When you think of influencer marketing, you might think of creators with millions of followers on multiple social media platforms pitching a product or service to the masses. While that's certainly one form, there's a way to reach niche audiences through smaller creators, and it's called nano influencer marketing. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about maximizing your marketing efforts through influencers with smaller channels.
Think smaller, win bigger. Use Later to discover high-trust nano creators and run campaigns that convert. Book your demo today.
Table of Contents
What are nano influencers?
An influencer is a content creator with dedicated followers who can sway their audience’s opinion on certain topics. There are several levels of influencers based on the size of their following, including:
Nano influencers:
Influencers with between 1,000 and 10,000 followers
Micro influencers:
Influencers with between 10,001 and 100,000 followers
Macro influencers:
Influencers with between 100,001 and 1 million followers
Mega influencers:
Influencers with 1 million or more followers
Nano and micro influencers have smaller bases but often appear more authentic and niche than creators with larger followings. Macro and mega-influencers command large audiences with a broader reach but may lack the follower engagement and trust that smaller influencers cultivate.
Follower count is a metric that gives a general idea of a creator’s audience, but it’s important to note that the number alone doesn’t tell the whole picture. Creators with large audiences may not generate the same type of engagement and community that a smaller creator may. While it may sound counterintuitive, the larger the number of followers an influencer has (generally speaking), the less it directly equates to a better ROI for your marketing campaign.
Why choose nano influencers for your marketing strategy?
It may be tempting to go for influencers with impressive numbers, but there are several reasons that a nano influencer may align better with your overall marketing strategy. Here are some benefits that you should consider.
Higher engagement and consumer trust
Smaller audiences often equate to tighter, more close-knit communities. Nano influencers often have much higher engagement rates than larger influencers because their followers are more likely to feel heard. When fewer users compete for the creator’s attention, they are more likely to feel seen and receive responses from the influencer. This makes the engagement more intimate and authentic.
Because the small audience feels more connected to a nano influencer, the influencer's recommendations carry more weight. While your product may not reach millions of potential buyers, a genuine recommendation from a nano influencer can create hundreds of potential customers. Using tools like Later’s influencer analytics tool can help you track how these high engagement rates turn into leads and conversions.
Targeted reach in niche communities
A mega influencer in the fitness space may have a broad appeal for products relating to general fitness, nutrition, and living a healthy lifestyle. However, if your brand specializes in comfortable yoga leggings and tank tops, choosing this mega influencer may not be worth the cost.
Instead, focusing on a creator with 2,000 loyal followers who teaches yoga tips on TikTok to a targeted community of women would result in more sales. Selecting a nano influencer with an active and engaged community in the same niche as your brand can lead to a successful partnership.
Increased trustworthiness and influence
Because it’s easier to form a relationship with a creator with a smaller platform, followers feel an increased sense of trust. Large creators may feel distant and hard to reach. In some instances, these creators may have social media teams running their accounts, so fans can't communicate with them directly.
In addition to the trustworthiness that nano influencers have, most aren’t showering their audience with brand deals in every video, so the suggestions that they do give are more meaningful. Partnering with a nano influencer can help you persuade their audience to give your product or service a chance.
Cost-effectiveness
Another significant benefit of choosing nano influencers is that you’ll pay less overall. Mega creators command costly payments and often have large brands and companies competing for sponsorships. If you have a small business or startup, you can dedicate less of your budget to influencer marketing by choosing one or multiple nano influencers to promote your brand.
Nano influencers have a much lower cost per post or engagement than other tiers of creators with larger followings. This also means high ROI potential, as your low influencer marketing budget could translate to conversions and lifelong customers.
Flexibility and creativity
Another plus to partnering with small creators is their flexibility. Established influencers with multiple brand deals may prefer to stick to a rigid script and read out your offer as a routine advertisement. Nano influencers, on the other hand, are more likely to be open to trying new things.
You can collaborate with the influencer to discover creative and unique ways to integrate your brand, product, or service into their content. For example, they could post a content challenge that centers around your brand, or an unboxing video of your soon-to-be-released product.
Higher conversion rates
The authenticity of a nano influencer often leads to more conversions and leads than others. When followers see the creator as trustworthy, they’re likelier to try out the products and services or support the brand. With a genuine request, nano influencers can get their audience to click a link, sign up for a trial, or join a newsletter.
Easier collaboration and communication
Due to their small followings, nano influencers often lack a dedicated social media team. This makes clear and direct communication much easier. Self-managed influencers tend to be more responsive and open to collaborating with brands. Using an influencer outreach tool makes it even easier for brands and businesses to find the right nano influencers to collaborate with and communicate with ease.
Greater authenticity and relatability
Nano influencers generally appear genuine and on the same level as their audience. Because they’re easily approachable, their fans tend to see them as more authentic and reliable. Nano influencers are real people to their followers instead of distant celebrities. This makes them more relatable, and it’s easier for them to use real-life events as stories for their content. Users are also more likely to share and create content that inspires them, which can lead to tagging your brand or reviewing products on their own channels.
Long-term partnership potential
Just because an influencer has a small audience doesn’t mean it'll always stay that way for them. Serious influencers can suddenly blow up and grow their audience considerably. Working with an influencer from the beginning is a great way to build a potential long-term partnership and maintain their trust as their audience grows. Over time, your brand may have a strong personal relationship with the hottest influencer that other companies are clamoring to work with.
Access to untapped audiences
Small influencers can be the key to reaching untapped audiences that aren’t on your competition’s radar yet. A macro influencer in the beauty sector might focus on mainstream trends and big brands that have already saturated the market. However, a nano influencer in a tropical region may be better for promoting your new sweat-proof makeup to their local audience. Taking advantage of the audiences of small creators is a great way to position your brand to connect with specialized groups and local communities.
How nano influencers can boost your profits
Nano influencers charge less than influencers with higher follower counts. And, because of high engagement rates, you're likely to spend less per conversion. The low starting price can help you determine how to efficiently run your funnel. Once you’ve found a winning formula, you can scale your influencer funnel campaign to use influencers with larger followings.
It’s also easier to get a higher ROI when targeting niche audiences. Because of the specific interests of nano influencer fanbases, pairing with the right one can result in more conversions and maximize your profits. Using Later's EMV calculator to track ROI and earned media value is an excellent way to realize just how beneficial your nano influencer campaign is.
Successful nano influencer campaigns
Later has helped many companies find success with nano influencers. To raise awareness for a Canadian baby brand, we helped the company pair with nano and micro influencers who were mothers, fathers, or soon-to-be parents. These influencers became ambassadors and created 99 pieces of content that received over 84,000 impressions.
One beauty and skincare brand leveraged multiple smaller creators, including nano creators, thanks to us. The brand aimed to boost its appeal to culturally diverse GenZers and Millennials. To do this, they conducted focus groups and interviewed creators from underrepresented groups to gain actionable insights.
Finally, Spectrum Brands used Later for a holiday campaign that used three tiers of influencers, including nano influencers. The creators made influencer-generated content about their pets using the brand’s pet care products. The brand then repurposed the content through a paid media strategy focusing on TikTok. In the end, the influencers created 387 pieces of content and earned the brand over 400,000 impressions and a 12.8% average engagement rate.
How to find the right nano influencer
Finding the right nano influencers is crucial for running an effective marketing campaign. Based on your goals and target audience, look through social media platforms to find creators that fit your brand image and have a small number of followers. This step can be time-consuming, and it can be a challenge to find the perfect fit. Fortunately, we can help simplify the process entirely.
Later’s influencer search tool gives you access to over 10 million influencers who span every industry and platform. You can easily filter by audience location, vertical, and engagement to narrow down the best influencers for your brand in seconds. The platform also combines outreach and communication into one easy process.
Steps to build a successful nano influencer marketing campaign
Building the right nano influencer marketing campaign doesn’t have to be challenging. If you have a well-thought-out strategy before you begin looking for and communicating with influencers, you’ll have a better chance of long-term success.
1. Define campaign goals
There are several key reasons to enlist the help of a nano influencer. Make sure you know exactly what you hope to get out of your collaboration before you begin contacting creators. Some marketing campaigns aim to boost their brand's visibility, others to draw engagement to their social media channels, and still others to generate leads and convert sales.
Whatever your goal, make sure you’ve come up with a clear plan of how you’ll achieve it. It’s also essential to list the key metrics you will track to determine if you’re on a course to achieving these goals or if you need to recalibrate your strategy.
2. Build a short list of 5–15 nano creators
Because nano creators are more cost-effective than creators with larger followings, you have the option to work with more than one. For best results, look at social media channels in your industry and note niche influencers that could effectively push your brand, product, or service. You can also use professional services such as Later to find fitting nano influencers quickly.
3. Draft flexible briefs
Develop specific briefs outlining how creators can effectively pitch and promote your brand. Consider factors like the platform the influencers are on, the style of content they publish, and your overall goals. Keep these plans flexible, as the influencer you work with may have their own ideas of how best to relate the promotion to their audience.
4. Manage outreach and communication with Later
Instead of sending emails and DMs through multiple platforms to negotiate with your chosen nano influencers, you can use Later to keep everything organized. Our campaign management lets you manage your outreach campaign and communicate with influencers all in one place. This makes it easy to keep everything in order and effectively track your campaign’s progress.
5. Track content and performance with campaign tools
Even with a solid strategy from the start, you need to remain flexible enough to make changes if need be. Track your content through the social media platform’s native analytics data and use Later’s analytics for additional data-driven insights. Keep an eye on what kind of content is making the type of impact you're striving for and what isn’t living up to the hype. Experiment with posts and content until you find what works.
6. Optimize future rounds based on performance
After the campaign finishes, sit down with all of your results and review what went well and which areas could use improvement. This is valuable information that you can use for future campaigns. You’ll also want to take note of which influencers hit their marks and which ones didn’t work well with your brand, so you know who to move forward with in future rounds.
Tools and resources to support your campaign
A great resource to jump-start your nano influencer campaign is Later’s downloadable hub. This asset has everything from templates to campaign trackers to sample briefs, instantly easing your marketing efforts.
For even more support, we offer several valuable tools and features for your nano marketing campaign, all in one place. You’ll get access to the campaign management dashboard with outreach and communication tools to get you in touch with the perfect influencers for your brand. Later also has useful analytics that help guide your campaign so it aligns with your goals.
Boost your nano influencer marketing campaign with Later
Nano influencer marketing campaigns make it possible for brands to reach specific niches that may be unavailable to larger creators. Because of their small followings, audiences often find nano influencers more relatable and authentic, leading to more trust in brand collaborations and promotions.
Finding the right nano influencers for your next marketing campaign won’t take much time or effort when you partner with Later. Later helps you connect with the best nano influencers to reach your goals and gives you the tools you need to run an effective marketing campaign.
Ready to scale your next campaign with creators who actually convert? Book a free demo of Later to start finding nano influencers today.
