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Micro-influencers can be a great solution for businesses that want to explore the world of influencer marketing. They’re not too “big” in the social sphere to be clouded by fame, but they’re influential enough to make a difference for your brand in a specific, targeted market.

Working with a micro-influencer can be mutually beneficial and effective, but it’s important to evaluate your potential partners and set clear expectations upfront, in order to make sure both parties’ goals are met. To find out more, we asked a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members the following:

“Micro-influencers can be a valuable resource for reaching out to specific audiences. What is an important thing to remember when working with one, in order to make sure the relationship goes as expected or that shared goals are met?”

Working With Micro-Influencers

Here’s what YEC community members had to say:

1. Make Sure You Share the Same Audience

“If you don’t do your research, you’ll soon find that the influencer you had your eye on wouldn’t be the best fit because their audience and yours aren’t the same. It’s crucial to research influencers prior to reaching out to them so you know without a doubt they’re the ones you want endorsing your products and building awareness for your brand.” ~ Jared Atchison, WPForms

2. Pay Attention to Engagement

“If you want to get the most out of your relationship with a micro-influencer, pay attention to engagement. If you choose a micro-influencer because they’re giving you a good price and have a decent number of followers, you won’t get the best results from your campaign. You need to make sure they get likes and comments from their followers and that they interact with their audience.” ~ Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

3. Meet With Them Regularly

“Plan to interact with the micro-influencer on a regular basis to review and reiterate goals and expectations to ensure they are on target, as well as to get their feedback on whether you are living up to your end of the deal. These sessions are important and should be viewed as something positive.” ~ Serenity Gibbons, NAACP

4. Let Them Work

“It’s easy to get obsessive when you’re working with a micro-influencer. You want to make sure that everything goes according to plan. You have to keep in mind that the micro-influencer knows their audience better than you do. Let them create content based on their traditional style with your advertisement mixed in.” ~ Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

5. Form a Connection First

“The last thing you want is to work with someone who isn’t passionate about what they’re promoting or doesn’t understand your industry. When you reach out, make sure there’s a genuine connection between your brand and the influencer. If they don’t care about your brands or products, it could show through their content, which would be bad for your business.” ~ Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster

6. Look for Quality Over Quantity

“Remind yourself that it’s not about the number of followers, but the depth of engagement and alignment of the audience. If your micro-influencer can win over five qualified leads per month, that’s a fantastic resource to leverage — who cares if they’re not spamming tens of thousands of unqualified media consumers every month?” ~ Yaniv Masjedi, Nextiva

7. Make Sure the Influencer is Relevant to Your Business

“They have to be relevant to your business — you can’t just choose one because the two of you have similar audiences. In order to see that through, check out the content they post the content they share from others, and take a brief look at discussions in forums and on social media. Remember, you’re looking for overall relevancy.” ~ Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

8. Understand Their Highly Specific Niche

“A smaller audience means a more targeted audience. The people they will be reaching are going to be very specific, and this can either help or hurt you. Make sure you understand who their audience is and how they tend to connect with them. If they don’t fit your mold they won’t be worth investing in. But if they do, make sure they understand the value they will provide to keep them committed.” ~ Jared Weitz, United Capital Source Inc.

9. Choose Someone Who Is ‘On-Brand’ for You

“When choosing an influencer, it is important to find someone who is on-brand. You worked hard to establish brand guidelines for your company, so when choosing a micro-influencer, it’s good practice to find someone who is a natural fit. I’ve seen companies choose an influencer that is off-brand and then try to force them to be on-brand by giving them a script, and it comes across as inauthentic.” ~ Chelsea Rivera, Honest Paws

10. Educate Them Like You Would a Customer

“If you take care and educate the micro-influencers the same way you do for a customer, it’d be natural for them to pass the happy vibe and energy you gave them to their followers. It’s important that, like a domino effect, you have this consistent heart to help and educate your customers and influencers. This isn’t a partnership to sell, but a collaboration to spread good vibes and confidence.” ~ Daisy Jing, Banish

11. Ignore Vanity Metrics

“micro-influencers are defined by the small size of their audience, but engagement and relevance are more important than audience size. Research how a micro-influencer’s audience engages with them and how frequently. How relevant is the audience to your market? Only work with highly engaged influencers with a relevant audience who are likely to welcome marketing messages from your company.” ~ Corey Northcutt, Northcutt Enterprise SEO

12. Consider How Qualified Their Potential Leads Are

“When you rope in micro-influencers for marketing for business, audience alignment matters a lot. Research the influencer’s audience and the engagement that they receive from the audience that your business needs to target. An influencer who has an engaged audience is worth more than one with a larger follower-base but low engagement. Qualified lead generation is far more valuable than the reach.” ~ Rahul Varshneya, CurveBreak

13. Always Leave Room for Growth

“Although working with micro-influencers is an excellent way to appeal to specific niche audiences, the growth rate with these relationships can be limiting. When deciding who you want to work with, see if you can realistically chart out a strategy that can lead to incremental growth. For example, look for influencers who interact with other influencers in similar niches and subcultures.” ~ Bryce Welker, The Big 4 Accounting Firms

14. Understand When and How They’re Mentioning Your Brand

“If you have spent years building a brand, you don’t need someone reaching out to prospective clients, who may be well-connected in your industry, and embarrassing your company. micro-influencers can be great, but they need to know when and when not to mention your services. Put your expectations down on paper and make sure they have been fully understood.” ~ Ismael Wrixen, FE International

15. Create a Win-Win Situation

“Difficulties arise only when there’s a mismatch in expectations. Set clear expectations in order to make sure that both sides are happy. Often, you’ll see micro-influencers dramatically under-paid or even over-paid. If a micro-influencer is risking their credibility with a highly targeted group of thousands of people, they should be well paid for it.” ~ Frederik Bussler, AngelStarter

16. Give Them Some Creative Freedom

“When working with a micro-influencer, you need to give them some creative freedom. If you give them a strict script they have to follow, it won’t come across as genuine. You want the micro-influencer you work with to be excited about your product and you want them to talk to their audience about it naturally. So, let them do their thing. Giving them creative freedom will make it more authentic.” ~ John Turner, SeedProd LLC

Image: Depositphotos.com

This article, “16 Essential Things to Remember When Working With Micro-Influencers” was first published on Small Business Trends