Nano influencers are the future of social media. Brands are saying goodbye to larger influencers and entrusting many of their campaigns to nano and micro influencers. Let’s find out together why.
“People trust people.”
In the age of information overload, knowing how to choose before buying a particular product or service has become more difficult than ever.
If you are reading this article you have probably typed one of these keywords into Google:
- instagram nano influencer
- nano influence
- tiktok nano influencer
We are bombarded by advertising messages now coming through a wide variety of channels, and trusting companies, which often tend to self-elect themselves as “industry leaders,” has become nearly impossible.
From here we come to our opening sentence: in the web age we still rely on “friends,” who can be a real presence in our lives or bloggers, opinion leaders, celebrities or social influencers.
These figures popularize, trend, and help their users clarify their ideas about companies and brands, which is why they are taking on an increasingly central role within modern marketing strategies.
Social influencers can be the right people to convey messages and reach a global audience by leveraging trustworthiness and authority in their field of expertise.
However, when a company wants to promote products or services through these figures, it tends to look for those with the highest number of followers.
But is this really the correct strategy? The answer is no, because numbers do not decree a person’s real influence.
Followers can be bought, while authority is built day by day, month by month and even year by year. We are talking about a slow and natural process that no follow BOT can activate.
Recent research has shown that the future lies with nano influencers, or users with a few thousand followers and a high engagement rate.
This shows a gradual move away from social celebrities, resulting in a downsizing of the importance of numbers.
Mega, micro and nano influencers: the differences
Let’s now look at the differences between the various types of influencers so that you can better understand which figures turn out to be best suited for promoting your company and your digital marketing strategies.
Mega influencer
Mega influencers are famous people, usually from the entertainment or sports industry, who are much loved and followed by a global audience.
Think Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Emma Watson, Serena Gomez, Bebe Vio and so on: millions of followers around the world interesting in the “behind the scenes.”
Chiara Ferragni, despite not being an actress or a singer, is also part of this category: with her 15.6 million fans, she has managed to create a veritable Instagram empire in the form of Stories and posts.
In general, celebrities cost a lot of money and are quite generalist in the sense that they do not have a specific target niche.
Micro influencer
To this category belong, for example, famous bloggers. Interesting is the case of @virgola_, an illustrator with 140 thousand followers, or that of Sonia Peronaci, founder of Giallo Zafferano, with over 340 thousand followers.
In this case we are talking about a still very diverse audience, which may not always be in line with the desired results. Micro influencers have an audience of more than 10,000 fans.
Nano influencer
There are a lot of them: we are talking about users with a following that can range from 1,000 to 10,000 followers, which is the majority of Instagram subscribers.
These are precisely the figures who are helping to change the way companies do social media marketing.
And now let’s look specifically at who dwarf influencers are and what they do.
Nano influencers are emerging figures in the world of digital marketing and social media.
Whether we talk about Instagram nano influencers or TikTok nano influencers are characterized by:
Definition and characteristics
- They target specific niches and communities with very targeted and engaged audiences.
- They are considered “ordinary” consumers but very active and engaged online.
- They maintain a close and direct relationship with their community.
What they do
- They share authentic experiences and opinions about products and services.
- They create genuine and engaging content focused on specific interests or local communities.
- They collaborate with brands, often in exchange for small products or fees rather than large sums of money.
- They interact actively and personally with their followers.
Benefits for brands
- They offer more authenticity and credibility than more famous influencers.
- They generate higher engagement rates, with an average engagement rate of 2.53 percent.
- They make it possible to reach specific market niches in a targeted way.
- They are cheaper to engage than influencers with larger followings.
Nano influencers are therefore a valuable resource for targeted, authentic and cost-effective marketing strategies that are particularly effective in reaching niche audiences in a credible and engaging way.
Nano influencers are the future
Hiring a celebrity, even for just a couple of posts, often requires a series of precise negotiations, endless paperwork and a significant financial outlay.
The issue, however, is that the audience of large influencers is often very generalist.
“Nano influencers, on the other hand, are considered the future because of their engagement rate. Even if they have few followers, they are able to best penetrate their niche: a prerequisite required in this marketing technique.”
According to research by Digiday, nano influencers manage to engage 8.7 percent of their audience, while that percentage drops to 1.7 percent for celebrities with more than one million followers.
Several specialized agencies have sprung up in the United States to recruit such figures: they analyze their profiles and contact them to propose collaborations.
This trend is bound to come to Europe as well, which is why we need to start looking ahead and prepare for this new revolution.
“If we have reached a saturation point with the big social media stars, the nano influencer market is one that is set to grow, especially among the younger generation.”
We are now used to seeing people advertising products or services on social networks, so the world needs smaller users to have their say.
Power is going to the little guys, much to the chagrin of the big numbers that have so far attracted the attention of a wide variety of companies.
FAQ on nano influencers
Nano influencers are social media users with a relatively small following, generally between 1,000 and 10,000 followers. They are ordinary people who have built a niche community around specific interests or passions. Despite their limited number of followers, nano influencers tend to have a high engagement rate and a strong connection with their audience.
Key benefits include:
– Greater authenticity and perceived credibility among the audience
– Higher engagement rates than influencers with larger followings
– Generally lower collaboration costs
– Ability to reach very specific niche markets
– More genuine and personal interactions with followers
The following can be considered to measure effectiveness:
– Engagement rate (likes, comments, shares) on sponsored posts
– Increased followers or visits to the brand’s website
– Use of discount codes or customized affiliate links
– Qualitative feedback from the influencer’s followers
– Increased sales or inquiries about the promoted product.
It is important to establish clear KPIs before the campaign and monitor them over time to assess its success.
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