How to Work With Micro-Influencers on Instagram

Working with micro-influencers has become one of the top trends in influencer marketing in 2022. Running an ad campaign with a micro-influencer on Instagram can be more beneficial for a business owner than working with big names. 

Below, we’ll figure out who micro-influencers are, how to find Instagram Influencer them, and build cooperation.

Introduction: Who Are Micro-Influencers?

Micro-influencers are creators with a relatively small but very active audience. Such opinion leaders are closer and more understandable to most buyers. They don't have tons of ads in their accounts like mega-influencers do. You can accidentally run into them at a party and make friends easier. They inspire more trust than celebrities, whose lives have little in common with those of ordinary brand buyers.

Micro-influencers are well versed in their subject. Therefore, they tend to have a very targeted audience, ready to listen to their opinion. They are sometimes referred to as “niche” influencers if their accounts are dedicated to a specific topic.

The term was first mentioned by the marketing agency HelloSociety to distinguish these influencers from celebrities with a larger audience. The category of micro-influencers, as a rule, includes creators who have from 1 000 to 100 000 followers - the marketers have not defined clear boundaries. 

Today, micro-influencers are on the rise. Experts admit that the market share of micro-influencers has grown from 89% in 2020 to 91% by the end of 2021. In 2022, micro-influencers are predicted to play an even bigger role. They know how to create really interesting, engaging content. Their followers trust them as they would trust their friends, and the posts they create don’t always look like direct advertising. Such influencers suit any brand, from sunflower oil producers to French fashion houses. In terms of conversion, micro-influencers are significantly more valuable, and collaborations tend to be significantly cheaper. For example, a creator with 1 000 to 10 000 followers can charge up to $100 per post, while an influencer having more than a million followers is likely to demand more than $1 000 for a post.  

How to start working with micro-influencers?

You can find a micro-influencer to cooperate within every niche - it is only important to choose the right one and build the strategy. It will require several steps:

• Define the goals

Before contacting influencers, you need to have a clear idea of the results you want to get. A detailed strategy will allow all participants in the process to understand what message needs to be conveyed to users and what is their role in the campaign. In addition, the selection of creators for implementing the plan also depends on the strategy. For example, if the emphasis in a promotion is on design features, then you should select influencers who have earned a reputation as experts in style.

• Define KPI

These are the metrics by which you can measure the success of a campaign. For example, website visits, audience growth, and active sales. Knowing the KPI, you can see the post statistics and understand how effectively an influencer can solve the task.

• Determine the budget

Of course, a post from a micro-influencer costs less than traditional advertising and publication from “big names”. But you need to clearly define the budget and, depending on it, select one or a group of influencers.

• Search and selection 

The next step is to make a list of suitable influencers and then choose one or several you would like to cooperate with.

• Communicate

Contact the influencers you’ve selected, and tell them about your product and the result you want to get from the advertising campaign.

• Collaborate

Micro-influencers are set up specifically to collaborate with you, and not just place a template advertising post. For the nativeness of advertising, it is very important to preserve the author's style. Moreover, its violation can harm the creator's reputation and reduce ad conversion.

Remember the main thing - the advertising campaign with a micro-influencer will be successful if the audience feels the sincerity. The creator must tell the story related to the product, show what role it plays in life, and do it in such a way that a specific target audience finds benefits in it.

Where To Find Micro-Influencers?

All marketing agencies and opinion leader exchanges have had lists of millionaire influencers for a long time, and their names often appear on the Internet and among large advertising companies. But to find a dozen micro-influencers who are ready to tell their friends about your product, you will have to work hard. Use the following methods to search:

• Relevant hashtags. For example, if your task is to launch a new cosmetic product on the market, then look for a micro-influencer using the hashtags #beauty, #naturalbeauty, and so on. But don't stop with direct tags. Think big!
• Geotags. This method is great for local businesses and those who are looking for an influencer from a particular area. Perhaps among the users who often visit your area, there are interesting personalities who can broadcast your ads.
• Followers. If you have already found an interesting candidate for cooperation, look at the list of followers. There, you will probably be able to find a few more micro-influencers whose audience overlaps with yours.
• Web search. Try entering queries like “Best beauty experts” or “Instagram beauty experts” into the search box, search on specialized services, etc. Of course, not all collections will be useful, and most likely all of the creators listed have already been involved in other projects, but there are chances.
• Search through the service. BuzzGuru is a tool for searching for influencers and checking their statistics. With it, you can find even the smallest creators for your campaign.

Why use a special tool to find micro-influencers?

Searching for a reliable micro-influencer to cooperate with using a special tool, like the BuzzGuru platform, has 3 key benefits: 

• Access to analytics 

To decide on advertising, you need to understand whether the influencer’s audience is right for you. In addition, it is necessary to evaluate the quality of the channel: what are its real indicators, how many people can be covered with promotional posts, how many views will it have, etc.

• Convenient search

Searching for influencers on our platform is very convenient as we offer various filters to set and find the right creators by the desired parameters. For example, you can divide the influencers by the country, the number of followers, language, etc.

• Evaluation of the influencer’s experience

The BuzzGuru platform provides an opportunity to understand who the influencer has already worked with so that you can ask about the experience of cooperation with different brands or just evaluate the quality of advertising and its presentation.

Below, we’ll discover what the process of a micro-influencer selection looks like on the BuzzGuru platform.

• Subscribers: you can set the minimum and the maximum number of subscribers

• Category: we offer more than 20 categories for you to select from

• Country: it is possible to select one or several countries

• Language: select one or several languages from the drop-down list

• Influencer gender and the account verification: specify what is the preferable gender of an influencer you are looking for, and decide if the creators should have verified accounts or not

5. The second group of filters helps to divide the influencers according to the activity around their last 10 posts.

Thus, you can select among the following options:

• Publication date: choose the date from the calendar or select one of the provided options

• Likes: specify the minimum and/or the maximum number of likes

• Engagement rate: specify the desired value of the engagement rate

• Account type: you can choose if an influencer has a personal, business, or creator account

• Account privacy: decide if an influencer has a private account or no

• Contacts: from the drop-down list, select the preferred ways to stay in touch with an influencer

• Account quality: specify how high the account quality rate should be

How To Find the Right Micro-Influencer?

Micro-influencers are much less likely to cheat followers, as a rule, they have an active and engaged audience. But before agreeing on cooperation, you should check the creator, the statistics, and determine the audience and compare how it corresponds to the one you want to influence.

The BuzzGuru analytics platform will help with this. With it, you can get full account statistics and understand what kind of results and coverage an influencer can give. The platform provides various metrics for analysis. 

Below, we’ll discover the key metrics on the example of a micro-influencer profile selected on our platform.

1. General statistics

The platform provides advanced audience analysis and allows you to identify the cheats and interests of the influencer’s subscribers, their location, gender, age, etc.

Thus, looking through the general statistics, you can learn the following:

• number of subscribers;
• average number of likes;
• number of comments;
• expected post’s views;
• engagement rate.

Further, you will observe the statistics on the channel quality. It is the rate from 1 to 100, a benchmark, measuring the total quality of the channel. It will help you decide on possible integrations.

This rate includes 4 components:

• Engagement rate, %

Median audience engagement for the last 10 posts.

• Number of likes, %

Median likes from subscribers for the last 10 posts.

• Number of comments

Median comments per 1 000 likes for the last 10 posts.

• Distribution of likes, %

The difference in the number of likes between posts. A low score might be a sign that this influencer has paid for likes. 

2. Engagement Rate

This is a key parameter that shows what kind of response you can really count on, and how much the audience is interested in the content this influencer creates.

3. Activity analysis

With the help of our service, you can track the distribution of likes and comments, and identify cheats and real reactions. This will give an idea of ​​the results you can expect from an advertising campaign with this creator, and how effectively this influencer can cope with the tasks.

Analyzing profile statistics when choosing a micro-influencer is a crucial step. Unfortunately, the obvious indicators on the page do not always correspond to reality. A seemingly high-quality influencer with thousands of followers and good rates of likes and comments under posts can turn out to be a fake. Only an in-depth analysis of statistics will help to distinguish one from the other. By the way, in one of our recent articles, we have provided a detailed guide on helping spot fake Instagram influencers. 

Having formulated your goals and selected the right creator, you can start negotiating cooperation. You need to give clear ideas about the desired result, but try not to dictate harsh conditions. The advantage of influencer marketing is that you can combine the corporate identity and creativity of influencers.

Do not drive niche influencers into a rigid framework. An advertising post with template text and photos sent in advance that is out of the general style of the account will look inorganic and annoy users who are tired of the widespread advertising. Tell the creators what you would like to say to their followers, give them detailed information about your product and brand mission, and let them create posts familiar to their target audience.

This, of course, does not mean that you need to let everything take its course. Be sure to specify the frequency of publications, format, and time. It would not be superfluous to ask the influencer to send a draft of the post for joint approval.

Why Working With Micro-Influencers Matter?

The secret of success for micro-influencers is their authenticity, sincerity, and ability to tell why they choose this particular product, as well as respond to comments with fair criticism. When working with micro-influencers, it is very important to allow them to tell their story in the way they see it. They know better what their audience expects, and you only have to select them wisely.  

Today, not only small brands are interested in micro-influencers, but also well-known companies. For example, the La Croix brand can boast a successful case. Unlike the competitors, they did not spend money on traditional advertising but developed a promotion strategy through a group of lifestyle influencers. The creators prepared cocktails using the brand's signature drinks. At the same time, two of the influencers had only 7-8k subscribers. 

Another big brand that has reached out to niche influencers is Spotify. It was important for the company to show the new Discovery Weekly feature, and it was decided to ask creators to share their playlists by taking a photo in their usual style. As a result, the overall engagement rate was 2.37%, while the brand paid only 20 cents for each interaction with the content.

Adobe started collaborating with micro-influencers long ago. Thus, while promoting its photo editing program, the company interacted with lifestyle influencers who shared their experience of using the application and showed the results of processing.

Wrapping Up

With their rather compact audiences and a good level of trust, micro-influencers are really able to impact the opinion of their followers and promote products and brands without causing advertising irritation. A lot here depends on the right choice of a creator and the competent construction of a promotion strategy.

And the BuzzGuru platform can help you cope with this issue. Selecting an influencer with us saves your time and effort, it provides you with profound analytics, convenient search by filters, and maximum influencers to choose from.