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Understanding different types of social media influencers Share via

Marketers consider influencer marketing as one of the top form of digital marketing in terms of return on investments (ROI). While influencer marketing was expected to reach $13.8 billion by the end of 2021, it is further estimated to be worth over $24 billion by 2025, demonstrating the channel’s high impact on the marketing and advertising world. Over the last few years, influencer marketing has come to the forefront, and brands have started to invest substantially higher amounts to ramp up their influencer game. As this medium is gaining more popularity with every passing day, the numbers of influencers have also gone up drastically. For brands, it is crucial to understand which influencer will be best for their campaigns and who can help them achieve their goals efficiently. This blog will talk about the different types of influencers and how brands can leverage them to chart out successful influencer marketing campaigns.

Mega Influencers

Mega influencers are people who enjoy a massive following or subscribers on their social media channels. Although there is no clear demarcation about how many followers make up for a mega influencer, individuals with more than one million followers on any social media platform are considered one. Most social media mega influencers are celebrities offline like movie stars, sportsperson, artists, chefs, TV personalities, or reality show stars. But many influencers have reached the top level squarely by generating content and building community on social media platforms. What makes influencers in these categories a hot property for big brands is their ability to reach a broader audience instantly. But onboarding mega influencers is a costly affair, and not all brands and marketers can afford their services. Moreover, their followers are not highly engaged with the influencers, and hence the engagement rate and conversion rate they generate is amongst the lowest across all categories of influencers. While mega influencers can quickly grab the eyeballs of their audience about the products they are promoting, they can be extremely fussy, and brands can have minimal control over these social media stars.

Macro-Influencers

Any social media influencer with more than 500,000 followers and less than a million followers on their social channels falls in the category of macro-influencers. Although they are a step down from mega influencers, the engagement and conversion rate they generate is much better. Moreover, as their services do not come with a hefty price tag like the mega influencers, many bigger and mid-tier brands engage with them to efficiently create various campaigns to reach out to their audiences. Celebs who have not yet made it big in their respective fields or subject matter experts and thought leaders usually comprise this influencer set. In addition, brands typically collaborate with a mix of multiple macro-influencers and micro-influencers to cost-effectively reach a varied group of target consumers. While working with these influencers is a lucrative way for brands to take a step closer to their objectives, they should be mindful that that influencer they are working with is genuine, as most influencer fraud happens in this category of influencers.

Micro-Influencers

Many influencer marketers believe micro-influencers have more than 10,000 and less than 100,000 followers. Going by the follower base, this set of influencers might come across as someone having minimal impact on the ROI of businesses, but in reality, micro-influencers and nano-influencers are the most sought out by the brands to generate better returns from their campaigns and influencer marketing activity. Micro-influencers are usually subject matter experts in niche verticals and have steadily built their audience base over time. Their followers are sticky and look up to the influencer for authentic content they can relate to. As a result, the engagement and interaction these influencers generate are among the best across all categories. Since micro-influencers share a deep relationship with their followers, it is imperative for brands to convince them about the worth of the products they want them to promote and how they will benefit their audience. The quality of content here could be slightly off compared with mega and macro-influences, but the authenticity factor will be high, making it a unique category for marketers to leverage. According to a research report, 82 percent of respondents said they were more likely to buy a product recommended by a micro-influencer.

Nano-Influencer

Influencers in this category have the lowest number of followers on their social media channels and offer a modest reach to the brands. But nano-influencers have the highest engagement rate, of over 8 percent, and no other influencer type comes close to this. In terms of numbers, anyone with more than 1,000 and less than 10,000 followers can be considered a nano-influencer. They tend to be experts in a highly specialized subject or field, with an extremely niche following and interested audience set, who would actively engage with their posts and recommendations. For brands, collaborating with nano-influencer comes at a fraction of cost as compared to other influencer types, but with better ROI. Since their reach is very limited to a few thousand followers, marketers partner with hundreds on nano-influencers for a campaign to amplify the brand’s reach. Like micro-influencers, the content generated by this set of influencers can lack aesthetics and production quality, but their content resonates well with the audience, and their suggestions carry a lot of weight. Furthermore, as the follower count of these influencers are significantly less, they create a solid relationship with their followers based on frequent interactions, which makes them a favorite with brand marketers.

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