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What Follower Count Is Considered a Micro-Influencer?

Influencer Marketing
What Follower Count Is Considered a Micro-Influencer?

Some say 2023 is going to be the year of the micro influencer, but there’s still a lot of confusion about what exactly micro influencers are. It’s time for that to change. 

This blog will explore micro influencer marketing in detail, including answers to the questions, “what is a micro influencer?” and “how much does a micro influencer get paid?” 

What Is a Micro Influencer?

A micro influencer is someone with a small but meaningful following on a social media platform, whether that’s Instagram, TikTok, or even YouTube. The term “micro influencer” refers to the fact that these social media creators have fewer followers than the typical super-popular influencers but still have the ability to impact their audiences. 

Generally, micro influencers build engaged audiences related to a niche topic or industry. The micro influencers’ audiences often see them as experts in that field and trust their opinions. That familiarity and trust between micro influencers and their followers is part of what makes micro influencers such great partners for brands. 

​​What Is a Micro Influencer on Instagram?

Instagram is the most popular social media platform for micro influencers. They can effectively build followings on Instagram and start to develop relationships with brands to monetize those followings. 

Micro influencers on Instagram are people who post regularly on the platform and gain followers who care about their content. There are Instagram micro influencers in nearly every niche imaginable, including fashion, beauty, travel, health and nutrition, parenting, and fitness. Check out hashtags related to your industry to find Instagram micro influencers who might be good partners for your brand. 

What Is a Micro Influencer on Tiktok?

Like on Instagram, TikTok influencers are creators who focus on a niche topic and gather followers who are interested in their content surrounding that topic. TikTok is another great platform for micro influencers (and brands running micro influencer campaigns) thanks to the TikTok algorithm. The algorithm exposes users to creators they have never engaged with before, making it easier for micro influencers to build followings quickly. 

How Much Is a Micro Influencer Paid?

For brands, one of the major advantages of working with micro influencers is that they generally charge less than influencers with larger followings. 

Many factors determine how much influencers charge, but a key determinant is how many followers they have. The more followers an influencer has, the more they can expect to be paid for sponsored posts. Because micro influencers have fewer followers, the price they charge per post is typically lower than other influencers.

The social media platform the micro influencer uses also affects how much they’re paid. YouTube influencers often charge more per post than Instagram influencers with similar follower counts, for example. 

Other factors that affect how much micro influencers are paid include:

  • Exclusivity: Can the influencer work with other brands?
  • Usage rights: Do you plan to repurpose the influencer’s content?
  • Seasonality: Is it a high-demand period like the holiday season?
  • Type of content: Do you need the influencer to create photos or videos? How many?
  • Engagement rate: How engaged are the influencer’s followers with their posts?

There’s no easy way to calculate exactly how much a micro influencer will charge for promotional services. Just keep these factors in mind and consider that working with micro influencers is often the least expensive option for influencer marketing campaigns. 

What Qualifies Someone as a Micro Influencer? 

While there are no clearly defined rules for qualifying as a micro influencer, micro influencers do still fit some general guidelines. 

Micro influencers are one of the four main categories of influencers, alongside nano influencers, macro influencers, and mega influencers. These categories break down influencers into different groups based on how many followers they have. So, what follower count is considered a micro influencer?

The typical micro influencer follower count is between 1,000 and 100,000 followers on any single social media platform. For the other three influencer categories, the follower counts are as follows:

  • Nano influencer follower count: 1,000 to 10,000 followers
  • Macro influencer follower count: 100,000 to one million followers
  • Mega influencer follower count: Over 1 million followers

People often wonder, “How many followers does a typical influencer have?” These figures show that there’s no specific follower count that qualifies someone as an influencer or not. Someone with 5,000 followers can be a great influencer, just like someone with five million followers. It’s all about making the most of their position as a creator that audiences are interested in. 

How Lionize Can Help 

Lionize is a micro influencer agency and platform that helps brands launch effective influencer marketing campaigns. We simplify every step of the influencer marketing process from finding the right micro influencers for your brand to tracking and reporting the results of your campaign. 

Book a Discovery Call to learn more about the power of Lionize.