Digital marketing through influencers is the most sought-after strategy to scale businesses, but do you know why? Well, for every $1 spent on influencers, the brands earn up to $5.78 in return.
The influencers have revolutionized the horizon with which businesses market themselves. But along with it, many complexities have also emerged. For instance, influencers work in their specific niches, and it has become quite difficult to determine what type you would need to improve the marketing.
With the emergence of social media platforms, many B2C companies have taken a boom. The good thing is that influencers do not limit themselves to B2C companies only; many B2B enterprises also rely on influencers to project their products or services online.
The influencers seem to have a very glamorous life, and many have quite an impressive fan following. But should the company be impressed by the glam? We suggest that for any business, the primary concern should be collaborating with the right influencer. That is why the Marketing Tutor has listed the 11 most common types of social media influencers and how to use them effectively.
Table of Contents
5 Types of Influencers by Count
The following five-tiered categorizations are based on the number of followers.
Mega-Influencers
The mega-influencers have more than a million followers and have the highest visibility on social media; they are considered celebrities. People love to see and engage with their content when they post on their social media pages or accounts, ultimately developing a very organic bond with their followers. Whatever these celebrities do, people love to copy it, and this becomes the reason for these influencers being very expensive.
However, this type of influencers might not be the best in the long run. That’s because studies show that after a certain point, the rate of engagement starts decreasing. For instance, any Instagram influencer having 10M followers has an engagement rate of 1.6 percent only.
Mega influencers are effective in advertising your products or services to the masses, even to those who are not your targeted audience. In simple words, mega influencers are useful for creating brand awareness.
Macro-Influencers
Macro-influencers have followers between half a million to one million. Generally, those who fall in this category are usually celebrities, athletes, motivational speakers, industry leaders, or TV persons. Many marketers believe these influencers are among the viable options for generally advertising your brand. That’s because (although they charge hefty sums) their engagement rate is low due to a massive number of followers (general audience)
Still, these influencers are the right ones to go if you want to create brand awareness or advertise your products or services in general. In other words, new or less-known businesses can grab attention through macro influencers.
Mid-Tier Influencers
These influencers may not be considered celebrities, yet they successfully garner people’s trust because people can easily relate to them. Influencers with 50k to 500k followers lie in this category. These influencers charge less than macro or mega and have higher engagement rates than both. These features make these influencers very powerful and impactful.
The content that the mid-tier influencers post is very authentic and is only polished to the extent that it still looks genuine. Another mentionable characteristic is that they have spent years climbing up the influencers’ ranks, making them very organic.
Micro-Influencers
Micro-influencers have a very limited fan following as compared to the three types discussed before. Despite having a low fan base, the engagement and the effectiveness are massive. Micro-influencers develop a trustable relationship with their followers through their powerful and engaging content.
A peculiar character of micro-influencers is that they are very niche specific, which makes them effective for advertising your services or products. Statistics show that 82 percent of consumers tend to buy the product that a micro-influencer recommends.
The only shortcoming this type has is the relatively low professional outlook. This might be an issue for a few companies, but many focus on the authenticity in which they are best.
Nano-Influencers
The nano-influencers are the ones that may provide the lowest reach, but they have a highly engaged social media following. Brands that need to engage at a very particular level choose the nano-influencers. Most importantly, the engagement rate is a whopping 8.8 percent. The content that these influencers produce looks very authentic and is highly personalized because they usually promote products they love.
The best thing about the nano-influencers is that they are cheap to hire despite having good engagement rates. Sometimes, some influencers don’t even charge; they rather collaborate to get partnerships with the brands. Moreover, they are a very effective advertising tool for product testing.
6 Types of Influencers based on Interest
The following categorization is based on the interests of the influencers.
Sports and Fitness
These influencers can be a great help for sports and fitness businesses. If a sports or fitness brand is unable to hire a top-notch mega-influencer for promotion, it can employ these influencers because they have a better reach and are more authentic.
People are highly engaged with sports and fitness influencers because they share their own journeys, which motivates people to achieve their personal fitness goals. Moreover, sports and fitness influencers have an exemplary impact on their followers to such a level that they follow them religiously.
Most importantly, they only charge a fraction of what any mega or macro influencer might charge, which is great from the business point of view. These influencers can be fitness models, fitness photographers, athletes, nutritionists, or personal trainers.
Beauty and Fashion
Present-day fashion trends emerge from beauty and fashion influencers. Whether it is skincare routine, hair styling, wardrobes, or anything related to fashion or beauty, people turn to these influencers.
One of the best things about beauty and fashion influencers is that they have a very specific and highly motivated fan following. Beauty and fashion influencers usually share their content through Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Snapchat, and other similar platforms.
From the marketing perspective, beauty and fashion influencers are highly suitable for cosmetics, make-up, clothing, and shoe brands. Businesses can use them to try out their new products or create brand awareness.
Vloggers
With YouTube gaining audience traction, people also started vlogging. Youtube is one of the greatest platforms for companies to engage with their customers because of its popularity among the masses.
The watching hours of the vloggers outnumber the time people spend on Instagram. Also, people tend to remember and internalize the videos more as compared to pictures scrolled in a fraction of a minute. These features leave vloggers with leverage as compared to other platforms.
Moreover, children and people of younger ages are more connected to the vloggers as compared to traditional influencers.
Gamers
For many, gaming is an amusement, but for others, it is a full-time profession. Gamers have a huge fan following because people love to watch their game-plays. Gamers can be the best influencers if the intended audience is aged between 15 to 30 years.
Moreover, the impact of games is huge since people resort to looking at the gaming videos than reading a blog or seeing images. Last but not least, the gamers can help review your products by sharing them with their organic viewers. All in all, gamers too can be great influencers if your niche matches them.
Journalists
A journalist is the right person to hire for a marketing campaign if your company is concerned with the use of correct language, messaging, and content. The journalists have the ability to narrate the story in a manner that appeals to the customers. A skilled journalist can be a good influencer for a B2B or a B2C company because people trust in their authenticity. Also, their viewers are more well-read, so companies trust the rationale of journalists and people. The power of forming opinions also leaves the journalists in a position that is quite powerful for marketing any company.
Photographers
It must be good if it looks good. The job of a photographer is to gain the attention of any random person scrolling through their Instagram feed. The visuals create great impact, and that is why the photographers are great influencers. Each type of influencer has to rely on great photographers, be it lifestyle, travel, fashion, beauty, or social media influencer. The impact which a good photo can create is mind-blowing because a good photo can present the products or services of any brand very precisely and effectively.
Final Words
All in all, the influencers are the key marketers of the present era. Any marketing strategy to scale the business must consider advertising through influencers. However, the article also explained that the niches in which the influencers work are very specific. Some types of influencers are useful to create brand awareness among the masses, while others are useful for targeting a very specific audience. Therefore, businesses must have clarity on what outcomes they need and then decide which type of influencer suits them well.
