Over the past couple weeks, we took a deep look at two influencer marketing archetypes, the Micro-Influencer and the Everyday Fan, and broke them down. We compared them to each other through a host of categories including the audiences they each build, the type of content they post, how easy each is to scale, and ultimately what it costs to work with them (for a refresher, please check out part one and part two of this series). Today we conclude our three part series on these two influencer types by providing specific examples of when to consider using your Everyday Fan versus when it makes better business sense to utilize a Micro-Influencer. After all, both should have a place supporting influencer marketing plan.

Influencer Marketing Recap: Micro-Influencers vs. Everyday Fans

As a reminder, Micro-Influencers are individuals that have a following of, on average, 10k – 90k followers They tend to specialize in a specific content topic and on a specific social channel..

Your Everyday Fans are the individuals that interact with your brand daily (or near-daily). They are connected on average to 400 – 700 individuals across multiple platforms.

So, when does it make sense to go with a Micro-Influencer, and when is it better to utilize your Everyday Fans?

Supporting Influencer Marketing: Use Cases for Micro-Influencers

Micro-Influencers, with their steadfast and larger audiences, tend to be ideally suited for:

• Driving awareness around a single sale
• Hitting a larger number of people in a short amount of time with a single blast
• Building excitement around an upcoming product launch
• Generating 3rd party credibility via reviews and first-person product use stories
• Publicizing contests and sweepstakes
• Creating bursts of revenue around specific events/sales/products

As you can see, Micro-Influencers tend to be utilized on a one-off or sprint basis as costs are typically tied to a single message. In instances where the Micro-Influencer and their audience gel well with your brand, we would recommend locking that person into a contract that keeps the cost low over a set period (six months to a year).

Pro Tip: For those brands that also utilize an affiliate program, affiliate programs can provide an ideal carrot for increasing the amount of publicity a Micro-Influencer gives your brand. In addition to their regular posting fee, don’t be stingy when it comes to cutting your Micro-Influencer in on the revenue generated by their efforts.

Supporting Influencer Marketing: Use Cases for Everyday Fans

A major difference between your Everyday Fans and a Micro-Influencer is that the Everyday Fans can be activated over a longer timeline without a significant increase in costs, particularly if those fans are being managed within an Advocate Marketing Program (AMP). As such, Everyday Fans can be used to:

• Distribute all your content, blog posts, whitepapers, etc. throughout the year
• Build awareness of every sale or promotion your brand is running
• Reach a critical mass to begin trending hashtags and conversations on social media channels – if you have 10,000 Everyday Fans tweeting your hashtag all at once, Twitter’s algorithms are going to take notice
• Manage social media contests and sweepstakes – an AMP lasts far longer than a single sweepstakes, making it an ideal gate for contest entry
• Share content generated by your Micro-Influencers to a broader audience
• Generate consistent revenue over the life of the consumer

As you can see, both Micro-Influencers and Everyday Fans have their unique roles to play in supporting influencer marketing campaign. Better yet, they can be used side-by-side to produce amazing results. Work with Micro-Influencers to build awareness of your Advocate Marketing Program – and invite them to join while you’re at it! Likewise use your AMP to drive awareness of the Micro-Influencer who just posted a new product review.

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Ready to start your influencer marketing campaign? We’re here to help answer any questions you may have!