The Complete Guide to Becoming a Micro Influencer

The idea of marketing through the use of influencers has been all the rage for a while. As the internet becomes more saturated with advertising, businesses turn to niche specialists for help. Micro influencers typically have a few thousand followers in a particular area. They might be popular on only one social media platform rather than several different ones.

SocioPubli’s 2019 Influencer Marketing Report surveyed 300 professional marketers from the United States, Spain and Portugal. It found about 93% of marketers use the technique as part of their promotional strategy.

The 2019 Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report surveyed 830 marketing agencies and professionals. It found that 48% of respondents felt audience relationship was most important in choosing an influencer. Many of them preferred micro influencers for that very reason, because they want to work with someone with a highly engaged and active following. It’s much easier to set yourself up to become a micro influencer than a megastar with millions of followers.

How Is a Micro Influencer Different From an Influencer?

An influencer might be a celebrity or personality with hundreds of thousands or millions of followers. Most experts recommend choosing a non-celebrity so you can better define your target audience. Influencers with any size audience are those who can impact the buying decisions of others. They regularly recommend products, and their followers trust their judgment.

Most influencers are known as experts or people with a deep passion for a topic. They also have a highly refined audience matching the customers a business wishes to target. The difference between an influencer and a micro influencer is the audience size and intense focus on a particular industry.

Building Your Authority in a Niche

If companies paying you to review their products sounds like the perfect career choice, prepare by taking specific steps.

1. Choose a Topic

Figure out what industry you’d like for your niche. Topics such as food and fashion already have a ton of micro influencers. You might want to look for something a little outside the norm. Choose a subject you’re passionate about and understand or can study.

2. Show Off Your Knowledge

Start sharing what you know that isn’t general public knowledge. Tweet a tip about getting the perfect edging in your garden or post an article on a simple home repair. Use different mediums to highlight your expertise, such as video, articles, infographics and slideshows.

3. Appear in Multiple Forums

Find places to share tips with others, but be careful not to spam forums. Go to blogs discussing your topic and add input. Many allow you to include a link back to your own blog. Go into Facebook groups and share information to help others. Again, don’t do so in a self-promotional way. Instead, offer advice freely, and soon people will associate your knowledge with the topic.

4. Edit Your Audience

Keep a close eye on who your followers are and how engaged your mailing list is. You want a very narrowly focused group fitting a specific buyer persona. If you start to collect audience members who don’t fall in the range, remove them from your list. Refocus your advertising and where you share information regularly to reach the right people.

The key to becoming a sought-after micro-influencer is cultivating the right audience and keeping them active. The ideal follower group likes your posts, shares content, and adds their thoughts and comments.

5. Develop a Style

The better-known influencers have a style they follow. Perhaps they’re a bit quirky and take photos of consumer goods used in unusual ways. Maybe they create high-end fashion shots you’d see in a glossy magazine. Whatever you choose, embrace your personality as a micro influencer and be consistent in the way you present yourself and the products you represent.

Best Tools and Resources for Micro Influencers

If you’re feeling a little uncertain about how to build your audience, there are some excellent tools. Start with these and then add more as your followers increase.

1. IZEA

The IZEA tool allows you to connect with partners who might want you to represent their brand. If you sign up via Facebook, pay careful attention to the access you allow. One of the default options enables them to post as you. You may want to turn that off, so you maintain control of your page.

2. Buffer

Utilizing a site scheduling your posts at optimum times increases user engagement and keeps your account active. Even if you get busy, you’ll have posts already planned. It will look like you work 24/7, even when you don’t.

3. Adobe Creative Cloud

Your photographs and posts need to appear professional. A good photo editing software is the place to start. You’ll also need some backdrops, lighting and a quality camera. Study what other influencers have done for their images and try to come up with your own concepts.

4. Feedly

One thing micro influencers need to do is share related content from others. You can’t possibly come up with enough information to keep people engaged all day, every day. However, you can subscribe to channels in Feedly and share the most interesting posts from others to keep the conversation going.

5. Crowdfire

Figure out who is following you and who you’re following on Instagram and Twitter. Using a tool showing your engagement also helps you cull your list and make sure you are reaching the right target audiences. You can unfollow people who aren’t following you back or who are unengaged with your offerings.

Create Amazing Content

The best way of becoming a micro influencer is by offering unique content people want to share. Over time, you’ll gain a close-knit group of fans who talk about you as much as you promote others. Be authentic and open when you recommend a product or service. Share that you received the item in exchange for a review.

If you find something is inferior, don’t recommend it to your list. Instead, let the brand know the product isn’t right for you at this time. It’s better to pass up a sponsorship than take on something not right for your followers and lose their goodwill and trust.