You own a small bed-and-breakfast in town. You do fairly well, considering that it’s a bad economy. However, you see other businesses like you doing more than good on social media. You begin to wonder what they’re doing that you haven’t tried. Upon browsing their Instagram feeds, you noticed their use of some local celebrities. When you check the celebrities’ number of followers, you realized that each of them has about 6,000 to 10,000 followers. These are micro-influencers, and they are doing such a great way of promoting your competitors’ brands.
Should you do it, too? Should you partner with influencers and begin to impress their followers with the rustic design of your lobby that’s made of barnwood shiplap? Influencer marketing isn’t just for the bigger brands. Small businesses can also tap micro-influencers whose followers number between 6,000 and 10,000. These influencers can still raise brand awareness, level up a marketing campaign, and reach new audiences.
Why Micro-influencers?
You don’t need Kendall Jenner to get into influencer marketing. Although, if you know her, why not ask her, right? But a recent study showed that small businesses may be better off partnering with influencers who have a smaller following. In fact, in some cases, the influencers may have a smaller following compared to your own Instagram or Facebook account.
Why is that? The same study showed that as an influencer’s followers increase, the level of engagement lowers. There are fewer shares, comments, and likes on their posts. Micro-influencers tend to have a more engaged following. Since they have a highly targeted niche and audience, they are considered experts in that field.
While it’s nice to have Kylie Jenner mention your brand, her followers may not exactly be interested in what you have to offer. If you sell dog products and Kylie mentions you, how many of her followers are dog lovers? Many of them followed her on social media because they liked her style and are interested in her life. She is not the best ambassador of your dog biscuits.
Instead, you need to look for micro-influencers. Their followers are nowhere near that of Kylie or Kendall or any of the Kardashians. But, they have a more targeted market. Because they have fewer followers, they can better engage with them. They know their market better, and they can give you insight on how to market your brand.
Who Are the Micro-influencers?
Who are the local influencers that you can tap? You have to spend some time researching the influencers whose own brand aligns with yours. Are they going to use your products? If they use the products, will their followers believe them? Are they going to trust this influencer’s choices?
Remember that it’s not always about the number of followers, shares, or likes. You have to find someone who will fit the image that you want for your business. But more than anything else, you have to find influencers who are fans of your company. It is easier to work with someone who believes in your products and services.
If you are in a restaurant business, find food bloggers in your area. If you own a gym, take note of members who have a good number of followers on social media. You can offer them a deal. You can give a free six-month membership in exchange for marketing your gym to their followers.
How to Make Influencers Say Yes?
They won’t immediately agree to partner with you. They may not want to partner with you at all because they don’t find the value in your business. That doesn’t mean your business isn’t worth the trouble, but you might be reaching out to someone who doesn’t have the market for your company.
Send an email to the influencers. Make sure that these are personalized emails and not copied and pasted. In your email, tell the influencers what value your brand will bring to their content. How are they going to benefit from partnering with you? Although you believe you have a good product, that doesn’t mean you should expect these influencers to market your business for free. They aren’t as expensive as celebrities, but you need to pay for a spot in their feeds, too.
Working with influencers is probably the most effective way to reach your target audience, as well as to extend your reach. You can breathe new life into your marketing strategy by bringing influencers into the fold. So, whether you’re doing well with your business or not, you won’t go wrong with partnering with influencers.
