Are you struggling to find the right influencers to partner with? As influencer marketing grows, brands need to get smarter about identifying authentic micro and nano influencers that truly engage their niche audience. With the right approach, micro and nano influencers can become secret weapons for cost-efficiently driving awareness, credibility and sales.
This article will walk you through the best strategies to find and evaluate relevant micro and nano influencers that align with your brand. Follow these steps to build partnerships that convert passive audiences into loyal brand advocates.
How do you find micro and nano influencers?
Micro and nano influencers are content creators with smaller, targeted followings between 1,000 to 100,000 followers. Though they have less reach than celebrity influencers, micro and nano influencers generate higher engagement and conversions by promoting brands to their invested communities.
When partnering with micro and nano influencers, focus less on their follower count and more on audience quality and typical engagement rates. Look for influencers garnering likes and comments representing at least 7% of their total follower base.
Vet potential partners by analyzing audience demographics and locations to ensure a relevant overlap with your target customer personas. Consider niche interests, income levels, gender, geography and other attributes. An influencer with 5,000 highly-targeted followers will likely drive better ROI than a broadly popular influencer with 50,000 less-relevant followers.
Define Your Goals and Target Audience
Before seeking influencers, clarify your overall marketing objectives. Ask yourself:
- What actions do you want the audience to take after seeing an influencer’s post (e.g. follow your page, use a coupon code, sign up for a trial)?
- Who exactly are you trying to reach? Identify demographic and interest-based factors.
Understanding your goals and target audience will help assess which influencers have the best audience match. Prioritize relevance over vanity metrics like follower counts. 5,000 targeted followers often engage better than 50,000 broadly-defined followers.
Leverage Instagram to Discover Nano-Influencers
Instagram is the epicenter of the nano-influencer universe, with creators in almost every conceivable niche. Follow these tips to unlock a goldmine of potential partners:
- Search relevant hashtags: Scroll through top posts and engage with creators who make quality content aligned with your brand.
- Check out competitors’ tagged photos: This reveals nano-influencers organically promoting similar products.
- Explore geotags: Identify influencers in your local area to support events or location-based marketing.
Evaluate Engagement and Audience Quality
When assessing potential collaborations, dive deeper than vanity metrics. Prioritize nano and micro-influencers with high engagement rates and targeted, authentic audiences.
- Analyze typical likes and comments compared to follower counts. Look for 7%+ engagement rates.
- Read post comments to gauge audience quality. Thoughtful discussions show an invested community.
- Check audience locations and demographics using analytics tools. Match target customer profiles.
Reach Out and Vet Influencers
Once identifying promising options, reach out directly to gauge fit and negotiate terms.
- Personalize intro messages while remaining professional. Explain why you’re interested in partnering.
- Discuss audience overlap and ideas for natural, value-adding posts. Let influencers lead creative direction.
- Ask about typical rates. Micro-influencers often charge $50-$250 per post. Stay within your budget.
- Review content policies and FTC disclosure practices. Confirm brand values align.
By taking the time to vet potential partners, you can avoid disengaged followers and wasted spend.
Set Clear Expectations and Campaign Goals
When finalizing influencer partnerships, set clear expectations to maximize results on both ends.
- Establish campaign goals and key performance indicators upfront based on your objectives. Track progress.
- Provide free samples of products or experiences to create informed, natural promotion. Don’t dictate posts.
- Give influencers assets like high-res photos and sample captions to make their jobs easy.
- Outline usage rights for content clearly in writing to avoid disputes.
Defining success metrics and streamlining content creation will help activate influencers as true advocates.
Amplify with Retargeting and Lookalike Audiences
The impact of an influencer post shouldn’t end once it’s live. Amplify reach and conversions through retargeting.
- Use pixels to track site traffic from influencer content. Retarget visitors with ads.
- Create lookalike audiences mirrored off an influencer’s engaged followers. Expand your reach.
- Collaborate on giveaways and sweepstakes for an opt-in to build your email list.
Retargeting expands your pipeline beyond a one-off post. Audiences that love an influencer likely match your ideal customer profile.
Conclusion
Finding the right influencers takes time and strategy, but pays dividends in the long-run. Target micro and nano-influencers with high audience engagement in your niche. Vet potential partners, align on expectations, and amplify through retargeting. Following this guide will help you build collaborations that convert followers into loyal brand promoters.
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