The Pros and Cons of Macro and Micro-Influencers

The Pros and Cons of Macro and Micro-Influencers

The influence that social media personalities have on consumer habits continues to grow and dominate.  If you’re thinking of running an influencer campaign on social media, but are having trouble starting, consider addressing this basic question: how do I choose the right influencer to showcase my product?  

We recommend identifying whether you want to use a really popular (macro) influencer to broadcast your message to the masses or target niche audiences by partnering with a micro-influencer, who usually has 3k-40k followers.

To help you with your decision, we’ve broken down the pros and cons of working with micro vs. macro influencers:

Benefits of working with a macro-influencer:

• With large followings of 100,000s or even millions of followers, brands can get their messages out to a large audience through just one or a few macro-influencer relationships
• Since macro-influencers are fewer and far between, it can be easier to select your influencers  and save you from having to comb through a jungle of profiles
• Macro-influencers are used to taking direction and have the tools and expertise to create their own high-quality content with or without direction from you
• With paid influencer engagements, brands have more control over the influencer’s messages and how posts are presented
• For most macro-influencers, working with brands is their full time job and have likely developed a high level of professionalism

Drawbacks to working with a macro-influencers:

• Hiring macro-influencers is more expensive – costs can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars per post
• Macro-Influencers may already be working with your competitors, or products that are not inline with your brand
• Macro influencers can sometimes demand that content is presented in a certain way to fit their image
• Audiences can be from all over the world and not necessarily where your product is available
• Engagement rates are often lower compared to working with micro-influencers

Choosing to partner with micro-influencers could have many benefits for your company as well, especially if your business is looking to target smaller niche markets, or if your budget doesn’t allow for a partnership with a macro-influencer.

Benefits of working with a micro-influencer:

• Working with micro-influencers who focus on niche markets makes it easier to target specific industries
• Most micro-influencers focus on a specific city or location, making it easier for brands to market organically to a specific geography
• Micro-influencers are closer to a peer-level with their followers and often come across as authentic, personal and genuine
• Most micro-influencers have higher engagement rates compared to macro-influencers
• Micro-influencers are less expensive and in some cases, will work with you in exchange for product
• Brands working with a limited budget are able to work with multiple micro-influencers

Drawbacks to working with a micro-influencers:

• Micro-influencers have fewer followers, and therefore reach on branded content is limited
• It can take brands longer to find appropriate micro-influencers since there are so many to choose from
• Micro-influencers may not have much experience working with businesses, and therefore may be less professional
• It’s more work for brands to coordinate various pieces of content across multiple micro-influencer profiles

When choosing between micro and macro influencers for your brand, remember to consider:

• The best results are achieved when there is collaboration between the brand and influencer
• Make sure you choose and influencer who is in-line with your brand and who genuinely loves (and uses!) your product
• Give your influencer(s) space and flexibility to showcase your product in his/her own style to maintain authenticity