5 Reasons why long term collaboration with micro-influencers is beneficial

There are 2.77 billion social media users from all over the world, scrolling their news feed right now. According to Forbes, depending on their engagement, each account with more than a million followers earns $50.000+ for one sponsored post.  A study has found that working with micro-influencers (having followings of 30.000 or fewer) is more profitable for marketers.

According to marketers, after reaching a particular size of followers, fewer people attach importance to engage in questioning the value of a vast army of fans. When the account reaches to followers size of 1,000, the number of likes and comments hit the hights. If the account gets more than 100.000 followers that engagement rate drops gradually, as the followers are not as eager to interact with a celebrity as the ones they have more in common.

Why it is beneficial to work with micro-influencers for the long term?

First things first, let’s discuss why working with micro-influencers is more profitable. Even though they have fewer followers than celebrities with the billion-plus audience, collaborating with them in the promotion of your brand in online platforms might be more profitable. According to a survey, 82% of consumers think that the recommendation of influencers is more reliable – meaning authenticity and close relationship with consumers are vital points while making purchasing decisions. What mainly makes brands to opt to collaborate with them?

Here are 3 main reasons: – their engagement rate is 60% higher, 22.2% more conversion rates (weekly), 6.7 times more cost-effective.

Micro-influencers drive 60% more campaign engagement rates, these campaigns are 6.7 times more efficient in terms of per engagement, and 22.2% more conversion rates are driven than the average customer.  Having thousands of followers is not enough to run a campaign successfully.

Now, we are going to give substantiated reasons why long term collaboration with them is a more effective way to promote your business.

1. Convert their followers into advocates of your brand

Influencers who are already genuine fans of your brand are the best ones. It appears more trustworthy when an influencer promotes your product, as their audience knows that he/she already loves your brand. And it doesn’t take much effort to convince them to become advocates of your brand, which is the best part of working with micro-influencers. With the long term collaboration, it’s possible to convert these audiences the loyal consumers of your product or service.

2. Have them to tell a story around your brand

In order to promote your product with the help of influencers sharing only a photo, your product in the background is not going to do all the job. You cannot take the risk of people enjoying these posts and product placement photos. To make sure that content will reach and resonance with their audience, to tell a story and connect their work and your brand is a critical step.

Of course, creating a profound influence on large audiences will take more time. Therefore it’s important to work with particular influencers in the long term.  

3. Running an ongoing campaign

It might be enough to promote an upcoming product lunch and drive more sales by one-off campaign. However, to promote your brand, you will need a long term campaign, and here micro-influencers are the way to go! An ongoing campaign is essential because it will ensure your target audience will get more content about the brand.

4. They are potential brand-ambassadors

As they don’t have as many offers as celebrities, they are ready for long-term contracts. Along with sustainable employment, it gives them a chance to build a trustworthy relationship with their followers while the brands get an increase in sales.

Studies show that campaigns involving micro-influencers as brand ambassadors provide as successful results as those with “big names.” Bearing this in mind, cultivating relationships with them is priceless.

5. They are affordable in the long term battle

Contrary to celebrities, micro-influencers are more approachable – meaning brands with a tight budget can discuss the price and terms of collaboration. If you offer long term contracts in return for a more favorable price, it can be win-win cooperation for both parties.

According to the report made by Forbes in 2017, 84% of marketers planned on cooperating with influencers in the next year.  While this’s a considerable number, the way that marketers measure the success of these collaborations is not consistent.

In exchange for a discount, additional services might be offered as well. For instance, you can ask influencers to have giveaway contests, the winner and influencers can get the brands products or discount coupons.

The real value of the long term collaboration

To establish value on social media collaboration, it is vital to use famous faces for your campaign, which is why working with micro-influencers might be deserving of your investment.  

Many brands underestimate the value of the influencer-generated content (IGC) and the reactivation across various marketing channels; however, it should be a key element of their influencer strategies. They spend huge amounts annually on the professional photo and video shooting, but they end up starving for content. Using influencer-generated contents and enabling them to be creative storytellers will not only feed these content shortage and also increase its effectiveness.

According to the prediction of The International Data Corporation by the year 2020, 50% of content will not be created by in-house influencer marketing teams.
In order to be longsighted and open your eyes to the importance of long-term collaboration with micro-influencers.

AboutGulnar Ismayil

Gulnar is a content manager and copywriter at Keepface helping with website copy, blog posts, and product descriptions. A millennial, usually seen with a coffee cup in hand. Find her on Twitter here: @ismayil_gulnar