How do you find and collaborate with micro-influencers in your niche?

We have to start moving away from categorizing everything and everyone. It comes across that someone who isn't macro is "less" than. Impressions are cheap and engagements and actions are expensive. Doesn't matter on volume of followers, but the desired outcome of those followers. We have to get to a place where performance based goals help define the tactic. We should be able to pay on a per impression or per engagement or per view, then it relies on the influencer to develop to the goal and get compensated for such. We have to stop building classification systems based on groups and start strategizing based on desired outcomes.

Professional athletes and teams in smaller and niche sports often remain in that micro-category with extremely passionate followings (and high-engagement content) and provide an extraordinary value compared to large professional sports. Our five-figure brand partner deals with CW Moto yield much stronger engagement, higher click-through, higher rates of purchase intent signals, and often equal numbers of social media views as six-figure-spends did in my larger agency days. With the algorithm effects we see today, channels as small as 1,000-4,000 followers can still regularly register in the hundreds of thousands of views (with higher engagement rates than large channels).

To find micro-influencers in your niche, consider using social media platforms' search functions, relevant hashtags, and influencer marketing tools. Look for influencers with engaged followers and aligning values. Reach out through direct messages or professional email pitches to propose collaboration based on shared interests and goals.

Micro-influencers offer a targeted reach and authenticity that macro-influencers lack. Due to their niche followings, micro-influencers have a deeper relationship and trust with their audience, which can lead to more effective endorsements and higher call-to-action rates. As brands try to differentiate themselves, targeting the exact niche audience that resonates with their offering is crucial, and micro-influencers can help with that. This approach ensures that the budget goes to a specific audience that matters to the brand, with the right branding and endorsement based on the micro-influencer's unique selling point.

The great thing about micro-influencers, especially in the gaming/streamer world, is the diversity. Not just the diversity of the actual influencers, but of their audience. From the outside, many brands and agencies think of twitch/youtube audiences monolithically. This couldn't be further from the truth. Each streamer has a unique audience with a unique culture. This is something you don't get with the bigger influencers. We love to spread the strategy around a series of micro-influencers so we can find an audience that will be a good pairing for our brand partner. As a gaming company, it also lets us spread the money around the community and help the community grow.

Starting to try and get this off the ground for my company, I have found a lot of success just asking for advice within my LinkedIn network. People are happy to give some tips and pointers and pay it forward.

One thing we've found helpful when working with micro-influencers, on behalf of our clients, is to align them around a campaign vs. general promotion. I firmly agree the compensation offered, and agreed to, has to be fair - for both parties. If you're a new eCommerce company, products could be fair compensation, based on their actual value, perceived value, and what you ask the micro-influencer to do in exchange. We use data analysis, combined with AI, to determine the best micro-influencers for our clients and have had great success.