In 2021, 91% of all sponsored post engagements were with content created by micro-influencers. This was an increase of 2% from 89% in 2020, according to Digital Information World. Micro-influencer marketing is something brands worldwide are looking to in growing numbers. It is a growing format that is already beginning to dominate the influencer marketing market.

To accommodate this, many micro-influencer marketing agencies and micro-influencer marketing platforms have risen to match the demand for these influencers. Just about every influencer marketing firm makes sure that they can reach these kinds of influencers because they are in such high demand from businesses.

Everyone from the top influencer marketing agency to small brands that are just delving into the industry is beginning to see the benefits of influencer marketing with micro-influencers. These social media creators, most typically defined as having between 10,000 to 100,000 followers, can play pivotal roles in helping brands create campaigns that deliver major results.

2021 marked a continuation of micro-influencers’ prominent role in influencer marketing. With more and more businesses turning their eye to these influencers rather than their higher-follower count contemporaries, let’s explore why this is and why 2022 is poised to be a big year for micro-influencers.

More Authentic and Engaging

The whole point of influencer marketing has been that brands are able to leverage posts from people with significant platforms to work on their behalf. Influencer marketing can be a variety of things, but one of the most unique parts of it is that it allows brands to work with people that aren’t celebrities but normal people that are thought-leaders or highly regarded in specific areas.

Micro-influencers are true to that spirit. They are typically everyday people, not famous superstars. They often have other jobs and are more likely to interact with their followers. Because social media allows normal people to find a big platform, micro-influencers are often more authentic, without the PR sheen of major celebrities with agents and marketing teams.

This authenticity plays a role in micro-influencers having a higher engagement rate than influencers with higher follower counts. According to Izea, the average micro-influencer has an engagement rate of 3.86% on Instagram, while the average macro-influencer has a rate of 2.6%. Meg-influencers are even less, with a rate of 1.5%.

Affordable Opportunities for Brands and a Diversified Outreach

One of the primary reasons that micro-influencer marketing is only increasing in popularity is that it allows brands to spread out their marketing budget. If you are working with a mega-influencer or a macro-influencer, they will demand a significant amount of money for a sponsored post. If you’re working with a micro-influencer, they will require a lot less money per post on average.

This makes them a much more affordable option for brands. Many micro-influencers will accept a deal where they post on their page in exchange for product. This is known as influencer gifting, and it allows brands to hold onto their budget. The affordability of micro-influencers allows brands to create more diversified campaigns.

This means that brands can spread their campaign out through a massive number of influencers. If you are working with a budget of, for example, $15,000, and you contact a mega-influencer that requires $15,000 per post, you will get one post that reaches a large audience. But if you run this campaign with micro-influencers, you can likely get a massive number of posts from different influencers in various niches. You can spread your campaign out much more and likely see a more significant ROI.

TikTok a Platform Made for Micro-Influencers

One of the biggest reasons that micro-influencers will continue to dominate the influencer marketing industry is the rise of TikTok. TikTok is a platform pretty much made for micro-influencer marketing. The algorithm that suggests videos to users is extremely democratic, and all it takes is one successful post going viral to help users attract a major following. TikTok catapulted into the mainstream in 2020-21, and in 2022, its steady growth is poised to continue. This will make it one of the centers of the micro-influencer marketing world.

According to Small Business Trends, TikTok is the social media platform that ranks the highest for micro-influencer collaboration. TikTok influencer marketing has gone from something only a few forward-thinking brands were doing to something just about every influencer marketer has to consider.

With micro-influencers part of what makes TikTok unique, it appears very likely that micro-influencers will have a major role in the future of the TikTok influencer marketing industry. This will lead to a continuation of the growth of micro-influencer marketing heading into 2022.

If you’re looking to position yourself more strongly in influencer marketing entering 2022, Influence Hunter is the partner that can help you do so. Influence Hunter helps businesses across industries create highly effective, customizable influencer marketing campaigns that deliver on strategic goals.

To find out how Influence Hunter can help your business, get in touch with us today.