You’ve probably heard all about influencers. If you’re anything like my mother, you might think influencers are people who get famous and make money for doing nothing.
My mother, however, couldn’t be more wrong (no one tell her I said that, please).
Influencers are here to stay and luckily for entrepreneurs, they provide a creative and affordable way to get new eyes on your business.
There are four types of influencers: Nano-Influencers (Audience under 5K), Micro-Influencers (Audience range 5K-100K), Macro-Influencers (100K+ Audience), and Mega-Influencers (1M+, generally celebrities). 
We’re focusing on micro-influencers for four reasons:
Micro-Influencers tend to be more affordable than Macro and Mega-Influencers.
Micro-Influencers are often viewed as more relatable and have cultivated trust with their audience.
Micro-Influencers have higher engagement, so when a Micro-Influencer is talking about what you sell, it’s more than an ad: there’s a conversation happening.
Because their audiences are smaller, their demographics tend to be more targeted and less broad which can especially help entrepreneurs who offer more niche services.
What can you expect to pay when working with a micro-influencer?
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Just like anything in business, it’s a conversation and a negotiation. First things first: you’re going to have to pay something. While in-kind/gifting partnerships are possible, influencers as a whole are leaning away from solely in-kind deals. What can you expect to pay, you ask? The industry standard minimum is $100 per 10K followers. That being said, that number goes up based on other variables: the number of posts, video vs. still shots, how much time they’re expected to put into it, etc. When you go on social media and see an influencer who has fantastic production quality in their posts and reels, that influencer likely charges more than the minimum standard. Alternately, if you have a reliable way to track conversion (i.e. coupon codes, links, etc.) you could propose an affiliate partnership based on commission, so the influencer gets a percentage of each sale that stems from their posts.
How do you decide which micro-influencer to approach?
First off, study their work. Don’t just look at their numbers and say “YES!”, really look at the quality of their posts. Are people commenting? Is the influencer responding to people who comment? Step back and look at the community they’ve built and consider if you see future customers in those people.
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Based on the influencer’s audience, interests, and previous partnerships, be realistic if you are good fit for them. They want their partnerships to bring genuine value to their audience. Influencers take great care in building their audience and strive to only endorse products or services they’re genuinely interested in. If it’s not a match, no biggie. You want someone who wants to share your business with the world because they LOVE it, not just because of money.
Partnerships with micro-influencers should always be a win-win. A win for them and a win for you. Ask the influencer you’re thinking of working with for a media kit that details their audience, engagement, and previous partnerships. Any trustworthy influencer will have no problem sharing those details when negotiating a partnership.
Be clear with yourself about the goal. Unless your business is e-commerce, social media is largely an awareness tool. If the goal is conversion, and you haven’t had success with conversion in other arenas, it’s unlikely social media will be the magic wand to fix that.
Never let the awareness vs. conversion factor discourage you from capitalizing on what social media has to offer. Someone may not need it today, but they’ll remember it tomorrow.
WRITER: NICOLE CALIRO
WRITER: NICOLE CALIRO
