The Making of the Micro-Influencer

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Creators continue to accrete more power by reaching engaged audiences through social media in ways that traditional media channels cannot.

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“It’s nearly impossible for growing brands to succeed without partnerships with influencers,” Chrissy Werner, VP of marketing at Tubular Labs, declares. “Influencers drive commerce and advertising the way traditional forms like TV, radio, and newspapers did for decades. As a collective, creators continue to grow in power and counter media conglomerates worldwide.”

 With more than 30 million creators in the world, there is an endless variety for marketers to choose from. “Each has their unique fingerprint of follower count, community engagement, conversion rates, values, niche focus, and more. This makes it very difficult for marketers to weigh options and choose the right creators to represent their brands,” Werner says.

Vanity metrics such as likes and views may be easy to see but that doesn’t mean they’re valuable.

“Looking beyond likes & followers helps you avoid overpaying for ineffective partnerships and create a larger influencer portfolio that aligns with business goals,” she insists.

Tubular says marketers need to start their search for a suitable creator to partner by taking a cold hard look at their own Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

These might be, for example: to decrease client turnover by 20% or to increase ROI 30% year-over-year. Perhaps a priority is to build and nurture customer advocacy or to optimize expense management.

“With easy access to those otherwise hard-to-see metrics, you can find influencers who fit into a tighter budget or help drive customer satisfaction by maintaining a close connection to niche communities of your consumers.”

Leading on from there, a next step to selecting the ideal creator-influencer might be to dig deeper into the metrics of the influencer.

Measuring quality, in addition to quantity, it is suggested, can help a brand save money “by partnering with influencers who pack a bigger punch” and to “avoid paying for inactive subscribers.”

Many marketers agree that influencers with the broadest reach don’t necessarily drive the highest conversion rates. Because of this, “micro-influencers” and niche creators have increased in popularity because they have loyal, engaged followers who are highly likely to make a purchase when they recommend a product.

“Many marketers get into the habit of looking for creators who are in 100% alignment with their industry. This tactic makes sense! That said, uncovering deeper insights that reveal adjacent audience interests can help marketers identify rising talent and mitigate financial risk,” Werner writes.

With such insights, Tubular suggests that marketers can track and monitor brand penetration efforts. For example, you can monitor the before and after of in-depth insights from Market Share (which tells you what percent of a creator’s audience shops for your brand) to benchmark success, and then validate spending to decision-makers.

“Choosing influencers with qualities that are aligned with your business goals means you increase brand penetration and drive conversions like never before.”