A Guide to Social Media Influencers: Mega, Macro, Micro, and Nano

Ask any popular influencer what they dreamed their ideal job would be, and most will say they never imagined it would be this way.

How could they? The influencer career wasn’t even a thing when most of them started their first blogs. 

It’s crazy when you realize how fast it all happened and how the influencer phenomena took the world of social media marketing by storm and changed it for good. 

With the industry set to reach $15 billion by 2022, it’s essential to keep up with the trend and find a way to implement it into your social media strategy. 

As fast changing an environment influencer marketing is, there’s always more to discover if you’re planning on utilizing it as a brand. 

Formerly we covered 

Influencer Marketing Trends for 2021 

How to Build an Influencer Marketing Strategy, and 

How to Spot a Fake Influencer. 

But how do you decide which type of influencers are the best match for your business? And what’s up with the Mega, Macro, Micro, and Nano categories? 

Look no further. We’ll break it all down. 

Mega influencers

 

 

 

 

 

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Influencers that reached that magical number of 1 million followers are in the mega influencers category. Most celebrities, movie stars, and famous names in the entertainment industry are in this category, along with some regular people that influenced their way to the top of social media stardom. 

Benefits of working with mega influencers

It’s a no brainer that a collab with these type of influencers would get you an instant brand awareness boost. One mention by the likes of Kylie Jenner or Charli D’Amelio could take your business from a complete anonymous to rock star status in a second. 

In addition to the opportunity to reach millions, working with mega influencers is usually super easy. As professionals used to working with different brands on social media campaigns, they are familiar with the process. Mega influencers are also more likely to develop your ideas without too much input from you as a brand. 

And, of course, there are the credibility and exclusivity points you get from working with a megastar that you don’t get anywhere else. 

Downsides of mega influencer collabs

However, no matter how amazing this all may seem, there are a couple of downsides to this approach you should consider first. 

Let’s not forget the untouchable moment that surrounds all the massive stars in general. And how even more prominent this is in the world of social media. A megastar like Ariana Grande just can’t manage a close relationship with all 220 million members of her Instagram community. And, well, it doesn’t translate well to trustworthiness when it comes to branded campaigns these big celebrities are doing. 

Cost is another major downside to this approach. Brands are paying up to $50,000 for one piece of content by a mega influencer celebrity. Hard to achieve if you’re a small business in this day and age. 

And with so many eyes watching these celebrities’ every move, one wrong decision or a slip up can cost both the brand and the celebrity a lot in terms of reputation. We’ve seen so many social media copy fails when the celebrities copy and paste the entire copy suggestion onto their Instagram caption. 

And these are just the least of your concerns as a brand looking to work with a mega influencer. Let’s not forget the backlash that follows every wrong stated sentence or post, or behavior of these stars and how bad it can affect your branding. There’s definitely a lot at stake here, so you should be extra careful when crafting a mega influencer collab strategy. 

Macro influencers

 

 

 

 

 

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With a follower count ranging from 100,000 to 1 million, the macro influencer category mostly consists of regular people earning their way to social media stardom by building genuine connections with their audience. 

Working on building their community for years, macro influencers know their audiences’ preferences to a t. As a brand, you can rely on their judgment if the campaign fits perfectly and how their audiences’ would resonate with different messaging. 

As such, they are the most respected and trustworthy among the influencers. The audiences love them for their super relatable yet inspiring stories. And brands love the opportunity of tapping into their dedicated audience potential. 

Benefits of macro influencers

In addition to a super responsive targeted audience, macro influencer collabs also provide high reach and engagement rates for brands looking to improve their conversions and brand awareness metrics. 

Another super significant upside to working with macro influencers is their super-professional approach to brand collaborations. Having built their career off of these partnerships, macro influencers are skilled creatives who make the entire process frictionless and smooth for both parties. 

Downsides of working with macro influencers

Although amazingly talented and engaging, there are still some disadvantages of macro influencers that can determine the success of your possible collab.

Due to a huge following they’ve built around their social media profiles, macro influencers may have higher price ranges. This is mostly since most of them are a part of an influencer agency, and the overall cost includes all of the additional rates. 

Last but certainly not least when it comes to downsides of macro influencers is the engagement rate. In some cases, these can be a bit low compared to their follower counts, so be extra careful when deciding on a macro influencer collab. 

Micro influencers

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by MICHELLE HALPERN⋆ TRAVEL (@livelikeitsthewknd)

The most sought after and most common type of influencers nowadays are micro influencers. With the following between 10,000 and 100,000, these influencers are running the show at the moment, and you’re about to find out why. 

As influencer marketing started growing in popularity, many big and small brands wanted to get in on the trend. Simultaneously, many aspiring creatives finally dipped their toes in the pool of influencer possibility and began building their communities. As not all businesses can afford the significant stars partnerships, many started turning to micro influencers for more cost-effective options. 

Although their reach is smaller, micro influencers have developed a close-knit community. The majority of their following is super specifically targeted and very actively engaged with their content. This is the main reason brands that are after conversions are partnering up with micro influencers. 

Benefits of working with micro influencers

The prefix perfectly reflects the cost of this type of collaboration. As the prices are still determined by the number of followers, these collaborations are far more affordable for brands. 

Micro influencers tend to have higher engagement rates than some of the more prominent stars. This comes as no surprise. Their content and lifestyles are still very relatable, which allows a closer connection with the audience. 

Their trustworthiness and credibility rank high among customers. Most micro influencers are specialized in one niche, which gives them that extra credit with audiences when they’re promoting a product. 

As a trusted source among their audience, micro influencers are more likely to turn followers into customers for a brand they’re working with. 

Another major benefit for brands partnering up with micro influencers is the opportunity to work with multiple creators simultaneously. The brands utilize this cost-effective approach, which enables them to split their resources to more influencers for a better ROI. 

Downsides of micro influencer collaborations

Reach is the number one disadvantage of the micro influencer strategy. As creators with smaller following, micro influencers are usually not getting the attention of bigger audiences. If you’re looking to build brand awareness, it would be a safer bet to opt for macro or mega influencer collab. 

Although working with multiple micro influencers allows for maximum results, it’s usually too time-consuming. This is definitely something to keep in mind and prepare for before embarking on this journey. 

More often than not, micro influencers have another job, or they are tasked with multiple projects to support themselves. At times this could lead to a compromise in their work quality. 

As more independent creators, micro influencers don’t usually follow strict guidelines like macro, and mega creators. If you’re planning a project involving a micro influencer, be prepared to give them some creative freedom to show their full potential. 

Nano influencers

 

 

 

 

 

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A relatively new edition to the influencer landscape – nano influencer puts an entirely new perspective on influencer marketing in general. Even though this is how most of the famous influencers started, the market didn’t recognize these creators until recently. 

With a follower count of below 10,000, it seems like this group has very little to offer. 

But that’s just the first impression. 

As we’re well aware by now, it’s not the quantity but the quality of community relationships that count when it comes to influencer marketing. 

Having a relatively small following allows nano influencers to be super close to their community and create a powerful tribe of like-minded people. Their influence usually reaches only the local community, but their engagement and credibility are to be reckoned with. 

Advantages of nano influencer collaborations

Along with the extremely high engagement rates these influencers provide, the costs for this type of collaboration are usually more than reasonable. This is especially beneficial for small businesses just starting out or startups with limited marketing budgets. 

Another cool advantage that comes with nano influencers is that they enjoy complete trust with their audience. This enables relevant brands to secure guaranteed conversions. 

Local brands with physical stores or brands organizing an event could see the best results working with nano influencers. Their local influence would secure a super–targeted audience. 

Downsides to working with nano influencers

In addition to limited reach, nano influencers may often lack experience in the influencer business, which requires more input and instruction from the brand.

Closely related to the previous point, nano influencers aren’t necessarily very experienced at creating brand content. It’s essential that brands keep this in mind and allocate more time and resources to ensure the content fits their brand image. 

Takeaway

With the fast-changing environment of influencer marketing, it’s becoming more challenging to keep up and decide where to focus your efforts and budget. Hopefully, our guide has helped you make a more informed decision when choosing the right kind of influencer for your specific goals.