Micro Vs. Macro Influencers: Who's Best For Your Brand?

• By Madeline Miller
• 02-03-2022
• Social Media

With digital marketing changing and evolving all the time, you need to find ways to evolve with it. How can you be sure that you're reaching your market in the most effective way? Many businesses are now turning to influencers, as they offer a lot of scope for finding new leads. There are two types of influencer: micro and macro. Which one should you choose?

The Differences Between Micro And Macro Influencers

To make the right decision about what influencer you'll use, you need to know the difference between the two what makes someone a micro or macro influencer?

Micro influencer: These influencers will not have an enormous audience, and have built up the following they have thanks to the quality of their work. Typically, they should have between 10k – 100k followers. They tend to use social media sites like Twitch, YouTube, Instagram, and so on. They'll often work in a specific niche, such as fashion, or gaming.

Macro influencers: As the name implies, these influencers will have a much higher audience reach. They typically have follower counts that reach into the millions. They will be people who are well known, such as celebrities, models, fashion designers, and so on. As they have such a large reach, they can help you reach a much wider audience.

Marketing Costs

When considering which type of influencer to use, you'll need to think about the costs involved. Your marketing budget will be the first thing that dictates who you hire. “If you want to hire a macro influencer, they aren't going to be cheap” says marketing blogger Sandra Jones, from Eliteassignmenthelp. “You're getting access to their millions of followers, so you'll need to be ready to pay for it.”

If you're a smaller business or have a smaller marketing budget, then a micro influencer may be better for your cause. A macro influencer could cost up to $10k per post, while a small or mid level one may cost $500 to $5k per post. As such, you'll need to find an influencer that fits into your budget.

Influencer – Follower Relationship

Remember that follower counts aren't everything when it comes to finding the right influencer. The influencer you want is someone that has an excellent relationship with their followers. The very best influencers maintain this by ensuring their content is giving their audience what they're looking for. They also offer a lot of authenticity, so the followers trust them to be putting out authentic content.

For example, an influencer who has a background in landscaping giving gardening tips online is going to have a lot of authenticity, making them cultivate a better relationship with their followers. This is something you should be looking for. There are many macro influencers who can do this, but micro influencers are also very capable of inspiring loyalty, too.

Niche Marketing

When marketing any product, you should have already done your market research. You'll want to market your product to a subsection of your market, and so you'll want to narrow down where they are online, and who they may follow.

In many cases, going with a micro influencer can actually be your best bet. “A macro influencer will have a huge audience, but they'll spread out over the globe and be of all ages, genders and so on” says Darren Lauder, a journalist at StateOfWriting. “Instead, a micro influencer will have an audience that sits more in one segment of the population, helping you laser focus your marketing efforts.”

Audience Reach

Finally, you'll want to consider audience reach. How much reach do you want your influencer to have? As you'd imagine, macro influencers can offer more as they have much higher follower counts. That gives you more reach, but remember that social media platforms are always tweaking the design, so you can only estimate the reach you'll have.

Micro influencers will have a more limited reach, but they are actually shown to have higher conversion rates. You'll want to take this into account when choosing an influencer.

There's a lot to consider when choosing an influencer. Consider your own needs, and see whether a micro or macro influencer will suit you best.