Influencing on a Smaller Scale.

You’ve probably seen celebrities in TV commercials or attending other publicity events endorsing a product. Traditionally, paying a celebrity a sizable amount of money to endorse your brand was the quickest and easiest way to get your brand some great exposure and see a decent return on investment.

That being said, not every business has the budget to sign a “Binding Social Contract” with Ricky Bobby or create a high budget commercial with Neil Patrick Harris. Fortunately for smaller brands, there’s a new smaller scale trend on the rise and it’s exactly what you need to sway the opinions of potential customers and create valuable loyalty and advocacy for your brand.

The Rise of the Micro-influencer!

Last year, we saw a growing trend of Social Media Influencers otherwise known as “Micro-Influencers” being utilized by various companies of all shapes and sizes. But what’s the benefit of signing on a micro-influencer to work with your business? Micro-Influencers statistically have up to 11x the ROI of a traditional celebrity endorsement. Just because you won’t see them drinking a bottle of Coca Cola on TV doesn’t mean that they don’t have a pretty substantial reach. A lot of times, micro-influencers are able to target a niche audience better than a celebrity can. Studies show that 49% of people depend on the opinions of influencers when making a purchase decision. These people are celebrities in their own smaller social circles and a lot of the time will actually interact with followers and actively advocate your brand. A good example of this in practice is sponsoring an athlete. Take Santa Cruz Bicycles for example. They have a Grassroots Program for recruiting and sponsoring micro-influencers. Sometimes competing in sports can be an expensive endeavour. Instead of paying someone to endorse your product, you have the ability to give them a discount or a “Pro Deal” on your products. In this case, Santa Cruz gives the athletes they select a pro deal on one of their mountain bikes as long as they agree to a promotional contract. They may have lost a little bit of their profit margin by giving the athlete a deal, but they still managed to sell an expensive product. These sponsored athletes are now micro influencers or “brand ambassadors” and will now advocate for your brand. Does that not sound like a win-win? It’s all about creating a mutual relationship between your brand and the people that are advocating for it.

PC: Spoke Media (@spoke.media)

How Can My Brand Use Micro-influencers?

The next big question is how can you utilize Micro-Influencers to gain an advantage for your brand? Take a step back and think of the people that commonly use your product or service. They don’t need to be famous or extremely talented. Think of someone that you believe would do a good job advocating for your brand, and would have enough social influence to encourage others to use your product or service. If someone comes to mind, chances are they would make a great influencer or brand ambassador. Now, what can you do to leverage your influencers and ambassadors to further benefit your brand? More often than not, influencers tend to make great social media content. Content marketing can be another very effective part of a brand’s marketing strategy. If you’re considering using Micro Influencers as part of your brand’s marketing strategy, Konstruct Interactive is here to help. We have experience in helping clients using social influencers in everything from new product launches to gaining more market share for well-established brands.