Micro, Macro, Nano, Mega Influencers: Which Will Help You Grow?

Influencers can be categorized in many different ways, for example, you could define influencers based on factors such as:

• Niche/Interest
• Content Types (such as video, images, podcasts)
• Social Platform
• Personality
• Content Style

The most common way to categorize influencers is by their follower count. 

This is where the terms micro, macro, and mega influencers come from. Using these terms to define the types of influencers you are looking to work with can be a smart way to help you plan key aspects of your influencer marketing strategy such as budget, the type of content you are looking to collaborate on, and how much time and effort you have to put in.

However, there are some limitations that you should be aware of when using follower count to categorize influencers.

Follower counts are no guarantee of success. This is because audience size doesn’t necessarily tell you how influential that person is. Someone with 5,000 highly engaged followers may be considerably more influential than someone with 50,000 followers that have low engagement.

The influencer’s niche will also come into play. For example, an influencer with 5,000 followers that specializes in an incredibly specific subject could be considered a pretty significant influencer in that space. On the other hand, an influencer with 5,000 followers that posts content on a more general subject such as “fitness” would certainly be considered nano or micro.

In the next section, I’ll offer some insight into the different influencer tiers and how they can benefit your brand growth.

Nano influencers are the influencer tier with the smallest follower count. In fact, they’re also the newest tier of influencers to establish themselves as a common part of many influencer marketing strategies. This is largely due to brands only recently recognizing the huge power of influencers with small, highly engaged audiences.

While nano influencers typically have 1,000 to 10,000 followers, this can differ depending on the social platform and niche.

The key benefits of working with nano influencers include:

• They have strong, trusting relationships with their audience because they are seen as a customer advocate, rather than an influencer
• Because of this, they typically achieve higher engagement rates than larger-scale influencers
• They’re cost-effective, costing less than other influencers
• They’re often excited to collaborate with brands

Some downsides to working with nano-influencers include:

• They have a small reach
• Results can be slow

When to Work With Nano Influencers

Because nano influencers have a high engagement rate and a low cost, they are perfect for new or small to medium businesses who want to test influencer marketing. Their close-knit relationship with their audience also means they are great at inspiring change, so they’re an effective choice for brands looking to build awareness around health and wellness, the environment, or social justice.

Micro influencers have a bigger following and more experience than nano influencers, and bring their own set of benefits and downsides to the table.

The benefits of working with micro influencers are much the same as those for nano influencers, but also include:

• Higher levels of authority than nano influencers, which makes their opinion more influential, driving more sales
• Greater reach than nano influencers
• They’re often more professional in their approach than nano influencers

The downsides are also similar to those that come with nano influencers. However, micro influencers are often more expensive to work with.

When to Work With Micro Influencers

Influencers at micro level still maintain the down-to-earth persona of nano influencers, but with higher authority and a much larger audience. This makes them the best choice for brands that require connection with a targeted audience, for example, a niche skincare line that doesn’t garner mass appeal.

➡️ Find out how to work with TikTok micro influencers here.

Once a micro influencer surpasses 50,000 followers, they enter mid-tier. They’ll then move up to macro influencer status which is when they have between 500,000 to one million followers.

I’ve grouped these two influencer types together because both have high reach and credibility, while also starting to lose engagement with their followers.

The benefits of working with influencers in these two tiers include:

• They have a high reach
• Their segmented audience means you’ll be able to reach multiple groups within your target audience
• Often offer a more professional service due to experience and dedicated management

Downsides include:

• Much higher costs than working with nano or micro influencers
• Engagement rates are typically lower than smaller tier influencers
• High demand for collaborating with them can mean they are difficult to communicate with

When to Work With Mid-Tier and Macro Influencers

Mid-tier and macro influencers have a large audience, and so are great for businesses that want to boost their reputation and brand awareness, and target a very broad demographic.

However, this wide reach has a hefty fee, and it heightens the chances of their audience not being as precisely aligned with your brand or target market.

Mega and celebrity influencers are the influencer tiers with the biggest audiences, typically anything over one million followers.

Whether an influencer is considered as “mega” or “celebrity” depends on how they grew their audience. Typically, celebrity influencers are those who have earned celebrity status outside of social media, such as actors or musicians. Mega influencers are typically those who have built their audience primarily through the content they post on social media.

The benefits of working with mega/celebrity influencers include:

• They have massive reach
• They are known and trusted online (and sometimes offline), which means they have high authority
• Can help brands set trends

The downsides of working with this tier of influencers include:

• Very high rates
• Often difficult to reach out to and secure partnerships with them due to high demand
• Engagement rates can be much lower than those of smaller influencers

When working with mega/celebrity influencers, you can expect to spend around $10,000+ per post (on Instagram). In fact, some brand deals with this tier of influencers are reported to have cost upwards of $1 million per post.

When to Work With Mega Influencers

Mega influencers’ services are extremely costly, so it’s best to hold off on working with them until your business grows and you get a higher budget. But for businesses with the budget, I’d recommend mega influencers for the promotion of products and brands that appeal to the masses – such as sportswear and nutrition – due to their wide-ranging follower demographics.

If you’re looking to drive sales, increase engagement, and build brand awareness, it’s worth giving influencer marketing a try. And because influencing is a rapidly growing career option, most businesses will be able to find influencers in their industry.

But before you try influencer marketing, you should consider whether your target audience actively uses social media and, if they do, which platforms they favor. If they don’t use social media at all, you’ll get a better return on investment by focusing your marketing efforts elsewhere.

Another consideration is that some industries will have a much smaller pool of influencers, and they will typically charge higher rates due to the demand for their services. There’s also a level of risk and unpredictability that comes with using micro, macro, nano, and mega influencers, since there’s no guarantee how many of their followers will be active at the time of posting, or whether the algorithm will promote or hide their posts.

There are several ways you can find influencers for your brand:

• Influencer marketing platforms: These give you a clear view of key metrics and fees, and are good for comparison
• Search social media hashtags to find the influencers who are posting about particular sectors
• Competitor analysis: Find out which influencers are working with brands similar to yours

Once you’ve found influencers within your industry and budget, you need to consider the finer details. To whittle your list down, ask yourself:

• What type of content are they posting? Does this align with your brand and campaign?
• Who is following that influencer? If you’re typing to attract a particular age, gender, or location, do these people engage with the influencer?
• What are the interests of this influencer?
• Have they worked with brands similar to yours before?

There’s no set answer as to how much influencer marketing costs, but research by Sprout Social provides a helpful benchmark as to the average cost per post for each social media platform:

• Instagram: $10 per 1,000 followers
• TikTok: $10 per 1,000 followers
• Facebook: $20 per 1,000 followers
• X: $2 per 1,000 followers
• Snapchat: $10 per 1,000 followers

Since negotiations are often confidential, these averages can be used as a rough benchmark for what to expect, but be aware that there are several factors at play, including:

• Platform and content type – Each platform has a unique content type. For example, creating a YouTube video will often require more time and effort than creating a TikTok video, which will increase the price
• Management – agencies and managers charge additional fees, and may have set pricing structures for their influencers
• Industry – Influencers in saturated influencer markets like fitness and beauty will offer lower prices to beat their competitors, whereas niche influencers may charge higher rates
• Timeline – if you’re requesting a tight turnaround, be prepared for prices to increase

Working in collaboration with relevant influencers is a great way to grow your online business. Here are just a few of the benefits:

• Increases brand awareness: Working with an influencer that matches your target audience will help you reach a new, engaged audience that will be interested in your business and products.
• Builds brand authority: Tapping into influencer expertise will help you be seen as a trusted in your niche. For example, health and wellness brands often collaborate with nutritionists, such as Emily English, to improve credibility.
• Increases sales and online presence: The relationship between influencer and their audience can be leveraged to increase your own online following.
• Develops quality content: Each influencer you work can create unique content with an outsiders perspective, which will shake up your content styles and give you a bank of material to use throughout marketing materials

Knowing the benefits and downsides of each influencer tier will help you understand which is best for helping you grow your online business.

Nano influencers can be a great choice for small or start-up businesses with limited budgets. Nano and micro influencers can also be a good option for those that want to boost engagement across the board and generate high volumes of content.

On the other hand, macro, mega and celebrity influencers can be the perfect option for those who want to get their brand noticed by the most people in a short period of time.

In reality, brands that want to get the best results will work with a range of influencer tiers. This will allow them to leverage all tier benefits as well as mitigating the downsides. Utilizing influencers are a great way to have a strong pre-launch.