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It does not take millions of followers on social networks to be useful for brands, sometimes it's enough to have a few thousand
Big brands in the world and Latin America join people who call attention in social networks, but who are not that famous. The objective is that the micro influencers work for brands in search of increasing their dividends.
Leer en español: Microinfluenciadores: el secreto para hacer crecer tu negocio
It is the micro-influencers, people who have between one thousand and ten thousand followers in social networks and have the trust and loyalty of their group of followers, who click on any photo or message they post.
For small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that do not have large sums of money as large conglomerates, they can be a hidden card to grow the business.
Inspiring, honest and creative
In a recent talk by Michel Edery, CEO and founder of the agency Asylum Marketing, at the EMMS Marketing event, which took place in October, the expert said that the influencers "generate confidence, have the ability to inspire people and create contents." This is because they dominate certain topics and have a closeness to their audience.
Edery explains that this happens because consumers rely much more on people than on brands. And it is because of this that he advises brands to humanize themselves, "to be represented by people, faces, names and, surnames".
The popularity of micro-influencers has been analyzed. An example is Takumi's report, which found that they generate up to 9.7% participation and more conversations about the brand's products.
In a review made in Takumi to the company Kellogg's, this type of influencers were well cataloged for their brand Special K, for which they sought to change the image without losing the link with healthy living. For that, real personnel were contacted to give life to their campaign and thus direct this new positioning.
According to the Takumi website, through this new focus, a total of more than 4.7 million users was reached, with an average participation rate of 2.6%.
The increase in the use of social networks in the region has created a favorable scenario for the influencers. According to the study "The State of Social Media in Latin America" of ComScore, the volume of actions on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook increased 7% compared to last year. And while Facebook grew timidly only 3%, it keeps it scepter in terms of engagement. The big jump was seen on Instagram, registering 65% increase, while Twitter showed a 31% increase.
Read also: Black Friday: Why Latin American discounts are fake?
Segment and specialize
The business behind the influencers, no matter how small, is not minor, and there are several companies that discovered their potential, although it must be clear that the landscape changes as time passes.
Edery says that the micro influencers will be trending, more and more demanded because they are more profitable than the big influencers. However, this thriving business will also face a change, says Edery. They will have to segment their content and specialize.
Content segmentations suggest that the influencers will begin to define what their audience will be and the channel in which they will move, so that they will concentrate their efforts much better, generating higher quality content.
In relation to specialization, many of them will leave aside a more generalist proposal to focus on only one aspect. Edery says that this will happen because of the saturation of influencers that exist in the middle, so they should create stories that identify people.
What's happening in the region
In Latin America, large companies of technology, cosmetics and, clothing join micro influencer to get their attention through their social networks, which hooks perfectly with the message that the brand aims to spread.
Many SMEs participate in some platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and, YouTube, betting on just one, two or more. A study focused on the use of YouTube in Chile, commissioned by Google from the international consultancy Provokers, revealed that 8 out of 10 Chileans between the ages of 15 and 54 connect to this platform every day. The report along with identifying the most influential personalities realized that these are perceived more credible and closer, in addition to influencing people much more than the messages that are broadcast on television.
A Latin American SME that seeks to sell through a micro influencer, should ask some questions: the type of business you have, target audience and budget. From there it is possible to evaluate which social network to focus on.
LatinAmerican Post | Andrea Arce
Translated from: 'Microinfluenciadores ¿Cómo pueden dar un vuelco a tu negocio?'
