How to work with micro-influencers

There’s nothing quite like good old-fashioned word-of-mouth marketing to bring in buyers. And we’re not just talking friend-of-a-friend recommendations here. Social media has made it easier than ever for small-fry influencers to spread the word about your products.

What's a micro-influencer?

Micro-influencers are social media accounts with 10,000-50,000 followers. They often have a niche, targeted audience of highly engaged fans and provide a budget-friendly option for brands working on a shoestring.

That’s not to say only small brands can partner with micro-influencers. In fact, there are thousands of brands both big and small that are tapping into this trend – household names like Sephora, ASOS, Banana Republic, and Coca-Cola have joined forces with micro-influencers, but so have many smaller, DTC brands.

The importance of micro-influencers in ecommerce

Word-of-mouth marketing and the psychology behind trusted influencers lead to more consumer trust and more sales – simple, really.

But here’s the thing: while there might be a huge difference in reach working with Kim K and a local fashion blogger, there’s also a huge difference in price tag. 💰

Want to get Kim to promote your stuff? Set aside at least £500,000.

Obviously, this is an outrageous sum of money for a lot of up-and-coming brands. Luckily, micro-influencers can sweeten the deal for more reasons than cheaper rates.

📈 Higher engagement: Smaller social accounts tend to have higher engagement rates – 11x higher in some cases!

🤩 Increased trust: Micro-influencers often have a closer relationship with their followers because they provide more of a tight-knit community.

🎯 Targeted reach: Big accounts have millions of followers with hundreds of different interests. Micro-influencers often target a specific niche which makes their content and audience more focused.

🌿 Renew your social media content: If you're looking to breathe new life into your TikTok or Instagram content, partnering with micro-influencers is a good bet. When done well, it'll provide you with authentic posts you can share with your followers.

🤝 Lasting relationships: It’s easier to forge and maintain long-lasting relationships with micro-influencers who will continue to promote your products after the initial campaign.

How much does it cost to hire a micro-influencer?

There’s no one-price-fits-all for micro-influencers, but one thing’s for sure: you won’t be paying £500,000 per post.

In fact, one piece of research shows that micro-influencers charge between £100-£500 per post. This ultimately depends on several factors, including the platform the influencer is most popular on (YouTube influencers can demand anywhere between £200-£1,000 per video), the type of content they’re producing, and how engaged their audience is.

Where to find relevant content creators in your industry

Trying to find the right micro-influencer on social media (predictions show there could be up to 37 million influencers in the world) is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Here are some ways to make it less haystacky:

• Search relevant hashtags
• Check out who’s following your brand (you might already have hidden ambassadors in your reach)
• Use paid influencer marketing tools - try minisocial, Influencity, and GRIN to get started
• Leverage Google search to find “micro-influencers in [your niche]”

For example, here’s a list of 20 interior design micro-influencers to kick-start your search.

Before going all in, look out for quality content, check your chosen influencers have the right audience (if you sell women’s shoes and the audience is mainly men, you’re going to have a bad time), understand each account’s engagement levels, and consider how you might work together.

Why briefing your micro-influencers is a must

Micro-influencers create content and they’re good at it. It’s literally their job. But you want to make sure they’re creating the right content for your brand so you can meet your campaign goals.

Sure, you can give them free rein, but putting some guidelines in place in a brief can help keep things on track and tamper expectations on both sides.

The brief gives you the chance to clearly outline your campaign and the objectives while also giving influencers the chance to bounce if it’s not a good fit for them.

Here are some key things to include in the brief:

• Intro your brand: Let micro-influencers know who you are and what you stand for so they can determine if they’re a good fit and your goals align.
  
  
• Outline the campaign: Give a brief insight into the goals of the campaign, what you hope to achieve, and what you want it to look like in action.
  
  
• Clarify the social media channels: Select which channels you want the most content on – TikTok? Instagram? YouTube?
  
  
• Share some examples of your expectations: What do you want to achieve? Highlight what a successful campaign will look like to you and what you hope each micro-influencer will achieve.
  
  
• Highlight brand guidelines: Give micro-influencers crucial information about your tone of voice, words you do and don’t use, and how to describe your products to ensure your campaigns are cohesive.
  
  
• Offer do’s and don’ts: While you want to give micro-influencers as much free rein as possible, provide them with some boundaries and guidance to get them started. For example, should they link directly to the product page or your homepage?
  
  
• Mention contact and payment info: Let micro-influencers know who their main point of contact is and how they can invoice to get paid.
  
  
• Share organisation system: Let creators know where they should send their content. Use a tool like Dash to store everything in one easy-to-access place.

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Managing relationships with content creators and micro-influencers

You’ve cherry-picked your selection of influencers and are ready and raring to go. But how do you interact with them? And, more importantly, how do you make sure the relationship is fruitful for both sides?

There are three key parts to this:

1. Provide creative freedom

You’re working with content creators, not robots 🤖 – let them do what they’re good at! Give as much creative freedom to influencers as possible without going too far from the scope of your brief. They’ll enjoy working with you and (hopefully!) produce some of their best work when they aren’t boxed in.

2. Communicate clearly and regularly

Clear communication is crucial when working with content creators. They need to understand exactly what you expect from them and when – this is the basis of any good working relationship. Offer regular check-ins and give them a central point of contact they can reach out to with any questions and worries.

3. Keep it professional – but not too professional

Brand-influencer relationships are work relationships at the end of the day. But if you want to form deep connections with your chosen content creators, loosen up a bit on the business lingo. Keep conversations casual and treat them like the fellow human being they are!

4 growing brands that work with micro-influencers

Looking for some inspo to get started? Here are some ecommerce brands that work with micro-influencers on the regular: 

1. Olipop

Olipop pays its customers to create and share their own content about the brand. This has formed an integral part of the brand’s “refreshing” (pun very much intended) TikTok strategy.

2. Bliss

Beauty brand Bliss teams up with small beauty ‘grammer’s to share how-to videos and “before and after” snaps.

3. Frank Body

Frank Body has worked with a host of micro-influencers to populate its Instagram feed. The accounts it partners with have anywhere between 6,000 and 52,000 followers.

4. Toms of Maine

Toms of Maine has joined forces with several micro-influencers, including Tinted_pink, a content creator with 19,000 followers.

Forming long-term relationships with content creators

Micro-influencers can be a lucrative investment over time. The more they promote your products to their followers, the bigger your reach will be and the more sales you’ll generate 🎉

It’s important to think about your relationships with content creators as long-term affairs, not flash-in-the-pan one-hit wonders. Ask them for their ideas on upcoming campaigns, give them free rein (they know their audience best!), and make it easy to continue to nurture a relationship.

This is where Dash comes in. Once influencers have created their content, they can quickly and easily send it to a digital asset management (DAM) tool like Dash where it can be approved, rejected, or fed back on. The process is seamless and makes sure everyone is on the same page at any given time.