• Makenzie Finks

Why Big Brands Want to Work With Small Influencers

Updated: May 10, 2019

I have always thought the life of an influencer looked so interesting and glamorous. I mean come one who wouldn't want to receive products for free. Coming home to boxes of clothes, makeup and accessories just hanging out at your doorstep sounds pretty dang amazing.

I mean that is part of the reason... okay maybe the whole reason I wanted to become an influencer. I mean not really like there are so many other things I LOVE about being an influencer. Talking and connecting, creating and editing and of course writing. I mean it is my full time job as well after all. BUT the free stuff from brands are a perk!

I am by NO means to the point where brands know my address and just send me stuff in turn for advertisement or promotion on my account. I still have to work SUPER hard for it but I do get collaborations and deals even as a small 'micro-influencer'. I gave a talk a few weeks back now at my undergraduate college about what it's like being an influencer and I mentioned the term 'micro-influencer'. Essentially, this is an influencer with a following of like 50K and below who have an engaged audience that looks to them for advice. If you haven't heard of them they have really started climbing the ladder to being just as relevant as a macro-influencer - someone with 100K+.

It used to be that brands only wanted to work with macro-influencers or superstars for the large following and fan base but there are plenty of reasons that micro-influencers are the ones to watch for as social media influencing continues to grow as an industry.

For starters, people with a few thousand followers generally seem more trustworthy, authentic, and relatable than those with huge followings. You believe that these people are actually using and enjoying said product and therefore leave you more willing to purchase and try it out for yourself. When you work with a smaller influencer your message can spread in a more natural-feeling way and to a more engaged and loyal audience.

What's more, nano- and micro-influencers often allow a brand to target specific audiences — If, say, you were about to open a new boutique in your local town, working with micro-influencers who post about their adventures in or around that area would likely increase your chances of reaching the people who want to come to your boutique. If you reached out to a larger influencer they probably don't live in your town and so their audience wouldn't be as connected to your area to make a trip over to your boutique.

Micro-influencers have a more focused and more targeted audience for brands to capitalize on!

Lastly, it's way easier to pay a smaller influencer. The general rule of thumb for charging rates as a content creator is, 1% of your following per sponsored post. This is just a starting rate and there are other factors that can come into play but this works for the sake of explaining. If you wanted to pay a large influencer with 100,000 followers that would cost $1,000 to pay them to advertise for you. If you worked with a smaller account that had 4,000 followers it would roughly cost you about $40. There is no shocker there that the $40 sounds a heck of a lot better.

So, it's not always about the numbers and IT'S TRUE! Don't compare yourself to larger accounts because you have just as much value to give. Focus on being genuine, engaging and connecting with your audience and the collaborations will come. You have everything you need to make amazing content and inspire others out there by just being true to you!



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