MICRO-INFLUENCERS VS. MAINSTREAM INFLUENCERS

Can anyone be an influencer?

The short answer is— yes.

Are u passionate about social media? Do you love posing and taking photos or videos? Do you enjoy talking about products you love? Does the idea of making money while pursuing your passions sound good to you? If yes, read along to find out how you can become a micro-influencer.

We’ve all seen influencers on our Instagram feeds and social media platforms, most of them with 500,000 to millions of followers. These influencers are considered mainstream due to their large following and fanbase.

Alo Yoga is a fitness apparel company and Moon is a company that manufactures oral care products.

An influencer must possess two things: a large following and the ability to produce social media content consistently.

In fact, lots of celebrities are influencers as well— most notably— the Kardashians. Kendall Jenner is always making sponsored posts with Moon and Alo Yoga, and Jennie from Black Pink reps Calvin Klein and Chanel like no other.

The K-pop star is the face of the two biggest brands of all time: Calvin Klein and Chanel.

But did you know that companies love working with micro-influencers as well?

WHAT IS A MICRO-INFLUENCER?

Micro-influencers are people who have 10,000- 50,000 followers, according to MediaKix.

The reason these influencers are labeled “micro” is because they do not have the same level of fame, status, and following of mainstream influencers.

Ever since TikTok blew up in 2020, it became the number one platform people use to become micro-influencers.

Renee Beller is a fashion influencer with 376K followers on Instagram and 986K followers on TikTok

Influencer marketing has tremendous potential to power a brand’s visibility, and brands have the choice of choosing the right partnerships to form their brand image and bring in revenue.

There are multiple benefits for brands to work with micro-influencers that partnerships with mainstream influencers don’t offer.

BIGGER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER

Since mainstream influencers are extremely popular and have a large cult following, brands have to pay more in order to collaborate with them.

At the same time, they are also in high demand, meaning they may be posting sponsored content with multiple brands at once.

This causes viewers to question the authenticity behind the influencer’s motives—“is [influencer name] working with the brand because he/she really loves their products, or is he/she just doing it for the payout?”

After all, it is nearly impossible for mainstream influencers to create a personal relationship with each one of their millions of followers.

In contrast, micro- influencers have a smaller following and more niche audiences. Not only is it more affordable for brands to work with micro-influencers, companies can rest-assured that they have a stronger relationship built on trust and expertise with their followers— which means people in the targeted demographic are more likely to believe the sponsored content and purchase the brand’s products.

Here are some brands who are known for working with micro-influencers: Mejuri, Hallmark, Dunkin’ Donuts, Princess Polly, Windsor, Steve Madden, Drunk Elephant, and Blush Mark.

So now you’re wondering...

How do I reach out to these brands to collaborate with them? Each company is different, but the most common ways are through filling out forms on their websites, emailing brands your personal pitch, or by directly messaging them on Instagram.

You can do this easily by having an email template and media kit ready, where you introduce yourself, the number of followers you have on each platform, why you want to collaborate with the brand, and what kind of content you create.

Below is a brand pitch template you can potentially email to a brand of your liking:

An example of a cold brand pitch template (Credit: rightinbox)

To check out more templates, visit rightinbox.

So there you have it, if you want to become a micro-influencer to bring in some side income, you have all the tools to do so!