The influencer marketing world is rapidly expanding. Around three-quarters of brands say they already do, or they intend to dedicate a budget exclusively for influencer marketing.

There is no longer the need to be a famous celebrity with millions of followers if you want to work with a brand. Influencer marketing is providing the opportunity for those with a few thousand followers to be considered for brand marketing campaigns.

Content creators with a follower or subscription count between 1,000 to 100,000 are known micro-influencers. Over the past two years, due to the global pandemic, micro-influencers have seen a huge surge in their engagement rates. Creators on Instagram have seen a rise in engagement between 1.5-7%, particularly those with 0-25,000 followers. Smaller YouTube channels have experienced an impressive 304% increase in their growth!

With these incredible numbers and the rise of the micro-influencer, it’s no surprise that more and more brands are deciding to work with micro-influencers.

Generally, micro-influencers have much higher engagement rates than those with larger followings and they have much more loyal followers who trust their opinions. Even though their audience is smaller, they tend to have a closer connection to their followers, and this is key when it comes to marketing. Higher engagement means higher ROI.

But, can anyone be a micro-influencer?

The simple answer is yes!

If you enjoy creating online content, you can start growing your following today! Or if you’re already a content creator with a small following, you can slowly grow your follow count to at least 1,000 to be labelled as a micro-influencer.

How to Become an Influencer

So, how do you go about growing your following?

There are a number of steps you will need to take to achieve your micro-influencer status, but here is a super quick summary of the key steps.

Firstly, define your niche. What industry are you interested in? Is it fashion, fitness, gaming…Make sure it’s something that you could create content about for years to come. Your niche will define what type of companies you end up working with.

Next, you need to make your social media accounts. Which platforms do you want to use? Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, or LinkedIn?

From here, you need to start building your audience. The best way to do this is to post regular content that offers a lot of value to your audience. The more you post great content, the more people will follow you who are interested in the same topics.

Make sure to engage with your audience as much as possible. Reply to comments, interact with other content creators, speak to your followers in your DMs. Having genuine conversations with your audience is key to building a strong, trusting relationship with them.

Anybody can become a micro-influencer. There are no special requirements! You just have to be yourself and post about what you love.

It takes a little hard work and creativity, but it’s possible for any content creator to grow a small, engaged audience and work with incredible brands on their influencer marketing campaigns.

Looking to get started as a content creator? Get in touch today!