How Micro-Influencers Are Taking the Fashion Marketing World by Storm

You probably know about bloggers and influencers, and that there are different tiers of each (and if you don’t, you can find out all about it here). To recap: There are the well-known celebrity/mega bloggers like Chiara Ferragni of The Blonde Salad or Aimee Song of Song of Style, who jumped into the blogging scene early and paved the way for many bloggers behind them. They have over 1 million followers and some even have other businesses on the side. 

The next tier are macro bloggers, who range from having a following of 10,000 to 900,000+ on social media. They have a diverse, loyal following, curate regular sponsored content, and reach thousands with each post. The final tier, and the ones to really take a look at right now, are micro bloggers. They have anywhere from 500 to 10,000 followers—a smaller, more niche audience who are engaged, vocal, and invested. 

Source: Instagram

For several years, brands and companies were only interested in working with celebrities and mega-bloggers, and they had to have a minimum number of followers. They thought that a bigger following meant more eyeballs, sales, and money. Which can still be true—by having celebrity/mega blogger endorsements, it can completely catapult a brand into profits. But these types of endorsements, spokesmen roles and collaborates have a large price tag, and not all companies can afford that. 

Source: Instagram

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So where does everyone else turn? To micro bloggers, who have cultivated a small, intimate, and niche audience. Think about a beauty blogger who has 3,000 followers. About a third of those followers are family, friends, peers, classmates, coworkers and people interested in beauty. The second third are people he or she has met through blogging. They’re bloggers with similar followings, people they’ve networked with, worked with, or follow mutually.

Source: Instagram

That last third are unrelated audience followers who’ve discovered their page, are actively interested in beauty, and invested. They relate to this blogger on a personal level because the beauty blogger doesn’t have millions of followers or live a celebrity-type lifestyle. When a brand works with the micro blogger, he or she has an audience that’s genuinely interested in the brands they work with (because the blogger might not work with a lot of brands), and the audience trusts the blogger’s opinion and are more likely to buy since they’re “friends” with the blogger. 

Source: Instagram

MORE: A Day in the Life of a Full-Time Fashion Blogger

Micro blogger sales might not outdo a celebrity’s, but their fee is much smaller, they’re generally easier to pin down, companies can settle contracts/negotiations quicker since there’s no third-party management, and—most importantly—they can start to build a relationship as the brand and blogs both grow over the years. 

Source: Instagram

Another perk of working with micro bloggers is that since their fee is smaller, the brand can work with 10-20 micro bloggers for the price of one celebrity blogger. This also increases audience diversity, since all those bloggers come from different locations, backgrounds, ethnicities, and expertise. And who knows—those micro bloggers might just one day become macro (or even mega!) influencers.