You’ve probably heard that micro-influencer marketing can be a powerful channel for brand and e-commerce marketing. Besides reaping the organic rewards of ‘traditional’ influencer marketing, smart digital marketers are leaning into the creator economy to commission brand and performance assets from micro-influencers. These are videos and still images that will never be shown to an influencer’s organic audience but are licensed for usage and can be edited, re-designed, re-purposed, and re-deployed. And you don’t have to pay for a studio shoot to get these assets for yourself.
That sounds appealing, right? Not only does your brand get the traditional influencer marketing rewards (authenticity, reach, brand lift), but you also enrich your brand asset library with strategic premium content that can be deployed in your brand’s organic social channels, on your website, in-app, at events, and even via the influencers’ allow listed accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
But how do you find the right agency to help you reach these influencers, create effective organic influencer campaigns, and commission the kind of hard-working premium content that will prove so valuable?
Lucky for you, we’re here to walk you through the micro-influencer marketing process and point out what you should look for in an influencer marketing agency partner.
Keep reading to learn more!
What is micro-influencer marketing and why should your brand consider it?
In today’s social media-driven world, micro-influencers have become a powerful marketing tool for brands looking to reach a wider audience. Unlike traditional influencers, who often have millions of followers, micro-influencers typically have a smaller but more engaged following. This allows brands to work with a larger portfolio of micro-influencers to create a more robust portfolio of premium content that can be licensed beyond the limitations of an influencer marketing campaign’s organic social reach. Thanks to micro-influencers, brands now have access to a new and highly effective way to reach their target audiences and the volume necessary to make a meaningful impact on the business.
Thanks to micro-influencers, brands now have access to a new and highly effective way to reach their target audiences and the volume necessary to make a meaningful impact on the business.
What are the benefits of working with micro-influencers?
There are many benefits of working with micro-influencers, including:
Increased authenticity: Micro-influencers are often seen as more relatable and trustworthy than traditional celebrities or social media stars.
Greater engagement: Micro-influencers typically have a higher rate of engagement than their celebrity counterparts.
More bang for your buck: Because they have a smaller following, micro-influencers usually charge less for sponsorships and product placements.
Test out social platforms: with more budget to spread around, you can determine whether there’s a place for you with TikTok influencers, on pinterest, YouTube, or Twitter.
What are some of the challenges of working with micro-influencers?
While there are many benefits of working with micro-influencers, there are also some challenges to consider. These include:
Difficulty managing multiple influencers: If you’re working with a large number of micro-influencers, it can be difficult to keep track of all their posts and ensure that they’re meeting your expectations.
Quality control: Because anyone can become a micro-influencer, it’s important to vet them carefully to ensure they align with your brand values and will produce high-quality content.
Time-consuming: Influencer management is one of the most challenging aspects of influencer marketing. A good micro-influencer marketing agency will have tools and processes to Working with micro-influencers can be time-consuming and tedious, better to have a micro-influencer marketing partner who can take the brunt of the work off your plate.
Lack of organic reach: Micro-influencers have a smaller following than traditional celebrities, their reach is correspondingly limited. This means you may need to work with a larger number of micro-influencers to get the same organic results as you would with two or three macro-influencers or one celebrity. If your plan is to harvest premium micro-influencer for use beyond the organic channels (which we highly recommend) then you can more than make up for organic reach with the rich results and deep data from paid social deployment.
Most of the drawbacks of working with micro-influencers can be mitigated or fully alleviated by finding the micro influencer agency partner for you.
How do you find the right micro-influencer marketing agency for your brand’s needs and budget?
When it comes to choosing the best micro influencer agency for your brand, there are several factors you’ll want to consider. Here are four tips to help you get started:
Define your objectives: What are you looking to achieve with your influencer marketing campaign? Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, or boost sales? Once you know what you want to accomplish, you’ll be able to better narrow down your options. Some shops are better at light-touch brand-building campaigns while others are steeped in the technical nuances of e-commerce performance. A rare few have both the strategic content chops to do upper funnel work while also excelling at delivering influencer marketing campaigns and influencer marketing content for lower-funnel conversions activity.
Consider your budget: How much are you willing to spend on an agency? Keep in mind that micro influencer agencies with more experience and a larger network of relationships will likely charge more than those just starting out. As influencer marketing has evolved, so has the professional aptitude of the agency personnel who staff it.
Research the agency’s portfolio: Does the agency have experience working with brands in your industry? Do they have a good track record of producing successful campaigns? Does the influencer campaign content look premium? Be sure to check out the results they’ve achieved for other clients before making a decision.
Ask for referrals: Talk to other businesses in your industry and see if they have any recommendations. Once you’ve narrowed down your options, you can then contact the agencies and ask for more information about their services.
How do you measure success when running a micro-influencer marketing campaign, and what are some common pitfalls to avoid?
Key Organic Metrics: Influencer Marketing Campaigns traditionally relied on organic social media metrics like impressions, views, likes, clicks and shares. These were pulled from the influencer’s page and aggregated to provide an indication of the influencer marketing campaign’s success. Using UTM links and 3rd party data platforms, a savvy digital marketer can cull
Key Paid Metrics: While there’s still tons of value in driving that earned reach and awareness through organic channels, micro influencer marketing experts are starting to understand the inherent power of combining credible creator content and the power of paid social media.
And with that, the KPIs for a successful influencer campaign have had the roof blown off!
Now, whatever goal you’re trying to achieve with digital marketing, you can almost certainly use licensed micro influencer content to get you there.
Want to efficiently build brand awareness and delvier video views? That’s easy.
What about driving traffic and app installs at competitive CPC/CPI? You bet.
Believe it or not, influencer content can be leveraged to deliver lower funnel conversion events like App Activations, Subscriptions and Purchases at some of the most competitive rates of almost anything else your brand is doing in paid social. That’s why Sundae calls influencer content the “Most Valuable Digital Asset Class”.
Opportunity Cost: One of the main drawbacks of influencer marketing — especially micro influencer marketing — was how much effort it takes to get strategic content live in market. With the help of the right micro influencer campaign, you’ll find yourself freed of the burdens managing talent, content review cycles, legal clearances, and posting schedules.
With the right micro influencer marketing agency, your influencer workload just got a whole lot easier!
Still have questions? Our team at Sundae Collective would be happy to chat with you about your specific needs and objectives. Contact us today to get started!