We’ve all heard of the term “Micro Influencer” being thrown out a lot but what does that really mean and is it the future of Social Media Influencers.

The thing about Micro Influencers is that they are a little bit more relate-able, you feel like you can talk to them, friends and family kind type of following.

What is a Micro Influencer?

A micro influencer is someone who has an audience within the follower range of 2,000 followers up until about 50,000 followers on a particular social media channel, usually composed of a focused passion, topic or niche market.

Micro influencers are often the most informed in their niches. They are experts on a particular topic and typically have a very engaged community of followers who rely on (and trust) content. They are believable and credible because they are usually everyday people sharing their passion, their personal recommendations, their everyday life, and their likes and dislikes.

Another thing that makes a micro-influencer is the subject or niche he or she posts about. Usually, micro-influencers are super specific in their posts, which is why they don’t appeal to a huge audience.

How to become a Micro Influencer?

1. Be Yourself

The transition from a personal profile to a micro influencer profile micro-personal profile can be a tricky stage to adjust to. Some influencers can make the mistake of surrendering the personal feel of their profile to make way for their new business agenda, but that’s not always a good thing. Your first thousand followers will be your most loyal and your most engaged, so don’t forget them as you transition from a personal profile to a more commercial one.

the most important thing to hold close is yourself. Back yourself and value yourself. Rather than deleting the photos with your grandma, remember who you are, what you do, where you’ve been, what you believe and why your followers follow you. The essence of influencer marketing relies on influencers who are transparent, authentic and genuine – the people who are true to their self and their personal brand are the most successful in the long run. At this early stage in your influencer journey, it is imperative to plant the foundational roots for your profile so as you transition, you remain true to yourself and why you started in the first place.

2. Be Eager

Like anything good, you get out, what you put in. When working with a brand, going above and beyond to represent them and their product or service works in everyone’s best interest. In this case, nobody loses out if you put 110% effort into your content and the collaboration. If you were to spend time creating your content, writing an informative blog post and adding small yet valuable personal touches, these efforts will go further than you think! By doing this, you strengthen yourself as an influencer, create amazing content for your audience to enjoy and land yourself a spot in the brand’s good book

With experience comes success. Like an intern eager to learn, micro-influencers should be eager to work with any brand consistent with their own. In the beginning, micro-influencers usually forgo pay to build their portfolio and make the most of opportunities that come their way. This doesn’t mean you need to constantly work for free (we don’t condone that no matter how many followers you have!) but it does mean that you should be flexible to work within a brand’s budget, and think about the longer term benefits of a collaboration as this is far more beneficial than any small payment that ‘would be nice’ now.

Additionally, we encourage all influencers to over-deliver, but it’s most important for aspiring micro influencers. If the brief asks for one post, do two and a story! Send the brand your images so they can share your content on their socials, just ask them to tag you!  Do as much as you can to give the brand a good experience when they work with you because at the end of the day if they didn’t love working with you, there are other influencers out there they can work with next time.

3. Be Efficient

If you are in the process of working on your first few campaigns and growing your follower slowly and organically, now is the time to start making your processes more efficient so they can scale with you.

Create a media kit and use it as a promotion tool to showcase who you are and why brands should work with you. This takes away the need for a lot of back and forth with brands, and show that you really care about your work and the opportunities that come by.

On the same note, know your data so that when brands ask, you can give them the information they need. Transparency in influencer marketing is a hot topic, so stay ahead of the pack and be open with your data. Use Google Analytics, Instagram Insights (if you’re on a business account) and apps such as Iconosquare to keep tabs on your progress and be in control of how and where your brand is moving. This information is not only valuable to you but also to brands – having an influential profile is one thing, but proving it is another! Know your worth and show it, and a media kit is a great place to include this information.

Key Takeaway

Make sure you are set up with the business-y things that you might need as part of working with influencers – create an invoice template and your own internal system for managing payments, whether that is a piece of software or a spreadsheet that you update manually. It’s also helpful to have a Paypal account set up, as many brands process payment via Paypal.

So, now you’re ready to take your profile to the next level and start working as a micro influencer. Remember to keep in mind: be you, be eager, be efficient and get to it!