9 Micro-Influencer Statistics (No. 4 Will Seriously Surprise You!)

It’s no secret that businesses have long been partnering up with social media influencers as an effective means of marketing. In a world where 70% of consumers consult social media before making buying decisions, it’s clear why brands are jumping on the influencer band waggon. However, due to recent Instagram and Facebook updates it has become evident that the quality of followers now carries more value than the quantity. This is where micro-influencers come in.
Micro-Influencers are fast gaining more and more traction for creating genuine engagement from their small circle of loyal followers.

But what does that actually mean and how do smaller accounts benefit businesses?
A recent study by Experticity touched on some very key points that businesses shouldn’t be turning a blind eye to.
Let’s draw your attention to three key findings:

• 82% of consumers are “highly likely” to follow a recommendation made by a micro–influencer.
• Micro Influencers has 22% more ‘buying conversations’ than an average consumer.
• Users with 1000-4000 followers receive 4.5% engagement.

These statistics bring us to the notion of less holding more power than more.

Followers: less is more

Followers, up until recently, were the key identifier of a social media Influencer’s ‘value’. The original mentality was that the higher the follower count, the better the ROI. Putting that notion into perspective, if a business recruits Kim Kardashian with her sixty-something million followers they must be getting a good return on sales. Today, this is not entirely correct.
Studies show those Influencers with more than 100,000 followers managed to get only 1.7% engagement on an average. Although, in reality, if a brand recruited the likes of Kim Kardashian they’re bound to get some fairly impressive eCommerce sales. But the question is, in this pay-to-play world of social media marketing, is it worth paying exorbitant amounts of money for a celebrity sponsored post when their millions of followers are so diverse? How many of those followers would actually constitute a business’ target audience? And are these followers even interacting with these posts?

That brings us to the opposite end of the social media popularity spectrum. The humble housewife, pet owner, or beauty blogger, aka ‘micro-influencer’. Yes, they may only have a couple thousand followers (if that), but what if 90% of those were highly engaged followers? Recent articles have found Instagram influencers with 1,000 followers or fewer managed to get an impressive 9.7% engagement on an average.

This should be the moment of realisation for businesses. There are micro-influencers out there with a following of individuals who share similar interests, and they’re all neatly positioned in the one place – jackpot!

INFOGRAPHIC: Micro-influencer Statistics That Will Seriously Surprise You! 

Engagement: Studies show micro-influencers are more genuine

In the past, anyone with a decent amount of followers may have been considered by a brand for doing a sponsored post, however, due to even more changes in social media algorithms, the genuine conversation now holds a higher value than a number of followers of an account. Conversation is so powerful that it can even effect where that post ranks on followers feeds.

This means, investing in influencers with genuine conversational engagement and follower insight is more important for businesses than ever before. 84% of consumers trust peer recommendations over brand advertising.

Market research conducted by the Keller Fay Group has found micro-influencers are considered 10% more knowledgeable about a product than the general public. The likely reason for this is that micro-influencers have a loyal group of followers who relate to them on a similar level to friends and family, who trust in their word and want to listen to what they have to say. Additional followers are likely to be people who share similar interests to that account – thus a ‘Niche-Influencer’ is born.

This level of genuine credibility Micro-Influencers have created with their followers means their voice is extremely loud in their arena of expertise in fact 84% of consumers trust peer recommendations over brand advertising. Their conversations are considered so authentic and relatable it naturally encourages followers to engage. Therefore, ranking higher on feeds than a post that receives less engagement. It’s this sort of Influencer businesses are now searching for.

The Cost Factor: Micro-Influencers are budget friendly

It can be so hard for small businesses to get their foot in the door and more often than not, a marketing budget simply does not exist in the early days.

Although marketing doesn’t traditionally come cheap, it can if you’re working with smaller name Micro-Influencers, who will come at a much lower fee than celebrity influencers or other types of marketing like SEO or PPC. If you’re lucky – no fee at all. Micro-Influencers know the brands they like and the ones they don’t, so for them, if they believe in a product they will be happy to endorse it.
This is good news for the small businesses out there!

It’s safe to say these changes to social media have shifted the power back into the hands of the everyday consumer, or in this case – the micro-influencer. With so many benefits in choosing a micro-influencer over a typical celebrity, it’s clear to see why more than 55% of agencies are using micro-influencers as part of their strategy.

Do you already have a list of genuine micro-influencers ready to work with your business? If not, Contevo is a leading social media agency can help you connect with them by contacting us.