Influencer marketing has become a prevalent marketing strategy and an industry in its own right. Celebrities with millions of followers typically come to mind when marketers and others think of influencers. Corporations pay celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner more than $200,000 for a single brand mention.
However, businesses may be missing a much larger influencer marketing opportunity: micro-influencers. A new study by Dr. Jonah Berger, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Keller Fay Group, a specialist in word of mouth marketing research, stresses that micro-influencers can deliver more impact.
The research funded by influencer marketing platform Experticity defines micro-influencers as people with greater than average reach in their niche. They are not traditional celebrities, but individuals who are knowledgeable, passionate and authentic. Most importantly, their followers trust their advice and recommendations about purchases.
Who do People Trust More?
The research reveals that micro-influencers have up to 22.2 times more conversations a week about recommendations on what to buy versus an average consumer. In addition, 82 percent of consumers surveyed said they were highly likely to follow a recommendation of a micro-influencer.
Micro-influencers are not traditional celebrities, but individuals who are knowledgeable, passionate and authentic.
Recommendations from micro-influencers, also known as long-tail influencers, carry more weight than those of average people. They are viewed as more credible and believable (94 percent vs. 83 percent), more knowledgeable (94 percent vs. 84 percent) and better at explaining how the product works or could be used (92 percent vs. 83 percent).
The influencers tend to get their own firsthand information vs. asking others: 26% of the general population became aware of brands through friends and family, while only 15% of influencers find brand information that way.
Micro-influencers are more direct in their recommendations, 74 percent encourage someone to “buy it or try it,” compared to 66 percent of the general population who encouraged those actions.
More Exposure vs. More Customers
“While a social media star with 3 million subscribers may give more exposure to your brand, engagement driven by long-tail influencers are more likely to turn audiences into actual customers,” writes Fabrizio Perrone, CEO and co-founder of influencer marketing platform Buzzoole, for SocialTimes.
Another advantage, he notes, is that a micro-influencer campaign is more likely to fit in a company’s PR or marketing budget.
Birchbox took the micro-influencer strategy when it sent a sample of its beauty product to Cherish Michelle, also known as PrettyPistol86, who gave her followers an honest review of the product. Michelle may have just 2,000 Instagram followers and fewer than 9,000 YouTube followers, compared to the millions of Jenner’s followers, but she has a closer relationship with her audience and her opinions hold more sway with them.
The Nielsen Global Survey of Trust in Advertising found that real-life situations resonate with 46% of people. Celebrity endorsements and athlete endorsements resonate with 12% and 8% respectively. “A key takeaway: ‘Keeping it real’ with your audience goes a long way,” writes Amanda Batista for Oracle’s blog.
Because micro-influencers are not as obvious as celebrities, a key challenge is locating them in the first place. Many organizations turn to social media listening tools such as Glean.info, searching for keywords that describe the market niche. Social media monitoring and measurement tools can help identify influencers with active and engaged followers as well as measure the effectiveness of PR and marketing campaigns.
Bottom Line: Developing relationships with micro-influencers, rather than celebrities with enormous numbers of followers, is a more effective PR and marketing strategy. While micro-influencers lack the enormous reach of celebrities, their recommendations have more impact. In addition, micro-influencers are far more affordable than Kim Kardashian or Kendall Jenner.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
