agrees that
mircoinfluencers have a better connection with their following.
“I believe smaller influencers have
more of a pull with their audience. Because they've built relationships with
their following and they usually interact with them, when they recommend
something, it's like the recommendation is coming from a friend. I think
brands are seeing a better return on investment too because of this”.
Influencers with a 1000 followers or less generally have about a 9.7%
engagement rate, with a study
carried out by Experticity finding 82% of consumers are “highly likely” to follow a
recommendation made by a mircoinfluencer.
A mircoinfluencer’s smaller following
is more likely to be interested in the niche they represent and therefore will
be more likely to buy anything that person promotes. When that number of
followers starts to rise, diversity increases, and there is the potential that
less and less of the audience will be interested in any products the influencer
promotes. Tegan Seymour, a Newcastle blogger from Permanent Procrastination,
has certainly noticed this pattern.
“Smaller influencers can have good
engagement and are likely to be more well known in a particular area. Companies
are starting to realise their customers are looking for a more relatable
influencer to display their brands. The larger the following, the more out of
reach that person’s lifestyle seems to be, and the more hesitant I am to
believe their recommendations are unbiased, but that’s just me.”
The other benefit of mircoinfluencers
for brands and PR companies is they are much cheaper to work with, meaning a
smaller investment for a bigger return. However, as happens with any new
territory, there are still some reservations on the part of companies and
brands when it comes to monetising these opportunities, and this is something
Tegan has encountered.
“Difficulties are
always brands that are new to working with influencers and not understanding how
much a blogger’s time is worth. Obviously a lot of companies realise how much
growth they can do with working with Instagrammers and bloggers, but too often
companies are unwilling to pay a fair amount”.
As both brands and influencers do
become more comfortable with this marketing strategy and competition increases,
Peta believes the professionalism of this ‘mircoinfluencing’ world will
improve, as influencers become more savvy.
“It's becoming quite a saturated
market so I feel influencers really need to up their game and brands are
becoming pickier with who they are choosing to work with because it's such a
competitive field. I also see these smaller influencers are essentially
turning into larger publications to rival big name magazines.”
Despite all this, it’s not all over
for bigger influencers. As Caroline notes, both still have their place in this
bustling online world.
“We do find a lot of content with
bigger bloggers tends to be sponsored, whereas smaller bloggers will review a
product with no incentive other than to trial and review. Bigger
bloggers/influencers work better for expert comments and Q&A’s, but when it
comes to product reviews, we find the smaller influencer will invest more time
and energy into trialing the product and providing a more in-depth review”.
.
7/13/17
.
blog /
blogger /
freelance writer /
influencer /
instagram /
lifestyle /
mircoinfluencer /
social media /
writing
