WHAT IS A ‘MICRO-INFLUENCER’?

The rapid growth of the internet has given way to a new icon: make way for the ‘influencer’.

Influencers are generally regarded as individuals or groups that are highly influential in affecting the choices of their followers and audience. Brands will often sponsor them to promote their products and services through their social media platforms such as Instagram to prompt others to use or purchase them.

A common perception of an influencer is an individual with a large follower base. While this is often true, there are many influencers with fewer followers that maintain a highly engaged and impressionable audience, often called a ‘micro-influencer’.

SO HOW MANY FOLLOWERS DOES A ‘MICRO-INFLUENCER’ HAVE?

There seems to be some debate surrounding the number of followers that determine an individual as a micro-influencer.

Some organisations such as scrunch believe it consists of an individual with a social media follower range of 2,000 to 50,000.

 while others define them as having between 1,000 to 100,000 followers as seen in cmswire.

As it’s a relatively new concept, having only really emerged in the past few years, it isn’t surprising its definition remains a bit of a grey area.

At POPCOM, we define a micro-influencer as an individual with anywhere between 1,000 to 80,000 followers that are highly responsive to their content.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A ‘MICRO-INFLUENCER’

The content of a micro-influencer is often niche and targeted towards a specific area or topic - just a few examples include fitness, fashion, makeup or travel.

Followers of a micro-influencer can often feel more engaged with their content, likely because they are appealing to a smaller audience and as a result feel a greater and more genuine connection. This is suggested through a Takumi study which concluded that as follower size increases, engagement decreases.

For more information, contact POPCOM Director Amanda Lacey at  amanda@popcom.com.au