In 2017 social media influencers gained more traction as we, the consumer, increasingly turned our eyes from traditional media to our trusted peers via social media platforms. The power that some influencers now wield can mean that product placements via blogs, YouTube or social can equal a brand’s product being sold out in minutes. We all want a piece of this pie but what does it mean and where does influencer marketing sit in the broader PR, marketing and brand ambassador mix?

Influencer marketing is a big deal, but you might not know it yet! Being a Fashion Blogger, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that brands need to know about when it comes to engaging a social media influencer before you get started. Lucky for you, I’m the go-to-girl for everything influencer relations and PR!

What is a micro-influencer?

Influencers are split into two main categories (besides their main themes ie: fashion, foodies etc!) which are Micro-Influencers and Macro-Influencers. Here’s the breakdown:

Micro-Influencers: Under 10k followers, not your classic ‘celebrity’ but they run their own social media platforms and are often more open to brand collaborations.

Macro-Influencers: The Big Wigs. The Rebecca Judd’s of the world (with 644k followers on Insta), household names with over 10k influencers on their main platform.

Both of these types of influencers are great! Depending on what you want to achieve from your influencer marketing campaign, each type of influencer has their role to play.

But today we’re talking about Micro-Influencers.

Consumers are 84 per cent more likely to trust their peers for recommendations more than brand advertising, and when an influencer is considered a peer, an equal and even a friend, that influence to drive purchase behaviour is maximised.

These types of influencers are increasingly who consumers are turning to for advice, recommendations, brand quality and purchasing options; and are a great way to increase your brand salience and awareness online!

When engaging with Micro-Influencers on a social media campaign here are my top tips on how to approach them to get the best results:

• Be specific in what you’re looking for out of the collaboration.
  Work out what you’ll be giving and what you expect from them before the collab takes place.
• Talk about payment.
  Micro-Influencers work closely with brands on contra (work in exchange for payment by product), but always have an influencer budget set aside – to ensure quality content, we want to be able to pay our creators or at least offer them freebies and products that they’ll love and fits in with their own brand persona
• Choose influencers that are in-line with your brand.
  Is this blogger minimalistic? A beauty blogger? Maybe they only blog about cocktails? Ensure your brand goes hand-in-hand with their own to solidify a great brand relationship and maximise their audience interest.
• Get the results.
  Follow-up influencers after the campaign by asking them to share their analytics with you. Instagram business accounts give you the impressions in one quick swipe, while blog posts and YouTube platforms gives you the behind the scenes on views. Make sure you’re documenting what worked with who (and what didn’t) for future campaigns.

So, know that you know a little bit more about Micro-Influencers, what are you waiting for?! Don’t have the time to research all the applicable influencers that would work best with your brand, or struggling to know what’s the best way to reach out and execute a collaboration… if only there was a veteran PR guru and fashion blogger who could help you with that?

If you’re looking to engage with social media influencers with your brand, we have the package made just for you and within a couple of weeks you could have your own PR Agency putting together the perfect social media campaign for your brand to be spotted by the best bloggers!