Small Businesses Influencers – What They Do, and Where to Find Them
Every industry, niche, and specialty business has influencers. Social media influencers are people who are active on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. They have a following that is devoted and that generally takes action based on the influencer’s advice and suggestions.
For example: When a fashion influencer may say that he/she loves a specific brand of sandals their followers will go check out those sandals. Influencers have built a following that trusts them. They’ve worked hard to create credibility, trust, and authority within their niche.
Small business influencers are merely influencers that are specific to the small business niche. They can be macro-influencers, which means that they have a large following. This means they have more than 100,000 followers. They may also have millions, so there’s a broad range here. Micro-influencers have fewer than 100,000 followers.
The difference between macro and micro small business influencers is essentially in the numbers. A micro-influencer may have fewer followers, but they’re no less dedicated to the influencer. And micro-influencers may be easier for you to collaborate with. So let’s talk about that next.
What Do Small Business Influencers Do?
From an influencer perspective, they provide value to their audience. A small business influencer helps their audience, small business owners, build a better business. They may focus on technology content and how to leverage technology to grow your business. Another aspect they focus on is branding or customer relationships. They take a look at a more personal approach and talk about balancing work-life, hiring, and taxes, and other aspects.
Small business influencers, macro and micro, make money through partnerships and affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is an arrangement that has an online retailer pay commission to an external website for traffic.
They also work with brands to create a partnership arrangement. For example, you could pay an influencer a flat fee to create posts to endorse your brand. You could also work out a referral fee for traffic or sales they make when they send customers to your website. These arrangements or partnerships can be quite lucrative for you both. And because they’re providing value to the influencer audience, the collaborative content is authentic.
Where do You Find Small Business Influencers?
There are a number of ways to identify influencers that you may want to build a relationship with or partner with. You can simply jump onto your social media platform of choice and start searching based on #hashtags, keywords, and brand mentions. Start following people in your industry and pay attention to their followers, engagement, and their message.
You can also find influencer marketing platforms. These are essentially databases of influencers and their specific niches. Platforms provide a basic demographic of influencer followers. Influencer marketing can be a strategic way to grow your audience, increase brand engagement, and boost sales.It all begins with identifying key influencers in your nice and the process of research and relationship building.
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