In the last post — Getting Your Own Micro Influencer — we talked about getting your own micro influencer, you may recall. This post carries this process one step further.
Keeping to our three original niches (beauty; health and fitness; fashion), we want to explore what this project translates into — in practical terms, not just as a theoretical exercise. We’re trying to find out what our ideas mean in practical terms — remember?
Some crucial questions yo need to address in executing this plan are . . .
What Do You Need To Consider In Selecting Your Micro Influencer?
Micro influencers are ubiquitous — this phenomenon is so pervasive, in fact, that it would be hard to move in any direction without stumbling upon a micro influencer — and this is because micro influencers are inseparable from social media itself. That can be both both good and bad news for us.
On the upside that means boundless choice and opportunity for you as an affiliate marketer; on the downside, however, that means having to work that much harder to determine which micro influencers be the best fit for you.
Every micro influencer is defined by two by 2 major attributes, or variables, you might say
- The No. Of Followers
- Level Of Engagement
These two variables can be measured numerically and, therefore, give us the assurance of making decisions based on concrete facts. No.s don’t lie, as the common saying goes. Digital technology — which drives the micro influencer phenomenon — is preeminently data driven. That, however, is not to suggest that human judgement can be dispensed with — it’s still relevant. On the contrary, human judgement is even more relevant — because no’s alone cannot answer the next larger question looming over us . . .
Which Aspect Has Precedence? — And Why?
Essentially, the task is assessing the validity of one metric over another — follower count vs. level of engagement.
That gives us two possible options.
- OPTION 1 — Prioritising Follower Count
- OPTION 2 — Prioritising Level of Engagement
Which option is better for you?
Let’s take, first, Option 1.
If we prioritise follower count over level of engagement, then we will be completely blinded to the issue of authenticity — our foremost reason for leveraging a micro influencer. A large enough following doesn’t still give us a reliable measure of the micro influencer’s genuineness — unless the large following is expressly attributable to an alignment between the micro influencer’s professed values and the products and services they are promoting. You might say that alignment is the litmus test for a micro influencer’s authenticity. Simply put, if there’s a large gap in the alignment it’s cause for concern — it’s a red flag.
Vis a vis Option 1, Option 2 — a larger engagement than a a follower count — this is cause for celebration. Let me tell you why.
An engaged audience is more likely to convert — than simply a larger audience.
Try and envisage this situation in more concrete terms as a large crowd milling about in a public square — why are they doing that? why are they hanging around longer than expected? what do they expect to get out of this? — all those questions can be summed up neatly this way . . . What’s the reward?
In digital marketing terms, they are waiting for a call to action (CTA), which could be . . . Buy. Subscribe. An engaged audience is waiting to be a converted audience. Imagine what can happen if you get your message in front of them –which is precisely what a micro influencer can do for you.
That’s the kind of micro influencer you want on your side. Therefore . . .
Prioritise engagement over follower count.