In the world of brand marketing, not all influencers are created equal. That being said, there is absolutely a time, place and campaign for every type of influencer – from your sorority sister who has a few thousand followers on Instagram, to one of the Kardashian’s (or their minis!) on TikTok. Read on for how the marketing industry ranks content creators on IG, and where the size of your community comes into play.
1. Nano
Maybe it’s you, or your best friend from college or your co-worker who occasionally features avant-garde beauty brands on her feed with a ‘paid sponsorship’ sticker on the top.
This tier of influencers have a following between 1,000 and 10,000 – just enough for the platform’s formerly coveted ‘swipe up’ feature, and the perfect influencer candidate for hyper-targeted, locally focused campaigns where a brand’s objective is to achieve conversions in a specific community – say, beauty aficionados in Austin, TX.
2. Micro
Micro-influencers are a tier of content creators that remain unmatched when it comes to achieving high-quality content with brands looking for niche engagement, in our humble opinion.
In our experience, this level of influencer – with a following anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 – prioritizes the brand’s goals and tailors the content to their community for relatability and reach. By going above and beyond to exceed the client’s expectations, the partnership pays dividends. At the end of the day, influencer marketing is a business – and when brands recognize passion and a strong work ethic in a creator, they will choose to work with them again.
3. Mid-tier
The middle ground of luxury influence, these content creators have a following that ranges between 100,000 and 500,000 on IG – so yes, nearly half a million.
So besides being #instafamous, what does a mid-tier influencer bring to the table for a brand (and vice versa)? With a large following in the mid-tier range (think @itsmetinx) this influencer has the potential to expand brand awareness through storytelling, and featuring projects like new product launches or collaborations.
4. Macro
In addition to Micro, Macro influencers are the other tier that we see partnering with high-profile brands most frequently. Despite a community size of 500,000 to 1 million – content creators in this tier are more affordable marketing partners than their celebrity counterparts in media.
Many influencers in this range have been active on Instagram for years, developing their audience and niche target market organically – from fashion and beauty to wellness and workouts, this influencer is key for large-scale marketing campaigns across the globe.
5. Mega
Last but not least – the mega influencer.
Wild to think that there was a point in virtual-time when 1 million followers on Instagram was not only “ a lot”, but rather unfathomable – and now, we have a collection of Mega Influencers (1M+ followers) who are ingrained in our everyday media – from vlog personality @emmachamberlain (15.2M followers) to fashion comic connoisseur @rickeythompson (5.2M followers) we are graciously surrounded by influence everywhere we scroll. This tier of influence is ideal for major brand awareness campaigns, where eyes (not ROI) are the main objective. If we see a Mega creator posting it, consider it already added to cart.
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