In measuring the success of social media marketing campaigns, the focus turns to the audience reached and the engagement of that audience with a given piece of content.

From a broad perspective, the audience is measured by the number of impressions produced, while engagement requires liking, sharing, or even just clicking into a post. 

As a result, the goal of strategic social media marketing campaigns is to increase engagement rate while tapping into audiences most prone to buy your product or service. One of the most effective strategies in reaching these goals is influencer marketing campaigns. 

But a simplistic approach consisting of paying the most followed influencers to put one’s product in front of the largest audience possible is not as practical as it may seem. In fact, in a study conducted by Takumi in 2016, the more followers a social media profile has, the less engagement each post receives. In marketing, a macro-influencer is categorized as anyone with over 10,000 followers, while a micro-influencer is anyone with less than 10,000 followers.

By that logic alone, the graph shows, on average,  that a micro-influencer with 1000 followers can expect 97 engagements while a macro influencer with 100,000 followers will receive 1,400 engagements with one’s post. Yet, quantity alone does not determine quality.

Who has the Upper Hand?

From a decision-making standpoint, the debate comes down to whether a brand is looking to develop awareness or establish authenticity. In social media marketing strategies, the copy, message, and delivery of digital content needs a deliberate purpose in which the goal of the brand, business, or individual is either to inform or to establish credibility.

In turn, the large audience of a macro-influencer offers the opportunity to either inform or raise awareness around the advantages of a specific product or service. While a campaign with a highly engaged micro-influencer, whose vertically aligned audience would benefit from a product or service, helps authenticate one’s brand and drive sales. 

The distinct advantage of a micro-influencer is that one’s following is not based on celebrity status or fame. Instead, micro-influencers have credibility based on the niche in which they operate. In turn, as reported in Business Insider’s 2021 Influencer Marketing Report, “brands are more likely to increasingly prioritize long-term partnerships with fewer, more authentic influencers.”

Instead of a one-time advertisement with TikTok star Addison Rae(79.9 Million Followers) or a professional athlete like Christiano Ronaldo(279M Instagram Followers), the goal is to develop brand ambassadors who are natural promoters of one’s product.

C/C/G Approach 

As an agency specializing in social media campaigns, our previous work has consisted of tapping into both approaches as every brand and client is different. In the past, we have developed campaigns for non-profit organizations like No Kid Hungry, in which we paired PGA Tour Superstar Justin Thomas with world-renowned golf artist Lee Wybranski to bring awareness and name recognition to a cause.

While we have also executed whitelisting campaigns with several micro-influencers on Instagram for La Brea Bakery aimed to increase key metrics and drive in-store grocery sales. Despite the vastly different approaches, our commitment is to develop the best possible influencer marketing campaign for your brand’s given needs and bring the knowledge and know-how to execute that mission.