Micro-influencers: A remedy to content saturation or just hype?

New Delhi: Are you tired of seeing the same influencers asking you to buy a product from the link in their bio? If you feel so, then you are not alone. Saturation in terms of content, and fresh faces is a perplexing challenge for the influencer ecosystem too.

Realising the need to introduce fresh faces, brands are knocking on the doors of micro and nano creators now.

As per reports, micro and nano influencers enjoy engagement rates of more than 10%, while macro-influencers are only able to deliver an engagement rate of 3-4% at best.

Research by Nielsen has shown that consumers continue to trust the opinions of other consumers more than paid advertising. Who wouldn’t trust their “small influencer friend” living in the same colony over a macro influencer being paid to read out a script?

According to Vikram Kari, Senior Director, Product Head, The Goat Agency (INCA), GroupM, “Micro and nano influencers will form a greater part of the marketing mix. Research by Later and Fohr found that the highest engagement rates were seen among micro-influencers, particularly those with fewer than 25,000 followers. Considering that Instagram engagement rates have been dropping, companies are paying more attention to influencers that have a loyal following, even if they have fewer followers.”

Explaining why modern marketers are going gaga over using micro-influencers, Vipasha Joshi, an independent consultant specialising in the creator economy, said, "Micro-influencers with well-defined niches, such as “Rangoli by Kirti” or smaller food influencers in different languages, tend to have higher engagement rates. This is because their smaller yet loyal audience frequently returns to their content.

The loyalty stems from the influencers’ use of specific dialects or regional languages and their focus on niche content, which resonates deeply with their followers. Consequently, micro and nano influencers often achieve higher engagement rates compared to macro influencers.”

Citing the example of a micro-creator who makes Rangolis, Joshi explained how nano and micro-influencers can drive up higher engagements that are even 3 times of what large macro creators offer.

From Joshi herself, “If a nano creator focuses solely on Rangoli, they already have a well-defined niche with a specific demographic. In South Indian households, Rangoli is a daily tradition, unlike in North India, where it is more common during festivals or in temples. This cultural significance means higher engagement, as people seek inspiration for their daily designs. Additionally, the ASMR aspect of Rangoli creation can attract a broader audience, further boosting engagement.”

However, not everything that shines is gold. Just like macro-influencers, questions about the authenticity and credibility of followers plague the conversations featuring micro and nano-influencers.

Mentioning the challenges that come while working with creators, Rachit Sharma, Director of Client Servicing at Qoruz said, “One of the primary issues is scalability, as micro-influencers have smaller audiences, requiring partnerships with multiple influencers to achieve a broad reach, which can become time-consuming and complex to manage. Content quality and consistency can also vary significantly, making it harder to maintain cohesive brand messaging. Additionally, many micro-influencers lack experience in professional collaboration, which can lead to delays, missed deadlines, and communication issues. 

Finding influencers whose style and values align with the brand can be difficult, and those unfamiliar with advertising guidelines may risk non-compliance with regulations. While micro-influencers are generally cost-effective, managing multiple small budgets and ensuring value delivery can strain resources.”

Data from Qoruz, an influencer marketing tech platform indicates that 40% of micro-influencers and 36% of nano-influencers have fake followers. Consequently, two out of five micro and nano creators are likely to have fake followers, making them a liability rather than an asset for brands.

Fake followers

If you are a marketer trying hard to stay away from influencers who have grown on the backs of fake followers, experts recommend doing “two kinds of checks.”

Yash Chandramani, Founder and Chief Strategist of Admatazz suggested doing a quantitative engagement check via tools or manual calculation first and then doing a manual check on the quality of the comments as well to ensure these influencers don't have bots or seeded/planted comments.

Adding more perspective to the matter, Raghav Bagai, Co-Founder, Youthbeat (SW Network), said, “Ensuring the authenticity of influencers is crucial to maintaining the integrity of campaigns. We rely on advanced tools like Hypothesis to analyse follower quality and identify potential bots or fake accounts. Beyond this, we carefully track engagement rates to ensure consistency relative to their follower base, looking for authentic interaction rather than inflated numbers. We also examine growth patterns and vet their content to confirm genuine alignment with our brand, ensuring they foster organic, niche-focused engagement.”

It’s important to note that it’s not just creators who are to blame; brands are at fault too. Sometimes the only metric they use to decide the compensation for a creator depends on their follower count, pushing influencers to have a high follower count by hook or crook.

Describing the constant tussle for fair compensation between brands and influencers, Joshi stated, “Many brands lack a clear vision for their influencer marketing campaigns and often overlook the need to compensate creators for their content. Instead of paying influencers for a campaign, brands push for barter deals just because these creators have fewer followers. Such methodologies often result in influencers resorting to buying fake followers and fake engagement.”

Gone are the days when fake followers could be identified easily. With advancements in technology, influencers are now faking their engagement too. Commenting on the challenge, Joshi said, “A recent report highlighted that many Instagram influencers have fake followers, not bots, but real people paid to subscribe and engage. This issue is prevalent in countries like India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, where agencies are set up to do this. Brands must use updated tools to audit and verify follower authenticity. Metrics like engagement rate and views-to-subscriber ratio are crucial. 

For instance, a large subscriber base with low views indicates inactive followers, reducing channel loyalty. Brands should focus on an audit of the followers that nano and micro-influencers bring along rather than just follower numbers to ensure effective campaigns.”

Quality of production

Who doesn’t like watching raw and unedited clips capturing beautiful moments of life? Hoping on the trend of raw content, micro and nano-influencers often resort to posting poorly edited clips in the name of raw and unfiltered content. Working with influencers and maintaining standards when it comes to production quality is a mammoth task for brands.

Shedding light on the subject, Joshi said, “Some creators produce raw content that resonates well with their audience. For example, KL Bro Biju, who makes Malayalam videos, consistently tops global charts for short views, often surpassing even MrBeast. Despite high engagement, his raw style may not suit all brands, such as beauty or automobile companies targeting a Malayalee audience. Brands must assess whether a creator’s content style aligns with their goals before collaboration.”

Addressing the challenges surrounding the production quality of content, Bagai said, “We ensure content quality by providing influencers with clear content guidelines and brand templates, ensuring they understand our visual and messaging standards from the outset. A centralised pre-campaign briefing is done to align their approach with our expectations. 

We even provide editing resources or post-production support to enhance the content's quality, basis requirements. Throughout the process, we engage in regular feedback and multiple review rounds, fine-tuning the content while balancing the brand's standards and the influencer's creative expression. This collaborative approach ensures consistent, high-quality output across all campaigns.”

Providing a different perspective on the matter, Chandramani said, “If we are working with nano or micro-influencers the project type is mainly a user-generated content (UGC)-looking video. So high-quality production is counterintuitive there. However, many nano and micro-influencers do have great video production and editing skill sets. This works usually for the brand. In some cases, we use our in-house production team if we find the quality below par.”

The ROI

Measuring ROI when employing multiple micro and nano-influencers for campaigns can be a challenge for brands due to different engagement rates, audience demographics, and content performance. Tracking individual contributions and attributing sales or conversions is complex, especially across various platforms. This process demands significant time and resources for accurate analysis.

Sharing his take on measuring the ROI for campaigns led by micro and nano-influencers, Bagai said, “To measure ROI, we focus on key metrics such as engagement rates and track direct conversions using unique tracking links or promo codes. We also assess qualitative feedback, including audience sentiment and product mentions, to gauge the campaign’s overall impact. This combination of quantitative and qualitative data helps us comprehensively evaluate the success of each campaign.”

Adding to Bagai’s comments, Chandramani said, “We usually measure ROI by doing some back-of-the-envelope calculations basis the cohort targeted and usual CPV achieved via performance and then compare it to influencer campaigns. We also, in some cases for large campaigns, use third-party surveys to measure a lift.” 

Delivering a cohesive message

Coordinating with multiple nano and micro-influencers to achieve a cohesive and broad-reaching campaign is vital for the success of any campaign. The best way to do so is by “centralising the briefing process to ensure all influencers receive the same objectives, promoting consistency across the campaign.”

In the words of Bagai himself, “A dedicated campaign manager who oversees the content calendar, timelines, and deliverables to synchronise efforts effectively is a must. Shared assets, such as branded visuals and hashtags, are provided to maintain a consistent look and feel in their posts, creating a cohesive and unified campaign experience. 

This structured approach ensures alignment across all influencer activities, seamlessly amplifying the brand’s message. We have often worked on campaigns with multiple influencers, we are currently running a campaign for one of the leading e-commerce players with over 15000 creators.”

Negotiating Compensation

Negotiating compensation for multiple micro and nano-influencers can be complex and time-consuming. Each influencer may have different rates, expectations, and deliverables, making it challenging to standardize agreements. This process requires careful coordination to ensure fair and transparent compensation while staying within the campaign budget.

Offering a solution to the problem, Bagai suggested implementing a tiered payment structure based on reach and engagement, offering flexible compensation options tailored to the influencer’s performance.

“To ensure consistency, we negotiate bulk/group deals and provide non-monetary incentives, such as exclusive brand perks or experiences, which can enhance the influencer’s commitment. 

To add, we secure usage rights for influencer-generated content, allowing us to repurpose it across various channels, further reinforcing a cohesive brand image and maximizing the value of the campaign. This approach balances cost-effectiveness with maintaining long-term relationships and quality content,” Bagai added.

To wrap it up, not everything about micro-influencers is complicated and effortful. There are some things even large macro-influencers can learn from micro-creators. For starters, the openness to learning and upskilling is a central motif for all micro and nano-creators.

As Joshi perceives it, “Constantly looking at analytics and upskilling themselves is a great practice among micro and nano creators who stay on top of trends, analytics, and content performance. They maintain close ties with their audience, which helps them grow. Not all macro influencers are unaware of this; some, like Lakhan and Neetu from Lakhaneed Vlogs, remain highly engaged with their audience despite their large following. Similarly, Kabita’s Kitchen is deeply involved with her audience, a practice she maintained since she was a smaller creator. However, when macro influencers join agencies, they sometimes lose touch due to unresponsive managers, which can harm their reputation.”