Influencers of different breeds
Ten years ago when a company decided to have an individual represent their brand it would always mean a celebrity, with the development of platforms like Instagram came Influencers. Influences come in all shapes and sizes, depending on a company's brand it isn't actually always the best idea to hire a celebrity to represent you. There are three main categories of Influencers.
Celebrities
The most obvious of the Influencer world are those with celebrity status. While this includes public figures like actors musicians it now also extends to social media Influencers and bloggers with a certain following. Think millions of followers. Now while you might think the ability to reach millions of potential customers is the only thing that matters the individuals that fall into this particular category lack one key thing. Authenticity, people are rather skeptical of any promotion for a brand where the subject has been paid thousands of dollars. Further they also tend to be completely unrelatable to your average customer. Jennifer Aniston complaining about the lack of an on board bar during a flight just doesn't hit the right chord with the average customer who will probably be flying in economy.
@Sophiesumner8 (Influencer Sophie Sumner has nearly 200k followers on Instagram.)
The Influencers
Thousands of followers and far more relatable to your average customer these people usually have a day job to go along with their online following or have created a secondary means of income through their chosen media platform. Think YouTube bloggers and beauty tutorial Gurus. Depending on your brand these guys can strike the perfect balance between relatability and visibility. For a makeup brand these sorts of Influencers are key, people trust Influencers because they are knowledgeable in their areas, thousands of people follow these individuals and listen to their advice. So for a new lipstick range or beauty line these sorts of Influencers are perfect. But what if your brand is more boutique than that?
Enter the Micro Influencers
Micro Influencers are all about niche products and high engagement. They probably only have a few thousand followers but their posts are very specific. This is the place to find a promoter when your market has its own subculture. If you are a active wear company you might use Dancers or Fitness Trainers. Giving these people free items rather than payment. A model known for her tattoos comes into your tattoo parlor? You might pay her to post a photo of her new tattoo on her page. Maybe you make the local surfing champion a new board. The list goes on but it tends to be more affordable marketing with a higher conversion rate than something posted by an Influencer with a huge following. Why? Because these people are trusted, their pages are more personal and specific. They are everyday people. Their reach might be smaller but you get a lot of bang for your buck. Micro Influencers tend to post for free items rather than cash reimbursements. I personally fall into this category with only a few hundred followers I still get daily requests from brands wanting to send me free active wear to post Dance images and videos while wearing their product. The beautiful thing here is you don't just get one person talking about your brand. Depending on the size of your Company and your budjet you could engage dozens of Micro Influencers to post. Meaning your overall spend is less than paying a regular Influencer, you get a bigger reach in total and you have the ability to create a trending hashtag.
Whatever you decide knowing why you are choosing a particular person to represent your brand is often just as important and who you choose.
