You know all about influencer marketing and how popular social media figures can help distribute your messages to audiences in the tens or hundreds of millions. But it’s not only influencers with super large audiences who can help in your PR and communications.
Jeffrey Zhou, CEO and Founder at Fig Loans, shares, “Increasingly, influencers with smaller, niche audiences, called micro-influencers, are becoming the go-to choice for PR experts, and with good reason. They may have less reach but usually far deeper penetration.”
In marketing, it is often the case that less is truly more. This is likely to be true with micro-influencers, as they see about seven times more engagement with their posts compared to mega-influencers. As you may already know, engagement rate is one of the most critical influencer marketing metrics to track in any campaign.
The experts agree on these points. Chris Aubeeluck, Head of Sales and Marketing at Osbornes Law, suggests that using micro-influencers offers significantly more ROI for PR spending. Micro-influencers offer a sometimes much more rewarding alternative to traditional PR approaches,” he says, adding, “If you choose the right ones, collaborating with micro-influencers is a great way to get your messaging out with authenticity and impact.”
In the rest of this article, we’ll cover the essential things you need to know to set up an effective PR collaboration with micro-influencers. Let’s dive in.
Why Micro-Influencers Are a Game-Changer for PR Campaigns
It might be intuitive to think that macro-influencers with large audiences would have more of an impact. However, as we’ve just argued, turning to micro-influencers is often the better way to build a brand in competitive markets. Here are some reasons why this is usually true:
Authenticity Matters
Micro-influencers often build communities of peers over interests in narrow niches or specific subjects. Most people trust recommendations from their peer groups more than others, making it easier for micro-influencers to appear trustworthy to their audience.
Peter Čuček, Owner of Tuuli, explains, “Micro-influencers bring a level of trust and authenticity that macro-influencers often struggle to match. This is usually because their communities are built around shared interests.”
Micro-Influencers are More Affordable
Micro-influencers often charge significantly less than macro-influencers, with average pricing ranging from $500 to $1,000. This means you’ll be getting much more value for your money, with higher engagement rates to boot.
Better Message-to-Audience Fit
Since micro-influencers cater to particular niches, their messaging is typically highly relevant to their audiences.
Murtaza Oklu, Owner of OMO Transfer, drives home this point by explaining, “Building your PR strategy around micro-influencers isn’t just cheaper, it’s also more effective. Micro-influencers offer a superior message-audience fit, which is great for targeting specific niches.”
Steps to Identify and Partner with Micro-Influencers
While the benefits of working with micro-influencers are clear, there are a few points to consider before you jump into it.
1) Define Your Campaign Goals
First, you need to have a well-defined audience and a set of well-defined campaign goals.
Tomas Melian, SVP of Marketing at MyHealthTeam, states, “As the foundation for any PR campaign, you need to have a very intimate understanding of your target audience. The best practice is to begin by developing an audience persona. You should also be clear on the outcomes you seek.”
Are you looking for increased awareness of a specific product or development? Improved reputation? More traffic to your landing pages? Being clear on these can help you determine which micro-influencers are best positioned to help drive the message home.
2) Scout Potential Micro-Influencers
You may already have an idea of some leading micro-influencers in your field. If you don’t, however, you can turn to influencer marketing platforms or simply conduct a manual search on social media to discover some reputable figures in the industry.
Once you’ve drawn up a list of potential names to work with, you’ll need to have a set of metrics to evaluate them. If you’ve followed step one, you should already be clear about the direction of your campaign.
This will make it easier to make a shortlist. You may then evaluate further factors like their engagement rate, content quality, and audience demographics.
Unfortunately, many influencers have their follower count inflated by bots or fake followers, so be on guard against influencer fraud.
3) Reach Out
Once you’ve picked out the micro-influencers you’d like to work with, the next step will be reaching out to them, as suggested by Conrad Wang, Managing Director at EnableU. Most micro-influencers are picky about the brands they work with, so your manager of approach might help improve the chances of collaboration.
You may start by engaging with their content by liking, commenting, or sharing their posts before reaching out. Adding a personal touch by addressing influencers by name and mentioning specific aspects of their content that resonate with your campaign may also go a long way.
Additionally, be sure to show how the partnership benefits the influencer or provides value to their audience.
Best Practices for Incorporating Micro-Influencers in PR Campaigns
Tooth of the Arrow, a small hunting equipment company, has laid down a micro-influencer collaboration blueprint anyone can follow. The company selected 35 influencers for a three-month collaboration, achieving the following:
- 79 video posts across YouTube and TikTok.
- 1,700 unique website visits directly referred by influencers.
- Over $10,000 in referral sales.
Here are the critical elements that made this collaboration work:
- Engaged Audience: Hunting is a specific interest, and micro-influencers in this niche often have highly engaged audiences.
- Authentic Messaging: Tooth of the Arrow chose micro-influencers who were visibly passionate about hunting, with this passion translating into genuine content that resonated with their community.
In seeking collaboration with micro-influencers, the goal should be to build authentic relationships. You can do this by jointly developing content that feels genuine to your joint audience while staying true to your brand identity.
You can use analytics platforms to gather insights into what resonates most with the target audience. Regularly review these metrics to refine your strategy and improve future campaigns.
Conclusion
Reyansh Mestry, Head of Marketing at TopSource Worldwide offers this final piece of advice: “By focusing on authenticity and fostering genuine relationships, micro-influencers allow businesses to communicate more effectively with niche communities. The key is to view these collaborations as authentic partnerships between like minds.”
With the tips we’ve shared in this article, you’ll be well on your way to success in your next influencer-based PR campaign! To learn more about how influencer marketing can help, here’s our guide to maximizing the impact of influencer marketing on consumer behavior.
