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Ways to Find Micro-Influencers for Your Small Business

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By CustomCat - January 23, 2020- in Go-Getter Blog

Whether you sell cupcakes via Instagram or offer photo-editing services online, you need relevant feedback. And when saying “feedback,” we don’t mean likes and upvotes, but comments and reviews. Preferably, favorable for you.
To achieve that, you can ask your subscribers and customers to leave comments, which is excellent and smart. But it is always better to get someone with a similar audience to promote you — your personal micro-influencer.
No, we don’t mean someone who will take your money for advertising. That is also an option.
However, the best way to win the hearts of people is to find like-minded people. You may think it is expensive or hard to achieve, and that’s where we come in. Here are four excellent sources to find micro-influencers for your small business!

Making the right choice

So what is a micro-influencer, and how do you look for one? Micro-influencers are the so-called “Internet celebrities,” which have a relatively small amount of followers, starting from 1,000 to 100,000.
Nevertheless, working with them can bring you lots of profit. They can adjust the overall trust in your product and increase the engagement rate.
So, how do you pick a micro-influencer? That’s a bit tricky because finding one is easy, but finding the right one – well, that is the task.

First of all, follow these rules:

1. Your influencer should have a high engagement rate. The formula for calculating the engagement rate is quite easy, follow these steps:
– Instagram = (Likes + Comments) divided by (Number of Followers)
– Twitter and Facebook = (Likes + Comments + Shares/Retweets) divided by (Number of Followers)
2. Your influencer MUST have a relevant audience. They usually work with a limited number of topics, so pick the one sharing your interests.
3. Your influencer should have as many followers as possible. Yes, we speak of micro-influencers, but it is better to work with someone with 100,000 followers rather than someone with 1,000 followers.
4. Your influencer has to work with real people. If subscribers’ number is 250,000, but 249,500 of them are bots, you don’t need such a partner.
Let’s move on – Why do you need an influencer and what to look for when searching for one.
group of people standing next to each other

Your #1 Fan

The best influencer is the one who already likes you. Check all your fans and subscribers – you never know. One or two of them might have a vast amount of subscribers and be ready to promote your business.
When approaching random people, you’ll have to spend more time convincing them and probably invest some money. On the other hand, it would be foolish not to work with someone who already likes your work.
So all you have to do is to find the right person. Suggest to your potential influencer a discount, a free service, a gift, or even a cross-promotion offer. Someone who enjoys your work will create authentic content. Promo posts from random people who “suddenly” decided to speak of your business might not be the way to go.

Hashtags

The idea is too obvious, why not just research relevant hashtags? Choose keywords relevant to your business, and see if any influencers are using it. Look through the profiles, pay attention to the number of followers, and what they usually post.
Upon composing a list, contact people who, in your opinion, can be influencers for your business. When discussing a partnership, make them an offer they can’t refuse. Offer cross-promotion, discounts, gifts, or whatever may be useful for them.
Hashtags are excellent for your business. You’ll be sure to find people on the same wavelength as you and those who are interested in what you may offer.
On the other hand, be prepared. It will take time and effort. Choose hashtags wisely; otherwise, you may miss the opportunity of a lifetime.

Third-party service

Third-party services guarantee that you are in the driver seat. They will show your business from the best sides.
Be aware, though, even the sun has spots, and you should pay attention to the tone of voice. It may become suspicious, for the audience, if someone regularly and enthusiastically praises you.
Third-party tools are a great idea, but you’ll eventually have to spend more time reading through their comments. Still, that is an excellent source if you are desperate for someone to start promoting you.

Bloggers

Bloggers are not always people with several millions of subscribers, but they are passionate about what they do. To find them, go to Google search and look for something relevant. For example, if you are selling handmade T-Shirts, look for bloggers adoring the “handmade technique” and approach them with your offer.
The other source people often forget about is YouTube. Among the numerous cat videos, some people use Youtube as a blogging platform. Youtube is a fantastic resource because they can lay their eyes on your products.
When approaching a blogger, it is wise to develop a good relationship beforehand. Post relevant comments, share the articles and follow their blog. Compliment their posts and start with cross-promotional or cross-posting offers. Try to avoid selling something to them. It is better, to be honest when approaching micro-influencers.
If you are working on promoting your small business and eventually want to grow it – micro-influencers are a good idea. If relevant, micro-influencers can make you famous at a low cost. That’s why your dedicated influencer will be better than any other marketing tactic.
Did we miss something? Got some advice? Feel free to share your thoughts with everyone in the comments. Good luck!
Marie Barnes is a Marketing Communication Manager at Adsy and an enthusiastic blogger interested in writing about technology, social media, work, travel, lifestyle, and current affairs. She shares her insights through blogging. Follow her on Medium.

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