Before social media, well, broke the Internet, celebrities and other ultra-famous people were the stars of the advertising and marketing world. If a brand had a hot new product to sell, there were few options but to bring in a highly-paid It Girl or Guy to star in a TV commercial or magazine ad campaign.
It’s no secret the advertising model is as outdated as the mediums. Now, anyone with a social following can promote any product, work with any brand -- influencer marketing in a nutshell. And in recent years, influencer marketing has evolved beyond celebrity influencers to include the everyday people with great content, an interesting point of view, and a compelling story to tell.
Which begs the question: in this age of social media access, why should Jennifer Lawrence be the only person who can advertise perfume?
In 2019, we’re entering the age of the nanoinfluencer: those unfailingly cool people you follow who have between one and 5,000 followers and always seem to know what the best new thing is. For brands looking to strengthen their influencer marketing game in the new year, partnerships with nanos are the way to go. Here’s why.
1.Nano influencers are the real deal.
Don’t let the moniker "nano" fool you -- these influencers are people who are doing the heavy lifting of building an organic following online. Usually they’re coming up with creative content and storylines, shooting, editing, AND promoting their content all themselves.
Their authenticity shows through in every photo and video; their followers see them as real people they know and relate to, and in keeping with that, trust their recommendations. After all, they are "real" people -- they’re your coworker, your girlfriend, your yoga instructor.
2. It’s efficient to work with nano influencers.
Nano influencers are typically excited -- even thrilled, to partner with brands they love. They can’t wait to find, try, and rave about new products that make their own lives easier or better -- after all, that means they’ll have their own great original content to share as well.
For brands looking to increase their influencer marketing without breaking the bank, nanoinfluencers can be ideal brand ambassadors because their partnerships are usually based on exchanging products or experiences -- not just cash.
With the right tech and tools, like we’ve developed at Obviously, it’s become efficient to work with nanoinfluencers at scale. Now, brands can partner with 300 or 3,000 nanoinfluencers at once -- that wasn’t possible a few years ago.
3. They give brands a way to reach a new or highly targeted customer base.
With the right technology, brands can identify and build partnerships with any profile of influencer, from moms in the Midwest to a basketball player in Florida. These are people who previously would never have the opportunity to meet with the marketing teams of some of the largest brands in the world, but can now be a valuable ally when it comes to promoting a product to a new, interested, and hyper-targeted audience.
4. Nano influencers are a fast track to the new word of mouth marketing.
Influencer marketing works well because it’s the new word of mouth, but amplified by social media channels. It’s like sharing your favorite new cookie recipe on the sidelines of your kid’s soccer game with a dozen other parents -- but instead, there are hundreds of parents, and they are all posting the delicious batch of cookies to all their friends on Instagram.
With nanoinfluencers, we’re setting up one person to talk about a product to their audience of thousands that really trust their opinions -- and then we do it over and over with new campaigns with hundreds of influencers. The magnification of that word of mouth on product sales can be profound.
5. Content is still king.
Without a doubt, content is still king on social. Influencers are becoming ever more proficient and professional in creating high-quality media -- creative direction, photographs, and copy included -- in their partnerships with brands. Nanoinfluencers are creating content others want to see. It’s aesthetically pleasing, noteworthy, and has a point of view.
Brands can harness this new class of content creators to power their advertisements across paid social, commercials, and even billboards, to a great measured success. This type of content typically outperforms brand or agency-created content on social. And finally, for brands and nanoinfluencers, a long-term partnership means a strong relationship is being built, which naturally yields better, more organic content that you won’t find elsewhere.