Why micro influencers fail in local business
So you dove into the world of influencer marketing and realized there are a lot of solutions, platforms, and agencies.
The fad these days is working with micro and nano influencers rather than popular celebrities. We’re here to level set the conversation so you can make the best decision for your influencer marketing spend.
WHAT IS A MICRO INFLUENCER?
A micro influencer is defined as an influencer who has between 10,000 to 100,000 followers. Their influence is oftentimes associated with what they post about, such as travel, urban farming, parenting toddlers, fitness, etc.
They’ve amassed this type of following because people enjoy their content and/or the personality of the influencer. There’s value to the recipient which leads them to hit that “follow” button.
Micro influencers who call themselves influencers are typically looking for paid brand deals. You can find them on popular influencer platforms like CreatorIQ or IZEA, who offer sponsored content opportunities.
DO MICRO INFLUENCERS DRIVE LOCAL BEHAVIOR?
Is a gluten-free food influencer from Kansas City on Instagram, let’s call her Clare, with 22,486 followers a local influencer Maybe, but probably not. This is key for brands to understand if their goal is to drive local awareness and action.
After dozens of conversations with place-based brands (think franchise networks, regional retail brands, or brick & mortar mom and pop shops), we’ve found most of them are investing in the wrong type of influencer with unrealistic expectations.
Back to Clare: she was hired by a Midwest grocery brand because she clearly has influence when it comes to gluten-free food. Her posts have great engagement and she has an amazing email list! She’s even on TikTok! But only about 1% of those 22,486 followers are in Kansas City and could go to that grocery store. Others are spread across the US with about 11% outside in other countries.
How is Clare going to be successful driving traffic to this Kansas City grocery store when most of her followers live elsewhere? This is precisely why micro influencers typically do not drive local behavior.
DON’T GO MICRO, GO LOCAL
The reality is, no matter what type of influencer marketing platform you sign up for, you’re going to see “location” on almost every influencer’s profile. Most of the time it won’t translate to local influence.
If you’re a place-based brand, consider partnering with local influencers: content creators, social media enthusiasts and regular people who have a local network of friends and followers on social media.
These individuals are probably not going to have 10,000-100,000 followers because they don’t care about follower counts. They open Instagram every day to see what their friends are doing and vice versa. They’ve earned the trust of their yoga instructors, baristas down the road, friends from work, and neighbors who learn about new local experiences and brands because of what they share. People who follow them likely know them because of where they live, not simply because of the content they create. This is local influence!
So instead of looking for someone with 10,000+ followers in Boise, look for dozens of individuals who are trusted in that community. Or skip the time-consuming task of discovery and leverage the Hummingbirds platform.
WHAT YOU GET WITH HUMMINGBIRDS
We’ve built a curated community of content creators called hummingbirds. They’re on social media often, sharing about local and place-based businesses in the cities they live in.
Our hummingbirds typically have 500-3,000 followers on Instagram. Those followers bump into them at the grocery store, see them doing yoga at the park, and actually have conversations with them in real life. You may not reach tens of thousands of people, but you will get access to hundreds of individuals who are eager to consume the hummingbirds’ content in the city you want to tap.
When our customers work with 20, 50, or 100+ hummingbirds, it creates a ton of FOMO. Suddenly, it feels like everyone in town is talking about a specific brand partnering with their own local hummingbirds! We can send over 100 hummingbirds to any given live event to create buzz both offline and online. Or, choose to activate 10-30 hummingbirds per month to keep the chatter going.
WHAT’S THE RIGHT FIT FOR YOUR BRAND?
At the end of the day, if you’re trying to get super targeted in penetrating a market or building ongoing buzz in the city you’ve been in for years, tap into our platform of hyperlocal hummingbirds.
If you’re trying to drive link clicks, online purchases, and want national or global coverage, go for a micro influencer or someone with an even larger following. Just don’t get stuck investing in a person or platform that isn’t going to help you drive local behavior, unless it’s the Hummingbirds platform!
Book a call with our team today to see how leveraging local content creators in your own backyard can impact the bottom line of your business today and for years to come.
