When it comes to online marketing, credibility is critical. Consumers are bombarded by hundreds of ads every day and are increasingly tuning them all out. If you want to distinguish yourself from the others as a valuable business that cares about its clients, you have to win consumers’ trust. By working with micro influencers, you can do this quickly, effectively, and at minimal cost, building a brand the public remembers.

An Introduction to Micro Influencers

Micro influencers are individuals who actively post on social networks or blogs, and who have attracted modest but significant numbers of followers. In general, someone can be considered a micro influencer if they have more than one thousand followers but less than ten thousand. Such individuals often earn some money from their online activities, but not necessarily enough to support themselves.

While micro influencers aren’t always widely recognized, they have a lot of credibility among narrow groups of people, such as those living in certain communities or participating in certain types of activities. If you get micro influencers to mention your products or company in their content, you gain some of this credibility. In this way, you can spur their followers to become your customers, all for a fraction of the cost of getting celebrities and other “macro” influencers to endorse you.

Building Your Brand with Micro Influencers

Getting micro influencers to promote your products isn’t hard. Many are eager to partner with outside brands, both because this helps them financially and because it lets them suggest useful products to followers. To get the most from these partnerships, make sure to:

• Identify Relevant Influencers- The influencers you enlist should focus on things that relate directly to your brand. This will make them more likely to partner with you, and it
  increases the odds that followers will find the products useful.

• Get the Geography Right- If your business only operates in certain geographical areas, make sure that your influencers have significant numbers of followers there. The less trouble it is for their followers to become your customers, the more likely they are to do so.

• Engage with Incentives- Once you select an influencer, offer them clear incentives to hype your product. One strategy is to start by giving them free products, which they can keep no matter what they do; then make it clear that you will compensate them if they mention those products in their content. This will show micro influencers that you are willing to take a chance on them, leading them to trust you more. Caution should be exercised when using influencers in this way. Here are some tips to help you maintain an ethical approach.

• Show Products Seamlessly- Influencer marketing is most effective if micro influencers work your products seamlessly into their content, rather than merely hyping it up. You should thus give them suggestions for using it and offer extra incentives to do so.

By establishing an ongoing relationship with the right micro influencers, you can attract and hold on to trusting, loyal customers.