[PRESS OFFICE] The world’s been going through huge shifts from the industrial revolution, to the mass media revolution, and now the digital revolution.
This means that many businesses have had to virtually transform and appeal to millennials – the generation that is estimated to surpass the baby-boomers when it comes to buying power by 2020.
This also means that brands have realised that influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways to market their products and/or services to millennials. However, with the different influencer categories, should brands consider nano-influencers for their marketing?
Here’s what I think.
The different influencer categories
Humanz, a data-driven marketing platform defines the different categories of influencer marketing as follows:
Nano-influencer
A nano-influencer is someone with 1 000 to 4 999 followers.
Micro-influencer
A micro-influencer is someone with 5 000 to 49 999 followers.
B-lister influencer
A B-lister influencer is someone with 50 000 to 249 999 followers.
A-lister influencer
A-listers are influencers with 250 000 to one million followers.
Superstar
Influencers who fall under this category have over one million followers.
So, should brands consider nano-influencers for their marketing?
I think they should. Not only do nano-influencers have influence in their communities, but according to the stats provided by Media Update, nano-influencers have the highest engagement rate (which is 10.3% on Instagram, and 10.5% on Twitter) compared to an A-lister influencer (sitting at 1.78% on Instagram, and 0.1% on Twitter), for instance.
The reason could be that audiences relate more with nano-influencers because their content is deemed more authentic.
For example, if a superstar influencer had to recommend a skin-care product to me, the first thing that would come to my mind is, “This is a sales pitch and they will get paid for it”, whereas someone with a lower follower count might be able to convince me to purchase the product – because they will come across as more genuine.
What could engagement mean for your business?
Every influencer marketing campaign should have a clear goal, which could either be engagement or reach. Influencers that fall in the top tier categories namely; A-lister, B-lister and superstar, can get you the reach, while nano- and micro-influencers can get you a decent engagement rate.
The right engagement, as per the campaign goal, can grow your brand’s awareness and/or overall engagement rate.
A higher engagement rate – which is what nano-influencers bring – can be an effective marketing strategy for your business, because they produce engaging content that their audiences are already interested in. This makes it easy for you (the brand) to target the precise audience you’re trying to reach, and increase sales, plus it counts as ‘mass’ word-of-mouth.
If you’re a brand that is considering influencer marketing, note that that nano-influencer you’re probably frowning on because their follower count isn’t large – could be the right influencer for your brand as they’ll give you the most ROI compared to other influencers.
Khanyi Moshia is a copywriter and community manager at Arc Interactive who is passionate about female empowerment. She spends her free time getting involved in causes that uplift her community, or being a mixologist – she makes a mean cocktail.
