Collaboration with influencers has become an integral part of marketing strategy for many brands. According to HubSpot, 86% of marketers are investing the same or even greater amount in influencer marketing in 2022.
As the influencer marketing industry keeps on growing, new game-changing trends are emerging there. In particular, not all companies are choosing celebrity-level influencers. Many brands prefer content creators with smaller follower counts, also known as nano-influencers.
Read this article to discover the power of nano-influencers (or nanos) and how they can help companies drive brand awareness.
Who are nano-influencers?
First of all, who are these smaller-scale influencers? They are content creators with quite a small number of social media followers. As to the exact number, the opinions vary. Most experts agree that nano-influencers have between 1,000 and 10,000 followers.
As a rule, nanos create content around specific topics they are passionate about. Reaching those highly targeted audiences looks very appealing to the brands who offer products in the same niche.
Why partner with nano-influencers?
Now, let’s figure out why exactly savvy marketers are choosing to boost brand awareness with nano-influencers.
Higher engagement rates
First, nanos have highly-engaged followers with a great interest in their content. Nano-influencers initiate discussions and answer followers' questions to keep the conversation going.
Most marketers find nano-influencers the best in terms of engagement rates. According to studies, as the number of a channel’s followers increases, user engagement often decreases.
Stronger connection with the audience
A close relationship with the audience makes nano-influencers trustworthy. Followers don’t treat nanos like strangers and often trust their recommendations of certain products.
Relevance of content to the audience
Nanos do their best to create content that is relevant to their followers. So, partnering with an influencer in your niche is a great opportunity to get your product in front of a highly targeted audience.
Cost-effective promotion
Working with nano-influencers is a very cost-effective way of promotion. Unlike their peers with a huge follower count, nanos charge smaller fees. Some of them can accept your free product as compensation for their services. For companies having to cut their budgets, it’s a great opportunity to get more value for their marketing dollars.
Want to dive deeper into this topic? Here is a comprehensive guide to nano-influencer marketing.
How to increase your brand awareness with nano-influencers
Now you know about the marketing power of nanos. Keep on reading to learn how to boost your brand awareness with nano-influencers.
1. Find the right influencers
There are different ways you can find the right nanos to help you increase your brand awareness. To discover nano-influencer profiles, try browsing hashtags related to your product or industry. Or, you can use software platforms designed to help you get in touch with influencers.
Besides, nano-influencers are often local content creators. So, why not attend local trade shows, seminars, and other industry gatherings to find them?
Here's how to select the right partners:
- Consider their followers’ demographics. Remember, these should be representatives of your target audience.
- Pay attention to an influencer's posts, behavior, and tone. These should match your brand voice and values.
- Don’t prioritize the follower count over the potential value. Despite a smaller audience size, a content creator may have a much more engaged audience than their celebrity-level peers do.
You can then use an email marketing service to reach out to a list of these influencers. Try finding the agency that represents them or their personal email (a lot of influencers open to work will include that in their bio). If nothing else, shoot them a simple direct message on the platform itself.
2. Define the appropriate partnership formats
Once you’ve shortlisted the candidates, you can start reaching out to them to discuss possible forms of collaboration.
Let’s look through the working influencer campaign mechanics you can use to boost your brand awareness.
Sponsored posts
Ordering a sponsored post from an influencer is perhaps the most common form of collaboration. As a rule, such posts contain a product review in a creator’s usual manner.
Nanos do this either for a fee or in exchange for a free product.
Storytelling
Storytelling can do wonders for your brand! Why not embed it into your influencer marketing campaigns?
The impact of stories goes way beyond sponsored posts with product reviews. A compelling story about how your product fits a creator’s daily life, even about the mattress they sleep on each night, can be very inspirational. Such stories can make followers want to own your brand’s product.
User-generated content (UGC)
Next, you can get exposure for your brand by encouraging your influencer partner to share a pic with your product. For more reach, agree with several influencers on this. Along with exposure, user-generated content will help you build credibility. Such posts don’t look like ad spam - they look trustworthy.
Contests and giveaways
Another great way to create a buzz around your products is to sponsor contests and giveaways. To ensure the desired reach, ask your influencer partner to include the following conditions into the contests rules:
- Subscription to your brand’s page
- Sharing the post about the contest in a newsfeed or stories
- Tagging friends in the comments
Distributing affiliate links and discount codes
To motivate an influencer’s followers to get your products at a favorable price, ask them to share your affiliate links or discount codes.
Brand ambassador programs
Finally, you can attract nano-influencers in your niche as long-term brand ambassadors.
The ambassador is the one who talks about your brand's products - natively, without a touch of advertising. To achieve this, their posts about your brand and its products should have the same tone and style as all their other content.
As compensation for their activity, ambassadors can get either monetary rewards or free products of the brand they work with.
3. Provide guidelines and directions
To make your collaboration with influencers effective, provide them with a comprehensive brief. Be as specific about your campaign goals as possible. Highlight the key ideas about your brand you’d like to cover. Provide hashtags, links, and promo codes (if any).
At the same time, be sure to avoid micromanagement. Don’t dictate what to write in this or that post. Leave a bit of freedom to an influencer.
4. Draw up a contract
Don't forget to secure your agreement with the influencer by signing a contract. Specify all the important points you have agreed on there:
- Collaboration formats
- Content creator’s compensation
- Your permission to repost the materials
5. Measure results
Now, how do you measure the impact of influencer activations on driving brand awareness?
These metrics will help you track the results of your influencer marketing campaigns:
- Post engagement - likes, comments, and shares
- Social media mentions
- Website traffic from social media
- The number of purchases using the discount codes
6. Aim at long-term collaboration
Long-term collaboration can be a beneficial strategy for both you and your influencer partner. Together, you can analyze what works best for that specific audience, and enhance the campaigns over time.
After a series of fruitful collaborations, an influencer will become loyal to your brand and willing to work with you further. As your partner’s account is growing, you’ll get a chance to put your products in front of a larger audience.
Key takeaways
As you can see, collaboration with nanos is a great opportunity to get your products in front of your target audience. To make your nano-influencer marketing activations more effective, be sure to:
- Do your research to find the right influencer partner
- Define the best influencer campaign mechanics for your brand
- Provide the selected nano with comprehensive directions without falling into micromanagement
- Sign up a contract with your influencer partner
- Try to build a long-term relationship
We hope these tips to boost your brand awareness with nano-influencers will help you get the most out of your marketing strategy!
