Finding micro influencers is easy. Finding the right ones is. Companies spend a lot of time and money on collaborations that on the surface seem great but don’t deliver any results. This often has to do with how well the influencer aligns with the brand’s target audience.
Think Audience First
Most brands do this backwards. They look for influencers and then see if they’re in the right audience. Flip that process. First, identify who your audience is and their interests, media sources and types of content consumed. Locating the right creator then becomes straightforward.
If your brand is in the meal prep containers niche, you would target creators talking about weekly meal prep, dieting on a budget or athletic nutrition-not just food creators. The niche of the creator should align with the product you are promoting.
Where to Actually Look
Search is a good place to start. Searching for hashtags on Instagram or TikTok that are relevant to your niche will kick up creators who are already engaging in that type of content creation. Go a few pages deep. The first few options are likely to have heavy marketing commitments.
YouTube is relatively unexplored. Longer form creators tend to get more dedicated fans than short form creators. If someone is making long videos about a particular hobby, they have people who are interested in that hobby.
Comment sections tell you a lot. A vlogger who has 40,000 followers but has elaborated explanations, or asks questions within the comments, is 100x more useful than a vlogger who also has 40,000 followers, and has only used emojis within the comments.
What to Check Before Reaching Out
Look at engagement rate first. It’s as simple as total likes and comments divided by total followers, multiplied by 100. 3 percent or more is good on Instagram for a micro influencer. Less than 1 percent is bad regardless of the quality of the content.
Take into account the last 12-15 posts and not just the latest one. Consistency is important; some accounts have a great post, then fall flat again. Consistency over a spike and fall is key.
Geographic and age location is also important for brands selling products to a certain area or age group. YouTubeStorm is one tool that makes it possible to view audience demographics prior to a collaboration, taking the guesswork out of it.
Brands looking to boost social proof through micro influencer campaigns, find that the audience of the creator more closely matches their target audience. Irrelevant numbers don’t sell.
How to Approach Creators
Be brief and to the point in the initial message. Refer to something specific about their work. Describe the product in two sentences. Make the task clear. Emails from form letters get ignored. An authentic, personal message is read.
Conclusion
It’s harder to find the right micro influencer, but well worth it. Relevance is more important than reach Less is more, if you get the right fit.
